“Formatting” is not making Word look pretty on your laptop. Print-ready and ebook-ready files have different jobs. Mixing them at the last minute is how first books slip.
Print interiors
- Trim size, margins, and gutter that survive binding
- Consistent styles for chapter openers, body, quotes, and captions
- Page numbers, running heads, and a TOC that matches
- Image resolution that will not pixelate
- A wrap cover: front, spine width from final page count, back, barcode area
Ebook files
- Reflowable text (usually) unless you truly need a fixed layout
- Working navigation
- Clean metadata and a cover image that reads at thumbnail size
- No leftover print artifacts (page numbers in the middle of paragraphs)
Where AuthorShelf fits
Formatting services and package interiors are produced against those specs, then approved as eProofs in the portal. Higher tiers include more design direction. Spark still gets human QC — we do not ship unreviewed junk.