Chapters to a KDP-Ready Book, One Pre-flight at a Time

Your manuscript lives in a Word file, the cover designer wants a page count, and the upload form wants a PDF that matches a trim size you have not chosen yet. Book Writing Toolbox puts those steps in one place: import the chapters, switch on the front and back matter you need, run a pre-flight check, and export only when the checks are clean.

The short version of the workflow: import or write chapters, pick your platform and trim size, tick the pages you want around the story, preview, run pre-flight, then export. Preview and pre-flight need no account. Exporting does, and the reason is explained below.

Bring the manuscript in

Use the import button on the chapter list and choose a .docx or .txt file. The file is read in your browser. A new chapter starts at every Heading 1, and at any short line that reads "Chapter 4" or "Chapter Four", with an optional title after a colon or dash. If a chapter line is followed by a heading, the two are joined into a single title such as "Chapter 4: The Harbour". A file with no headings arrives as one chapter named after the file.

Check the result chapter by chapter before you move on. Text before the first heading is kept as its own chapter only if it contains something, so a stray title page in the Word file shows up as a short extra chapter that you can delete. Scene breaks, lists, tables and images with alt text can all be set in the editor.

Front matter and back matter

Each page is a tick box, and the order within the front or back group can be changed with the arrows. Title Page, Copyright Page, Authors, Table of Contents and List of Images start switched on. Dedication, Epigraph, Foreword, Preface and several others start off. The back group offers Acknowledgments, Also by the Author, Appendix, Bibliography, Notes, Glossary, Answer Key and Index.

A novel usually needs only the title page, the copyright page, a dedication and maybe an acknowledgments page. A textbook may add a preface, a glossary and an index. Turn off what the book does not need, because every extra page counts towards the printed page total and the spine width.

Choose the platform before the trim size

Pick Amazon KDP, IngramSpark, Barnes & Noble Press, Lulu or an ebook-only route. The choice changes which trim sizes are offered, the margins used in the typeset render, and the ISBN guidance shown. Choosing an ebook-only platform switches the project to ebook mode and hides the spine and back-cover sections, since they do not apply.

If you are still deciding, leave the platform on Default and change it later. The chapters stay as they are. Run preview and pre-flight again after any change, because a different margin model can move the page count.

Run the pre-flight check

Pre-flight renders the book and tests it against the selected route. For a print book it checks the trim size, the page count, the inside margin, whether an ISBN is set, and the resolution of the front cover. For the ebook side it builds an EPUB and checks the file size, whether every image has alt text, and the cover image dimensions.

Each result comes back as pass, warning or fail with a sentence of detail. A missing cover is a warning, not a failure, so a draft can still pass while you wait for artwork. The check also depends on the cover you uploaded, so a low-resolution file will be flagged even when everything else is fine. After the page count settles, Book Spine Calculator gives the spine width for the cover designer, and ISBN Checker confirms that the number you typed is valid.

What you can export

• Print PDF: the typeset interior for the chosen trim size.
• EPUB: the reflowable ebook. A clean copy needs the EPUB and Manuscript Pass; without it you get a watermarked file that is still useful for checking. Test the result with EPUB Checker.
• Shunn manuscript: the standard layout agents and magazines expect, as .docx or .pdf. It uses 12 pt Times New Roman, double spacing and 1 inch margins, with a title page that carries your real name and contact details, a running head and a word count. Colour, tables and custom fonts are left out on purpose.
• ONIX metadata: an XML file built from the title, author, ISBN, publisher and description you entered. This one is made in the browser and needs no account.

Why export needs sign-in

The print PDF, the Shunn files and the EPUB are built on our server, because typesetting needs a layout engine that cannot run inside a browser tab. That is why export asks you to sign in and why the book content is sent for the render. Your draft stays in this browser while you write, and the tool keeps a copy in the open tab so that the sign-in redirect does not lose your work.

Watermarked previews are the way to test everything first. The pass or credit is needed only for a clean copy, and the page shows current prices before you pay.

Common mistakes

Changing the platform after exporting, then uploading the old file. Leaving alt text off images and then wondering why the accessibility check holds back its claim. Forgetting that the Shunn title page wants your legal name, not a pen name. Judging the page count from chapter one instead of scrolling the middle of the preview, where long chapters show their problems.

Where to go next

Work through one chapter first, run pre-flight on a short draft, and fix the warnings in order: trim and margins, ISBN and cover, then EPUB size and alt text. The rest of the group sits under PDF tools. If you are comparing approaches, the overview post walks through a first-book day.

Which step of getting a book to print slows you down most: formatting, covers or metadata? Tell us on the contact page.