Writers and Readers discussion

Post questions, tips, links, etc on the topic of ebooks.

I finally managed to convert my book, Chronicles of the Undead, into the epub format and it is now available as an ebook (at 15% off) on Lulu.com:
Chronicles of the Undead
There's also a button on the page that wll take you to the book on the iBookstore, if you have an i-gadget.

I just have to congratulate Laura Landon for taking the #9 Kindle Regency Romance ranking...#447 overall for her Victorian romance SHATTERED DREAMS.
What a ride you are on, Laura!!

Only 99 cents on Kindle

I published my latest novel (The River Within) on Smashwords and just unpublished it. Too many strange mistakes (granted there are a few of my own in there). I hired one of Smashwords recommended formatters to format my manuscript nonetheless it is riddled with inadvertent double spaces and different font sizes. Very distracting. I've seen that on other Smashwords books but not on my Kindle version. I used the same mss. for both uploads so am concluding that Kindle delivers a far more professional looking manuscript than Smashwords' "meatgrinder." Anyone else have the same experience?

Baxter wrote: "I published my latest novel (The River Within) on Smashwords and just unpublished it. Too many strange mistakes (granted there are a few of my own in there). I hired one of Smashwords recommended f..."

The meatgrinder can be tricky, but I haven't had too many problems once I deciphered their Style Guide. Of course, Kindle isn't an option for me being from Canada.

I'm going through the formatted mss now and it appears that italics are causing the double spaces. The formatter said they would be ok to use but apparently not. Curious, did you use them at all?

I will tell you that the only way I've found for italics to come through accurately is to have every paragraph italicized by itself. In other words, if you have 3 paras in a row, highlight each para individually and apply italics. Also, if you have italics set in a style, they hold better in the meat grinder. It's a journey, that's for sure!

Thanks, Bailey. I'll try that.

Yeah, the meatgrinder is a bit amusing at times... The Style Guide should give you enough details to negotiate it fairly easily, though, and I didn't have much in the way of issues with italics.

My problem was that where you leave a line's space between parags to denote passage of time, first it ate them all; so instead of just return I did a search and replaced and put in return space there instead - which did the job except that it put a return space at the end of the parag as well as in the empty line, so when the font size changed sometime the space went over onto its own line....

It's a bit tricky to get everything working as intended and it will make you want to bash your head on the desk but eventually you will get it done and correct formatting and no typos rally lifts your book, so well worth doing.

Anyhow if you've done an active TOC for your Kindle book, you can do Smashwords formatting, no probs!!
;oS

JAC

Baxter wrote: "I'm going through the formatted mss now and it appears that italics are causing the double spaces. The formatter said they would be ok to use but apparently not. Curious, did you use them at all?"

I used italics, and didn't have a problem, but I agree with J. a. formatting doses make you feel like bashing your head against the desk sometimes.

Thanks for the encouragement - I actually sent the mss. back to the person who formatted it for me and I'll let her bash her head against the desk. That's what I hired her for!

Baxter wrote: "Thanks for the encouragement - I actually sent the mss. back to the person who formatted it for me and I'll let her bash her head against the desk. That's what I hired her for!"

A good plan.

If you guys are ever looking to have someone do the formatting for you, let me know! (It's what I do!!) :)

Amy wrote: "If you guys are ever looking to have someone do the formatting for you, let me know! (It's what I do!!) :)"

I may seek your services the next time I'm banging my head on the desk.

Writer's tip: get a padded wrist-rest that's designed to go by your keypad, you know, one of those long ones?

Then you can bang your head on the desk with a minimum of bruising and less chance of nose-breakage. As someone writing a series, mine has come in for some serious use....

heheheh
JAC

A. F. wrote: "Amy wrote: "If you guys are ever looking to have someone do the formatting for you, let me know! (It's what I do!!) :)"

I may seek your services the next time I'm banging my head on the desk."

Maybe seek my services right before that banging session...It lowers your Tylenol boll later on!! :)

@ JAC - very good advice. I may get one of those for when I'm editing, and I bet it comes in handy for school work as well!!!

They're terribly versatile. Also good when trying to fix one's computer...
JAC

I never try to fix my own computer anymore. I learned they don't like me very much. I have a horrible bedside manner...

I have a whole new vocab of swearwords intended to offend computers....not that I'm anthropomorphising them or *anything*.....

Yeah, I can hardly get my computer to work when it is actually working....now when it is broke...forget it. I usually result to buying a new one. lol. or begging my friends husbands who know how to actually work a computer to fix it.
J.a. we should start a dictionary and call it: The Writers guide to cussing at your computer. Creative language shouldn't be saved just for the written page.
Girl, we could fill a book. :)

What ever you guys do, do not let Kirk Jones know we are talking about this....If you read his book Uncle Sam’s Carnival of Copulating Inanimals , you would know why!! LOL

JournalStone just started a new online store where authors can sell their e-books and make 70 % of the profits. It is so easy it's a no brainer!
Here's the link:
http://journal-store.com/category/boo...

And non-writers...scurry on over and buy something!!!

Cambria wrote: "JournalStone just started a new online store where authors can sell their e-books and make 70 % of the profits. It is so easy it's a no brainer!
Here's the link:
http://journal-store.com/categor..."

Cambria, how long has this site been around? Is it trusted? They ask for a lot of personal information, so want to be sure this is a trusted site!

Dale wrote: "Cambria wrote: "JournalStone just started a new online store where authors can sell their e-books and make 70 % of the profits. It is so easy it's a no brainer!
Here's the link:
http://journal-sto..."

Hi Dale!!
I work for JournalStone, and I assure you that it is a very trusted place!! :)

All of the information that you are providing must be collected, or we have no way of sending you the money made after you sell your books - that and the IRS always has to have their hands in everything when it comes to making sales on anything!! LOL

If you have any other questions about this site, please feel free to contact me at amy@journalstone.com!!

Amy wrote: "Dale wrote: "Cambria wrote: "JournalStone just started a new online store where authors can sell their e-books and make 70 % of the profits. It is so easy it's a no brainer!
Here's the link:
http:..."

Hi Amy....juussst checking! I realize *why* you have to collect the information, but with so many advanced cyber scams, you know, can't blame a girl for being cautious! I have my novel all formatted and ready to go...just the imaginary "what if" hammer was whacking me on the back of my head!

Nope, can't blame you one bit, you can never be too careful, and double checking is ALWAYS a great idea!!

Dale wrote: "Cambria wrote: "JournalStone just started a new online store where authors can sell their e-books and make 70 % of the profits. It is so easy it's a no brainer!
Here's the link:
http://journal-sto..."

It is a trustable site, Dale. I write reviews for them and I happen to know the Director of Web content. :)
I understand you wanting to make sure its reputable...we all need to be careful!

If you want to learn more about ebook publishing check out these two amazing blogs. That is how I got started and my books are selling really well.
http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/
http://amandahocking.blogspot.com/

Hope this helps,
Elle
ellelapraim.com

The only thing I don't like about the first blog is where is says to go to that site to pay to have your book reviewed. Reviews are great for the other potential readers, but reviews are also great for the author. The author can get some great constructive criticism for his/her work, and if they are paying for the service, you never know if you are getting an honest review. There are loads of groups here on GoodReads where an author can easily find people who are anxious to review books.

I think other part of it were great, and he was right about the importance of reviews, but an author should never pay for them.

Amy wrote: "The only thing I don't like about the first blog is where is says to go to that site to pay to have your book reviewed. Reviews are great for the other potential readers, but reviews are also grea..."

I don't like the idea of paid reviews either, unless they're part of a marketing package. And they're not as necessary these days with all the book bloggers out there willing to review for free.

I agree, A.F - and you get some interesting and really perceptive comments back sometimes so I don't know why anyone would want to pay for a review. If I'd paid for any of the ones I got that (kindly) gave me 5* I'd be wondering if they really thought that; as it is, no-one has anything to gain by being nice or horrid to me, so it feels a lot more trustworthy.

The flip side of that is that when several reviews in a row come up with the same criticism, I know that it's something I might want to go back and consider with a view to either a rethink or a fix. It's such a useful feedback loop that I don't understand why anyone would want to mess with it.
JAC

Colleagues Et Al...

I am a tremendous fan of free software. Free is good especially when the software is supported by Oracle (a small player in the software business, right?) Open Office has an ePub converter add-on that will take your word processed file and convert it to ePub. You can look at it and reformat to your heart's content. The basic software without add-ons includes a PDF writer that writes several flavors of PDF. By converting yourself you regain a modicum of control over your work.

While PDF and ePub are popular formats, there are others for which I have not found free converters. Once you have abused your manuscript to the point where it properly renders in both PDF and ePub, send the now much improved text to a professional to do the rest.

Firefox has a free ePub reader add-on that is a little clumsy but appears to work well and will let you know if your conversion worked the way you think it did.

Some of the ebook vendors suggest a row of five * with two spaces between each to break sections. Use pagebreaks and not multiple carriage returns to end chapters. Use tabs and not spaces or, better yet, set your global format to provide space between paragraphs and indents on the first line.

Bob Cherny

Robert wrote: "Colleagues Et Al...

I am a tremendous fan of free software. Free is good especially when the software is supported by Oracle (a small player in the software business, right?) Open Office has an eP..."

Robert, if you're looking for free software that converts to other formats, you should check out calibre.

The Perfect Deceit

An intriguing and fascinating book on how countries vie against each other to be top dog on the world stage. Spies, double agents, love triangles -- it’s all in a day’s work for super spy Alexey! In today’s interconnected world, this book gives an interesting perspective on how much competition goes on behind the scenes with ambitions and stakes running high. Hearts are broken and for some power is gained.

Illuminating book on the espionage sphere. Lots of mind games involved. Great book with high drama which makes for a perfect summer read!

Robert wrote: "Colleagues Et Al...

I am a tremendous fan of free software. Free is good especially when the software is supported by Oracle (a small player in the software business, right?) Open Office has an eP..."

Oh, Bob, awesome info there. THANK YOU!

Splitter

I found a really great article on a new self-publishing blog that I think is really helpful. It's a quick how to on self publishing. I hope it helps!

http://editioselfpublishing.com/?p=46

Elle

If anyone needs help with formatting your ebook, let me know. I am experienced with formatting for KDP, Smashwords, and Lulu. This is my website.