How to Format a Book for KDP in 20 Minutes

About this video

In part three of a six-part series about producing a book with AI, Dale formats his AI-written book on fiction writing using Dibbly Create, after earlier videos covered AI drafting and a human edit with an editor named Allison — he stresses that AI output still needs the same full editing scrutiny as any manuscript because it comes out redundant or inconsistent. Working in the tool’s Export V2 with a metadata sheet beside him (title, subtitle, author name), he builds a custom template instead of a preset: keep the table of contents, images and links; leave chapter starts on the default next page rather than the ‘gold standard’ right-hand page to keep page count and print cost down. His styling choices: Times New Roman chapter headings at 18pt, body text at 12pt justified with 1.15 line height, an Arial title page, headers and footers (author name and title on top, page numbers at the bottom) that apply only to print since ebooks are reflowable, and indented OR spaced subsequent paragraphs — never both. He discusses drop caps as a taste call, explains margins, mirrored margins and adding gutter for thick books so text doesn’t crowd the spine crease, then saves everything as a reusable template named ‘standard book formatting’. He exports the ebook, switches the print preview from 5x8 to his preferred 6x9 trim, proofs the ebook file in the free Kindle Previewer from KDP, and checks the resulting 101-page print PDF — noting he still wants to add a newsletter call to action after the copyright page and an about-the-author page in the back matter.

Key takeaways

• AI-written books need full human editing: Dale worked with a human editor because AI output arrives redundant or inconsistent, and formatting comes only after that pass.
• Prepare a complete metadata sheet (title, subtitle, author name) before formatting so the whole session runs copy-and-paste; his sheet is a free download with no signup.
• Chapter-start choice is an economics call: starting every chapter on a right-hand page is the gold standard, but the default next-page start cuts page count and print cost.
• Keep paragraph styling to one signal — indent subsequent paragraphs or space them, never both — and add gutter plus mirrored margins on thick print books so text stays out of the spine crease.
• Save your settings as a reusable template and always proof before publishing: he exported the ebook, checked it in KDP’s free Kindle Previewer, and reviewed the 101-page print PDF at his preferred 6x9 trim.

Episode details: published September 14, 2024 · 20:33 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Dale L. Roberts’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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