Kindle Create Pitfalls: Navigating the E-Book Publishing Labyrinth

Kindle Create simplifies the process of publishing eBooks on the Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) platform. It offers several useful features, including:

• Publishing for both eBook and print formats using a single tool.
• The ability to preview eBooks on various platforms and devices before submitting to KDP.
• A fast and consistent submission process, that avoids file format conversion.
• Support for interactive content and graphic books.

Kindle Create is designed for ease of use and comes with four (4) high-quality themes to choose from. For text-heavy eBooks, it’s a great tool. However, when pushing the boundaries, there are some disadvantages:

• Limited Distribution. Kindle Create is tied to the KDP platform. While it’s possible to convert to EPUB for wide distribution, the tool isn’t optimized for this format.
• Limited Style Support. With only four (4) themes available, there is no option to modify underlying styles.
  • Style Control. Advanced features like Realistic Text-Messaging are not supported, and using images as a workaround may not scale.
  • Generated Content. The ability to control the look and feel of generated content, such as a Table of Contents, is not supported.
  • Affecting Change. Formatting changes beyond the theme must be done at the line level.
• Limited Image Support. Despite the claim they support graphic novels and comic books, there are some issues:
  • Vector Image Support. Vector images, including Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), are not supported within Kindle Create. They are converted to bitmaps, which can lose clarity on high-resolution displays. See Figure 1.
  • Microsoft Word Support. While Kindle Create is integrated with Microsoft Word, it does not support Charts, Shapes, and SmartArt. These are also converted to bitmaps. See Figure 2.
  • Image Headers. While support exists, it requires the creator to insert an image for every chapter, even if it’s the same throughout. This increases the eBook‘s file size and requires consistent alignment across chapters.

Figures

This comparison is of the header art as seen at high resolution between a bitmap image and a vector image.

Here is a side by side of advanced text messaging as seen in Kindle Create and a generated EPUB.

Options

There are options available for eBook creation, such as:

• Adobe InDesign
• Atticus
• Calibre
• Scrivener
• Vellum

These tools generate EPUB-formatted eBooks that can be imported by KDP. This approach maintains styles, while ensuring a consistent look and feel across platforms.

When using an EPUB as the source document for KDP, be aware of the following:

• Fonts. Kindle Create typically strips out fonts and replaces them with their own.
• Styles. Because of the conversion styles may differ slightly.

Despite these considerations, using an EPUB as the source document for KDP generally results in a consistent look and feel across all platforms. It also gives a greater control over formatting and content, and avoids needing several tools for publishing.

That’s it!

Kindle Create Pitfalls: Navigating the E-Book Publishing Labyrinth by Evelyn Chartres is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.