Tag Archives: ebooks

Formatting Back Matter : hints for Independent Publishers

fanfare of trumpetsBack matter is where the independent publisher can blow their own trumpet. It’s a great PR opportunity for an author to get readers involved and, crucially, buying more of the author’s books. So it’s worth doing it as well as you possibly can.

Back matter is probably the second-last thing an author needs to do before uploading her ebook. (The last thing is to update the Table of Contents.) Before doing back matter, you should have done all in the following list (click to see my previous blogs on how to do them):

What should be in back matter?

Back matter is very much at the discretion of the author but the following are often included: Continue reading →

Formatting Table of Contents: for independent publishers

woman tearing hairThe Table of Contents (TOC) has led to much hair-tearing by self-published authors, me included. That’s partly because it should be clickable so that the reader can go to, say, Chapter 4, with a single mouse click or touch on the screen.

Why is a clickable TOC necessary?

Because ebooks are not as easy to handle as traditional print books. With print, it’s a doddle to hop back a few chapters or pages to check on something you want to know. With ebooks, not so much. So it’s a very good idea to give readers a table of contents that they can click in order to move between chapters.

Clearly a TOC is essential for non-fiction. Some authors maintain that it’s not necessary for fiction. I disagree. I think all fiction ebooks should include a clickable TOC. And note that Amazon agrees. Amazon KDP have been known to reject an uploaded MS if it doesn’t have a TOC. The KDP instructions say that a clickable TOC should be included.KDP intro to Table of Contents

So this blog is about how you ensure that your MS includes the clickable TOC that Amazon (and readers) want. Continue reading →