Free
$0
For trying it on your own book
- Import, all designs and the live preview
- The full Publish-Ready Check
- Proof PDF with a PROOF watermark
Book formatting on autopilot · Coming soon
Upload your Word file. Get files ready for Amazon KDP, IngramSpark and Draft2Digital.
BoundReady turns your manuscript into a print-ready PDF, an EPUB and a cover with the exact spine. It checks each file against the platforms’ published rules and walks you through every upload. All in your browser, on Windows or Mac.
- Free until you download
- $39 per book or $199 lifetime
- 30-day money-back guarantee
Files and upload guides for the platforms indie authors use
- Amazon KDP Paperback, hardcover and Kindle e-book
- IngramSpark Paperback, hardcover and e-book for bookstores and libraries
- Draft2Digital E-book and print, delivered to Apple Books, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Google Play and libraries
How it works
From manuscript to upload in eight clear steps
You set up the first four once. After that, your book opens straight to the preview, and you can return to any step whenever you like.
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Upload
Drop in your Word file (.docx; Markdown and plain text work too) and choose the book’s language.
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Structure
BoundReady finds chapters, parts, scene breaks, footnotes, tables and images, and asks only about the doubtful bits.
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Look
Pick a design made for your genre, shown on your own first chapter rather than sample text.
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Formats
Choose platforms and editions: paperback, hardcover, Kindle and other e-book stores, plus trim size and paper.
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Review
Page through the real PDF in your browser and fix small things in place. For bigger edits, update Word and upload again. Your settings stay.
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Cover
Upload your front cover or design a simple one. BoundReady builds the full wrap with the exact spine.
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Check
The Publish-Ready Check tests every file against each platform’s published rules, in plain English.
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Files + guides
Download your PDF, EPUB and cover, plus step-by-step upload guides with your book’s exact values.
Features
Everything between “final draft” and “published”
BoundReady does the work you would otherwise hire a formatter for, then checks it, then tells you exactly what to do on each platform.
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Autopilot import, even for messy manuscripts
Rules recognize your book’s structure from an ordinary Word file. For truly ambiguous lines, optional AI help suggests an answer, and you confirm it. Re-upload a new draft any time without losing your settings.
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The preview is the final PDF
What you see in the browser is your print file, page for page. Line breaks, page breaks and page numbers don’t move when you download.
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Publish-Ready Check
Trim and page size, bleed, margins and gutter for your page count, fonts, image resolution, page limits, spine width and EPUB validity, checked before you upload.
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Non-fiction that holds together
Tables that split cleanly across pages, real footnotes in print and pop-up notes in e-books, callouts, captions and headings down to level four.
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A cover with the exact spine
Upload your front cover or start from a simple designer. The full print wrap, spine included, updates whenever your page count changes.
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Step-by-step upload guides
What to pick and what to type in each field on KDP, IngramSpark and Draft2Digital, filled in with your book’s real trim, paper and page count.
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Six book languages
English, Spanish, German, French, Italian and Portuguese, each with proper hyphenation, quotation marks and spacing.
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Windows or Mac, nothing to install
Works in Chrome, Edge, Safari and Firefox. All the heavy lifting happens on our servers, so an everyday laptop is plenty.
Fiction and non-fiction
Typeset like a book, not a word processor
Justified text with careful hyphenation, no stray lines at the top or bottom of a page, and chapter openings that look deliberate.
- Tables with header rows that repeat when they continue on the next page
- Real footnotes at the foot of the page in print, pop-up notes in e-books
- Callouts, image captions and headings down to the fourth level
- Scene breaks, front and back matter, and running heads for fiction
- Roman page numbers in the front matter and chapters that start on a right-hand page
The page on the left is a real render of sample text written for this site, at 6 × 9 in.
Publish-Ready Check
Know before you upload
Rejections usually come from small, checkable things: margins that are too narrow for the page count, a page size that doesn’t match the trim, a low-resolution image, a spine that is a few pages off.
BoundReady checks your files against the published requirements of each platform you choose, explains every issue in plain English and shows you where to fix it. The minimum gutter is recalculated from your final page count automatically.
Platforms make the final call, and they also review things a file check can’t see, such as your content and metadata. We show you exactly what was checked, so there are no surprises from the file rules.
Publish-Ready Check
- Passed: Page size 6.125 × 9.25 in 6 × 9 in trim with bleed
- Passed: Inside margin 0.75 in KDP minimum for 318 pages: 0.625 in
- Passed: All fonts embedded 4 fonts, fully embedded
- Needs attention: Image on page 41 is 180 DPI Print needs 300 DPI. Replace it or print it smaller. Go to page
- Passed: Spine 0.795 in 318 pages on cream paper
- Passed: EPUB passes validation No errors, no warnings
Example report. 5 passed, 1 needs attention.
Pricing
Free to format. Pay when you download.
Planned launch prices. See your book finished, checked and ready before you spend anything.
Book Pass
$39 per book
For one book, every edition
- Print PDF and EPUB for every edition of the book
- Cover wrap with the exact spine
- Upload guides for KDP, IngramSpark and Draft2Digital
- Free re-exports when you fix something later
Founders: $149 for the first 500
Author Lifetime
$199 once
For authors with more than one book
- Unlimited books
- Everything in Book Pass
- All version 1 updates
- AI help with messy manuscripts (fair use)
Prices in US dollars. Sales tax or VAT is added at checkout where it applies. 30-day money-back guarantee on every purchase. Payments are processed by Paddle, our reseller and Merchant of Record. See the Refund Policy.
FAQ
Questions authors ask
When can I use BoundReady?
We are building it now. Waitlist members get the first invitations to the beta and the first chance at the Founders price. We’ll email you when it opens; until then, our free KDP margin and spine width calculators are ready to use.
Will Amazon KDP, IngramSpark and Draft2Digital accept my files?
BoundReady builds your files to each platform’s published requirements and checks them before you download: trim and page size, bleed, margins and gutter for your page count, embedded fonts, image resolution, page-count limits, spine width and EPUB validity. Every issue is explained in plain English, and most can be fixed with one click.
The platforms make the final decision, and they also review things no file check can see, such as your content, metadata and cover artwork. So we tell you exactly what we checked instead of promising acceptance.
Do I need a Mac or any software?
No. BoundReady runs in your web browser on Windows or Mac: Chrome, Edge, Safari or Firefox. There is nothing to install, because all the processing happens on our servers. It is designed for a laptop or desktop screen.
What file do I upload?
A Word document (.docx). Markdown and plain text work too. Your manuscript doesn’t need special styles: BoundReady recognizes chapters, parts, scene breaks, footnotes, tables and images, and asks you only about the lines it isn’t sure about.
What does “preview equals final PDF” mean?
The pages you see in your browser are rendered by the same engine that writes your print PDF. Line breaks, page breaks and page numbers stay exactly where you saw them when you download.
What files do I get?
A print-ready interior PDF for each print edition (with a PDF/X-1a version for IngramSpark), an EPUB for Kindle and other e-book stores, and a full cover PDF with the spine sized to your page count and paper. You also get step-by-step upload guides for KDP, IngramSpark and Draft2Digital with your book’s exact values.
Does it handle non-fiction?
Yes. Tables split cleanly across pages, footnotes print as real footnotes and become pop-up notes in e-books, and callouts, image captions and headings down to the fourth level are supported. Fiction gets scene breaks, chapter openings and clean front and back matter.
Which languages can my book be in?
English, Spanish, German, French, Italian and Portuguese, with hyphenation, quotation marks and spacing that follow each language’s conventions. The BoundReady interface is in English.
Is my manuscript used to train AI?
No, never. AI is optional and only helps with ambiguous structure, such as deciding whether a line is a chapter title or a heading. You choose whether to use it, and it sees only the short snippets it needs. Layout and files are produced by our own code.
How much will it cost?
Formatting, previews and the Publish-Ready Check are free. You pay when you download your final files: $39 per book, or $199 once for unlimited books. The first 500 Lifetime buyers pay $149. Prices are in US dollars; sales tax or VAT is added at checkout where it applies.
What if it doesn’t work for me?
Every purchase comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Payments and refunds are handled by Paddle, our reseller and Merchant of Record.
Something else? Email support@boundready.com.
Waitlist
Be first to format your book with BoundReady
Join the waitlist and we’ll invite you as soon as the beta opens.
- Early access before the public launch
- First chance at the Founders price: $149 Lifetime for the first 500 buyers
- A few short emails before launch. Unsubscribe any time.
Meanwhile, try the free KDP margin calculator and spine width calculator.