Kindle Textbook Creator in 6 Steps

Create New Textbook from File by C.K. MacLeod

Amazon recently released the Kindle Textbook Creator as a way of making textbooks with complex layouts available on the iPad, Kindle and Android tablets. If you’ve had to create an ebook with design features, such as tables, diagrams and sidebars, you’ll appreciate how easy this tool is to use.

Textbook Creator Quick Steps

1. Download the Kindle Textbook Creator to your computer.

2. Click Create New Textbook from File.

Create New Textbook from File
Create a new textbook from a PDF file

3. Find your book file on your computer and click Open. Your book will appear in the middle pane of the Kindle Textbook Creator.

Textbook Creator middle pane
Your book will appear in the middle pane

4. Page through your book using the thumbnails on the left. If you encounter any blank pages, you can remove them by selecting them and pressing the Delete key, or by going to the Edit menu and clicking on Delete Pages. You can insert blank pages as well.

Textbook Creator delete pages
Delete blank pages

 

Package for Publishing
Package for Publishing

 

5. When you’re satisfied with how your book looks, Click File, Package for Publishing. You can also convert your file by clicking on the Package link in the right pane or on the package icon in the top right.

Notice how Amazon has laid out the publishing steps for you in the right pane.

Your book with be saved with a .kpf extension. This is the file that you will upload to Kindle Direct Publishing

 

 

 

6. Preview your book file by clicking on the Preview icon in the top right. You can preview your book on a variety of devices, which are listed in the pull-down menu.

Text Creator Preview
Preview

And that’s it! You’re ready to upload your .kpf file to Amazon.

Note: You can’t design your book in the Kindle Textbook Creator — you’ll need to create your design and layout with design software like Adobe InDesign or Page Plus, and then save it as a PDF. The Text Creator will then convert that file to Amazon’s .kpf file format.

Reader Experience

At the time of writing, my .kfp file is being held up in the review process. It’s early days for the Textbook Creator (it’s a beta release), so I suspect Amazon is checking these files carefully for any problems. I cannot comment on the reader experience yet, but according to Amazon specs, readers will have options to highlight text, take notes, look up words in a dictionary and create flash cards.