An EPUB is a website in a zip file, and a bad one behaves like a website built by someone who never opened a browser. Paragraphs merge, chapter headings vanish into the text, the table of contents links to nothing and a Kindle turns the first page into a wall of unbroken type. Most formatting problems are structural rather than cosmetic, which is why they are invisible until a reader complains.
What you receive
- Valid EPUB 3 that passes epubcheck with no errors — the gate every major store uses.
- A working navigation document so the reader’s own menu, not just an in-book list, jumps to the right chapter.
- Proper front and back matter: title page, copyright, dedication, contents, author note and also-by list, all in the right order.
- Typography the reader can control: relative sizes, no hard-coded fonts, first-line indents that survive a font change.
- Scene breaks and part pages that stay distinct instead of collapsing into a blank gap.
How the file is built
- Clean the manuscript — remove stray tabs and manual line breaks, normalise quotation marks and dashes, and preserve intentional italics.
- Mark structure semantically so headings are headings, not bold paragraphs.
- Apply the stylesheet: one style for body, one for chapter titles, one for scene breaks, one for block quotes.
- Validate, then test in Apple Books, Kindle Previewer and one Android reader before delivery.
The details that separate a good file from a working one
Widows and orphans controlled so a single line does not sit alone at the top of a page. Chapter openers that start on the same screen as the previous chapter’s end, which is how digital books should read. Em dashes and ellipses set as real characters rather than three periods. A table of contents that lists chapters only — not every scene break — because a sixty-item menu is a navigation failure rather than a feature.
What we never do
Fixed page sizes on reflowable text. Embedded fonts that override the reader’s choice. Absolute positioning. Line breaks used to fake spacing, which shatters the moment a reader changes the font size. Every one of those makes a file look right on the designer’s screen and wrong on most readers’ devices, and they are the reason a book gets returned.
Why files fail in the stores rather than in the editor
An EPUB can look perfect in a preview and be rejected on upload. The usual causes are an unclosed tag, an image with a missing dimensions entry, a navigation document that points at a file the archive does not contain, or a cover declared twice. None of those show up in a reading view; all of them fail epubcheck, which is what the retailer runs. We validate before delivery rather than finding out from a support ticket, and the file is re-checked after any later correction.
Pricing
| Tier | Scope | Price | Was | You save |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | 1 ebook | $30 | $45 | |
| Professional | 3 ebooks | $100 | $100 | |
| Bulk / Authority | 5 ebooks | $150 | $150 |
Frequent questions
Can you format from a Word file?
Yes — that is the usual input. Manuscripts in Google Docs, Markdown or plain text are all fine.
Will it work on a Kindle?
Yes. The same EPUB uploads to KDP, which converts it; the file is built to survive that conversion.
Do you handle images?
Yes, sized and compressed for the format. Image-heavy books may need the fixed layout route instead.
Format my EPUB — send the manuscript and the cover file.