So, you've got a beautiful print book in your hands, and now you're itching to turn it into an ebook, maybe to sell on Amazon KDP. The first thing to know is that you'll need to convert your print design into an ePub file (.epub), but umm... well, it's not as easy as it sounds. Converting a print book into an ePub format can be quite the adventure, and not always a pleasant one. In this post, we're going to dive into the nitty-gritty of what you need to keep in mind during this transformation so you can end up with the most user-friendly ebook layout. Stick around to the end, I have a special announcement about a brand new mini-class in my shop about all things ePub. Let's get to it.
1 — WYSINWYG — What you see is NOT what you get.
When it comes to print book design, you know what they say, "what you see is what you get." Some designers even shorten this, albeit hilariously, to WYSIWYG. You lay out your pages, choose your fonts and images, and boom, it looks exactly the same in the final printed book as it does on your screen. But with ePub files, it's a whole different story. ePub files are dynamic creatures. They adjust their layout based on the reader's device and preferences. So, that beautiful two-column layout you painstakingly crafted for print might end up as a single column on a smaller screen. And those fancy fonts and fancy formatting? Well, they might not play nice with all e-readers. And across the board, certain elements used to design for print in InDesign gets removed when you export for ePub — for example, line breaks, tabbed indents, parent page elements (like page numbers and running heads and backgrounds), page breaks, and more. Sounds maddening right?! Designing for Epub files in Adobe InDesign is different than designing a print book — what you see is not what you get. It can almost feel like you're designing backwards sometimes. But there are ways to add those missing elements back in, wink wink.
2 — Function over form.
A key component to ePub design is remembering that you don't have complete control over the design. Like I mentioned in the first point, ePubs are dynamic layouts, so they change depending on the device they're being viewed. The layout will change depending on the screen size, screen orientation (horizontal or vertical), font selection, and font size. Some of these variables depend on the device itself, and some can even be changed by the person using the device, so you never know what the true end result of your ePub will look like. For that reason, the secret with ePub design is function over form, not the other way around. We're designing for usability and readability first and foremost, because it is so variable. It's important to choose typesetting, layouts, and styling that will be compatible across multiple devices and sizes so ensure the best possible outcome for your design. ePub is not the place to play with clever design — sticking to classic, minimal, easy to follow layouts will be your best bet for a user-friendly ebook.
With these two concepts in mind, you'll be better prepared to start converting your print book into ePub format for your ebook design. And to help you even more, I've been working hard behind the scenes on a brand new mini-class all about converting your ebook into ePub format with Adobe InDesign, and it's finally ready!
Ebook to Epub Conversion Mini-Class
In this 1-hour class, I’ll teach you how to create a user-friendly ePub file in Adobe InDesign that looks good across all e-reader devices. Here's how the lessons will break down:
Epub 101 (2 videos)
In this section, I'll cover the basics of what an .epub file is, how it differs from other file types, and the new mantra you'll need to embrace to start designing with epub in mind — what you see is NOT what you get!
Convert Your Design (5 videos)
In this section, we're getting into the nitty gritty! It's time to figure out our typography, page breaks, line breaks, images, and table of contents so everything is playing nicely together and our epub file will be looking and functioning at it's best.
Export + Test (2 videos)
Lastly, it's time to export our final epub file and do our final testing on Kindle and Apple Books so we know exactly how our epub file will respond on various devices and screen sizes. Don't skip the testing step, it's super important!
Epub Conversion Checklist (PDF)
This PDF checklist will help guide you through the steps covered in the class, plus it'll be a great reference for all your future epub projects (pssst… I still print one out for all my own projects!)
