How to create an ebook, from idea to EPUB
To create an ebook, decide what it is for, outline the chapters, write or import the text, structure it with real headings so it can reflow, export an EPUB (and a PDF if you give it away), then add a cover and distribute it. EPUB is the W3C standard format that Apple Books, Google Play Books and Amazon KDP accept. This guide walks each step and shows where a free tool is enough and where a book workspace like Gixo Folio helps.
Use the persistent book workspace when the outcome is a real guide, authority book, training manual, client asset, or exportable edition.
If your manuscript is already finished and you only need specialist formatting or a dedicated fiction system, a focused tool may be the simpler choice.
Which ebook are you creating?
The purpose decides the format, the length and the tool.
How to create an ebook in six steps
The same order works for a free lead magnet and a book you sell.
Which ebook file does each destination need?
Store requirements read from Apple, Google and Amazon help pages on 25 September 2026.
| Destination | File | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon KDP | EPUB or DOCX (KPF also accepted) | Ideal cover 2,560 × 1,600 px, 1.6:1 |
| Apple Books | EPUB | Cover in JPEG or PNG, at least 1,400 px on the shorter side, RGB |
| Google Play Books | EPUB 3.3 preferred; EPUB 3 and 2 accepted | Reflowable EPUB recommended |
| Email or website download | Fixed layout, so design holds on every device | |
| Editing or a co-author | DOCX | Editable, tracked changes |
The EPUB 3.3 status is from the W3C Recommendation. Store requirements were read on 25 September 2026 from Apple's book asset guide, Google Play Books partner help and Amazon KDP's help pages. Kobo's accepted formats could not be confirmed on its own page that day, so they are not listed.
A short lead magnet does not need a book workspace. Folio's free ebook creator builds one in the browser with no account, and its DOCX to EPUB converter and EPUB checker handle a manuscript you already have.
A full-length ebook is different: it needs a chapter plan, drafting, a pass for repetition and consistency, and clean exports. That is what the Gixo Folio workspace does — plan the chapters, draft them with AI from your outline, audit the manuscript, then export EPUB 3, DOCX and a print PDF from the same book.
AI can draft ebook chapters quickly from an outline and notes, but it cannot know which claims are true in your field. Revise every chapter, check facts and examples, and remember that Amazon KDP asks you to disclose AI-generated text when you publish there.
Frequently Asked Questions
Tools and guides for your ebook
Free tools for short ebooks, and guides for the rest.
More Gixo Folio pages
Related book writing, publishing, and alternative pages.