Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by michael n. marcus on February 10, 2012 at 4:00am

Why not pay a pro to do the work for you?

I've been extremely pleased with eBookIt.com, and have heard good things about BookBaby. I paid eBookIt just $149, and they converted my Word docs into the major ebook formats and provide worldwide distribution through the major booksellers. The company is very good to work with, it works fast, I'm pleased with the way my books look, and the money comes in every month.

I'd much rather write and market my books than experiment with conversions. $149 is a tiny fee - - especially compared to the cost of wasted time. Ebook conversion and distribution are basic parts of publishing, like design, editing and promotion -- and cost much less. Instead of wasting more time, pay the $149 to a specialist and start selling some books. You don't have to sell a lot of books to make back the money. (BookBaby charges just $99, but I have no experience with the company.)

The story of my ebook education is at http://bookmakingblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/more-details-about-my-eb...

Michael N. Marcus

 

-- http://www.BookMakingBlog.blogspot.com
-- http://www.BookFur.com (information, help and book reviews for authors)
-- Create Better Books, with the Silver Sands Publishing Series: http://www.silversandsbooks.com/booksaboutpublishing.html

-- Just out: deluxe hardcover edition of  "Stories I'd Tell My Children (but maybe not until they're adults)," http://www.amazon.com/dp/0983057249

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Permalink Reply by Ande Anderson on February 10, 2012 at 8:34am

Thanks.  But, I did say "suggestions, other than paying someone else".  I found the Pubit Formating Guide helpful and has provided some of the answers.

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Permalink Reply by Bradley Flora on February 10, 2012 at 12:51pm

Ande,

Have you tried the Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) platform?

https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/signin

I've heard only good things about it, and admittedly, most of those private testimonials have been rather superficial. I'd love to hear your thoughts with regard to it.

Beyond that I'd love to hear, in as much detail as you have time to share, how the Pubit Formatting Guide has helped clarify the conversion process.

In regard to Marcus' post, I think he had some good all-around advice, which basically distills down to "you get what you pay for". I know that even $99 may not be possible (or that their may be other reasons for retaining control of the process), and that time may be more plentiful than cash, but keep in mind that you can develop a much  more robust product by working outside of the more generic converters.

And maybe that is part of what you want to do: learn how to create ePub files on your own that actually look good.

This makes me think of Fine Art, in which it was once told to me that a Master (of a Fine Art medium) is one who "retains complete control over their given process".

Is that something that resonates with you?

From a business standpoint, the cost of conversion has the potential to produce a quality R.O.I.

But if you are looking to make eBooks, and be an artist about it, than walking this learning curve may produce its own rewards.

Bradley Flora

Executive Director

SPANnet.org

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Permalink Reply by michael n. marcus on February 12, 2012 at 3:16am

>>I know that even $99 may not be possible (or that their may be other reasons for retaining control of the process)

(1) If a writer cannot afford $99 for ebook conversion, she or he probably did not pay for professional editing and design, and I would expect a terrible book.

(2) My first books were published by Doubleday and another "traditional" publisher. I was not happy with the results.  The main reason I decided to publish my own books is because I want complete control (everything from title choice to interior formatting), but I did not lose control by having eBookIt do formatting for me. The company does everything I want.

 

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Permalink Reply by Ande Anderson on February 13, 2012 at 8:09am

Thanks to all.  I am on the bottom floor and have volunteered to help publish ebooks for non-profit organizations and individuals.

I have extensive knowledge in HTML and CSS.  I do website designs and hosting.  I am no stranger to the different eBook formats.  The only two which do not appear to have any proper documentation are the 'New' ePub and Kindle 'Mobi' formats.  I did 'Mobi', and other older eBook formats,  some years ago with no problem.

I have been trying different things, such as the Kindle (KDP) system.  Like everything else, the better prepared the layout is the better the final product.  Kindles converter is the KindleGen, which is an obsolete command line product and is very difficult to use.  Unless you save everything to your Desktop and stick to the old DOS command limitations of a maximum 8-character directory and filename.  And, as always, if there is one item which the Kindle format does not like the out put is garbage.  Finding documentation for the Kindle requirements is about impossible.  They do not follow the old Mobi formatting guidelines.  There were changes made to make it a Proprietary Amazon Product.

I did find the PubIt PDF formatting guideline to be very helpful for the ePub format.

I thought it might be worth a shot to ask here.

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Permalink Reply by Rick Carufel on October 2, 2012 at 2:47pm

Smashwords.com publishes your work in all the ebook formats.  This can be done for free.  the formatting of your manuscript has to meet certain criteria such as all the extraneous spaces must be removed.  I've noticed in my formatting service that most writers reflexively add two spaces at the end of a paragraph before hitting enter.  Every one of those spaces need to be removed to pass.  Spaces cannot be used to indent paragraphs nor tabs, this must be done with the paragraph formatting tool.   Many people don't want to go through an entire book and make these corrections so they pay me $100 to do it.

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Permalink Reply by Bradley Flora on August 9, 2012 at 7:04pm

I know we've been talking about KDP in this post, and I just wanted to crosslink to another post, which has a very intersting perspective on the KDP program:

http://www.spannet.org/profiles/blogs/a-spanking-from-kindle-direct...

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Permalink Reply by AlkiNea on August 14, 2012 at 1:58am

Hi,

After writing my kid's novel (Kea, The Third Way) I tried to convert it for kindle and nook.
I found it difficult, and the result was quite bland.
So I decided to write my own converter from LibreOffice (OpenOffice) to nook (ePUB) and kindle (mobi).
It's designed to be very easy to use (no need to learn HTML).
You can try it here:
    Alkinea

Of course, it's free. It runs on Windows and OS X.
It's still in beta and I'd love some feedback.

Thanks!
Alki

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Permalink Reply by Walter Judson Moore on August 14, 2012 at 3:32am

I agree with Bradley Flora that the KDP platform works well. For EPUB, try Lulu .com. I have published 11 books with these platforms with no problems except my own learning curve.

Any comments on the maximum resolution/size of graphics (JPG).

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Permalink Reply by Bradley Flora on August 18, 2012 at 5:52pm

Walter,

I did a little bit of research to confirm my own hunches on max and minimum graphic sizes and here's some web sites that you might find useful in that regard:

Image Resolution for iPad publishing -This post has lots of good info about the technical requirements of publishing in inDesign to an iPad. The comments expand on the topic and bring up lots of good anecdotal information about resolution and screen sizes.

Ideal resolution for pictures when designing for iPad - This article builds on the information mentioned above and goes into more detail on the technical shifts occurring (with the higher-res screens coming out now) and why focusing on pixel count, instead of resolution will help to save some headaches.

Hope this helps!

Bradley Flora

Executive Director

SPANnet.org

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Permalink Reply by Walter Judson Moore on August 19, 2012 at 3:17am

The information about using images when publishing for Kindle and for iPad looks to be what I wanted to know and that I will implement. I use many photos and graphics/maps in my cycling guidebooks. I published all but 1 of the 5 print guides in Kindle and iPad last December. Those versions now account for 70% of my sales. The more I learn the more fun this writing/book crafting/publishing becomes.

Thanks Brad

Walter Judson Moore

Bicycle Your France Guidebooks

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Permalink Reply by Bradley Flora on August 22, 2012 at 6:41pm

You're welcome Walter! Glad I could help.

~B

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