How to Make an Ebook: Using Free Software

How to Make an Ebook

Using Free Software

R. L. Copple

Published by Ethereal Press at Smashwords

Edition 1

Copyright 2011, R. L. Copple. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced—mechanically, electronically, or by any other means, including photocopying—without written permission from the author.

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Disclaimer:

This book mentions and gives links to several companies, products, and websites. All trademarks and copyrights are owned by the respective companies of those products. The author and publisher are not associated with any of these companies, work for any of these companies, sell any of the products mentioned in this book, nor earn any affiliate or other income from mentioning these products and companies in this book.

While the author and publisher strive to make the information in this book as timely and accurate as possible, the author and publisher make no claims, promises, or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the contents of this book, and expressly disclaims liability for errors and omissions in the contents of this book. No warranty of any kind, implied, expressed, or statutory, including but not limited to the warranties of non-infringement of third party rights, title, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose or freedom from computer virus, is given with respect to the contents of this book or its links to other Internet resources.

Reference in this book to any specific commercial product, process, or service, or the use of any trade, firm or corporation name is for the information and convenience of the public, and does not constitute endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the author or publisher.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Step 1 – Creating the Source File

Step 2 – Creating the Cover

Step 3 – Creating the PDF Ebook

Step 4 – Creating the Smashwords Edition

Step 5 – Creating the EPUB Ebook and Uploading to B&N

Step 6 – Creating the MOBI Ebook and Uploading to Amazon

Step 7 – What To Do With the Ebooks

Appendix A – Creating the PDB Ebook

Appendix B – Using Smashwords' Nuclear Option

Appendix C – Software/Link Index

Author Information

Introduction

As of this writing, it is obvious that ebooks will, at some point in the near future, overtake the sale of physical books. The trend accelerated during 2010, and all indications are that the movement has sped up to a roadrunner pace during 2011. Publishers have been scrambling to lock down ebook rights on old contracts, while authors who retain those rights have realized their old backlist is a new gold mine of potential income. More and more readers are buying ereaders like Amazon's Kindle, and Barnes and Noble's Nook. The expectations for the future look bright for anyone who has hopped onto the ebook train.

In short, any author who doesn't factor in ebook sales as significant for years to come has his or her head in the sand. Whether you are a new author preparing your first book, or an established author who wants to get your backlist into circulation, ebooks provide an excellent mode to publish your work.

The new author might ask, I can see the advantage of established authors getting their backlist out, but how can this help a new author?

As a new author, you can put your work out for the public to evaluate before you sink any money into creating a physical book to sell. No money? Correct, because I'm going to show you how to create an ebook in several formats without spending any money. Not only that, but also how to do it so you end up with a professional product. In many cases, your ebook will look better formatted than many traditional publishers', simply because they often take their print file and create an ebook from it with few, if any, modifications.

But once you get your story out as an ebook, you will tend to get feedback on it. Maybe someone finds a typo on page 25, or notices that you didn't have your police acting like real police. Unlike a physical book, an ebook is easily fixed and the new copy uploaded. In traditional print runs, you're stuck with several thousand books containing those errors. No redo on those. And even with Print on Demand (POD) books, there is usually a fee associated with changing the text once you've said it was ready. But you can fix an ebook easily, and upload the new version within a day or two at no additional cost.

Once your content is published in an ebook, you can gauge how well it is selling to justify creating the print book, and earn the money to do it. If there are problems with the ebook selling, you can either fix it before going to print, or decide the content won't sell well and save yourself the expense of putting out a book that might lay dormant forever.

What if I want to be published by one of the big publishers? Will putting out an ebook prevent that?

Only if your story isn't ready. Sales will show whether what you have is enticing to a publisher. But publishers are willing to print a published ebook that is selling. What a big publisher offers that isn't easy for an indie publisher in today's market is getting onto bookstore shelves. But the chances of even a good book getting traditionally published are slim unless you already have a following. Having an ebook out that is selling well indicates you have that appeal and a following that a bigger publisher can leverage.

And even if you wish to retain first rights for a publisher for who that may be important, having the option to self-publish it gives you negotiating leverage. If you know you can earn at least $30,000 over ten years by self-publishing, you're not likely to settle for a $10,000 advance from a publisher unless you're getting other good terms from them. Having this option available gives you more confidence at the negotiating table.

But if your ebook tanks, then it gives you opportunity to learn so you can write the next book better. Why did it tank? Did you skimp on the editing and/or proofreading? Was the story full of typos and grammar mistakes? Did the story meander in the backwoods before getting going and need trimming? Did the characters come across as stereotypes and unnatural?

An author is rarely the best person to spot these types of problems. An editor or good friend who knows how to edit can assist you with getting the story into shape. A good proofreader can help spot typos and grammar mistakes that need fixing. The last thing you want is someone to download your sample and find three or five typos in the first chapter.

But these are the types of things you can discover and work on each time you write. Then when your book starts selling better, you'll know you're improving. An ebook can be a no-cost way of finding out if what you've got is something a publisher would be interested in. Because what a publisher is most interested in is whether your book will sell or not. If they see decent ebook sales, they very well could conclude that they can market that book.

And no, a publisher of a novel is not always interested in first print rights like a magazine would be for a short story. Two different things. First, print rights for short stories in magazines are important because the magazine wants to publish original work, generally. That's because a short story can be resold several times to different magazines. Some magazines will accept reprints, but usually they'd much rather be the first to print a short story.

Why? Because that is what sells magazines. If I see a story I've read before in another magazine, I'm not as likely to buy a copy of that magazine. Those who follow an author are the most likely to buy a magazine containing his or her story. So the first time it comes out, most of their followers will read it there. All those readers are not likely to buy the next magazine that carries the same story, so a magazine knows if they want to sell the most copies, they need to have a story from an author that the author's fan base has never seen before.

But the opposite happens with novels and publishers. The audience a big publisher can reach isn't one that a self-publishing author will likely reach. An indie author can take years to hit the same audience that a big publisher can potentially create in months. So a publisher knows that there are a lot of people out there who are not fans of the author, but would become so if they read the book. So they conclude they can make money with a book with a proven track record. But it will never get that track record sitting on your hard drive, waiting for an agent or publisher to say, Okay, we'll take a chance on a new, unproven, writer. It happens, but not frequently. The publishing slots in the big publishers are so few and the competition is so high, even a good manuscript will struggle to catch a publishing slot.

Note, most standard publishing contracts do have a first rights clause in them. That's because for most novels a publisher publishes, they usually get first rights and would prefer that. However, if they like a story and believe they can tap segments of the audience the author has barely scratched, they will change that clause. Having been printed will not, in most cases, prevent a publisher from considering your story. It is why the top selling indie authors are being approached by big publishing companies. If they think they can make money with your story, they'll look and buy. Only be up front with them that it has already been published. You don't want to sign a contract stating that the publisher is getting first rights when they aren't, or it can come back to bite you.

So there are advantages to authors, both established and as-of-yet unpublished, to consider putting some of their work out on ebook. But what about having someone create the ebook for you? I can hear you asking.

There are plenty of people willing to do that. Some for a fee, some agents are getting into the publishing business via that route as well, taking a percentage of the profits, or there are publishers that primarily or only publish ebooks, giving the author a royalty, maybe even a small advance. So there are routes you can go to do this other than self-publish, and leave the ebook creation and distribution in the hands of others. For some authors, that may be the route to go.

So why self-publish your ebooks? One, it isn't that hard. I'm going to take you step-by-step through the process of creating the source files and the final product for the EPUB, MOBI/PRC, and PDF formats. If you don't know what those are, don't worry. Then I'll show you how to get these for sale on Smashwords, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble. We'll be going through them one at a time, including the creation of covers. This includes a learning curve, but time well spent. Once you have the steps down, you'll wonder why you ever feared doing it yourself.

But the big reason you should learn to create your own ebooks is you get to keep 100% of the royalties, and you get to keep 100% of the rights. Any cost you incur, or percentage cuts you hand over, and contracts you sign, will net you less money and can restrict what you can do with your ebook, and if you're not careful, what you can do with the