Eldon’s Comments (group member since May 30, 2016)

Eldon’s comments from the Support for Indie Authors group.

Does anyone know the difference between otf and ttf fonts? Does Amazon accept both?

Laura wrote: "Eldon wrote: "Jutoh is my go to" Thanks for the tip, so if I upload an .epub or .mobi file, I can use Jutoh to edit them?"

Hi Laura! Jutoh creates epub and mobi files. You would upload a word doc, edit, then create the file. Super easy! And you can easily edit and republish too.

Jeffrey wrote: "I have not, but I am very much going to look into that. Thanks Eldon!"

My pleasure!

Jeffrey wrote: "The process I use is similar to Eldon. I write in word and use styles as described. I then do a "save as" as a web page, filtered, and then open that in a program called Scribe. Scribe will transmu..."

Have you tried Jutoh, Jeffrey? It would save you a couple of steps on your ebook conversion.

B.A. wrote: "I use Scrivener to write as I like the ease of going back and changing things around and the way I can have my character profiles, settings and research all at hand. I like the split screen when ne..."

Hey, B.A., I think there is a lot of misinformation out there about Word. I hear all the time how you can't use it to format, and while it's true that it is not a typesetting program, if you adhere to strict use of Styles, you can get very pretty ebooks and print books as well.

Graeme wrote: "Interesting. Well done on finding a simple method for managing your work."

Mastering Word can be tricky, but once you get a handle on it, it's smooth sailing! You just need to use Styles 😁

Graeme wrote: "Do you put your book into a single file, or do you break the book up into parts, acts, chapters etc as separate files, or use headings etc?

I.e. How do you manage the complexity of your novel?"

All in one file :) I use Styles to manage the complexity. Styles are a must for when it comes to conversion.

Graeme wrote: "Hi Eldon, so you write from the get go in MS Word?"

You bet Graeme! I love Word :)

MS word to Jutoh. Never had a problem:)

Jutoh is my go to for epub and mobi! Easy to use and awesome output:)

Christopher wrote: "I decided to back off a bit on promotion for current work, since my sci-fi novel is post-apocalyptic (of a more tooth-and-claw variety) than the current crisis. A bit too close for comfort, for som..."

It's tough promoting certain genres in the current climate for sure. My medical thriller has always been the engine of my sales but since Covid, it's dropped way off. I think readers don't want to read about outbreaks right now. They want escapism.

Phillip wrote: "Have current events changed your plans? For better or worse?"

Current events have definitely altered my plans. I find it hard to focus these days which may lead to a delay in my next release. For sure, my production schedule is being delayed :(

No problem Jeffrey! A lot of authors love Canva. Personally, I prefer Book Brush, but there is a lot to like on both sites. And Easil also has features not available on Canva - like text masks :)

It's a website for creating promotional graphics. Comes very highly recommended. You can create ad images, book covers (if you want), and other things. Check out Book Brush and Easil to if you like for comparison purposes.

Wish I could help, but know nothing of how Vellum works.

Junkomi wrote: "As a typographer and formatter I can say that in print you can have left aligned text or justified text. Just because text is justified does not mean it is inherently more professional. However, wi..."

Well said Junkomi :)

Jim wrote: "I wonder if there's a way to tell the ebook to adopt the ereader's preference. To format it to be neutral, I mean. Do ereaders default to one or the other?"

My experience is limited to Kindle's. Perhaps someone can speak to the others. With Amazon though, they tell you justified is the correct way. If you want it different, you need to work around their default.

Jim wrote: "I can use Calibre to choose left-justified or full. Last book I used left. From what people have said here, next one I'll use full. I don't mind either way for my own reading preference. That's why..."

I've done both and read both. Honestly, as an ebook reader I prefer ragged right. It's not easy to format that way on a kindle as Amazon does try to force justification down your throat. But, on a kindle too often full justified looks odd. Too many long words or short words and you will get those rivers of white space.

It is of course, different for every reader though.

Leah wrote: "Thanks for the advice and suggestions B.A. and Eldon. I just realized yesterday I have downloaded Calibre before. I don’t remember what it was, but I think I had trouble trying to figure it out. I ..."

Happy to hear it worked out :)

Leah wrote: "Thanks, Jay. I’ll definitely look into Calibre. Word is driving me crazy when it comes to converting it to Kindle. It seems to hate em dashes too, unless they’re formatted a particular way on Word...."

Hi Leah! Jay is right, you shouldn't use Word for ebook formatting. Too many gremlins under that particular hood :) You really need to use a software dedicated to the creation of ebooks, like Calibre, or Jutoh. Could even use D2D to create the file.

If you're still having trouble with it, I'd be happy to take a look at it for you. Formatting is something I'm quite good at.