You’ve written a great book. Maybe it’s your life’s work. You’ve edited, formatted, and poured yourself into it. The paperback looks amazing!
Then you get the eBook version back from KDP or IngramSpark… and it looks awful.
The layout is mangled, the images are missing, and you can’t even tell where the chapters begin or end.
Here’s the reason it’s happening, and what you can do to make sure your ebook is as polished and professional as your print version.
The hidden truth about ebooks
Here’s a secret: EPUBs are ZIP files under the hood.
If, like me you made websites in the 90s, have a look! Change the file extension from .epub to .zip and then unzip it.
- HTML files – the text of your book
- CSS stylesheets – how it looks (fonts, spacing, margins)
- Image files – covers and illustrations
- Navigation files – like a table of contents, built in XML or HTML
The format is designed this way on purpose.
eReaders like Kindle, Kobo, and Apple Books adjust to any screen size or font choice—so the content must be reflowable, not locked in place like a printed page. That’s a problem with “coffee table” type books.
Why PDF-to-EPUB conversions fail
Amazon and IngramSpark both offer quick, automated conversion from PDF to EPUB. But here’s the catch: PDFs are built to stay exactly the same on every screen—not to reflow or adapt.
So when these systems try to “magically” convert your print-ready PDF into a reflowable ebook, they’re guessing. And guesswork doesn’t mix well with complex layouts.
The result?
- Columns confuse the converter – paragraphs are out of order
- Weird fonts from nowhere
- Line-heights keep changing
- Paragraphs break in strange places
- Icons and missing characters.
- Tables become a jumble of cells in random order.
- Footnotes vanish or land in weird places
- Images float in empty space or disappear entirely
- Navigation doesn’t work
- The table of contents doesn’t convert, or you have two!
Fixing a broken EPUB takes hours—sometimes more time than the original layout designer took in the first place.
A process to build an ebook (even if you’re not a techie)
If you want to do it yourself, here’s how to give your eBook the best chance of looking clean, readable, and professional:
- Start with your original Word document.
I’m sorry, but all those proofing changes you made on the PDF/InDesign, need to be fixed here as well. - Remove elements that won’t translate well into HTML.
Page numbers, running headers, columns, and section breaks. - Use Word styles properly.
Apply Heading 1, Heading 2, blockquotes, italics, etc.—don’t fake it with bold and font size. - Replace columns with tables if needed.
They’re display more predictably in eBooks. - Add your hyperlinks, image captions, and QR codes.
This is a great time to double-check alt text for accessibility. - Export and convert using a trusted tool.
Once your content is clean and styled, you can use EPUB conversion tools with far better results.
Why it’s worth doing right
Some authors hesitate to invest in proper eBook formatting—after all, if it’s digital, shouldn’t it be cheap?
But here’s the truth: your ebook is often your most profitable format.
There’s no print cost. It never goes out of stock. It’s available to global readers instantly, for years to come.
A professionally-formatted ebook:
- Reflects your professionalism
- Reduces refund rates
- Gets better reviews
- Builds trust for your next title
And maybe even more important…
The bigger picture: bad ebooks hurt all authors
Every unreadable eBook chips away at reader trust. Bad ebooks hurt ALL authors. If too many authors unknowingly produce rubbish, the format is going to die out.
Access to the knowledge in ebooks changes lives in countries who don’t have affordable paperbacks, or where oppressive regimes are blocking certain books. Don’t underestimate the power of your book to change lives.
When you publish a beautiful, easy-to-read, well-structured eBook, you raise the bar—and help the entire author community.
That’s worth doing well.
