Understanding EPUB: What It Is and How to Create One

What is an EPUB?

EPUB, short for "Electronic Publication," is a widely used digital eBook format that allows users to read books and documents on various devices, including eReaders, tablets, smartphones, and computers. It is an open standard maintained by the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) and is designed to be flexible, allowing for reflowable content that adapts to different screen sizes and orientations. This means that text can resize and reformat to fit the device it's being viewed on, providing a user-friendly reading experience.

How to Create an EPUB

Creating an EPUB file can be accomplished through various methods, depending on your technical expertise and the tools you prefer. Here are some common ways to create EPUBs:

1. Using EPUB Creation Software

Several tools are available that simplify the process of creating EPUB files without requiring extensive technical knowledge.

Popular EPUB Creation Tools:

Vellum: Vellum is a popular, user-friendly tool for creating high-quality EPUB files, especially favored by authors and publishers for its ease of use and professional output. While it's currently only available for macOS; it's known for its elegant, template-based design process that requires no coding knowledge.
Sigil: A free EPUB editor that allows you to create EPUB files from scratch or edit existing ones. It provides a user-friendly interface to organize chapters, add metadata, and insert multimedia elements.
Adobe InDesign: A professional desktop publishing tool that allows you to design eBooks and export them as EPUB files. This is suitable for those who are familiar with graphic design and want to create visually rich eBooks.
Calibre: A free, open-source eBook management tool that allows you to convert various file formats (like DOCX or HTML) to EPUB. Simply add your book, choose "Convert Books," select EPUB as the output format, and follow the prompts.
Atticus: An e-book formatting program that allows you to create .epub files from their platform or format your existing manuscript.

2. Converting a pre-existing file into an EPUB

There are several tools which can auto-convert your existing files (Word, Google Docs, or PDF) into an EPUB. Some options are shown above, like Vellum, Atticus & Calibre, but there may be more that you can find online. Products like Scrivener and the latest version of Microsoft word can export as an EPUB provided your story is written within those products already.

How to upload an EPUB on Ream:

Before you begin, make sure your EPUB contains a table of contents.

Step 1:

Go to the Content page on the Ream story you’d like to import your manuscript into.

Step 2:

Click Import Manuscript:

Step 3:

Select the "Import EPUB" button, then select the EPUB file you want to import.

That's it! You can view the chapters and edit as needed, then move to the publishing stage. More on that here.

EPUB and Readers:

The addition of this upload option doesn't impact readers in any way, and they are not able to download content from our platform, in our continued focus to protect authors' copyrighted works.

If you have any questions, please contact our Support Team at support@reamstories.com.