Comments for ePublish a Book

Comment on Background of last week complaint lodged by Authors’Guild against Google. by natural colon cleanse

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Comment on Should Authors Pay for Good Reviews? by Ranger

Ranger — Fri, 03 May 2013 15:37:29 +0000

I am new to this game. Having self-published my first book with the second in the series in the works, and several short stories in various stages of completion. I have struggled greatly just trying to get any review request accepted. I agree that “paying for a good review” is reprehensible but I also agree with Thomas… Paying for a HONEST review should bring no ill will. I would gladly pay for a review, whether it is good or bad, so long as it is an honest review. So, where is the defining point to this question? Or IS there no defining point beyond treating all paid reviews/reviewers as pariah?

Comment on 40 Book Promoting Sites – Part 1 by jdobyrnewriter

jdobyrnewriter — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 05:22:19 +0000

The lower the ranking number, the better the site? I didn’t get that. I would have thought the higher the ranking number, the better the site…

Comment on Guide to format and convert your book by Patricia

Patricia — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 11:59:02 +0000

Thanks John, very useful tip

Comment on Guide to format and convert your book by John Chapman

John Chapman — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 18:51:50 +0000

The nuclear method of converting a Word document to a text file is all very well for a short to average length book (say 80,000 words) but if your book is longer, or contains a lot of italic words or other formatting, then it can be a real pain to have to go back and re-insert these. If that’s the case it’s better to learn how to strip out all the unnecessary styles added by Word.
Why would you use italics? To stress words in speech, for thoughts or for the remote part of a telephone conversation.
My normal practice to produce an ebook from MS Word is to:
1. Use File > Info > Check for issues > Inspect document (to remove all comments, headers, footers, e.t.c)
2. Use Home > Styles dropdown to display the list of styles in the document and remove all unused styles
3. Select each style remaining and from it’s dropdown ‘Select all X instances’ Then check to see if that style is REALLY needed at that point.
4. Resave the document as a .doc file – for Smashwords and as filtered .html – for conversion in Calibre

Comment on Humor for Writers – The Drunken Writer by wendy

wendy — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 00:39:53 +0000

Love it

Comment on Avoid Getting Banned from Amazon as an Author – Part 2 by Tim Greaton

Tim Greaton — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 02:20:11 +0000

Great information. Definitely should be read by all small pubs and authors. Thanks!

Comment on Humor for Writers – The Muted Muse by John Chapman

John Chapman — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 19:47:07 +0000

Funny but you messed up the names John/Isaac (Could that have been an Isaac Asimov joke?)

Comment on How to fund self-publishing your book? How much do you need to self-publish your book? by Stephen Tiano

Stephen Tiano — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 02:13:33 +0000

I’m a freelance book designer. Let me own up to my vested interest up-front.

I imagine $3,000 to $5,000 is in the ballpark for an ebook. For print, however, not so much. For print–if you’re looking to produce a book that competes with the look of traditionally published books and encourage potential readers to part with their hard-earned money–you’ll want more than just a “formatter.” You’ll want a book designer for the interior, not just the cover (the latter meaning, by the way, in order of the way it prints on a single sheet: the back, the spine, the front cover).

I’m not a great proponent of crowdfunding for self-publishers. I believe a self-publishing author ought to have financial skin in the game. You’re going into business when you publish, even if only one time for a single book. This is America. Anyone can go into business. No one is guaranteed a profit. And I don’t think anyone should look for others to take the financial risk for them.

More importantly, however, is to create a book that doesn’t immediately ring out: “Self-published!” Treating self-publishing simply as an opportunity to nickel-and-dime expenses brings back the sense that self-publishing is vanity publishing for books that aren’t good enough to hook “real” publishers. It’s a mistake to encourage that approach.

Comment on 12 Additional Mistakes to Avoid When Asking For a Book Review by Janet Boyer

Janet Boyer — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 19:53:25 +0000

Good stuff! I, too, am an Amazon Hall of Fame Reviewer. Recently, I posted this (because I got so tired of unprofessional behavior on behalf of authors!): http://janetboyer.typepad.com/blog/2012/11/5-tips-for-approaching-reviewers.html