(Almost) Completely painless ebook formatting...
Writing a book is easy. Well, not easy, but it's really the most simple part of being an indie author. You sit, you type, you edit. It's not rocket science. But then you get to the fly in the ointment. Formatting...
It strikes fear into the hearts of many an author. But it doesn't have to. It can be done. Granted, you will curse. You might cry. But it can be done. Here is what I did for a basic ebook. No frills. Just quality. Oh, and don't follow the instructions on KDP. They're crap.
First step, you need to have a completely clean word document. Don't put any crazy symbols or wacky chapter headings. Nothing fancy. This is the first book. You do not need to be frilly. It will most likely get messed up, and you won't know how to fix it and you'll unnecessarily frustrate yourself. So don't do it, okay? You will also need your cover. It should be around 450 pixels by 550 pixels, but there is a little wiggle room. I used two images from iStock, and I chose the image size that was closest to that and had no problems. I am not a graphic artist, so if you have any questions, you should probably ask one. Be sure to save the final image you have as a jpeg.
Second step. You will need two pieces of free software to format. The first is Sigil. This is what you will use to do the actual formatting. You will spend a lot of time together. Just so you know. It's a program created by Google just for ebook formatting. I found it straightforward and easy to use. The second is Calibre. This program turns your Sigil file into whatever file you need to upload. You can turn it into an Epub or Mobi file. There's actually a huge list of them, so this program is extremely versatile.
Got it? Okay, now you need to go to this link: Ebook formatting the Easy Way. I stumbled upon this when I was doing NaNoWriMo last November and saved the link. Thank the heavens and angels I did. Cameron Chapman is a saint. Seriously, she saved my life. If she ever reads this, I kind of love you. And not just because your first name is awesome ;)
FOLLOW ALL THE INSTRUCTIONS. The only step that I had a little trouble with is the part where she has you put all your chapters in separately. You can copy and paste the whole thing, and then do chapter breaks. This makes those pretty lines on the Kindle that separate the chapters and make the new chapter appear on a new page. It looks really nice. Also, you will need to fix anything you italicized, bolded or centered. It's a pain to do, but necessary. Then follow the rest of Cameron's instructions. There you have it.
Two more things. Make sure you check your file on a device like a Kindle or a Nook. This is non-negotiable. Why go through all the trouble and then let a glitch in formatting make your book unreadable? It's another step, but well worth it. Second, is that I don't use Microsoft Word to write. It's a pain in the ass, quite frankly, and I don't want to pay for a program that doesn't work. So I use Open Office. It's free, and you can download it here. All you have to do to is make sure you save your file as a Word Document. Then you can take it right into Sigil and it should be fine.
It took me around five hours to format the first book. I went in cold, and it took me a while to learn the new programs. I ended up having a glitch and doing it again the next morning. Took me only about an hour and a half. I'm hoping my next time I can get it an hour or under. It's one of those things where the more you do it, the easier it gets.
Formatting is daunting. Seriously daunting. But it can be done. It's a little bit like watching Martha Stewart make a pie. She adds in all these insane extra steps that you really don't need to do, just because she wants to be fancy. But being fancy shouldn't be the goal with an ebook. Readability should be the goal. And that is attainable. As long as you listen to Cameron. Both of us.
It strikes fear into the hearts of many an author. But it doesn't have to. It can be done. Granted, you will curse. You might cry. But it can be done. Here is what I did for a basic ebook. No frills. Just quality. Oh, and don't follow the instructions on KDP. They're crap.
First step, you need to have a completely clean word document. Don't put any crazy symbols or wacky chapter headings. Nothing fancy. This is the first book. You do not need to be frilly. It will most likely get messed up, and you won't know how to fix it and you'll unnecessarily frustrate yourself. So don't do it, okay? You will also need your cover. It should be around 450 pixels by 550 pixels, but there is a little wiggle room. I used two images from iStock, and I chose the image size that was closest to that and had no problems. I am not a graphic artist, so if you have any questions, you should probably ask one. Be sure to save the final image you have as a jpeg.
Second step. You will need two pieces of free software to format. The first is Sigil. This is what you will use to do the actual formatting. You will spend a lot of time together. Just so you know. It's a program created by Google just for ebook formatting. I found it straightforward and easy to use. The second is Calibre. This program turns your Sigil file into whatever file you need to upload. You can turn it into an Epub or Mobi file. There's actually a huge list of them, so this program is extremely versatile.
Got it? Okay, now you need to go to this link: Ebook formatting the Easy Way. I stumbled upon this when I was doing NaNoWriMo last November and saved the link. Thank the heavens and angels I did. Cameron Chapman is a saint. Seriously, she saved my life. If she ever reads this, I kind of love you. And not just because your first name is awesome ;)
FOLLOW ALL THE INSTRUCTIONS. The only step that I had a little trouble with is the part where she has you put all your chapters in separately. You can copy and paste the whole thing, and then do chapter breaks. This makes those pretty lines on the Kindle that separate the chapters and make the new chapter appear on a new page. It looks really nice. Also, you will need to fix anything you italicized, bolded or centered. It's a pain to do, but necessary. Then follow the rest of Cameron's instructions. There you have it.
Two more things. Make sure you check your file on a device like a Kindle or a Nook. This is non-negotiable. Why go through all the trouble and then let a glitch in formatting make your book unreadable? It's another step, but well worth it. Second, is that I don't use Microsoft Word to write. It's a pain in the ass, quite frankly, and I don't want to pay for a program that doesn't work. So I use Open Office. It's free, and you can download it here. All you have to do to is make sure you save your file as a Word Document. Then you can take it right into Sigil and it should be fine.
It took me around five hours to format the first book. I went in cold, and it took me a while to learn the new programs. I ended up having a glitch and doing it again the next morning. Took me only about an hour and a half. I'm hoping my next time I can get it an hour or under. It's one of those things where the more you do it, the easier it gets.
Formatting is daunting. Seriously daunting. But it can be done. It's a little bit like watching Martha Stewart make a pie. She adds in all these insane extra steps that you really don't need to do, just because she wants to be fancy. But being fancy shouldn't be the goal with an ebook. Readability should be the goal. And that is attainable. As long as you listen to Cameron. Both of us.
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