Formatting Your Book Using InDesign, Part 6

Now that you have your .mobi file complete, it’s time to create the ePub files you’ll need for other online retailers like iTunes, B&N (Nook Press), Kobo, All Romance e-books, Smashwords, etc.

To create an ePub file, perform the following steps:

  1. Open your bookfile
  2. Ensure none of the files in the bookfile are highlighted or open
  3. From the bookfile palette menu, choose Export Book to EPUB.


  1. In the General pane, enter the publisher information
  2. Enter the ISBN.

Note: ISBNs are required for iTunes, B&N and Kobo as well as other retailers. They can be purchased from Bowker at


In the Images pane, complete the information as shown below if your book includes images other than the cover.


  1. In the Contents pane, select the options as shown below
  2. Note the Table of Contents information
  3. Click Export.


Next, you’ll need to test your ePub file.

  1. Download Adobe Digital Editions from This free application will allow you to check your file for proper formatting and navigation.
  2. If you find a problem with formatting, usually due to incorrect paragraph or character style tags, go back to the InDesign source files and make the corrections.
  3. Regenerate the ePub file.

Your ePub file can be used without further manipulation on sites such as Nook Press and ARe. You will need to download and use Calibre, a free application, to manipulate your ePub to work on iTunes and Smashwords.

  1. In Calibre, run the Startup Wizard.
  2. For iTunes, select Apple and iPod/iPhone/iPad
  3. Add your ePub file and complete the metadata information for your book
  4. In the ePub Output screen, be sure to change the following:
    In Structure Detection, select Remove first image
    In EPUB Output, select Preserve cover aspect ratio
  5. Convert your ePub file
  6. Test the output on an iPad and take screenshots that can be used when you upload your book using iTunes Producer
  7. Rerun the Startup Wizard in Calibre for Kobo and repeat the steps to create a Kobo-specific ePub file.

That’s it! Once you have your ePubs uploaded to the various online retailers, it’s time to start writing another book. Good luck!

Leave a Reply


You are commenting using your account. Log Out /  Change )

Google photo


Twitter picture


Facebook photo


Connecting to %s
