It's easy to import a Word file into Leanpub, so you can write in our plain text Browser writing mode!

However, please note that not all your Word formatting will be converted. You will probably have to do some curating after you import your Word document, and start writing in Leanpub!

You can create a book in our Browser writing mode here:

https://leanpub.com/create/book

The Browser writing mode is selected by default, and you can use it for free - just make sure to select the Free account, when you get to the bottom of the page!

To import your Word file, go to your "Import from Word Documents" page here:

...making sure to replace YOUR_BOOK with your book's unique web address.

You can also find a link to this page on your book's "Overview" page:

On the "Import from Word Documents" page, click "Choose File":

Select the file on your computer.

Next, click "Start Import":

You will then see an "Import In Progress" message, and a progress bar at the top of the page:

When the import process is complete, the page will re-load and it will look the same as when you first went there:

But something IS different! Click on the "Write" tab at the top left:

On the Write tab (this is actually the in-browser text editor where you'll be doing all your writing on Leanpub), you will see your Word file has been imported, and added to the end of the list of text files on the left:

The first two files you'll see in the list, "Chapter 1" and "Chapter 2", are the helpful default content added to the beginning of each new Browser writing mode book. You will learn how to delete them in the tutorial we will link to at the end of this article.

(You can also go ahead and see the tutorial here right now if you want to!)

With your Word content successfully imported into Leanpub's in-browser editor, you can now create your first "Preview".

Creating a "Preview" means generating an ebook from what you have written. 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:

You will see that the preview of your ebook has already been generated, and can be downloaded as a PDF or EPUB file, or viewed in your browser:

We suggest you download the PDF to see what it looks like.

Next, you will want to learn how to write in plain text the Write tab, how to upload a cover, and everything you'll need to know, including how to eventually publish the first version of your book.

We show you how to do everything you'll need to know in our comprehensive tutorial here.

If you're interested in learning what Word formatting features we support, please see this article.

If that article helps, you may want to re-format your Word file and import it again. This will add a new file at the end of the list of text files on the left side of the Write tab.

OK, that's it!

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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