What do you think?
Rate this book
How to Format Your Novel for Kindle, Nook, the iBookstore, Smashwords, and CreateSpace...in One Afternoon
A recent study in "The American Journal of Medicine" found that attempting to format a novel for Kindle is the leading cause of heart attack among independent authors.
OK, I exaggerate. But seriously, how many hours have you wasted trying to force Word to prep your novel for publication? And what has that done to your blood pressure? So isn't it worth a few dollars to avoid ever having to go through that again?
This guide is the solution you've been searching for. I'll show you an unbelievably easy process for readying your novel for Kindle in as little as a half-hour...and then I'll go on to explain how you can produce clean, professional-looking versions for Nook, the iBookstore, Smashwords, and CreateSpace in one sitting.
And you'll love the quality of the results. How many times have you seen a five-star book get a one-star review because the author botched the formatting? That's something you won't have to worry about if you use the processes in this guide.
Plus, THERE'S NO CODING. You don't have to know a bit of HTML to use this process.
Now: If you really want your e-book's appearance to reflect the time and care you put into writing it, you have to be willing to step away from Word.
But don't let that put you off. This process is based on Scrivener, the dedicated writing program selected by Apple Inc. as the best of the Mac App Store in December of 2011, the winner of multiple MacWorld Eddys, and a frequent Editor's Choice. Scrivener is quick to learn and won't cost you a cent up front.
So I hope you're ready to put the pain of e-book formatting behind you. You're this close to being published. Buy this guide and you could be selling books before you know it.
And besides, isn't it cheaper than blood pressure medication?
PLEASE BE AWARE THAT THIS GUIDE IS PRIMARILY FOR MAC USERS. Windows users will still find it to be a helpful foundation to build from, but it calls on a few features only available in the Mac version of Scrivener.
OK, I exaggerate. But seriously, how many hours have you wasted trying to force Word to prep your novel for publication? And what has that done to your blood pressure? So isn't it worth a few dollars to avoid ever having to go through that again?
This guide is the solution you've been searching for. I'll show you an unbelievably easy process for readying your novel for Kindle in as little as a half-hour...and then I'll go on to explain how you can produce clean, professional-looking versions for Nook, the iBookstore, Smashwords, and CreateSpace in one sitting.
And you'll love the quality of the results. How many times have you seen a five-star book get a one-star review because the author botched the formatting? That's something you won't have to worry about if you use the processes in this guide.
Plus, THERE'S NO CODING. You don't have to know a bit of HTML to use this process.
Now: If you really want your e-book's appearance to reflect the time and care you put into writing it, you have to be willing to step away from Word.
But don't let that put you off. This process is based on Scrivener, the dedicated writing program selected by Apple Inc. as the best of the Mac App Store in December of 2011, the winner of multiple MacWorld Eddys, and a frequent Editor's Choice. Scrivener is quick to learn and won't cost you a cent up front.
So I hope you're ready to put the pain of e-book formatting behind you. You're this close to being published. Buy this guide and you could be selling books before you know it.
And besides, isn't it cheaper than blood pressure medication?
PLEASE BE AWARE THAT THIS GUIDE IS PRIMARILY FOR MAC USERS. Windows users will still find it to be a helpful foundation to build from, but it calls on a few features only available in the Mac version of Scrivener.
- GenresWriting
145 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 29, 2012
5 people are currently reading
25 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 21, 2016
For me this is a reference book to help me create a pdf of a novel, The Merry Millionaire for author J.A. Wells. It has been published as an eBook and is doing well. The next stage is to create a paperback utilising CreateSpace. Ed Ditto's book gave me the information I needed, straight forward and clear instructions made the learning experience rewarding.
July 13, 2017
Fantastic!
With the help of this book I have created both epub, mobi, MS Word and pdf-ready-to-print versions of my books, directly from within Scrivener. It covers not only the basics but also quite a lot of the more advanced stuff.
Mind you, it is built around Scrivener, a "software designed by writers for writers" as Ditto expresses it. Thanks to this book and Scrivener I have been able to publish my books myself, at no cost at all.
With the help of this book I have created both epub, mobi, MS Word and pdf-ready-to-print versions of my books, directly from within Scrivener. It covers not only the basics but also quite a lot of the more advanced stuff.
Mind you, it is built around Scrivener, a "software designed by writers for writers" as Ditto expresses it. Thanks to this book and Scrivener I have been able to publish my books myself, at no cost at all.
February 7, 2016
Ed's "How to Format Your Novel for Kindle, Nook, the iBookstore, Smashwords, and CreateSpace...in One Afternoon" is probably one of the most useful books I've ever read throughout my entire indie carrier. I've spent years cursing and grunting over word processors, and I've always get less than half of what I expected.
As soon as I switched to Scrivener I heard incredible things about the magic book that, apparently, transformed your work in a fantastic eBook (and much more than that).
I was skeptic, but for the price I guessed it deserved a try. I had never used Scrivener, but Ed's book allowed me to create my own eBook in one hour. I couldn't believe it. In one hour I had done what it usually took me a week or more. And it was stupendously easy.
I'm not sure if this book may be useful for those who already master Scrivener, but I can't recommend it too much to the legion of self-published artists out there who struggle with the conversion process.
Another thing worth mentioning. I had some questions when I was compiling my file and I sent them to Ed via email. He always answered within the hour, proving his commitment to stand behind his product. This is something I really appreciate and that you don't find as easily as you may expect.
To wrap this all up, if you don't have Scrivener, buy it and with this book you'll go to the next level. If you can't use Scrivener because you don't have a Mac, buy the Mac then get the other two things. I know, it sounds crazy: buying a 1000 plus dollars piece of technology for a 45 dollars program?
It's worth it, and with Ed's book even more so.
(I know Scrivener runs on Windows too, but apparently there are some differences between the two versions).
As soon as I switched to Scrivener I heard incredible things about the magic book that, apparently, transformed your work in a fantastic eBook (and much more than that).
I was skeptic, but for the price I guessed it deserved a try. I had never used Scrivener, but Ed's book allowed me to create my own eBook in one hour. I couldn't believe it. In one hour I had done what it usually took me a week or more. And it was stupendously easy.
I'm not sure if this book may be useful for those who already master Scrivener, but I can't recommend it too much to the legion of self-published artists out there who struggle with the conversion process.
Another thing worth mentioning. I had some questions when I was compiling my file and I sent them to Ed via email. He always answered within the hour, proving his commitment to stand behind his product. This is something I really appreciate and that you don't find as easily as you may expect.
To wrap this all up, if you don't have Scrivener, buy it and with this book you'll go to the next level. If you can't use Scrivener because you don't have a Mac, buy the Mac then get the other two things. I know, it sounds crazy: buying a 1000 plus dollars piece of technology for a 45 dollars program?
It's worth it, and with Ed's book even more so.
(I know Scrivener runs on Windows too, but apparently there are some differences between the two versions).
March 2, 2014
Excellent for its stated purpose of getting a book ready for print/e-publication across various markets in "one afternoon," though by definition this means that the example/publication-style presented is limited in scope (bonus points for the tips&tricks at the end that point out areas for further exploration/experimentation) and for the author's website, though the resources provided on the website don't factor into this rating, only what's in the book.
I'm also coming to this book as somebody already intimately familiar to the Scrivener software application and wedded to it as a means of production, and wonder if maybe it should be mentioned in the title that the Mac version of Scrivener is pretty much the be-all and end-all of the author's process. Not that it bothered me as I'm already all-in on Scrivener, but if you didn't read the tin (book description) closely, you might be bummed to find out that you need a Mac and Scrivener for this book to be truly useful.
I'm also coming to this book as somebody already intimately familiar to the Scrivener software application and wedded to it as a means of production, and wonder if maybe it should be mentioned in the title that the Mac version of Scrivener is pretty much the be-all and end-all of the author's process. Not that it bothered me as I'm already all-in on Scrivener, but if you didn't read the tin (book description) closely, you might be bummed to find out that you need a Mac and Scrivener for this book to be truly useful.
October 4, 2014
If you are running Scrivener on a Mac, I've no doubt that this is an excellent book and will likely provide most, if not all, of what you'll need to know to get your manuscript ready for the distributors in the title. If you're on Windows, unfortunately this won't quite be all you'll need. I don't fault the author, though; Scrivener on Windows just hasn't quite caught up yet with the feature-set of the Mac version. While there's still some valuable takeaway in this book for the Windows Scrivener users, until it catches up with the Mac, you're going to need to look beyond this book to get everything you need to know. And I'm sorry to say you're probably going to need some extra time and programs to get you there (such as Calibre and Sigil). I've not read any other Scrivener books beyond the manual, so I can't make a recommendation on further reading.
October 25, 2014
While working on my first self-published book with a looming deadline, I feared the worst of my worries would occur with the formatting process. Fortunately, the Internet led me to Ed Ditto's "How to Format Your Novel," and my fears have abated.
With easy-to-follow instructions and ample screenshots, Ed's book is so important that Literature and Latte, the makers of Scrivener, ought to pay him for the rights to include this content in their help guide. While this ebook exists to meet a very specific need—formatting a Scrivener-composed book for the major self-publishing services—it capably accomplishes its intended goals.
Now, with formatting fears banished, I can get back to attending to all of the other fears that accompany the writing life.
With easy-to-follow instructions and ample screenshots, Ed's book is so important that Literature and Latte, the makers of Scrivener, ought to pay him for the rights to include this content in their help guide. While this ebook exists to meet a very specific need—formatting a Scrivener-composed book for the major self-publishing services—it capably accomplishes its intended goals.
Now, with formatting fears banished, I can get back to attending to all of the other fears that accompany the writing life.
February 27, 2013
If you self-publish, this book is absolutely worth the list price. Clear, concise, funny, and the directions work perfectly. I haven't done a Createspace book, but I can vouch that Ed's method produces really nice .mobi, .epub, and .doc files.
One warning, which should be clear if you look at the product description: this only works with Scrivener. If you're using another wordprocessing / layout program, don't buy this - it's got some general layout principles, but it's primarily intended to work with Scrivener.
One warning, which should be clear if you look at the product description: this only works with Scrivener. If you're using another wordprocessing / layout program, don't buy this - it's got some general layout principles, but it's primarily intended to work with Scrivener.
October 1, 2014
After an encounter with the Smashwords meatgrinder had decended into name calling and some unseemly fisticuffs, I deceided to start again from scratch. I bought Scrivener and this book and set about getting my first ebook ready for distribution with both Kindle and Smashwords. Given the previous difficulties, this was a joy. The book gives some very simple and straight forward how to's (i.e. do this, click this, make sure it looks like this...etc)and I had the book uploaded to both in an afternoon. Does exactly what it claims.
June 13, 2013
Excellent descriptions and examples throughout the book, which enable me to get using Scrivener as fast as I could. Just published my first book using Scrivener and I wish I had used the software before. this guide puts some of the more interesting aspects right in the forefront of preparing. if you want to self publish for multiple formats use Scrivener and get this book, to help this author (sorry I did it the other way round) buy Scrivener through his link!
September 24, 2015
Extremely useful
I discovered Ed's book while trying to format an ebook for distribution in multiple online stores. I'd written the book in Scrivener but was flailing around in Word to prep the draft for submission--gack. This book has saved me countless wasted hours at the computer.
I discovered Ed's book while trying to format an ebook for distribution in multiple online stores. I'd written the book in Scrivener but was flailing around in Word to prep the draft for submission--gack. This book has saved me countless wasted hours at the computer.
January 9, 2015
This book, Scrivener, and my Mac were lifesavers when getting my book ready to publish. The author gives several tips that a lot of other resources skipped over - things like minor (yet important) formatting ins and outs. Highly recommended!
June 27, 2014
I can't find words enough to express my disappointment.
February 3, 2015
Lifesaver!! An absolute must for self-publishers.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews