# Index and Table of Contents needed for epub?



## writestuff1 (Nov 1, 2017)

I'm writing a non-fiction manuscript headed for epub, and want to know if I should be generating a Table of Contents and Index in my MS Word file, or do epub converters auto-generate these at publication time.


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## Terry D (Nov 1, 2017)

You need to do it, but most epub services will walk you through the process at the time of publication.


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## aj47 (Nov 1, 2017)

There's a free video from Smashwords on how to it for Smashwords.  I don't know how other electronic publishers do it.  I recommend you seek advice from whomever you're intending to publish with as it may vary.


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## writestuff1 (Nov 1, 2017)

I found that Amazon requires a Table of Contents for Kindle (  ), but it seems that e-readers rely on 'search' functions for the Index.

So, yes on ToC and no on Index -- is that the consensus? I'll happily do both on the prospect of hard-copy publishing, so long as index tags don't get in the way of epub converters.


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## writestuff1 (Nov 1, 2017)

Thanks for the replies -- but my dilemma is that I haven't chosen an epublisher yet, and may go with several for more exposure (unless that's a no-no); I'd hate to learn that they all have different requirements, as it'd be tedious doing this multiple times for a long manuscript, especially indexing.


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## moderan (Nov 1, 2017)

You're gonna hate it. They all have different requirements. Smashwords is a four-letter word.
Wait til you start doing .mobi files too


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