Once you have decided upon
best format for your ebook, your next step will be design process. No matter which format you choose, one of most important factors in determining your ebook's overall success is your presentation. Your ebook should not only look professional in design, but should also be well organized and easily navigated. In addition, your ebook should include images that will enhance its appearance and compliment your subject matter. Although you can design your ebook using an application of your choice, for purpose of this article, we will focus on designing your ebook with Microsoft Word.
When you purchase and install Adobe Acrobat, a shortcut button will be added to your Microsoft Word toolbar. This button will enable you to instantly convert your word document into a PDF document.
When you begin designing your ebook, think of each page you create as a page of a book, because that's exactly what it is. Your ebook is a book in electronic format. Although structure of your ebook may vary, here is a basic guideline to assist you:
Opening Page
The first page of your ebook will represent your book cover. It should contain an image or logo that will compliment your ebook. This page should also include your ebook's title, followed by an opening statement.
Foreword
The next portion of your ebook may contain a Foreword with information in regard to your copyrights, disclaimers or other important information.
Instructions
Your Foreword may be followed by instructional information in regard to using your ebook, such as navigation. Your instructions might include an overview of how to navigate your ebook and even some screenshots.
Table of Contents
A Table of Contents will assist your readers in easily locating each section of your ebook.
When writing your text in Microsoft Word, you are provided with a number of options to assist you in formatting your pages in a specific layout. This powerful program will not only enable you to insert page numbers, headers, footers, borders and images, but it will also create your Table of Contents for you.
Creating Your Table of Contents will be one of your last steps in designing your ebook. In order for Microsoft Word to create your Table of Contents, you must first apply specific heading styles to chapter headings that you would like to be displayed within your Table of Contents.
To add a style to your chapter headings, highlight your text and click on style drop-down box on left side of your toolbar and select Heading1. You can edit your Heading1 style to display your heading in font and size of your choice.
If you would like to display any subtitles beneath your titles, simply follow same procedure above. However, instead of selecting Heading1, select Heading2 and so on.
To build your Table of Contents, click on page where you would like to insert your Table of Contents. Click on "Insert" then on "Index and Tables" and select Table of Contents tab. Select your preferred format and Word will instantly create your Table of Contents.
