The table of contents is the first thing a reader opens and the last thing an author checks. A broken one — links that go nowhere, page numbers that drift, chapters missing because the heading was bold text rather than a real heading — reads as carelessness, and it happens in the front matter where the reader has not yet decided to trust the book.
What you receive
- A navigable document for the EPUB: the store’s own menu, not only an in-book list, so a reader can jump from anywhere.
- Correct hierarchy: parts above chapters, chapters above subheadings, and a hard limit on depth so the menu does not become unusable.
- A printed contents page for PDF and print with page numbers that are generated rather than typed, and dot leaders aligned to the margin.
- Front matter handling so dedication, acknowledgements and author notes appear in the menu under a single group rather than as four stray entries.
- A structure report listing anything in the manuscript that could not be made a heading, so the cause can be fixed at source.
How it is built
- Find the real structure. Every chapter heading, part page and subheading, checked against the text rather than assumed from the file.
- Mark it semantically so the format can generate the menu instead of having it hand-written and drifting.
- Generate the navigation for EPUB and the page-numbered contents for print from the same source.
- Test the jumps in three readers, including one that ignores the in-book list entirely.
Why generated beats hand-typed every time
A typed contents page is correct on the day it is written. Add a paragraph, change a font size or move a dedication, and every page number after it is wrong — quietly, invisibly, and usually noticed only by a reader. Generated contents with field-based page numbers update themselves. It is the single cheapest reliability upgrade in a formatted book, and it is the reason we will not hand-type a contents page even when asked.
Depth, and when a menu gets in the way
A novel needs chapters and nothing else. A technical manual needs chapters and sections. Scene breaks, sub-sections four levels down, or every numbered point in a how-to guide turn the menu into a second index that nobody scrolls. We agree the depth from the book’s genre, then stop, so the contents stays a set of shortcuts rather than a wall of links.
Front matter, back matter and the order they appear
The contents themselves sit after the copyright page and before the first chapter, but many digital readers never see that page — they open at chapter one. So the contents must be reachable from the book’s own menu, and the back matter needs its own entry so a reader can find the author’s note and the also-by page without paging forward. That is a small structural decision with a measurable effect on how much of the book gets read.
Pricing
| Tier | Scope | Price | Was | You save |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | 1 ebook | $10 | $15 | |
| Professional | 5 ebooks | $50 | $50 | |
| Bulk / Authority | 10 ebooks | $80 | $95 |
Frequent questions
Can you fix a contents page I built myself?
Yes, and usually the fix is structural rather than cosmetic: the headings were not marked as headings.
Does this include the EPUB navigation file?
Yes, both the navigation document and the visible contents page are produced.
What if my parts and chapters are mixed up?
We map the hierarchy from the manuscript and propose an order before building anything.
Build my contents page — send the manuscript and the format you are publishing in.