Here are three thumb rules every eBook must follow to make a great eBook.
- Your EBook has to be interesting, So choose a topic that matches your audience’s need with a super headline.
- Your EBook must be readable, So be cautious while choosing the right color combination, font size, and styling, try and outline each chapter, Incorporate relevant visuals, Highlight quotes, and statistics, this is a very important aspect to engage a reader.
- Your EBook has to be out in the world touching the hearts and minds of readers.
Tools to Design an eBook
You do not have to use expensive software to design an EBook.
Word processors like Microsoft Word, Open Office, Google Docs, or Pages are the most prominent, but you can also use presentation software like PowerPoint, Google Slides, or Keynote to create graphic design, illustrations, newsletters, or slide shows, Most people prefer to use Microsoft word to write their books, using Microsoft Word you can easily add a heading, subheading, table of content, font styling and alignment and set the margins.
eBook Conversion – ePub, Mobi, Fixed Layout Conversion Services Company
Useful Tips to Design an eBook
- Create a Cover Image with a proper ratio(Ideal height/width ratio of 1.6 with 72 DPI). The book cover should be in RGB color mode.
- Be precise while creating a table of contents and chapter breaks for easy EReader navigation and readability.
- Stick to the order of the flow in the eBook. (Cover page/Title page/ Copyright/ Frontmatter…)
- Keep heading levels (Chapter head, h1, h2, h3…) and try to show the differentiation between various levels in the eBook.
- Be specific on margin values Top, Bottom, Left, and Right in the eBook, It should be unified across all pages.
- Layout – Text indent should be 1.5em for every paragraph’s body.
- Margins and font sizes should not exceed 3em due to the device’s smaller screen.
- Use open-type fonts.
- The background color is black, and the text is white.
- Images inside the eBook should be maxed of 4 megapixels and should be center aligned.
- Give hotlink reference for artwork and tables.
- All hyperlinks to be highlighted in blue color.
- The entire copyright page should be accommodated onto one page by default, using the default font size as in a printed book.
- An important step, your final version of the book needs to validated before it hits the stores.
Page Orientation
Choose the right page orientation Landscape mode or Portrait mode whichever suits best for your EBook, I prefer landscape mode for a PDF EBook if I am using PC. The widespread pages make it easier to incorporate graphics and also offer space for text with two columns. Portrait mode is great if you are using it on mobile devices like Phones, Tablets, and EReaders.
Theme
Hundreds of great themes with Free or Fee available online to choose from to beautify your EBooks. Few are listed below.
PowerPoint + InDesign : Hubspot’s 5 Ebook Templates
PowerPoint : InboundPro’s 2 Ebook Templates
Apple Pages + iBooks Author : Author Ready Templates
Keynote : Weelii’s 32 Keynote Templates
Google Slides : Slides Carnival – Free presentation templates
The disadvantage of using the above themes is your EBook may not look as unique as someone else may have used it, If you want your EBook to be unique you can always custom design by hiring a professional.
Color Combination
One of the toughest things is choosing a colors combination that looks good. Below is the list of few great color-picking tools available online.
Color Wheel Picker : Adobe Color CC , Paletton
Palettes : Colourlovers , Adobe Color Themes
Useful Tips
- If you want your EBook to be printable, then choose the book background as light color or preferable white.
- Choose up to 4 colors
- Page background – Keep it light, preferably white
- Body Text – Choose a color of your choice but keep it dark enough to read
- Link Color – Hyperlinks are crucial, make sure it is link color and readable
- Header/Footer/Callout: Choose a totally different color, preferably highlight color with white text on top of it.
Font Combination
Always remember that each font has its own style and feel, so choose wisely and keep it readable.
There are many free fonts available and can be downloaded from Google Fonts.
If Possible try and Pick only one font for the heading, one font for the body, and one for quotes.
Content Flow
Content flow is as important as choosing a theme, it keeps the user engaged throughout
- With a headline, brief them about what you are going to tell them,
- On the next page explain to them what you say, and
- Finally in “Key Takeaways” tell them what you have told them
- Keep heading levels (Chapter head, h1, h2, h3…) and try to show the differentiation between various levels in the eBook.
- Use Images inside the eBook should be maxed of 4 megapixels and should be center aligned. Be specific on margin values Top, Bottom, Left, and Right in the eBook, It should be unified across all pages.
- Layout – Text indent should be 1.5em for every paragraph’s body.
- Margins and font sizes should not exceed 3em due to devices’ smaller screens.
Calls to action CTA’s
Add CTAs that will help make your EBook feel more interesting.
- Add “key takeaways” at the end of each page where you can even include a link.
- Add a little “tweetable” block on a page that encourages someone to even share a quote.
- Use images or screenshots from videos to invite readers to your YouTube channel or blog post.
- Create a dedicated call to action page at the end of the EBook for promotion and feedback
