How to format your work

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING SECTIONS CAREFULLY BEFORE YOU SUBMIT YOUR WORK.

For publication as Kindle eBook

We recommend that you write your book in Microsoft Word or convert an existing source file into Word (DOC, or .doc) format.  Preferably DO NOT use the word processor in Microsoft Works, and DO NOT save your document as a.wps file.  (If you must use Works, save your document when you have finished as a Word 97-2003 .doc file.)

File format: Save your content in DOC (or .doc) format, not RTF (.rtf) or Word 7 DOCX (.docx), as these do not convert well to Kindle.

Line spacing: Set to Single Line Spacing.

Paragraphs: indicate a new paragraph by using the Return key, to start the new paragraph on a new line.

First Line Paragraph Indents:  DO NOT USE. The first line of each paragraph is automatically indented during the conversion process to the Kindle format, so do not put in first line paragraph indents.

IMPORTANT: DO NOT USE TAB KEY or SPACE BAR for paragraph indents. If you have already done this, please remove any TAB formatting for paragraph indenting. To remove paragraph formatting, try this first: In Word 2003 and Word 2007, to remove the tabs for the entire document, select all the text, click the Format menu if using Word 2003 or click the arrow for Paragraph if using Word 2007. Click Tabs, click clear all, click OK. You can tell if the above worked by doing the following - select all your text, copy it, and paste it into a new Word file. If the indents have reappeared, you will need to manually backspace all the tab indents, as below.

IF THE ABOVE DOES NOT REMOVE THE TAB FORMATTING OF FIRST LINE INDENTS, YOU WILL HAVE TO DO IT MANUALLY BY BACKSPACING EVERY SINGLE FIRST LINE PARAGRAPH INDENT BACK TO THE LEFT EDGE OF THE PAGE. THE PARAGRAPH BREAKS REMAIN BUT THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO GET RID OF TAB KEY INDENTS WHICH ARE HARD-CODED INTO YOUR DOCUMENT.

Layout: Bullet points, special fonts, headers, footers and page numbers SHOULD NOT be used. Bold characters, italics and headings may be used if required, but bear in mind that the reader of an eBook is able to set the font size and line spacing for themselves, so you don’t need to worry too much about these.

Contents pages: Contents pages at the front of your book showing chapters and chapter titles may be used, but DO NOT show page numbers for chapters on the Contents Pages.

Page numbering:  Don’t do it!  No page numbers should be shown throughout the book, as Kindle eBooks (and eBooks in general) don’t have page numbering; they flow according to the device they are read on (eg. A Kindle, a PC, or a smart phone), which all have different screen sizes.  Page numbers are irrelevant and don’t work in digital publications. 

Page breaks at the end of chapters: Enter a page break after the last sentence at the end of every chapter, to prevent the chapters from running together. To insert a page break in Word, click "Insert" at the top menu bar and select "Page Break."

Image placement: It is best not to have images in Kindle eBooks, as they make files sizes bigger and will only display in low resolution in greyscale on the Kindle Reader.  If you must include images, they should be inserted in JPEG (or .jpeg) format with centre alignment (don't copy and paste from another source). Select "Insert" > "Picture" > then locate and select the file. Although the Kindle device can display images, it has a greyscale electronic interface so image heavy books are better viewed on colour-supported devices such as iPad, iPod, PC, Mac, and smart phones with colour screens.

Spellcheck and Grammar checker: Use these tools, but DON’T rely on them, as they are pretty dumb and may indicate a correction which is wrong.  ALWAYS manually proofread your file to ensure no errors are missed by the automated checkers.

Upload your file:  When you have completed the above stages and are satisfied that your book is ready for publication, upload it to us.  To do this, you will first need to purchase your publication package. You will be taken to a webpage which will ask you to browse for your finished Word file and upload it, after which you will be able to download the latest edition of our Writer's Pack free of charge.

For publication as a paperback

Paragraphs: If possible, please set the first line indent of your paragraphs automatically to 5 mm or 0.5 cm or about 15 Points. To do this in Microsoft Word: select all the text, go to 'Paragraph', 'Indentation', 'Special' drop-down box, 'First Line' needs to be set to 5 mm / 0.5cm or about 15 points.

Line Spacing - use Single Line spacing.

Header and Footer
Remove any header and footer.

Page numbering
Don't put in page numbering. The page numbering will be added by us to the paperback version, once we have edited and typeset your work.

Download Publishing Agreement as an (Acrobat) .PDF file

Download Publishing Agreement as a (Word) .DOC file

We welcome submissions from both new and established authors from any English-speaking countries.

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How to send your work

You will need to purchase a publication package. You will be taken to a webpage which will ask you to browse for your finished Word file and upload it, after which you will be able to download the latest edition of our Writer's Pack free of charge.To submit your book now, click here.

By Email
Your files (eg. additional graphic files) can also be submitted to us attached to an email sent to: nospamsubmit@ebooks-uk.com*
(*remove nospam for actual email address - this deters spammers who trawl websites for email addresses)

Please ensure that your files virus-free.

If the file is bigger than 5 MB, you may need to FTP the file to us. Please contact us for details of how to do this.

File formats
Your work should preferably be sent in the form of a Microsoft Word 97-2003 (.doc). Please do not send Microsoft Works word processor (.wps) files.

Other file formats
You can also send work as a Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) or Rich Text Format (.rtf). file, Unicode Text document (.txt) file, Filtered HTML (.html) file; InDesign CS3 .indd file; Adobe PageMaker 6.5 or Pagemaker 7.0 file.

Artwork and Graphics
Any graphics, diagrams or pictures should be emailed or sent separately in the form of JPEG (.jpg), GIF (.gif), or PNG (.png) files, indicating where they come in the text, unless they are embedded in a Word file or an Acrobat .PDF file or Adobe InDesign CS3 .indd file. Graphics need to be high resolution for paperback printing - at least 300 d.p.i. and preferably 600 d.p.i.

You can compress your files as a .ZIP file if you wish to reduce upload/download times. You may need a utility such as WINZIP for this - commonly available as shareware - if you do not have Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7.

Sending work by by post
If you don’t have broadband, it is probably not a good idea to attempt to send your document attached to an email.

You can also send your work by post saved on any of the following media:

• CD-ROM disk
• DVD disk
• memory stick or 'flash memory' device

Please send to:

eBooks-UK
P.O. Box 36
Chesterfield
S40 3YY
U.K.

Please EMAIL US to let us know that you have sent your MS by post.

If you don't receive an acknowledgement from us by email within two weeks, please let us know.

We regret we are unable to accept typescripts or handwritten manuscripts.

We will acknowledge your submission by email (please include your email address).

If you require a postal acknowledgement, please include a stamped, self-addressed post card with your disk.

If you wish us to return your disk, please include a suitable self-addressed envelope or Mail Lite bag with the correct return postage.

For further information, please download our Writers Pack.

(Our Writers Pack is currently being updated. When we have completed the update, if you have a copy of the old edition, please let us know and we will send you the new edition free of charge.)

If you are already an established author, please indicate the following when you submit your work to us: a) Titles of books or short stories published to date; b) name of publisher; c) date of publication.

Fiction Genres
We accept full-length novels, novellas and collections of short stories for publication. We welcome work in most fiction genres, including: adventure; detective fiction; fantasy; historical fiction; horror; literary fiction, mystery; romantic fiction; science fiction; thrillers; youth/young adult fiction; children's fiction.

We may consider other genres of fiction, even if in a genre we have not published previously.

Non-Fiction
We will consider non-fiction in most categories. At present, we are particularly interested in biography; non-fiction on mind/body/spirit themes; the Holy Grail; Alchemy; the Knights Templar; the Albigensian Crusade & the Cathars; Guide Books of any type (eg. walking guides, visitors' guides to particular countries, regions, localities, towns and cities; restaurant and pub guides; guides to sites of historical interest, guides to historic houses, etc.)

Poetry
We will also consider volumes of poetry.

For further details, please read our full Publishing Agreement and Terms & Conditions. It is no longer necessary to complete and return this agreement by post, provided you have ordered one of our publishing packages from this website. In the ordering process, you will be asked to indicate your acceptance of our Terms & Conditions and our Publishing Agreement.

We particularly welcome work from American, Canadian and Australian writers, as well as from British authors.