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    Formatting e-Books for Writers
    Formatting e-Books for Writers
    Formatting e-Books for Writers
    Ebook171 pages1 hour

    Formatting e-Books for Writers

    By Susan K. Stewart

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Winner of 2016 Silver Merit Award for Non-fiction

    While you are writing your book, you think about how it’s going to be published. Many writers are now going directly to Kindle or other e-books. The first problem is how to format it easily without spending a deal of money. The second problem is how to format it without technical know-how. If you know how to use Microsoft Word, you can format your manuscript for e-publishing.

    Susan K. Stewart is a writer, not a programmer. She has written, formatted, and published her own e-books. Formatting e-Books for Writers is written on practical experience and offers step-by-step instructions for taking your manuscript from a Word document to a published Kindle book. The content is based on classes Susan has taught for more than five years for writers and editors.

    You will find steps for:
    How to format your manuscript while you are writing
    Create links and clickable table of contents
    Insert images
    How to format your e-book for a good reader experience
    How to avoid annoying errors
    Troubleshooting tips
    Dozens of resources
    Marketing tips

    Formatting e-Books for Writers includes instructions for Windows and Mac iOS platforms.

    Table of Contents

    Chapter One
    Introduction to E-books
    Micro-history
    Difference between e-book and print books
    File formats
    E-book readers
    Industry changes

    Chapter Two
    Steps to a Good E-book
    Step one - Write a good book
    Step two - Edit a good book
    Step three - Create a great cover
    Step four - Consider the reader

    Chapter Three
    Decisions
    Technical details
    Who is doing the work?
    Distribution channels
    Sidebars, pull quotes, and other extras
    Exclusivity
    Sharing
    Which comes first: print or e-book?

    Chapter Four
    While You Write
    Book information
    Marketing
    Set up accounts
    Price
    Website/blog

    Chapter Five
    The Foundation
    Elements of an e-book

    Chapter Six
    Basic Steps to Formatting
    Begin at the beginning
    Let's begin
    Cleaning up
    Basic starting steps

    Chapter Seven
    Next Formatting Steps
    Inserting page breaks
    Now the small details
    Preparing the table of contents
    Building the table of contents

    Chapter Eight
    Final Formatting Details
    Front matter
    Footnotes
    Website URLs

    Chapter Nine
    Graphics, Text Boxes, Covers
    Images

    Chapter Ten
    Publishing Your E-book
    File type
    Prepare your HTML file
    Uploading your book
    Correcting problems
    Problems after publishing

    Chapter Eleven
    Other Pre-publication Considerations
    Pricing
    Marketing
    Pre-release campaign

    Chapter Twelve
    Troubleshooting
    Test, test, test
    More eyes
    Checklist

    Appendix 1
    Formatting Checklist
    Appendix 2
    E-publishing Terms
    Appendix 3
    Set Up Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) Account
    Appendix 4
    Formatting PDF e-Books
    Appendix 5
    Changes for EPUB files
    Appendix 6
    Metadata and Keywords
    Appendix 7
    Resources

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSusan K. Stewart
    Release dateSep 21, 2016
    ISBN9780976739449
    Formatting e-Books for Writers
    Author

    Susan K. Stewart

    When she’s not tending chickens and peacocks, Susan K. Stewart teaches, writes, and edits non-fiction. She teaches Introduction to e-Publishing, Creating e-Books, and other classes online and at conferences. "Practical Guide: Formatting e-Books for Writers" is Susan’s most recent book. Susan and her husband, Bob, began teaching their children at home in 1981 and are considered pioneers in the modern home education movement. Susan is also the author of "Science in the Kitchen: Fearless Science At Home For All Ages," "Preschool: At What Cost?" www.practicalinspirations.com.

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      Book preview

      Formatting e-Books for Writers - Susan K. Stewart

      A Practical Guide

      Formatting e-Books for Writers

      by

      Susan K. Stewart

      Practical Inspirations

      Luling, Texas

      Practical Inspirations

      P. O. Box 561

      Luling, TX 78648

      www.practicalinspirations.com

      ISBN: 978-0-9767394-4-9

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2016934067

      Copyright 2016 Susan K. Stewart

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, of by any information storage or retrieval system, without the permission of the author.

      Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy and appropriateness of the Internet sites and links mentioned in this book, the author and publisher have no control over and assume no liability for the material available on the Internet sites or other links to which they are connected.

      Table of Contents

      Preface

      Chapter One

      Introduction to E-books

      Micro-history

      Difference between e-books and print books

      File formats

      E-book readers

      Industry changes

      Chapter Two

      Steps to a Good E-book

      Step one - Write a good book

      Step two - Edit a good book

      Step three - Create a great cover

      Step four - Consider the reader

      Chapter Three

      Decisions

      Technical details

      Who is doing the work?

      Distribution channels

      Sidebars, pull quotes, and other extras

      Exclusivity

      Sharing

      Which comes first: print or e-book?

      Chapter Four

      While You Write

      Book information

      Marketing

      Set up accounts

      Price

      Website/blog

      Chapter Five

      The Foundation

      Elements of an e-book

      Chapter Six

      Basic Steps to Formatting

      Begin at the beginning

      Let's begin

      Cleaning up

      Basic starting steps

      Chapter Seven

      Next Formatting Steps

      Inserting page breaks

      Now the small details

      Preparing the table of contents

      Building the table of contents

      Chapter Eight

      Final Formatting Details

      Front matter

      Footnotes

      Website URLs

      Chapter Nine

      Graphics, Text Boxes, Covers

      Images

      Chapter Ten

      Publishing Your E-book

      File type

      Prepare your HTML file

      Uploading your book

      Correcting problems

      Problems after publishing

      Chapter Eleven

      Other Pre-publication Considerations

      Pricing

      Marketing

      Pre-release campaign

      Chapter Twelve

      Troubleshooting

      Test, test, test

      More eyes

      Checklist

      Appendix 1

      Formatting Checklist

      Appendix 2

      E-publishing Terms

      Appendix 3

      Set Up Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) Account

      Appendix 4

      Formatting PDF e-Books

      Appendix 5

      Changes for EPUB files

      Appendix 6

      Metadata and Keywords

      Appendix 7

      Resources

      Endorsements

      Acknowledgements

      About the Author

      Connect with Susan

      Preface

      I’m a hands-on control freak. Not only do I want to learn things, I also want to know what exactly is happening to my projects. When something goes wrong, I want to know why and how to fix it. So I decided to tackle creating my own e-books.

      It began with a simple PDF. At the time, word processors didn’t easily convert or export to PDF files. It required knowing how to use the Adobe products. Well, at least, being able to muddle through the products. (That was me, a muddler.) The PDF e-book looked exactly like my print book and sold well. At the time, there were so many things I didn’t know and learned through hard knocks.

      A few years later, I decided my next book should be a Kindle e-book. Actually it was easier than the original book as a PDF. Of course, I need to work through as problems cropped up. Using the many resources available, I learned an easier way. After my Kindle started selling, I went onto other e-bookstores as well, which meant learning to create an EPUB file also.

      I’ve translated what I learned to help others by converting their products to various e-book files. As I’ve converted files for others, I found many writers would like to at least know the process, how to make it easier for another to make the conversion for them, and possibility go DIY in the future.

      This led to online classes teaching both what e-publishing is and how to easily create and prepare a Word document for conversion to any of the e-book formats. Like my conversion clients, often those who take the class aren’t interested in actually doing the conversion themselves. Instead, they only want to know the process.

      This is the next step in my journey with e-publishing -- a book to help you learn the steps of the process.

      Before we get started, here are a few things to help you as you go through this book. What this book is not:

       a how-to-write book. While a couple of chapters do help you create the best possible product, I assume you at least have a draft manuscript.

       a web design process. There are a number of wonderful resources for creating your webpage, but I’m not the expert in design.

       a business book. There is a chapter on marketing ideas, but I’m a writer, not a business consultant. I know what has worked for me, which I will share.

      What you will find:

       details of formatting your manuscript into a downloadable e-product.

       steps to publishing a Kindle product.

      At the end of each chapter, I’ve included some steps to help you move forward, cleverly called Move Forward. It’s very easy to read through the chapters, put the book down, and not do anything. I write from experience. I hope these little assignments will help you get your book ready for publication. That’s my goal.

      I’ve also included checklist for the list people reading. If you would like to print it, here are links to PDF and DOC files. All the resource links are also listed at my website.

      It’s my hope you will find the instructions in this book helpful as you prepare to publish your e-book.

      Susan K. Stewart

      January 2016

      For e-book hints and up-to-date information, subscribe to

      Practical Inspirations News – Writers Inspirations

      http://eepurl.com/9vdS5

      Chapter One

      Introduction to E-books

      According to American Publishers Association's latest numbers, as reported by Digital Book World, e-books comprised 27 percent of the adult trade book market in 2013.¹ This represents a slower growth than previous years, but it is still a 3.8 percent jump. As Mark Coker of Smashwords points out, these numbers are based on dollar sales. He says, Since e-books are priced significantly lower than print books, the unit percentage (or percentage of words read in e-book format) is much higher.² I'll be honest; I still like to curl up with print editions. And I'm certainly not taking my e-reader into the bathtub for a long, hot soak. My iPad is full of books and documents, though, for easy transporting when I travel. I even have a few books on my iPhone so I don't have to read years-old magazines while waiting somewhere (even in line at the grocery store).

      Not only has e-publishing taken over the book industry, but also many newspapers and magazines are offering their products in electronic media as well as print versions. In fact, in the past couple of years some major magazines and newspapers have gone to digital formats only. E-textbooks for college, and even some high schools, are a growing trend. In 2013, Scribd launched Netflix-like subscription service for e-books. For a monthly fee, subscribers can read as many e-books as they wish. Soon Amazon followed suit with Kindle Unlimited. Libraries are also starting to loan e-books.

      Writers can no longer ignore e-publishing. While I don't think print books will ever completely go away, the future looks to be electronic. Some titles, which have been backlisted³ by the publisher, are seeing new life through self-publishing by the author. If you are publishing your book through a traditional publishing company, your publisher may be handling e-book versions for you along with print. Be sure to check your contract. If e-versions are included in your contract, you need to find out your options. I'm not a lawyer or agent, so I advise getting help.

      Micro-history

      In the beginning there was only one way to read anything electronic--on a computer. At the time, there was a lot of confusion among the various computer operating systems. Early in this history, most computers were still operating in DOS (disk operating system); certainly not a pretty way to use a computer. Apple computers were the first to have a graphic user interface (GUI--pronounced gooey.) Not long after, Microsoft created Windows. Windows systems (or lovingly known as the PC now) wouldn't read something from a Mac, and Mac had an aversion to anything PC.

      Computer geniuses somewhere, probably in the dark, solved the problem by creating file formats each system liked: Rich Text Format (RTF) and Portable Document Format (PDF). At the time it still meant sitting at a desk computer to read. The other alternative was to print out the document, which in the case of a book could be hundreds of pages. Sometimes printing the entire book cost more than just buying the paperback. In these early days, traditional publishers had no worries about e-books taking over the industry.

      Project Gutenberg was one of the first to take advantage of the

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