One Validated EPUB for Apple Books, Kobo & Google Play
Build one clean EPUB 3 from your Word manuscript and use the same ebook file across the major stores outside Amazon.
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Your manuscript stays yours. Deleted after 24 hours on Free, or 7 days after unlock. Never used to train models. How your manuscript is processed
No manuscript handy? — it runs through exactly the same pipeline as your own file.
- docx in
- one epub 3
- three storefronts
- epubcheck validated
Wide publishing
One file. Three storefronts
Apple Books, Kobo and Google Play Books all take EPUB, so the ebook itself does not change between them. What differs is where you upload it and what each dashboard asks for alongside it.
your-book.epub
Apple Books
- EPUB
- Apple Books Connect
- Accepts the file as built
Kobo
- EPUB
- Kobo Writing Life
- Accepts the file as built
Google Play
- EPUB
- Play Books Partner Center
- Accepts the file as built
The differences that remain
Where the stores differ
| Kobo Writing Life | Apple Books | Google Play Books | |
|---|---|---|---|
| File accepted | EPUB, or a Word file it converts (unverified) | EPUB 2 or EPUB 3 | .epub or .pdf — nothing else |
| Validation | Not confirmed | Must pass the most recent EPUBCheck | Must be validated by EPUBCheck |
| File size | Not confirmed | Under 1 GB advised; 2 GB maximum | Under 2 GB per file, cover included |
| Cover | Not confirmed | PNG or JPEG, RGB, at least 1,400 px on the short side | JPEG, PNG, TIFF or PDF; 640–7,200 px |
| Upload | Kobo Writing Life dashboard | Apple Books for Authors, or iTunes Producer | Partner Center; bulk files named by ISBN |
Two of these columns are verified; one is not
Apple's and Google's figures come from their own partner documentation, read on the date shown at the foot of this page. Kobo's help pages returned an error to every attempt to read them, so its column is what its FAQ is widely reported to say and is labelled as such. Check Kobo Writing Life directly before you rely on it.
All three revise their requirements without telling anyone. What we can be precise about is the file: a validated EPUB 3 with real navigation is what every one of them is built to accept, and it is the thing Apple and Google both say they will check.
Which kind of book
Reflowable, not fixed-layout
Everything here produces a reflowable ebook — text that rewraps to the reader's screen and type size. That is right for most books and wrong for some, and the distinction is worth settling before you format anything.
Supported
- Novels
- Memoirs and biography
- Most non-fiction
- Poetry, with spacing preserved
Needs fixed layout — not supported
- Picture books
- Comics and graphic novels
- Highly designed cookbooks
- Anything where the page is the unit of design
Where next
Publishing on Amazon as well?
Most people do both. Amazon accepts EPUB too, but the Kindle formatter also produces a Word file for Kindle Create, which is the route KDP documents — so it is worth its own pass rather than reusing this file.
Publishing on Amazon too?
Format for KindleChecking a file you already have?
Starting from Word?
Printing a paperback?
Questions
Publishing wide, answered
Do I need a different file for each store?
No, and that is the main thing worth knowing. Apple Books, Kobo and Google Play Books all read EPUB — one validated EPUB 3 uploads to all three. What differs is the portal you upload through and the metadata each asks for on the way, not the book.
Why does validation matter more here than on Amazon?
Because Amazon converts. Upload to KDP and it is turned into Amazon's own format, and that conversion is fairly forgiving of a messy file. These three distribute much closer to what you hand them, so problems in the file are problems in the book. Apple in particular is known for rejecting EPUBs that do not pass validation. Every file this tool produces is checked with EPUBCheck before you download it.
What is publishing “wide”?
Selling everywhere rather than only on Amazon. KDP Select asks for ebook exclusivity in exchange for Kindle Unlimited inclusion and some promotional tools; going wide means giving that up and selling on Apple, Kobo, Google and others as well. It is a real trade-off with no universal answer — but if you go wide, you need a file that is not Amazon-shaped.
Should I upload directly or use an aggregator?
Direct means three portals, three sets of metadata and three payouts, and the full royalty. An aggregator such as Draft2Digital or PublishDrive does it once and takes a cut. Either way the file is the same, which is what this page is about — the distribution decision does not change the formatting.
Do I need an ISBN?
It depends on the store and it changes, so check each one's current requirements rather than trusting a formatting tool on it. What is stable: an ISBN you own keeps the imprint yours across every store, whereas a free one from a retailer is usually tied to that retailer.
What about fixed-layout books?
Not supported here. Illustrated books, children's picture books and anything where the page is a designed unit need fixed-layout EPUB, which is a different document model rather than a setting. Everything this tool makes is reflowable, which is right for novels and most non-fiction and wrong for a picture book.
Checked against the source
The requirements on this page are published by the organisations below, not by us. We last read them in September 2026 and compared them against what the tool produces. If a requirement has changed since, the source is right and we are wrong — tell us and we will fix it.
- Apple Books — Prepare your book — Apple Books Partner Support·September 2026
- Google Play Books — Book file guidelines — Partner Center Help·September 2026
- W3C — EPUB 3.3 — W3C Recommendation·September 2026
- W3C / DAISY Consortium — EPUBCheck·September 2026
Create my wide EPUB
One validated EPUB 3 from the .docx you already have, ready for Apple Books, Kobo and Google Play.
Create my wide EPUB