41 replies to this topic

[Trailrunner]

Any other Indy ePub writers around?

I'm writing for Kindle etc, anyone else doing this???

[Lexie]

I'm not. However would like to know what's involved in writing for Kindle, etc.
Lexy

[Trailrunner]

Hi Lexie. Go to Kindle Direct Publishing and start reading.

Also recommend reading Joe Konrath's blog A Newbie's Guide to Publishing and Amanda Hocking telling how she has done it.
Both of these people are making a LOT of money.

A couple of friends are launching into this as well, was thinking it would be good to have an ePub/Indie Writer's Group.

Was hoping Blue would weigh in on this. BLUE! Where are you???

[ASL]

My publisher has one nonfiction book uploaded to Kindle, Nook, and iBook. A novel will be uploaded within the next month or so. It's a very simple process.

[La Guera84]

I was skimming over the site, can the books be about anything? like children's books, recipes, tour guides, etc. or only adult fiction?

[Trailrunner]

Absolutely, you can write and publish anything you want. Some books are a little harder to format than others, that's all.

Go to Amazon and do a search for Kindle books and you will see there are over 700,000 books. In every genre you can think of.

[ASL]

Anything with graphics is going to be more labor intensive to format. If I remember correctly, you need HTML page breaks between the graphics and text for everything to show up properly.

My last book has handwritten, journal entry images in between the chapters, so I hired the formatting work out and am extrememly pleased with the service I received. The next one will be easier as it is just text and Kindle's upload program can handle the formatting -- likewise the book with people's stories of healing/miracles in Mexico. You can also preview your manuscript before it's available to the public so you can make changes if needed.

You also want to ensure you have a decent cover that looks good in a small size. It will help your sales. There's a bit of work upfront, and a small learning curve. There are also a lot of answers online to the most common questions.

[Trailrunner]

Yep, agree ASL.

The next book I'm getting ready to put up will have lots of pictures and I'm dreading the formatting, may hire it out too. Would you share who you used for the formatting? Also where you had your cover art done?

Will be shopping around for both very soon, have other recommendations but like to get a lot of quotes.

Thanks.

[Jeannie]

The group could also discuss promotion of the book after it's been uploaded. I'm sure many out there would have some good ideas especially if they done promotion before.

[HelperGuy]

Yep, agree ASL. The next book I'm getting ready to put up will have lots of pictures and I'm dreading the formatting, may hire it out too. Would you share who you used for the formatting? Also where you had your cover art done?Will be shopping around for both very soon, have other recommendations but like to get a lot of quotes.Thanks.

I've done the layout, design, cover art and formatting for several authors here at Lakeside (eg: Jim Collums, Tom Ramsay, Audrey Hoffnung, Sheldon James). Guess it's time I looked at the whole e-book thing, especially since I use a Kindle now for all my reading. Most problems with Kindle formatting seem to be spacing and end-of-line issues.

There are many, many e-reader brands out there, so books need to be generically converted for e-reading just to start, and then perhaps fine-tuned for specific readers. Fortunately, .epub is the most common format; unfortunately, Kindle uses their own proprietary format. And there are at least 16 e-formats that I know of.

[bournemouth]

I've done the layout, design, cover art and formatting for several authors here at Lakeside (eg: Jim Collums, Tom Ramsay, Audrey Hoffnung, Sheldon James). Guess it's time I looked at the whole e-book thing, especially since I use a Kindle now for all my reading. Most problems with Kindle formatting seem to be spacing and end-of-line issues.

There are many, many e-reader brands out there, so books need to generically converted for e-reading just to start, and then perhaps fine-tuned for specific readers. Fortunately, .epub is the most common format; unfortunately, Kindle uses their own proprietary format. And there are at least 16 e-formats that I know of.

Caliber ebook free software can convert many formats to other formats:

http://calibre-ebook.com/

[HelperGuy]

Caliber ebook free software can convert many formats to other formats:

http://calibre-ebook.com/

Yes, but I'm talking about first getting the document into a useable e-reader format. .epub is the most popular, but the majority of books are "protected" with Digital Rights Management (DRM) software (or Digital Restrictions Management, depending on who your are talking to.). Calibre does not strip out the DRM, and so is incapable of converting an .epub, for example, to a .mobi, which is the Kindle's format of choice. (There are plug-ins and scripts that get around the DRM, but that is another issue.)

[Trailrunner]

Yes, I have Calibre too and am still learning the program but am able to use it to some extent. It's a great program.

HelperGuy, it might be worth your while to look into this mode of doing the things that you already have experience with. Are you familiar with Smashwords? Check them out too as publishers.

I don't understand tho, yes, books are/or are not, protected with DRM but not until they've been published. When your document is raw it can be put up in any format without DRM protection.

My first book was a nightmare as it had lists, bolding, foreign language and symbols etc. Regular novel type books can be converted easily. If I remember correctly, I first converted my doc to RTF then epub then mobi for the Kindle. . .

Bottom line is I want to spend my time writing and all this formatting and cover art searching etc is a huge TIME SUCK. I'd love to have someone here to help with that, if it wasn't too expensive. Jeannie has lengthy experience with marketing and might be interested in this as well. Because just putting the book up on Kindle is not the end of the line, that's when a whole new avenue of work begins. Time suck!

[Pogo]

Writers Digest is a well-regarded and established magazine for writers - novices or experienced. They are now offering all kinds of services to writers and they have started a Writers Digest University and it's all online. It may be worth a look.
<www.writersdigest.com>

[mexicoblue]

Here I am -- although I usually only come here a few times a year. Two things: Smashwords (follow their formatting to the T and your book will work on all ebook sites). the other one and the one I will be using for my next book is Amazon's Create Space. I did read somewhere else on this thread that you can't convert epub to mobi -- you can, but the other way around if it has DRM protection on Kindle you can't do. Either Safari or Stanza will do the ebook conversions. I'm happy to provide any help I can.

Hi Lexie. Go to Kindle Direct Publishing and start reading.

Also recommend reading Joe Konrath's blog A Newbie's Guide to Publishing and Amanda Hocking telling how she has done it.
Both of these people are making a LOT of money.

A couple of friends are launching into this as well, was thinking it would be good to have an ePub/Indie Writer's Group.

Was hoping Blue would weigh in on this. BLUE! Where are you???

[Trailrunner]

Hey, there you are!

Thanks for the tips, I will START with Smashwords this next time then.

My understanding is Create Space is for print, no? I'm not planning on doing anymore print. E-Pubbing is just too easy and too much fun and totally the path of the future. Besides, I'm loving those 70% royalties!

Are there many others, perhaps in the AWG, writing and ePubbing for eReaders now?

Any interest in forming a group of ePubbers?

[ASL]

I agree with you Trailrunner. I found out about Smashwords a little late in the game for me and will definitely make better use of them next time. I also was under the impression that CreateSpace is for print books.

Trailrunner -- I'll send you a PM in answer to your questions later today -- gotta run now.

An ePub group could be a great way to share ideas, information, and encouragement.

[HelperGuy]

I did read somewhere else on this thread that you can't convert epub to mobi -- you can, but the other way around if it has DRM protection on Kindle you can't do.

You can convert epub to mobi only if it has no DRM. Mobi is the format for Kindle (at least until OverDrive's agreement with public libraries in the U.S. and Canada kicks in, and they start allowing wireless downloads for library books; currently if you download from a library it comes in .acsm format). Most other readers use .epub. If you have a non-protected epub file, Calibre will convert it easily (sometimes messily) to mobi. If it is DRMd, then you need a special plug-in for Calibre, or a stand-alone Python tool, which strips the DRM first. The creator of Calibre, while fielding the opinion that DRM is BAD for the book business, will not endorse such tactics.

[Trailrunner]

Ok, good, ASL. Looking forward to talking to you.

[HelperGuy]

I don't understand tho, yes, books are/or are not, protected with DRM but not until they've been published. When your document is raw it can be put up in any format without DRM protection.

True, but Bournemouth had mentioned Calibre in response to posts concerning the creation and publishing of e-books, so I was just clarifying that Calibre is for cataloging and converting existing e-reader and PDF formats into other e-reader formats. And of course the author himself gets to decide whether the published work will be DRMd or not (unless he signs with certain publishers, who insist on DRM).