Our Book Formatting Process — What to Expect
A friendly walk-through of how we format your book: what we need from you, how the sample-approval step works, and exactly how design revisions and content edits are priced.
Formatting a book is a craft, not a button press. We pour real care into turning your manuscript into a book that looks and reads like the ones on your favourite shelf — and the best results always come from a good back-and-forth between you and us. This page walks you through exactly how we work together, what we need from you, and where the boundaries sit, so there are no surprises on either side.
1Before You Order: Finish Your Edits
We're formatters, not editors. That means when your manuscript reaches us, it should be the final version — all structural edits done, copy-editing complete, proofreading signed off. Sending us a "nearly finished" draft is the single biggest reason projects run over budget and timeline.
💡 Pro Tips
- If your manuscript still needs polishing, grab our editing service first — it pairs beautifully with formatting
- Read the whole thing top-to-bottom one more time before you submit
- Have a trusted reader glance over the final version if you can
⚠️ Important
- Don't send us a draft you plan to keep rewriting — you'll pay twice
- Don't send us a file with tracked changes still open — accept or reject them first
- Don't skip copy-editing and hope formatting will catch the typos — it won't
2How the Process Works — Step by Step
Every formatting project follows the same five-step rhythm. It looks simple on paper, and it is, as long as everyone knows what each step commits to.
You complete our quick intake form
No need to write a brief from scratch — we send you a short, guided form right after you order. It covers your manuscript file, genre, trim size, design references, ISBN, and anything you feel strongly about. Takes 10 minutes.
We format a sample chapter
Usually the first chapter plus a piece of the front matter. The sample sets the typographic tone for the whole book: fonts, spacing, chapter openers, running heads, the lot.
You review the sample
This is the moment to speak up. Want a different font? Bigger drop caps? More breathing space between paragraphs? Tell us now — everything is easy to change at this stage.
You approve the sample → we format the whole book
Once you give us the green light, we apply the approved design to every chapter and produce the full interior layout.
We deliver print-ready PDF and EPUB
Files ready for KDP, IngramSpark, Apple Books, Kobo, and the other major platforms. You review, you approve, we close the project.
3What "Sample Approved" Actually Means
The sample is the blueprint for the entire book. When you approve it, two things are locked in: the design (how the book looks) and the content (the words inside your manuscript). We then apply that blueprint to all remaining chapters. Changes to the design after this point count as revisions; changes to the text count as content edits — and they move into our tiered pricing, which we explain further down this page.
💡 Pro Tips
- Take your time with the sample — a day or two is fine, there's no rush
- Read it on the device you care most about (Kindle? Paperback proof? Your phone?)
- Loop in anyone whose opinion matters — spouse, co-author, beta reader — before approving
- If you catch any text changes before approving the sample, send them now — they're free at this stage
4Design Revisions (Included in Every Package)
These are visual and layout changes — anything that affects how the book looks without changing the words. Every formatting package includes three rounds of design revisions at no extra cost.
💡 Pro Tips
- Font swaps ("can we try a more elegant serif?")
- Chapter heading restyling and drop-cap tweaks
- Spacing, leading, and margin adjustments
- Running header and page number styles
- Trim size changes (within reason — major changes may re-trigger the sample step)
⚠️ Important
- After the three included rounds, additional design revisions are £15 / $19.99 each
- We're happy to do them — just letting you know what's what
5Content Edits — When They're Free and When They Cost
Content edits are changes to the manuscript text itself — rewording, new paragraphs, restructuring, anything that changes the words in your book. What we charge depends entirely on when they land, because the cost to us goes up at each stage.
Before we start formatting → FREE
If you spot something and want to swap the manuscript file before we begin work, no problem. Just send us the updated version. This is why we say 'finalise before you order' — use that window.
After formatting has started → $1 per edit, $10 minimum
Changes that land while we're mid-production. Send them in a batch (tracked-changes Word doc or numbered list); we count the discrete edits, send a short quote, and apply them. £0.80 / $1 per edit, £8 / $10 minimum per batch.
After you've approved the final files → $100 flat
Once we've delivered the print-ready files and you've signed off, the project is closed. A change at this stage means rebuilding every output — print PDF, eBook, all of it. That's a flat £80 / $100 per change request, regardless of how small the edit looks.
💡 Pro Tips
- Group edits into one batch rather than dripping them in one-by-one
- Always use tracked changes in Word — it's faster for everyone
- If you're unsure which tier applies, just ask — we'll tell you before doing any work
⚠️ Important
- This three-tier structure exists to keep pricing fair for everyone — not to catch you out
- The cheapest edit is the one submitted before formatting starts. Use that window.
- Tiny typos and objective errors fall under our separate Minor Corrections policy below
6Our Mistakes — Always Free
If we made the error — a skipped page, a chapter heading styled wrong, a broken table of contents — we'll fix it free, always. That's ours to own. This is different from edits to your manuscript text, which fall into the tiered pricing above.
💡 Pro Tips
- Spotting a mis-formatting issue during sample review? Tell us — free fix.
- Spotting a typo in your own manuscript after final approval? That's a content change under Tier 3 above.
- When in doubt, send it to us — we'll tell you which bucket it falls in before doing any work.
7What We Need From You
Our intake form asks for all of this in a guided flow — you won't have to write anything from scratch. Here's the checklist so you can have it ready before you open the form.
Final manuscript (.docx preferred)
Fully edited, all tracked changes accepted or rejected, one clean file.
Front matter content
Title page details, copyright text, dedication (if any), acknowledgements, about-the-author. We can draft these if you'd rather.
Trim size and format decision
Print only? eBook only? Both? Trim size (5×8, 6×9, etc.)? Not sure — we'll advise based on your genre.
Genre and two-to-three reference books
Pick a couple of recent bestsellers in your genre whose interior design you love. It gives us a strong starting point.
ISBN (optional)
If you already have one. If not, we can include one, or you can buy your own from Nielsen/Bowker.
8Turnaround Expectations
Timelines vary by package, but the rhythm is always: sample in roughly 48 hours, full book in 5–10 business days after sample approval. Every day you delay reviewing the sample is a day added to the end — we can't start the full formatting until you've signed off.
💡 Pro Tips
- Need it faster? Ask about our Rush 48-Hour add-on
- Holidays and weekends don't count toward our working-day estimates
- Our Complete Package clients get priority in the queue
9A Small Note on Collaboration
Great formatting is a two-way street. The clearer you are about what you want at the start, the closer the first sample will land to your vision — and the fewer rounds you'll need. We love the back-and-forth; we just want to make sure the pricing stays fair for everyone, which is why we're upfront about what's included and what's billed separately. If anything on this page isn't clear, just drop us a line before you order. We'd rather answer ten questions upfront than hit a misunderstanding mid-project.
Ready to get started? Head over to our Book Formatting service page to pick a package. Still have questions? Reach out — we'd genuinely rather hear from you before the order goes in.
Need Help with Your Book Formatting?
Our team is here to help you every step of the way.
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