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Markdown Formatting Guide

How to structure your manuscript for beautiful EPUBs

EbookFormatter converts your markdown files into beautiful EPUB ebooks. This guide shows you how to structure your manuscript for the best results. If you're weighing your options first, see how to convert markdown to EPUB — Pandoc, online converters, and one-click tools compared.

Basic Structure

Front Matter (Optional)

Start your file with YAML front matter to set metadata:

---
title: My Amazing Book
author: Jane Author
---

Chapters

Use # Heading (H1) to create chapters. Each H1 becomes a new chapter:

# Chapter One

This is the first chapter content...

# Chapter Two

This is the second chapter...

Special Page Types

You can tag chapters with special page types using {.page-type} syntax. For what each of these pages is and where it belongs, see the parts of a book in order.

Title Page

# My Book Title {.title-page}

by Jane Author

The title appears at the top, with your content (author name, tagline, etc.) at the bottom.

Copyright Page

# Copyright {.copyright}

Copyright © 2025 Jane Author

All rights reserved...

Not sure what belongs here? See what to put on an ebook copyright page — templates for fiction and nonfiction, and the ISBN question answered.

Dedication

# {.dedication}

For my family

The heading is hidden (since "Dedication" is implied), and the text is centered.

Epigraph

# {.epigraph}

> "A quote goes here."
> — Famous Person

Centered quote before the main content.

Table of Contents

# Contents {.toc}

Auto-generates a clickable table of contents linking to all chapters.

Front/Back Matter

Non-numbered sections (won't show "Chapter X"):

# Foreword {.foreword}
# Introduction {.introduction}
# Preface {.preface}
# Prologue {.prologue}
# Epilogue {.epilogue}
# Afterword {.afterword}

About the Author

# About the Author {.about}

Jane Author is a writer...

Also By This Author

# Also By Jane Author {.also-by}

Book One
Book Two
Book Three

Bibliography

# Bibliography {.bibliography}

Author Name. *Book Title*. Publisher, Year.

Markdown Features Supported

Paragraphs

EbookFormatter supports both common styles. Use a single line break for a visible line break within a paragraph, or leave a blank line to start a new paragraph:

This is paragraph one.
This line continues with a hard line break.

This is paragraph two.

Formatting

• Bold: **bold text** or __bold text__
• Italic: *italic text* or _italic text_
• Inline code: `code`

Blockquotes

> This is a quote.
> It can span multiple lines.

Lists

Unordered:

- Item one
- Item two
- Item three

Ordered:

1. First item
2. Second item
3. Third item

Links & Images

[Link text](https://example.com)
![Alt text](image.jpg)

Scene Breaks

Use three dashes, asterisks, or underscores:

---

This creates a decorative scene break (symbol depends on your chosen theme). For the full picture — the markdown that works, what it renders as in the EPUB, and the Kindle failures to avoid — see how to format scene breaks in an ebook.

Subheadings

Use ## Heading (H2) or ### Heading (H3) within chapters:

# Chapter Title

## Section One

Content here...

### Subsection

More content...

Recommended Structure

Here's a typical novel structure:

---
title: My Novel
author: Jane Author
---

# {.title-page}

by Jane Author

# Copyright {.copyright}

Copyright © 2025 Jane Author. All rights reserved.

# {.dedication}

For those who believed.

# Prologue {.prologue}

The night was dark...

# Chapter One

The story begins...

# Chapter Two

...continues...

# Epilogue {.epilogue}

Years later...

# About the Author {.about}

Jane Author lives in...

Tips

• One H1 per chapter — Don't use multiple H1s within the same chapter
• Empty heading for page types — Use # {.dedication} if you don't want a visible title
• Scene breaks — Use --- for scene transitions within chapters
• First paragraph — Formatting automatically handles drop caps and special styling for chapter openings (if your theme supports it). For how drop caps actually render across Kindle and other devices, see how to add drop caps to an ebook

What's Not Supported

• HTML tags (they'll be escaped and show as text)
• Tables (use lists instead)
• Footnotes (include them inline or as endnotes)
• Custom CSS or styling

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