a) Using Calibre to create an ebook from Word

Please follow these instructions to create an ebook from word - the following is for 2010 edition of Microsoft Word:

1. In Word choose 'File > Save As' and select 'Web Page Filtered' from the drop down next to 'Save as Type'.
2. Word will then switch to display the 'html' file - DO NOT EDIT THIS!  If the file does not look the same as your Word doc (ignoring page sizes - these are irrelevant to ebooks) then see (b) below.
   
3. If you have embedded fonts see d below before continuing
   
4. Open Calibre and create an empty book in your library (if you have not already done so).
5. Select book and then click 'Edit metadata' icon
   
6. Delete all the existing files from the top right pane to ensure a clear working environment
7. Click the 'Red Book +' icon.
8. Navigate to the correct folder and select the .html file you created in step 1
9. You should have a 'ZIP' file now in the top right pane
10. Click 'OK'
11. Click 'Convert Books' icon
12. Choose the book file of choice (amazon accepts .mobi and .epub files)

NOTE: Be careful not to edit the HTML file created in word by word - remember to close the html file down in word after 'save as' and re-open the '.doc(x)' file for editing instead!

b) Correcting Text Formatting Issues - Using Styles

If the text of your book seems inconsistent and it doesn't match how it looks within Word - you need to start using styles!

All text should be assigned a style in MS Word, the properties of the style determines how the book is shown on the kindle devices.  You should NEVER use the 'font' drop downs (except for underline, bold and italics) or the text formatting icons to change how the text will be displayed on the kindle; the kindle generally ignores all of these style 'overrides'.  If you want your book to look similar to how it is within Word, change the style instead of changing the text.  If you want certain text to look different, for example to stop indenting the first line of a paragraph, you should create a new style and use that.  You should also avoid the use of the 'Tab' key. - use styles to achieve the same effect.

c) Embedding Images without loss of Quality

If you want to embed images within your documents the best way to do this is to link to the original image file as follows (Microsoft Word 2010):

1. Place cursor where you would like the image
2. Choose 'Insert > Picture'.
3. Navigate to correct folder that your image is stored within and click on file to select it
4. Change the pulldown that says 'Insert' to 'Link to File'
5. The picture is now embedded as a link

What the above does, is that when you save your doc as 'html' (see a) instead of creating a 'new' compressed version of the image file that you inserted it just includes the original file - that way you avoid any compression that Word would have done for you.

d) Embedding Fonts (for Kindle Generation 3 or later)

Okay this one is a little more tricky - I'll see if I can remember what I did!

1. Ensure that the font you want to use is able to be distributed within your ebook without breaking any license restrictions.
2. Ensure the font is assigned to an appropriate style (see b)
3. After you have saved your document as html (see a) copy the 'ttl' file of the font into the <filename>_files folder that was created in step a1)
4. Follow steps in a) above
5. Switch to Calibre and select 'Convert Books'
6. Select 'Look & Feel'
7. Tick the box next to 'Embed referenced fonts'
8. Click OK to create your ebook file (note: choose 'epub' if you want to be able to upload this to KDP).

NOTE: Some kindles, for example the 'kindle keyboard' (3rd Gen) do not automatically show the publisher chosen fonts to be used in the book.  You will need to select 'Publisher Font: on' in the text menu on the kindle within the book for them to be displayed.

e) Generating a Table of Contents

Calibre can create a table of contents automatically for you and embed this at the end of the book, here's how.
Each TOC entry must be associated with a 'Heading n' style in word, where 'n' is the indentatation level starting with 1, for example for a single level 1 heading:

1. Select the text you want as a heading
2. Select 'Heading 1' as the style for the heading.  (note: If you dont like the look of the heading - change it! - right click it and choose 'modify style')
3. Save as html as before (a)
4. In Calibre choose 'Convert Books'
5. Choose 'Table of Contents'
6. Select the text box under 'Level 1 TOC (Xpath expression):' and enter the following:  //h:h1
7. Repeat if you have level 2 TOCs, but replace with, for example: //h:h2
8. Click OK to regenerate your ebook file
   

f) Removing 'white boxes' around Images

If your images are displayed within ''white boxes' it is because they have not had a background transparency set, or the image file does not support transparency.  I have found that it is best to say images as '.png' files that have a transparent background.  GIF files also support transparency, but I have had issues with corrupt images using this format when displayed on my Kindle 3.

I read somewhere that some kindles discard the transparency if the image file is too big - if this occurs try reducing the size of the image using image editing software.

Addendum: I have just discovered that the epub file uploaded to KDP adds the white boxes back to the .png images!!  However I have also discovered a workround but it is complicated.  Please get in touch for details.

Adendum

OK - Just discovered a major flaw with the above, KDP unf