How to Format an eBook for Amazon KDP Using Google Docs

If you are looking for a quick and easy way to publish an eBook, Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) is one of the best platforms. If you have a raw copy of your eBook, formatting it for Amazon KDP is essential before you upload and submit it for processing. Google Docs is an excellent option to create a professional manuscript formatted to perfection for submitting to Amazon KDP. In this tutorial, we'll learn the whole process of preparing an eBook that complies with the format required by Amazon KDP to ensure it gets approved quickly. Let's get started and learn how to format our eBook right now!

Google Docs for Amazon KDP eBook — 📷 Use Google Docs to prepare an eBook for Amazon KDP

Although there are dedicated apps for creating eBooks, most of them are overkill. In the next section, we'll learn why Google Docs is your best bet when it comes to formatting eBooks for Amazon KDP.

I'd recommend first preparing a rough draft of your eBook in a plain text editor before transferring it to Google Docs for proper formatting. This way, you will save the initial time focusing on writing.

Why Using Google Docs Is Best for Formatting an eBook?

Let's first quickly discuss why Google Docs is the best option when it comes to formatting eBooks for Amazon KDP. Here are the main points to consider for choosing this excellent platform.

It's free to use. You don't have to spend a dime on eBook formatting.
It automatically saves work in a secure cloud so that you can concentrate on your editing work.
It's the best cloud-based application with advanced collaborative editing support.
It has tons of formatting tools that are easy to use.
It supports multiple types of export formats, including .docx and .pdf file types.

Now that we know why Google Docs should be our first choice for this purpose, let's deep dive into the eBook formatting process.

Step 1: Set Up Your Document

The most important step for formatting a document is to apply generic page settings as well as select the primary font to be used throughout the copy. And, that's what we're going to do in this step.

1.1 Apply Generic Page Settings

The purpose of applying these page settings is to ensure our prepared manuscript appears like a book. Here's how to do it.

Page settings for eBook formatting in Google Docs — 📷 Generic page settings for the document

Through the main menu, go to the File → Page setup option.
To resemble it with a paperback-sized book, set the Paper size to B5 (6.93" x 9.84").
Set all the margins to 0.75 inches.
Make sure that Portrait is selected as the page orientation.

1.2 Choose the Right Font

Now comes the important step of selecting the fonts for the document. Amazon KDP encourages you to choose simple fonts instead of going for something flashy. Here are the recommended font settings.

Font settings for Google Docs document — 📷 Apply Amazon KDP recommended font settings

Use Serif fonts like Times New Roman, Garamond, or Georgia.
For body text, keep the font size either 11pt or 12pt.
For chapter titles, the font size can range anywhere between 16pt to 24pt.

Now that the generic page and font settings have been applied, let's move forward and start formatting all the important sections of our eBook.

Step 2: Structure Your eBook

An eBook well-formatted follows certain rules to create a consistent look and feel giving the best reading experience. Let's quickly structure all the important sections of our eBook.

2.1 Add a Title Page

Let's start with the first and the most important page of an eBook, i.e., the title page.

Title page of an eBook — 📷 Start with the book title, subtitle, and author name

On this page, write the book title, its subtitle (if any), and the author's name.

Use Heading 1 for the title, Heading 3 for the post title, and Normal text for the author name. Make sure to center the text and bold the main title.

2.2 Copyright Page (Optional)

The next important page is optional, but I recommend including it in your eBook. A copyright page is simple and easy to format.

Copyright notice — 📷 Although optional, I'd highly recommend adding a copyright page to the eBook

Copyright page text should be both center-aligned and vertically centered as well. Although left-alignment of text is also possible, but the former approach is much better.

For the copyright page, use smaller fonts than your normal text font. For example, if normal text size is 12pt, use 10pt font size for the copyright page.

Make sure to include the copyright symbol, year of publication, and your name with contact details on the copyright page.

2.3 Foreword and Preface

The other two important pages are preface and foreword. It is possible that you eBook may not include these two. I'd recommend including at least the preface page to let the readers quickly know what the book is going to be all about.

📷 Foreword and preface pages generally follow the chapter pages format

Use Heading 1 format for the page titles of both these pages and normal text for the body. Left-align both the title and the text on these pages.

2.4 Table of Contents

Now this one is an essential page in any eBook. It helps the reader to quickly scan the content in the form of a list. It also helps a reader to quickly jump to the specific sections of the eBook.

Google Docs can automatically generate a clickable Table of Contents page.

Here's how you can generate one for your eBook:

Choose Heading 1 for the title, but keep the font size to 20pt for this page.
Now, place the cursor where you want the content of the TOC body to appear.
Finally, go to the Insert → Table of contents option. Here, select your preferred style and you'll get the table of content body—automatically.

2.5 Chapters

And last but not least, eBook chapters need to be formatted correctly as they are the core of the manuscript. A correctly formatted chapter keeps the reader glued to the eBook.

Chapter of an eBook — 📷 Formatting chapters correctly leads to a better reading experience

Here are some of the tips to format chapters correctly:

Make sure that each chapter starts on a new page.
Create page breaks using the Ctrl + Enter (On Windows) and Cmd + Enter (On Mac) keyboard shortcuts.
Use Heading 1 format for the chapter title.
Keep the formatting rules consistent and uniform throughout all the chapters.

Step 3: Formatting Tips for KDP

In this section, we will learn about some of the key tips and methods to ensure the formatting is done in such a way that helps KDP process your submission easily and correctly, without any issues.

3.1 Use Styles Consistently

Like other professional rich-text editing applications, Google Docs also supports style presets. For your eBook, use the following settings:

For all the body paragraphs, use the Normal text style.
For chapter titles, use the Heading 1 style.
For sub-sections, use the Heading 2 style.

Using these presets ensures the KDP platform can easily process and correctly convert the submission. This preset enables KDP to auto-detect the entire structure of the submitted eBook file.

3.2 Avoid Tabs for Indents

For indentation, we generally use the tab key. But, for properly formatting our eBook, that's not the right way to indent paragraphs in the chapters. Here's how to do it:

Indentation settings in Google Docs — 📷 Avoid using the tab key for indentation while formatting an eBook

First of all, highlight the paragraph you want to indent.
Go to the Format → Align & indent → Indentation options menu option.
For the Special indent attribute, select the First line option from the dropdown menu.
And, add left indentation value as 0.3 and right indentation value as 0.5. Click the Apply button to complete the indentation process.

This setting ensures KDP aligns and formats the paragraphs correctly, both in digital and paperback form.

3.3 Insert Images Properly

Adding images to an eBook is an important task as it enriches the content and makes it appealing. Follow these steps to ensure the inserted images are well processed by the KDP platform.

Use the Insert → Image option to add images to your eBook.
For best results, always center-align the images.
Resize the inserted images to cover the full width of the paragraph. Do not upload raw full-size images. Instead, try to resize them to the correct dimensions and optimize them before uploading.
Only use .png or .jpg image formats for the eBook.

If possible, try avoiding text wrapping around images as it may introduce formatting glitches.

Step 4: Export the Document

Once the formatting process is complete, it's time to export the document for submitting to the KDP platform. Exporting can be done in two different ways. One for the digital format and the other one for the paperback format.

4.1 Export for Kindle eBook (Reflowable Format)

If you are planning to release the Kindle version, export the file in .docx format. It's a simple process as mentioned below.

Go to the File → Download → Microsoft Word (.docx) option.
Download it to your preferred location on your computer.

Before uploading the file to KDP, install the Kindle Previewer app on your desktop and test your exported file in it. It'll give you an accurate preview of your eBook on a simulated Kindle, tablet, and mobile device.

If there are any formatting glitches, this preview app allows you to detect and correct them.

4.2 Export for Paperback

If you are also going for the paperback version, export your book in a .pdf format too.

Go to the File → Download → PDF Document (.pdf) option and download the file on your computer.
Once again, preview the file in the app mentioned above.

For a paperback version, always provide the .pdf format to the KDP platform.

Step 5: Upload to Amazon KDP

After exporting your manuscript, it's time to finally submit it to the KDP platform. Here's a step-by-step process to do so.

Go to the Amazon KDP website. If you're new to this platform, create an account and log in.
Click the Create → Create eBook option.

📷 Choose the 'Create eBook' option for the digital version of your book
Enter all the relevant details on the next page.
Thereafter, upload both the exported manuscript as well as the book cover.
Make sure to preview the eBook through the online version of the desktop app used earlier.
Set the pricing of the eBook and hit the Publish button.

It may take a few days before your eBook appears on Amazon. So be patient!

Conclusion

Google Docs has everything you need to create a clean, professional manuscript that’s ready for Amazon KDP. With a bit of thoughtful formatting and structure, you can go from a blank page to a published author—no pricey tools required.

Whether you're working on a novel, a nonfiction piece, or a quick how-to guide, Google Docs is a solid place to start. So open it up, take a deep breath, and start writing that bestseller you've been dreaming about.