It's easy to import a Word file into Leanpub, so you can use our TranslateAI service to translate your book, or to write and publish your book on Leanpb in our plain text Browser writing mode!
Just Do It for Me! Some people love learning new processes. But some people hate it, some don't have the time, and some would just rather pay for it to be done without having to think about it! If your book is finished, and you've written it in Word, and you want us to import it and publish it for you, try our PublishWord service.
First, Create a Book in Our Browser Writing Mode
You can create a new book on Leanpub in our Browser writing mode in under a minute!
Go here and fill in the "Create a Book" form:
Basically you just need to pick a title!
The "Browser" writing mode is selected by default, and you can use it for free - just make sure to select a Free account, when you get to the bottom of the page!
Second, Edit Your Word Document to Match Our Style Guide
All self-publishing services (and all big and small conventional book publishers, for that matter!) have "style guides" that your Word manuscript needs to match, before you can submit your Word document to them.
The Word style guide template you download from the link above is a working example of how you need to style your own Word document before you import it.
You could just upload the style guide itself to Leanpub to create a working book!
For most books, especially novels, all you need to do before you import your Word file, is make your chapter headings are in the "Heading 1" style, and delete any formatting we do not support.
Changing Chapter Names to the Heading 1 Style in Word
To change a chapter heading in your Word document to the "Heading 1" style, select the chapter name:
Click "Styles":
In the menu you will see, select the "Heading 1" option:
You will now see that the chapter name has been reformatted to the Heading 1 style:
Deleting Unsupported Formatting in Your Word Document
Word is familiar to almost everyone, but it is actually a very complicated app with like a million features. When you import your Word document into Leanpub, we only support some of those features - specifically the ones you'll see if you download our Word style guide template.
For example, if you have formatted a Table of Contents or a List of Figures or an Index in your Word document, you should delete those.
Once your book is imported, Leanpub will automatically create a Table of Contents, and we can show you how to edit your book to automatically create a List of Figures and and Index.
Copying and Pasting Your Work Into Our Style Guide Template Word Document Might be Easier than Reformatting
A quick note: some authors have told us the easiest way for them to get their Word manuscript to match our style guide was just to modify the style guide!
That means you download the Leanpub style guide for importing a Word document, and just copy and paste from your own Word document into the Leanpub style guide Word document.
Third, Import Your Word File
When you create a new book in the Browser writing mode, you will be taken to the "Write" tab, with some default text to help people get started writing on Leanpub:
To import your Word file, click on the "Overview" link at the top of the page:
That will take you to your book's "Overview" page:
Scroll down, and you'll see the "Import Word" option:
Click on "Import Word", and you'll go to the "Import Word" page for your book:
Scroll down until you see "Import Your Word Document(s)":
In the "Import from Word Document(s)" section, click "Choose File":
Now, select the Word file on your computer that you want to import. (What this looks like will depend on your computer!)
When you have selected the Word file, you will see the file name on the page:
In this example, we selected a Word file named simply book.docx, but your file can be named anything you like!
Next, click "Start Import":
While your Word file is being imported, you will see a page like this:
When the process is complete, the page will just re-load:
Writing and Editing In the Write Tab
Now that your Word file has been imported, go back to the Write tab, by clicking "Write" in the menu at the top left:
The Write tab will look something like this:
Note that your imported Word file will appear as a new file with a date on it, at the top left, in the "Manuscript" list of book files:
Updating the Manuscript Files List
First, let's update the Manuscript list!
You will want to delete the first two files. These were the files automatically included when the book was created, but before you imported your Word file and added it to your book.
If you hover your mouse to the right of a file name in the Manuscript files list, you will see a little gear wheel icon:
Click on the gear wheel icon, and you will see a little "File Settings" menu pop up, like this:
Click "Delete File":
Click "OK" in the new window that will pop up:
You'll see that the file you deleted, named "The Basics", is gone:
Hover over the gear wheel next to the next file and repeat the process:
Now, the only file left under "Manuscript" will be the Word file you imported:
Let's rename the file! Hover your mouse next to the file and click the gear wheel icon:
You'll see the File Settings menu again:
You can click in the "File Name" box and delete the name automatically added there. Select the text:
Now, click delete or backspace on your keyboard to delete the text, leaving the File Name box empty:
Type in your preferred name for this file. In this example, we're renaming the file to "My Book":
Finally, click "Save Changes":
You will now see that the file name has been changed:
Writing and Editing Your Book in the Write Tab
OK, now let's take a look at the imported file in the Write tab! Click on the file name:
You will now see your imported content from Word:
Your book has now been successfully from Word into plain text, in our book markup syntax, called Markua.
Fourth, Check the Preview of Your Ebook
If your Word document was formatted in accordance with our style guide before you uploaded it, your book should generate properly, and you shouldn't have to do anything!
You can now create your first "Preview" to see if everything looks good.
Creating a "Preview" means generating ebook files from your manuscript files. Previews are only visible to you, so you can see what things look like currently.
To create your first preview, click "Versions" at the top of the page:
This will take you to the "Preview" page for your book:
Scroll down and click the "Create Preview" button:
While your preview is being generated, you will see a progress bar at the top of the page:
When the process is complete, the progress bar will go away, and you will see something like this:
Click "Download the PDF file" to download the PDF.
What to Do Next
What you do next is up to you!
1. Using TranslateAI to Translate Your Book
If your PDF looks good and you want to use our TranslateAI service, click on "Services" in the middle of the menu at the top of the page:
Currently, clicking "Services" will take you to the "Marketing Packages" page:
Click on "TranslateAI" in the menu on the left:
This will take you to the "TranslateAI" page:
Scroll down to the list of languages:
Select a language to translate your book into. In this example, we're picking German:
Scroll down and you'll see the price for your translation:
To buy the translation, click "Add to Cart":
This will take you to the shopping cart, with a "TranslateAI" item in it:
Choose your payment method and complete the payment.
We'll let you know when the translation is complete!
2. Fixing Issues with Your Preview
When you import from Word, you may find there are some issues with your preview.
For example, if you imported a file that wasn't exactly formatted according to our style guide (like most people doing this for the first time!), you'll notice some issues in your preview.
These issues can vary, but they'll probably be pretty obvious as you go through the PDF.
To learn about writing and editing in the Write tab to improve your book, go here.
If you can't figure out how to fix an issue within a few minutes, please email the team at hello@leanpub.com with the following:
- Write "Help with my Word import" in the subject line of the email
- A link to your book on Leanpub
- A screenshot of the issue in your PDF
- Any other information that might help our team locate the source of the issue
Providing our team with this information will help us help you fix your book more quickly, and also help us make a new Help Center article about that type of issue, to help other authors in the future!
3. Editing, Writing, and Publishing on Leanpub
If you want to edit your book or write more chapters, and then publish it on Leanpub, please see this comprehensive step-by-step tutorial:
I'm Stuck!
If you get stuck trying to do something, please search this Help Center to see if you can find an instant answer, or email the team at hello@leanpub.com with a link to your book and a description of the issue. Including a screenshot of the problem if that's possible will really help speed things up!
If you have any feedback or questions about this article, please email the Leanpub team about it at hello@leanpub.com!
If you have any questions or thoughts on writing and self-publishing with Leanpub, please join our global community of authors in our Authors Forum here!
Interested in creating your first Leanpub book? Here are some quick tutorials for our most popular writing modes: http://help.leanpub.com/en/articles/3088382-quick-walkthroughs-for-getting-started-on-a-leanpub-book
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