Resources Formatting Guides
How to Format Text Messages in a Book
How to write and format text message conversations in a book so they read like a real chat, in both ebook and print, without using blurry screenshots.
Text messages have become part of the language of modern fiction. Romance, young adult, thrillers, and literary novels all use them, because a phone screen is where so much of real life now happens. The challenge is formatting them so a reader instantly recognises a text exchange, without breaking the flow of the story or the layout of the book. This guide covers the two main approaches and how to make either one look right in both ebook and print.
| Approach | Looks like | Works in | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plain text with labels | Styled narration | Everything | Occasional, short exchanges |
| Styled conversation (chat bubbles) | A phone screen | Ebook and print, if built properly | Books that text often, or where it matters |
Approach 1: Plain text
The simplest option is to set text messages as ordinary paragraphs, usually in italics, with a short label for who is speaking. It always works, in every format, and it never breaks. The trade-off is that it is plain: it reads as narration rather than as a conversation, and a long back and forth can blur together. Keep each message short, label the sender the first few times so the reader can follow who is who, and use italics consistently to separate the texts from the surrounding prose.
Approach 2: Styled conversation blocks
The more immersive option is to format the exchange as chat bubbles, so it looks like the screen of a phone: one person's messages aligned to one side, the other's to the opposite side. Done well, a reader recognises it in an instant, and it gives a scene the same quick, clipped rhythm that texting has in real life.
There is one important rule here: the conversation must be built with real formatting, not inserted as a screenshot or image. An image of a text exchange looks blurry on high-resolution screens, does not reflow when a reader changes the font size, fails accessibility checks because the words are not real text, and can even cause problems at upload. A properly built conversation is made of actual text styled to look like bubbles, so it stays sharp, reflows to any device, and reads correctly everywhere.
Getting it right
Whichever approach you choose, a few things make the difference between a text exchange that works and one that trips the reader up. Keep exchanges short and purposeful, because a real scene rarely needs thirty messages. Distinguish the two senders clearly, by side and by subtle contrast, so no one has to work out who said what. Make sure it stays readable on a small ebook screen, not just on your monitor. And always check the result in both an ebook preview and a print preview, since a conversation that looks fine in one can crowd the page in the other.
How Koberger formats text conversations
Koberger has a built-in Text conversation block for exactly this. You add a conversation, type each message, and choose which side each sender sits on, and Koberger renders it as styled chat bubbles made of real text, not an image. That means it stays crisp, reflows to any screen, and exports cleanly to validated EPUB, print-ready PDF, and DOCX. You can adjust the bubble fill, width, and alignment to match your book's design, and preview exactly how the conversation will look before you export anything.
Whichever approach you choose, the test is the same: a reader should know it is a text exchange at a glance, and it should look right on every device. You can format text conversations with Koberger for free and preview them in your browser, then compare it against the paid desktop tools in our roundup of the best book formatting software.
Frequently asked questions
How do you format a text message in a book?
Two ways: as plain paragraphs, usually italic, with a short label for who is texting, or as styled chat bubbles that look like a phone screen. For bubbles, build them with proper formatting rather than inserting a screenshot, so they stay crisp and reflow in ebooks. Koberger has a built-in Text conversation block that does this for you.
Should text messages be italicised in a book?
If you format them as plain paragraphs, italics are the common way to set them apart from the surrounding narration. If you use styled chat bubbles, italics are not needed, because the bubble shape and alignment already mark the text as a conversation.
How do you show a phone conversation in a novel?
Show each person's messages on opposite sides of the page, like a real messaging app, so the back and forth is obvious at a glance. Keep the exchange short and purposeful. A dedicated conversation block, such as Koberger's, renders this as reflowable chat bubbles that work in both ebook and print.
Do text message bubbles work in ebooks?
Yes, as long as they are built with real formatting rather than inserted as an image. A proper conversation block reflows to the reader's screen and font size and stays sharp, while an image of a text exchange looks blurry, fails accessibility checks, and can cause upload problems. Koberger's Text conversation block is built this way for exactly that reason.