How to Create a Table of Contents for Your Book (Ebook and Print)

The table of contents is one of those parts of a book that seems simple until you try to make one properly. The catch is that a book actually needs two different tables of contents, and they do different jobs. Getting them right is the difference between a book that feels professional and one that gets rejected at upload.

Two Tables of Contents, Two Jobs

In an ebook, the table of contents is a navigation tool. Every entry is a link the reader taps to jump straight to that chapter. There are no page numbers, because ebooks reflow and have no fixed pages.

In a print book, the table of contents is the opposite. It lists chapter titles alongside page numbers, and nothing is clickable because it's paper. The page numbers have to be correct for the final laid-out book.

Because these two versions are so different, trying to reuse one for the other is where most problems start.

The Ebook Table of Contents

Every ebook needs a linked table of contents, and retailers like Amazon KDP will flag or reject books that don't have one that works.

There are actually two layers to it. There's the visible contents page the reader sees, and there's a behind-the-scenes navigation file that powers the reading device's built-in "go to" menu. Both need to point to the right chapters.

The most common mistake is building the ebook contents page by hand, typing chapter names and trying to link them manually. It almost always breaks, because the links have to reference the exact internal locations of each chapter. This is a job to let software handle.

The Print Table of Contents

The print table of contents needs chapter titles on the left and the correct page numbers on the right, usually with the numbers aligned down a clean column.

The difficulty is that page numbers are only known once the whole book is laid out at its final trim size. Change the font, the margins, or a chapter length, and the page numbers can shift. That is why a print contents page should be generated from the finished layout, not typed in early and forgotten.

What to Include

Keep the table of contents focused on what a reader wants to navigate to: chapters, and major parts if your book has them.

Front matter such as the title page, copyright page, and dedication is normally left out of the contents, because nobody navigates to the copyright page. In nonfiction, you may include an introduction, and back matter like an appendix or an author's note can appear if it's useful. Fiction contents are usually just the chapters.

Common Mistakes

• Building the ebook contents by hand instead of generating it, so the links don't work.
• Including every front matter page, which clutters the list.
• Leaving old page numbers in the print contents after the layout changed.
• Forgetting the hidden ebook navigation file, so the device's "go to" menu is empty.

Let the Tool Build It

The reliable approach is to structure your book into proper chapters and let your formatting tool generate both tables of contents for you. Koberger builds the linked ebook contents and the hidden navigation automatically from your chapters, and produces a correct print contents with accurate page numbers when you export your PDF. You organise the chapters once, and both versions come out right.

Bottom Line

Your book needs a linked, navigational contents for the ebook and a page-numbered contents for print, and they aren't interchangeable. Don't build either by hand. Structure your chapters cleanly, let the software generate the contents from that structure, and you'll avoid the single most common reason ebooks get bounced at upload.