Editio Self-Publishing discussion

Since we are all self-pubs, I was wondering what you view your work on. Do you have a Kindle, Nook, Iphone or nothing at all?

I have the kindle and love it. I am thinking about getting a Kindle Fire because I really want to see my books in color.

Elle Lapraim

I've got a Sony Reader that's several generations old. I've been thinking of getting a Nook (my daughter works at B&N so she can get it for me with her discount :) ) and/or a Kindle, so that I can see the converted files on the different platforms before I upload them to Smashwords and KDP.

I have my kindle and kobo ereader devices. I like it on the kindle.

I'm using an iPad with Kindle, Nook, Kobo and iBooks apps. With Calibre and Mobi Pocket Creator I can format ant test for all of them. I also have a SONY reader that I bought a couple of years ago.

I also export a copy in PDF to the Goodreader app on my iPad so i can make handwritten editing notes.

Elle, I have a Kindle. It was a gift in January. It's what got me thinking about ebooks originally and probably a big reason I opted for self publishing ebooks rather than shop my work to trad agents and publishers.

I actually don't have an ereader yet. I've been holding out for a really good color model, so I'll be springing for a Kindle Fire soon. But I've been ereader free until recently! I did borrow ereaders from friends (Nook, Kindle, and iPad) to view the formatting of my book and be sure it looked professional before I released it.

I LOVE kindle!!!!!

I have both a Nook Color and a Kindle Second edition. I hate the Kindle and love the Nook. I have more options with the Nook, I can load open ended ePub books on my Nook, as well as PDF files, the magazines and newspapers are in color, and I'm not stuck with only what Kindle (Amazon offers). Besides, Barnes & Noble has over 2.5 million books to choose from, a way larger selection than Kindle.

I have a Nook Color and really love it! I'm using it now to look at a soon to be published work and I also use it to read websites and ebooks. Before that I used my blackberry which was really small to read on so the NC was much better! I still read on my new phone which has android so I could finally get a kindle reader on there as well. I like going between different machines depending on my mood.

Does anyone know if the kindle fire will have the same type of screen as the kindle but in color? Will it be easy to read in sun? Or will it look like an iPhone, etc? Just wondering...

TBV wrote: "...Barnes & Noble has over 2.5 million books to choose from, a way larger selection than Kindle."

Actually, Amazon has seven million titles and growing, counting free titles. But I agree that the proprietary nature of the Kindle format is a bit off-putting. Not that Amazon is likely to go out of business anytime soon, but being tied to one retailer is hardly ideal.

Mandi wrote: "Does anyone know if the kindle fire will have the same type of screen as the kindle but in color? Will it be easy to read in sun? Or will it look like an iPhone, etc? Just wondering..."

No, the Fire has a backlit LCD screen like an iPhone, while the other Kindles all use eInk, which is currently only black and white. Color eInk isn't fast enough for a tablet yet.

Elle wrote: "Since we are all self-pubs, I was wondering what you view your work on. Do you have a Kindle, Nook, Iphone or nothing at all?"

Elle, I have a Kindle 3, an iPad 2, and a Kindle Fire on its way. I also have a Droid X smartphone, but rarely use it for reading unless I'm stuck somewhere. Since getting my iPad I hardly usemy eInk Kindle either, as I almost never read outdoors and my house is rather dimly lit. Unlike many others apparently, I much prefer the brightly lit screen and can read on it for endless hours with no more eye strain than reading a printed book.

I have this many devices, btw, because as a self pubbed author I want to know how my formatting looks for different readers. I do all my own layout and coding, so I have to make sure it looks right.

Do your books have color illustrations, or is it just the covers you're wanting to see in color?

I've got a Nook - my mother has a Sony. Both devices are marvelous.

The Sony is better for people who are Techno-phobic. It also does portrait and landscape pages, with bigger type for the visually impaired.

The Nook with WiFi is a great e-reader for people who don't WANT to learn a lot of technology.

I want the little Nook Touch - it would fit in my purse better. I could carry it everywhere.

I'm not really enthused about 'cloud' storage. It has red flags all over it. I don't like the thought of giving up control of my content. I buy books on Smashwords, too.

Virginia wrote: "There is a negative connotation to the word "monopoly", but is it not one of the world's favorite and most fun games? Gotta be a reason..."

That's cuz everybody wants one, but doesn't want anyone else to have it. Built in drama and conflict. Sounds like the perfect subject for a book.

Read a news report today that Qualcomm have improved their color eInk to 30 frames per second refresh rate, good enough for video. They're working on adding little lights that shine across the screen from the edges so you can read it in the dark. Next year maybe.

I have a Nook color and sometimes make use of my hubby's iPad. I love my Nook, but sometimes think I should have gotten the Kindle fire as most of my family that has ereaders have a Kindle.

Virginia wrote: "My brother has a leather case for it with a little goose neck light attached. Then there are batteries and all that stuff. The refresh rate is THE annoying thing about my Kindle. Little ghosties..."

Yeah that's the Kindle "lighted cover" - the light isn't very strong but it DOES make it readable in dark areas.
it's more expensive but it's also HEAVY DUTY - I worry less about my "KiKi" lol ...with a cover like mine.
I don't have the refresh problem - but this is my third one - the "frame" around the screen kept cracking and I just knew I'd spill something and that's exactly where it would land! ooooohhhhh nooooooo
so Amazon replaced for free - it was with the first year.

K. A. wrote: "I've got a Nook - my mother has a Sony. Both devices are marvelous.

The Sony is better for people who are Techno-phobic. It also does portrait and landscape pages, with bigger type for the visu..."

Kindle will do portrait or landscape also. It can also enlarge the print - if it's an Amazon book.

R.Scot wrote: "TBV wrote: "...Barnes & Noble has over 2.5 million books to choose from, a way larger selection than Kindle."........Not that Amazon is likely to go out of business anytime soon, but being tied to one retailer is hardly ideal

I have all sorts of books in my Kindle!! and LESS than 10% are from Amazon. You can get books from Smashwords.com in SEVERAL formats. You can also load your books into Calibre.com (it's free - but you can donate $ to them - I HAVE cuz it's worth it) and convert them into .mobi or .pdf etc.

TBV wrote: "I have both a Nook Color and a Kindle Second edition. I hate the Kindle and love the Nook. I have more options with the Nook, I can load open ended ePub books on my Nook, as well as PDF files, the ..."

You can have epub on kindle too! I don't need color to read and don't see why so many people are drawn to that feature - I have a laptop for all my internet and color requirements..(using it now) Thought about getting the Kindle Fire... but why? I read on my Kindle and email etc. on my laptop... I guess I'm just not that hooked on being HOOKED up all the time! LOL

The Kindle App on my phone shows the covers in color. It's kind of fun, but you really only need to get that thrill once. I love my Kindle with the keyboard, but HAVE to stop downloading so many things on it. I will never catch up.

Sacred Sin
LawmanSacred Sin

Virginia wrote: ...but HAVE to stop downloading so many t..."

I feel the same way except that it also is costing me a fortune.

I'm published on both kindle and nook. i own a kindle however. i love it

I'm starting to put diffent apps on my Nook Tablet. I will try putting my calender on it and sync it with my phone and laptop.

I also want to read more magazines. Just haven't had the time to read much.

I wonder if anyone can help me with this issue. I thank you all in advance. Is there any way to upload a file that contains diacritical characters on PubIt? I tried converting the PDF file in epub with Calibre. On my computer the epub file shouws the diacritical characters just fine, but when I upload it on Pubit they show like "?" little question marks.

I own a kindle...but read books on kindle, nook and ibook reading apps on my computer and on my ipad. Its helpful to see your work in all platforms because the color options (sepia or black background, for example) can effect how your pages look.

basically...try them all! ;-)

Kris wrote: "I own a kindle...but read books on kindle, nook and ibook reading apps on my computer and on my ipad. Its helpful to see your work in all platforms because the color options (sepia or black backgro..."

Kris, thanks for that advice. I have used the PC Kindle Preview and now I need something similar for Nook and iBook.
John

@Dorina

Well, its been awhile since I opened this page. I have trouble with indents. My books show up on the Kindle without my precious indents. Some one said she saves it as a webpage and I had know idea what she meant, but I just read it is one of the ways to upload your word doc to Kindle so I am going to try it. If it works for me I may redo the others. This whole experience has been the greatest fun for me and I made a few bucks too! Select freebie this Friday and Saturday. Can't say name. not a promo page.

I recently got a Nook Tablet and love it.

I have an iPad with the apps on it. I don't review my writing on there, though. I generally use my laptop for that.

I have a copy of my book on each of my apps. I published through Amazon.com, Kindle, B&N (for Nook), Sony, Google eBooks, and iTunes. And soon to be Kobo.

When I purchase books, I usually purchase through iTunes or Kobo.

@Cheri I also have an iPad and view my finished product through the Kindle app.

I noticed you have your book on a lot of platforms, did you use a multiplatform distributor for that? This week I published with Smashwords, and my short stories should get distributed into all those different formats. That is if I can get into their Premium Catalog. I was just wondering if you found the non-Kindle/Nook formats to be very effective?

Kevin wrote: "@Cheri I also have an iPad and view my finished product through the Kindle app.

I noticed you have your book on a lot of platforms, did you use a multiplatform distributor for that? This week I..."

Hi Kevin,

Yes, I went through a company/webpage called eBookIt; they distributed my novel to the online eBook stores. I asked them not to publish through Amazon's Kindle, though, since I had already published through them.

I personally prefer to use iTunes or Kobo for my book reading, so yes, when I downloaded my novel to my iBook app, it worked wonderfully. I have not tried the Kobo format since my novel has yet to be uploaded to their database. I have seen my book for sale on the Sony and Google stores, but I have not tried to put their formats on my iPad. But I have for my apps with Kindle, Nook, and iBook, and they work well.

I have a Kindle Touch. I didn't need anything fancy--just an ereader that I could download books onto. I really like it.

I have a Kindle Fire, but I prefer to read on my iPod Touch. The Kindle won't do anything on a low battery and has to be plugged in forever before it will do anything again. My iPod keeps working all the way up til it dies and works again the second it gets plugged in. They are both backlit, and I've noticed I read less and more slowly with them than with a hard copy. I'm interested in trying eInk, but that will have to wait until I can afford to spend money on a device that does only one thing.

e-Ink is much easier to read.

I own a Kindle 3, but I'd love to get my hands on that new Kindle Paperwhite! I use my Kindle to proofread my stories in addition to reading ebooks.

I got a Kindle to preview my novels on, and to have access to all those Kindle-only books -- and then the new ones came out. Sigh. I'd have waited for a Paperwhite if I'd known it was in the offing.

I already have a Nook Color. It holds a charge for a whole day or three, sometimes . . . . I use it mainly when I really need the backlit screen.

I love my kindle.

I proof read initially on paper (I'm more comfortably adding edits or notes in the margins), but then test the water on both kindle and ipad/iphone, just so I get a decent view of what it looks like to a 'reader'.

R.Scot wrote: "TBV wrote: "...Barnes & Noble has over 2.5 million books to choose from, a way larger selection than Kindle."

Actually, Amazon has seven million titles and growing, counting free titles. But I agr..."

I haven't published any of my work on KDP because of the exclusivity requirement. It's hard giving up the 60% of ebook market share by not publishing on KDP. I went with Smashwords rather than KDP for my novels, Restless Mind and The View From the Fishbowl as a means of boycotting the exclusivity of Amazon. I have Restless Mind in print on Amazon (Createspace), though.

Mandi wrote: "Does anyone know if the kindle fire will have the same type of screen as the kindle but in color? Will it be easy to read in sun? Or will it look like an iPhone, etc? Just wondering..."

I read reviews that the kindle fire has a glare since it's an LCD screen. That's the main reason why I didn't buy one. I love to read outdoors so a glare on my screen was a big no-no.