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From Word to Kindle: Self Publishing Your Kindle Book with Microsoft Word [Kindle e-book]

Aaron Shepard

(from the publisher) PUBLISHER'S WARNING #1: THIS EBOOK IS FOR INTERMEDIATE AND ADVANCED USERS OF WORD. IF YOU ARE A BEGINNER, DON'T BUY THIS!
 
PUBLISHER'S WARNING #2: THESE TIPS ARE FOR NORMAL TEXT ONLY. IF YOU EXPECT INFO ON LISTS, TABLES, OR IMAGES, DON'T BUY THIS!
 
PUBLISHER'S WARNING #3: THIS IS NOT A FULL-LENGTH EBOOK. IF YOU THINK THE PRICE IS TOO HIGH FOR A LONG ARTICLE, DON'T BUY THIS!
 
Though instructions for converting from Word to Kindle are common, they're usually less helpful than they could be. Many, for example, are based on the premise that Word's HTML output requires extensive alteration and cleanup before submission.
 
This is exactly wrong. At least for an all-text book, Word's HTML is almost perfectly suited to Kindle conversion with little or no change. In fact, you might never have to open the HTML file at all! Yes, Word's export generates a lot of excess code, but not as much if you choose the right option -- and the excess that remains is ignored by the Kindle. At the same time, removing the excess does not decrease file size enough to really matter.
 
Other instructions you find will imply the opposite: that conversion is straightforward and just what you would expect. Supposedly, as long as you start with a properly formatted Word document, you'll wind up with a well-formatted e-book.
 
This is almost equally wrong. There are a number of bumps and potholes in the road from Word to Kindle, and they're not the same for all Kindle models! You have to learn to steer around them, or you'll lose control of your e-book's appearance.
 
In this short e-book, Aaron Shepard offers his own quick tips for moving a text document from Word to Kindle. You'll see the results for yourself, as this book is produced with the same techniques he describes!

(from Michael) It's hard to go wrong with any book that Aaron Shepard writes -- especially if the book costs just 99 cents. There are other, more complex books about formatting an e-book, but if your needs are not complex, Aaron's 99-center should be all that you need.

99 cents, buy from Amazon.com

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