Need ebook TOC advice asap

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   TIMETRAVELER2posted 2 years ago

   I am writing an ebook in MS Office as a word doc and cannot figure out, for the life of me, how to insert an active table of contents...which is what Amazon says we should have.  Anybody.  I'm guessing this is easy, but I just cannot figure it out.   Will appreciate some guidance here from those who have done this for their own ebooks on Amazon.  It's a real stumbling block for me.  Thanks.

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      Deborah Sextonposted 2 years ago in reply to this

      Here are all the Microsoft manuals
      Excel, Word, Access, Project, Powerpoint, Outlook, Visio
      http://www.techsupportalert.com/content … e-free.htm

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         TIMETRAVELER2posted 2 years ago in reply to this

         A big thank you to all of you...I'm still struggling with this.  I did finish the update and did upload the book to Amazon.  The cover looks good, but when I put it on the previewer, there was a ton of white space between the paragraphs.  Looked awful...however, when I checked out the preview, it was not quite as bad, but still did not look so great.
         
         I thought Amazon required us to upload in html, but have also heard we can do it from a doc. or doc.x file.  Thoughts?
         
         Also, any insights about paragraphing?

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   psycheskinnerposted 2 years ago

   The top menu is "references" then select "table of contents"

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 2 years ago in reply to this

      Have looked.  Don't see it.  Maybe my MS Office is too old?

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   Kathy Stutzmanposted 2 years ago

   Smashwords reference book has a fantastic chapter on developing an active TOC - I use it all the time, even when not e-publishing

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 2 years ago in reply to this

      Thanks.  I'll take a look

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   ngurecoposted 2 years ago

   You should find the answer to your question here on hubpages. I have a hub, "Kindle Publishing - Creating NCX File – and Block Paragraphing" which, I believe, should be able to help you create a TOC for your ebook.

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 2 years ago in reply to this

      Thanks.  Will check it out

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   Arachneaposted 2 years ago

   Go to britflorida's page. She has a hub with very easy instructions on how to construct one. She's also a former Squid, so she can relate to how difficult it can be to make one here on HubPages. On Squidoo, there was a "capsule" option that created it for you. The title of her hub is: Create a Simple Table of Contents Quickly & Easily.

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 2 years ago in reply to this

      This is not for HP, it is for an Amazon ebook.

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         Arachneaposted 2 years ago in reply to this

         I am so sorry, I missed that. It explains why the answers were so different from mine. I've provided instructions below for word 2003.
         
         1. at the beginning of each chapter (not a header), enter your chapter number (e.g., chapter 1, etc)
         2. create the text list of your chapters using the word chapter and the number using one line after the previous.
         3. at the end of each chapter enter "table of contents" below the last line in the chapter
         4. on the page you will be placing your toc, paste in your list of chapters
         5. highlight the words chapter one
         6. select insert bookmark (on the insert tab)
         7. name the bookmark for the chapter number using only one word like "Chapter1" (no spaces or special characters)
         8. repeat this with each chapter number entry at the top of the beginning of each chapter
         9. when complete with setting the "anchors" for the chapter links, go back to the page on which you've pasted the list of chapters
         10. for each chapter listed, highlight "chapter ##"
         11. then select insert hyperlink
         12. choose the option for somewhere in document, which is where you'll find the bookmarks you've created
         13. select the corresponding chapter option
         14. save your document

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            TIMETRAVELER2posted 2 years ago in reply to this

            I've about given up.  Will try this tomorrow when I have more energy.  I am told that TOCs are not necessary for novels, which this work basically is...so maybe I can just skip it.  However, I still need to know how to do this for other books I may want to publish.  I don't know why they have to make this so HARD!

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               Arachneaposted 2 years ago in reply to this

               It's easy, but time consuming. Maybe in the morning things will make more sense. For the purpose of the ebook, all you're doing is creating hyperlinks in the document which go to other places in the document rather than to a webpage. I know that when I read an ebook, I really appreciate having a table of contents.

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            TIMETRAVELER2posted 2 years ago in reply to this

            This is not for Word but for Word as it comes in Open Office.  I think they are totally different.

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   Phyllis Doyleposted 2 years ago

   Hope this helps:
   
   http://shaunakelly.com/word/numbering/t … tents.html

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   Don Bobbittposted 2 years ago

   Timetraveler2- There is a feee ebook on Kindle called; Building your Book for Kindle. Download it and read it. It will guide you through all of the tricks to make your Kindle book work.
   DON

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