Your first book export format decision is simpler when you stop looking for one file that does everything. There is no universal “publish” button because an ebook reader, a print-on-demand printer, a beta reader, and a backup drive need different things from the same manuscript.
Choose the file based on who will use it next. Export EPUB when the next reader is using an ebook device or app. Export a PDF when someone needs fixed pages. Use Word, HTML, or plain text when a human needs to work with the manuscript. Keep a JSON export when you need an archival copy of your Pendrilo book data. Treat MP3 and WAV as listening copies for your own proofing, not retail audiobooks.
That distinction prevents common, expensive mistakes: uploading a screen-sized PDF as a Kindle ebook, sending a reflowable EPUB to a printer, or assuming a synthetic read-aloud file is ready for ACX. Here is what each Pendrilo export is for, and when to use it.
Use EPUB for ebook readers and ebook storefronts
EPUB is the default choice when readers will consume your book on an ereader, phone, tablet, or reading app. It is a reflowable format: the text changes shape to suit the screen and the reader’s settings.
Someone reading on a six-inch Kindle may choose a large font and wide line spacing. Another reader may use a compact font on a tablet. A properly made EPUB lets both readers set their own comfortable reading experience without you having to create separate editions.
Pendrilo exports standard-compliant EPUB 3 files rendered in the browser. The export carries the manuscript’s structured content, including front matter, body chapters, and back matter, rather than treating every page as a fixed image.
Choose EPUB when the next step is digital reading
- Upload an ebook edition to a retailer or distributor that accepts EPUB.
- Send a finished ebook file to ARC readers when you have chosen to offer EPUB downloads.
- Load the file into an EPUB reader app for a realistic reading check.
- Give a direct-sale customer a file they can read across many devices.
Amazon KDP accepts EPUB for Kindle ebook uploads and converts it for Kindle delivery. That makes EPUB the sensible starting point for most KDP ebook editions. Do not upload a print-interior PDF in its place just because the PDF looked good on your computer. Kindle books need to adapt to many screen sizes, font preferences, and accessibility settings.
What will look different in EPUB
An EPUB is not supposed to preserve every page exactly. There are no dependable left and right pages, no fixed page count, and no reliable “page 127” for every reader. A chapter might begin near the bottom of a screen for one person and at the top for another.
This is why print-only design choices do not transfer directly. Pendrilo’s recto-page chapter starts, bleed, running heads, and page count apply to paperback production, not EPUB. Chapter-opening background art is also skipped in EPUB because a reflowable reader has no fixed opening spread.
Before distributing an EPUB, check it in more than one reading environment if possible. Confirm that the table of contents works, chapter titles are consistent, scene breaks are visible, links in front and back matter behave correctly, and any special formatting such as verse or block quotations remains readable. Test the actual file, not only the editing preview.
Use PDF for fixed pages and print production
A PDF is the right choice when the page itself matters. Unlike EPUB, it locks text, margins, page breaks, and graphic placement into a defined layout. That is essential for a paperback interior and useful for any reader who needs to see the book exactly as you designed it.
Pendrilo offers both print-ready PDF output and paperback interior PDFs. The best choice depends on whether you need a clean fixed-layout reading file or a production file built around paperback requirements.
Print-ready PDF for a designed, fixed-layout document
Use a print-ready PDF when you need to share or inspect a stable visual layout. This can be useful for a designer, a proofreader checking page-level errors, a local printer, or an ARC reader who prefers a PDF over an EPUB.
It is also useful for books where layout has an unusually important role, such as an illustrated work, a workbook, a poetry collection with deliberate line placement, or a nonfiction book with tables. Even then, confirm the printer’s specifications before treating any PDF as upload-ready.
A PDF is easier to annotate visually than an EPUB, but it is less flexible for the reader. Small type on a phone remains small unless the reader zooms. That is why a PDF is usually a secondary reading format for a text-heavy novel, not a replacement for an EPUB.
Paperback interior PDF for KDP and other print-on-demand workflows
Choose Pendrilo’s paperback interior PDF when you are preparing the inside pages of a physical book. It is designed for production details that reflowable ebooks do not need: page count, recto-page starts, optional bleed, and embeddable custom fonts.
For a typical KDP paperback, your workflow looks like this:
- Set your trim size and book formatting choices before export.
- Make sure chapter starts, front matter, back matter, scene breaks, and page numbering are final.
- Export the paperback interior PDF.
- Upload it to KDP alongside a separate full-wrap cover PDF made for that trim size and final page count.
- Use KDP’s previewer and order a physical proof before approving publication.
The final page count matters because it affects the spine width of your cover. If you revise the interior after creating the cover, recalculate the cover dimensions and regenerate the wrap file. Pendrilo’s free KDP cover-size calculator and other publishing tools can help you check dimensions and related production math before you upload.
Do not confuse an interior PDF with a complete paperback package. Your interior file contains the pages readers turn. Your cover is a separate full-wrap file containing the back cover, spine, and front cover. KDP needs both.
Use Word, HTML, or plain text for manuscript handoff
Sometimes you are not publishing yet. You are handing the manuscript to an editor, proofreader, formatter, co-writer, agent, or collaborator. In that case, choose the export that makes their work easiest rather than the one that looks most finished.
Pendrilo keeps Word, HTML, and plain-text exports available as basic manuscript downloads, including for accounts that have expired. These are practical working formats, not final retail files.
Word: best for tracked editorial work
Use Word when your editor or proofreader expects a document they can mark up with comments and tracked changes. Ask what version or format they prefer before exporting. “Word file” is often shorthand for a familiar editorial workflow, not a guarantee that every feature will transfer perfectly.
Send a clean copy with a clear filename, such as Last-Train-Home_manuscript_2026-04-15.docx. Include the version date. If you have sent earlier drafts, a date and version label prevent the classic problem of two people editing different files.
Do not use a Word export as the file you upload to KDP for a complex, carefully typeset edition unless you intend to format it further in Word. It is a handoff format, not a promise of final page design.
HTML: best for technical handoff or a web workflow
HTML is useful when a web developer, formatter, or technically minded collaborator needs structured, portable content. It can be easier to inspect, transform, or bring into another publishing workflow than a heavily styled word-processing file.
For example, a formatter building a custom ebook may ask for HTML because headings, paragraphs, and lists can be identified and converted more reliably than visual spacing in a document file. If they request HTML, ask whether they also want your cover, fonts, image assets, and a style guide.
Plain text: best for the words alone
Plain text strips the manuscript down to its words. It is useful for a writing backup, an import into a minimalist app, or a collaborator who explicitly asks for unformatted text. It is not suitable when headings, italics, ornamental scene breaks, citations, or precise layout matter.
Think of it as an emergency-compatible copy. Almost any system can open it, but it cannot carry the design decisions that make a book look like a finished book.
Use JSON for a personal backup, not for reader delivery
JSON is the export to choose when your priority is preservation. A Pendrilo JSON export is a portable personal backup of your book data. It is not a reader-friendly manuscript and not a publishing format.
Keep JSON files somewhere outside the server that runs your writing studio: an encrypted external drive you control, a reputable cloud storage account, or both. Use a simple backup rhythm. For an active draft, export after major revisions or at least once a week. For a manuscript entering editing or production, create a dated backup before every substantial change.
A useful naming pattern is:
Book-Title_backup_2026-04-15_before-copyedit.json
That label tells you what the file contains and why it exists. “Final” does not. Most authors create several finals.
Pendrilo also supports per-book snapshots, which are point-in-time copies you can restore within the app. Snapshots are helpful while working, but they should not be your only backup plan. A downloadable JSON export gives you an off-server copy. Remember that comments are separate editorial records: they survive snapshot restoration but are stripped from published exports.
Use MP3 or WAV only to proof your manuscript by ear
Pendrilo can generate neural text-to-speech audiobook files as a full-book MP3 with chapter markers or as WAV files per chapter. These exports are valuable for catching problems that your eyes glide past: repeated words, missing dialogue tags, abrupt scene changes, clumsy sentences, and a character name that has accidentally changed spelling.
Choose MP3 when you want a convenient personal listening copy. It is compressed, smaller, and easy to play on a phone during a walk or commute. Choose WAV when you need an uncompressed file for closer audio inspection or a workflow that specifically asks for WAV files. Per-chapter WAV files can also make it easier to recheck one revised chapter without listening through the entire book.
These files are for proofing and personal listening, not commercial audiobook sale. Do not upload them to ACX as a substitute for narration. ACX requires human narration, and Amazon’s rules for AI-generated audio change regularly. Amazon’s Virtual Voice service, where available, is a separate platform workflow connected to Kindle ebooks rather than a place to upload a Pendrilo MP3 or WAV export.
Use audio proofing late enough that your chapter order and major revisions are stable, but early enough that you can still fix what you hear. A productive approach is to listen with the manuscript open and keep a short correction list. Then make the changes in Pendrilo, regenerate the audio only if you need another pass, and export your final EPUB or print PDF from the corrected manuscript.
Pick the export by the next action
If you are unsure, ask one question: What will happen to this file next?
- A reader will use an ereader or reading app: export EPUB.
- You are uploading a physical interior to KDP or another printer: export a paperback interior PDF.
- You need a fixed-layout review or printer-ready document: export a print-ready PDF.
- An editor or collaborator needs to change or annotate the manuscript: export Word, or use HTML or plain text if they request it.
- You need a portable archival copy: export JSON.
- You want to hear the manuscript for your own revision pass: export MP3 or WAV.
Exporting is most reliable when your source manuscript is organized first. Keep front matter, body chapters, and back matter in their proper sections; use consistent chapter titles; and let generated elements such as the title page, copyright page, and contents page draw from accurate book metadata. Then each output has a clear job rather than becoming another version to manage.
If you want one workspace for drafting, formatting, reader feedback, and these publishing exports, you can try Pendrilo with a free account. The important part is not producing every available file. It is producing the one your next reader, retailer, printer, or collaborator can actually use.
