Formatting E-books...Nicole Grane's notes

Thanks again to Nicole Grane for sharing these notes!

This section of her notes details how to take a Word file that you've already formatted for Create Space and format it for e-books.

Creating an E-book doc:

1.       Format the text

a.       Copy the Create Space file to a new Word document

b.      Under the Page layout tab, click ‘margins’, then ‘custom’ and choose  8 ½ x 11

                                                               i.      This provides normal margins, not narrow…

c.       Take drop caps out

d.      Change .space.space.space after a word to … after a word

e.      First line indent .3

f.        Paragraph key—Special (first line) By 0.3

g.       Leave table of contents. Adobi adjusts it for you.

h.      Go line by line, page by page and check everything.

i.         Compress all pictures

                                                               i.      To do this, right click on the picture, then ‘format picture.’ At the top left click ‘compress picture’ and then click ‘okay.’

j.        Make sure the comment area is closed (Under the ‘Review’ tab, click ‘show markups’ and uncheck ‘comments’)

k.       No next page breaks or odd section breaks on the page art is on.

l.         A ‘next page’ section break is needed after a picture and also the page after, but not before the image.

m.    Go to ‘File’ tab. Save as ‘web page, filtered’ (click ‘yes’ to change the file) rather than as a Word document

Amazon e-book:

1.       Save file as: ‘web page-filtered’ to desk top (be sure to compress all pictures first—see above)

2.       Under ‘Review’ tab, click ‘show markup’ and uncheck ‘comments.’

3.       Open Mobi Pocket Creator

a.       Under ‘Import From Existing File,’ select HTML doc

b.      Choose file from desktop

c.       Click Import/Ok/Build/Build/Ok/Close

4.       Go to KDP Select

a.       Go to ‘book file’ and click to upload the book (browse)

b.      Go to Documents—my publications—find the titel of the book and select the e-book file—e-book file.prc (last one~white page). Select and open.

c.       Book Cover

                                                               i.      Take cover pic, crop and resize to 2000 on longest side

Barnes and Noble (Nook) E-book:

1.       Take Word document e-book file and save as web page HTM

2.       Take out all clip art/JPEG images

3.       Make sure to unclick comments under ‘Review’ tab

4.       Download onto Nook

FYI:

1.       To make an ePub file (Calibre)

a.       Take e-file, save to desktop as Webpage HTM file

b.      Open Calibre, go to ‘add books,’ select file, add title name

c.       Go to ‘edit metadata’ and upload cover

d.      ‘Convert book’ to make it an e-pub file

e.      ‘save to disk’: select ‘save to disk’ and enter tab

2.       File will be found in documents, Calibre library, or check desktop to see if iit saved there.  Look for something like this: (Grane, Nicole)

Formatting a Word document for Create Space

Hello all! Below are the notes Nicole Grane shared this past Thursday about how to format a Word document for a Create Space book.

NICOLE GRANE’S NOTES ON FORMATTING BOOKS: If you have questions, please contact Nicole Grane at N.Grane@hotmail.com. Also, a special thanks to Nicole for sharing what she learned!

Formatting a Word document for Create Space:

1.       Select the proper page size

a.       Highlight the full document so you can size it.

b.      On the site, select ‘page layout,’ then ‘size,’ then ‘more paper sizes.’ Choose 6x9 and click ‘Okay.’

2.       Formatting the text

a.       In the Word document, highlight the chapter text only (not the scene breaks or chapter headings).

b.      Single-space the chapters.

                                                               i.      To do this, go to the ‘Home’ tab and click the ‘paragraph’ section (arrow at the right hand corner).  In the box: spacing—line spacing=single. Click ‘okay.’

                                                             ii.      While you’re doing this, also fix the indentation:  In the ‘Special’ box, change indentation from ‘hanging’ to ‘first line’ and the ‘By’ to 0.25”

3.       Justify the text

a.       Highlight the chapter text (not the chapter headings or clip art)

b.      In the ‘Home’ tab, click the justification button (looks like a square with horizontal lines in it that reach to both sides of the square) or hit control-J. 

4.       Headers

a.       Under the ‘Insert’ tab, click ‘Header’ and then ‘Edit Header'

b.      Type the author’s name on the left of the header ( left page) and the book title on the right (right page)…odd and even

c.       Under the ‘Header and Footer Tools’ click ‘Different first page’ to remove words from the header on the first page. Be sure not to have any return marks in this area.

5.       Gutter

a.       Go to ‘Page Layout’ and click on ‘Margins,’ then ‘Custom margins.’

b.      In the boxes: top =0.5, left = 0.5, gutter = 0.5, bottom = 0.5, right = 0.5 and gutter position is ‘left.’

6.       Page breaks

a.       After the title page be sure to have a page break (under ‘page layout’, click ‘breaks’ and then ‘page’)

b.      After that use section breaks before the story (also under ‘page layout’ and ‘breaks’)

c.       Place section breaks on odd pages after each chapter

7.       Review story for arrow marks

a.       To do this, click on the paragraph sign on the ‘Home’ tab.  A paragraph sign will pop up everywhere there is a return in your document.

b.      Back space to delete unnecessary returns.

8.       Table of Contents

a.       Under the ‘Home’ tab, highlight the heading (chapter headings)

b.      Click Heading 1

c.       Do this for all the headings to be included

d.      Go to where the table is to be placed in the book

e.      Under the ‘References ‘ tab click ‘Table of Contents’ and ‘Table 1.’

f.        Always update the table after any changes are made.

9.       Drop Caps

a.       Click anywhere on the paragraph you want drop caps to be

b.      Click ‘insert drop cap’ and choose the second option.

10.   Remove comment area on PDF

a.       Under the ‘Review’ tab, go to the ‘tracking’ area.

b.      Click ‘Show Markup’ and then uncheck ‘comments.’ This will get rid of the comment area on your final PDF.

11.   Page numbers

a.       Under the ‘Insert’ tab go to the Header and Footer area. 

b.      Click ‘Page Number.’

c.       To format page numbers:

                                                               i.      Starting pages should have Roman Numerals

1.       For Roman numerals, select (i,iii,iii) and ‘start at i.’ Click ‘Okay.’

2.       Do the same for each of the pages before the actual story starts. You will need to click on each page and follow the same steps, but click start at ii, start at iii, etc.

                                                             ii.      Story pages should be numerals 1,2,3 etc. Start at 1.

1.       Select (1,2,3) and ‘start at 1.’

2.       Check mark ‘different first page’ and ‘different odd/even.’

d.      No numbers should show up on chapter headings.

e.      For pages you don’t want numbered, be sure to check mark ‘Different first page’ or don’t click on that page at all.

f.        If you need to insert a page in the story, add a page break before the section break. Touch nothing else.

12.   Embed fonts

a.       Under the ‘File’ tab, click ‘Options’ and then ‘Save.’

b.      Check ‘embed fonts’ at the bottom of the page and click ‘Okay.’

13.   And lastly:

a.       Save the document and then save a second copy of the file as a PDF to upload onto Create Space

b.      Check the PDF to make sure there isn’t a comment box showing before you upload it.

February meeting of Tooele Writers: self publishing and more!

Some of the features of self-publishing were discussed at the Tooele Writer’s meeting Thursday evening, as well as the chapter blog, membership to the League of Utah Writers, upcoming meetings and other miscellaneous items.

“The writing world has changed,” chapter president Laura Bastian said.

Bastian said when she started attending Tooele Writers there was a negative stigma associated with self-publishing, and that stigma seems to have faded over the past five years.

Here are some of the highlights from the meeting:

SELF-PUBLISHING

Thursday’s information on self-publishing focused on making sure books are really ready before they’re published. Several people attested to the importance of paying for professional edits, book covers and, when necessary, other publishing skills like book formatting.

Laura Bastian introduced attendees to Susan Kaye Quinn, author of Indie Author Survival Guide.  One of the topics discussed in the book and at the meeting was how self-publishers price books, including using $0.99 and free books as loss-leaders.

Nicole Grane, author of the Immortal Wounds series and the Pinehurst series said she places the first book in a genre or series for free, but only when she has other books in the series ready to sell. This strategy has worked very well for her, allowing her to make definite progress toward her financial goals.

She also said it’s important for authors to provide both digital and hard copies of their books.

Her other advice: “Pay someone to edit your book,” she said. “After they’re done, read it again.”

Nicole shared her notes on self-publishing with Create Space and e-book formats. These notes will be posted here on the blog sometime this week.

Some of the differences between self-publishing and traditional publishing were discussed. Traditional publishing takes care of things like book covers and formatting, while self-publishing allows authors to 

change their book covers if they need to and otherwise maintain control of their final products.

Robert Ott, author of Belle, said he joint published. He pays for some of the services but as the book sells, he splits income equally with his publisher.

“I have final say on what happens with the book,” he said.

The basic idea from this discussion was authors should think things through before they publish a book.

“If you self-publish, do it smart,” Bastian said. “Do it right. If you decide to go with a traditional publisher, make sure you know what you’ve got in your contract.”

MEMBERSHIP TO THE LEAGUE OF UTAH WRITERS

Tooele Writers is a chapter of the League of Utah Writers. While anyone is welcome to attend Tooele Writers meetings, attendees are encouraged to join League of Utah Writers as well.

Yearly membership costs $25. Benefits include discounts on League of Utah Writers conferences, help paying for guest speakers, and a subscription to The Quill, the League of Utah Writer’s quarterly magazine, which includes ‘chapter chatter’ sections where authors can announce upcoming book launches and other news.

Tooele Writer members also reported receiving valuable feedback on writings entered into League of Utah Writers writing contests.

CHAPTER BLOG

The most recent information for Tooele Writers is available at the Tooele Writer’s group page on Facebook.  Contact Laura Bastian at lardobastian@gmail.com if you’d like an invitation to join the group.

Meanwhile, starting in February, the blog will be updated at least once a month with highlights from the monthly meetings. There may be additional blog posts addressing writing-related topics. Links to the blog posts will be posted on the Facebook group.

UPCOMING MEETINGS

Tooele Writers meets every third Thursday at 6:30 PM at the Tooele City Library. Meetings for the next three months are currently planned as follows:

March—Features of Scrivener and YWriter…including a drawing for a free copy of Scrivener software!

April—Cooperatives (trading skills like formatting, editing, and book cover creation)

May—Creating critique groups and finding beta readers

Future meetings may incorporate an author meet-and-greet night and information on taxes for writers.

OTHER MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS

• Susan Kaye Quinn’s book Indie Author Survival Guide can be found here: http://www.amazon.com/Indie-Author-Survival-Guide-Susan/dp/1492972851/ref=la_B003TTJRXU_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1392956798&sr=1-5
• Fast release dates (one right after another in a series) seem to boost book sales.
• Laura Bastian’s book Eye on Orion will be available this coming Tuesday. She is hosting a virtual release  party on Thursday, February 27 on Facebook.
• Resources for authors:
• Authors Think Tank: http://www.foreverwriters.com/
• I Write Network: http://www.iwritenetwork.com/
• The Passive Voice: http://www.thepassivevoice.com/
• If you have news for the blog or want to write a guest post on a particular topic, or if you want to have a topic addressed, please e-mail Gwen Bristol at gwenbristol@gmail.com.

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