Book formatting
Word to EPUB for Publishing — Validated, With a Real Table of Contents
Not a file converter: an EPUB3 built from your chapters, with the navigation, landmarks and metadata Kindle, Apple Books and Kobo check at upload — and run through epubcheck before you download.
A free converter changes the file extension; the stores check the structure. KDP, Apple Books and Kobo run the W3C validator (epubcheck) on every upload and reject files with structural errors, and a reader builds its chapter list from the EPUB's navigation document, not from what the text looks like. Ceeryo builds the EPUB the way an ebook formatter would: it detects your chapters, scene breaks, lists and sub-headings, keeps italics and bold, sets your cover image as the cover, writes a navigation document with chapters nested under their parts and landmarks that open the book at chapter one, fills in title, author and language — then validates the file with epubcheck and shows you the result. The same upload gives you the paperback interior PDF.
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Last updated: October 16, 2026 · Reviewed by the Ceeryo team
You'll confirm chapters, title and front matter before anything is set. Your words never change — only the typography.
Real output
What the typeset pages actually look like
Chapter opener and body page from each interior theme — rendered from the engine's real output at 6×9, not mockups.
How it works
From manuscript to book in four steps
The fastest way from a finished Word manuscript to print-ready files — no templates, no desktop app, no per-page fiddling.
- Step 1
Upload your manuscript
Drop in the .docx manuscript you have finished writing. Your file is processed only to typeset it and is never used to train models.
- Step 2
Chapters are detected
Chapter openings, scene breaks and italics are found automatically, without changing a word of your text.
- Step 3
The book is typeset
Trim size, margins and gutter, running heads, drop caps and chapter openers are set as a real book interior.
- Step 4
Download print PDF + EPUB
A print-ready interior PDF at your chosen trim size plus a clean EPUB, checked against the geometry KDP enforces.
In short
An EPUB a store will accept needs real chapter files, a navigation document, landmarks, a declared cover, title, author and language, and no epubcheck errors. Ceeryo builds all of that from one Word upload and validates the file before you download it — plus a print-ready PDF from the same manuscript.
Why did KDP or Apple Books reject my EPUB?
Almost always a structural error the W3C validator (epubcheck) reports: a navigation document that is missing or not in the package, a landmark pointing at a file outside the spine, a broken XHTML file, a cover not declared. Both stores run that validator at upload. Ceeryo runs the same epubcheck on every EPUB it builds and shows you the result; you can also check an existing file with the free EPUB validator.
Validated before you download
The same check the stores run
Every EPUB Ceeryo makes is run through epubcheck 5.4 — the W3C validator KDP and Apple Books use — and the result is on the download page. A navigation document with every chapter (nested under its part), landmarks so the book opens at chapter one, your cover declared as the cover image, and title, author and language in the package metadata.
- Chapters, scene breaks, lists, sub-headings and footnotes from your manuscript
- Navigation document and landmarks readers actually use
- Cover image, title, author and language in the package
- epubcheck result shown before you download
Features
Why authors choose Ceeryo
Real chapter files
Each detected chapter becomes its own XHTML file with the label and title as you wrote them — never an invented "Chapter 7".
Navigation and landmarks
A proper EPUB3 nav document, chapters nested under their parts, and landmarks so the book opens at chapter one on Kindle, Apple Books and Kobo.
Validated with epubcheck
The W3C validator runs on every file and its verdict is shown with the download — the check the stores run, run first.
Use cases
Where Ceeryo works best
Kindle edition
Upload the EPUB straight to KDP for the ebook edition; KDP accepts EPUB and converts it to Kindle format.
Wide distribution
The same EPUB works for Apple Books, Kobo, Google Play and Draft2Digital.
An existing EPUB that was rejected
Check it with the free EPUB validator first; if it needs rebuilding, upload the manuscript.
Why not do it by hand?
Ceeryo vs. doing it manually
Typesetting a book by hand in Word or InDesign takes days and rarely passes KDP's checks the first time. Here's the difference.
Output quality
What the finished book files look like
Every run produces a preflight-checked print PDF and a clean EPUB — never a rewrite of your words. Here's what you get.
- Valid EPUB3 with navigation document, landmarks and correct spine order
- Italics, bold, small caps, lists and sub-headings preserved as real markup
- Right-to-left books with the right page progression; Indic, Thai and CJK text in the right faces
- Title, copyright and (optional) dedication pages generated from your metadata
Topic cluster
Related book formatting tools
Other ways to turn your Word manuscript into a finished book.
Validate Your EPUB Online — the Check the Stores Run
Drop in the .epub and get the epubcheck verdict Kindle and Apple Books will give it, plus a plain-English look inside: chapters in the navigation, landmarks, cover image, title, author and language.
ebookformatterA Kindle Create alternative that doesn't lock you in
Free has a shape: Kindle Create's output works only on Amazon. If you want files you own — standard EPUB, print-grade PDF — that's the alternative.
ebookformatterVellum for Windows
Vellum doesn't run on Windows — and the usual answer is buying different desktop software. The browser needs no port.
formatterA Vellum alternative that runs in the browser
Vellum is excellent — and $249, Mac-only, and another app to learn. The alternative: upload the manuscript, download the book.
formatterAn Atticus alternative for finished manuscripts
Atticus wants to be where you write. If your book is already written in Word, you need a typesetter — not a second home for your text.
formatterCheck Your PDF for KDP Before You Upload It
Drop in the interior PDF and get KDP's own checks in seconds: trim size, page count, the inside margin your page count needs, the 0.25″ no-print zone, embedded fonts and picture resolution — with what to fix.
formatter
Frequently asked questions
Does it work with Kindle?+
Yes — KDP accepts EPUB uploads for ebooks and converts them to Kindle format. The validated structure is exactly what makes that conversion behave.
Can I check an EPUB I already have?+
Yes. The free EPUB validator runs epubcheck on any file and tells you what the package contains — navigation, cover, landmarks, metadata — without storing it.
Are fonts embedded in the EPUB?+
No — e-readers override fonts with the reader's settings, so embedding mostly adds file size. The EPUB uses clean serif styling that respects reader preferences.
What about my italics?+
Preserved as real emphasis markup, run by run — the most common thing other converters break. Lists keep their bullets and numbers; line breaks inside a paragraph are kept.
Build a publishable EPUB from your manuscript
Upload the .docx, see every page, and download a validated EPUB3 (and the print PDF, if you want it).