Ebook Distribution

[[deleted user]]

Is there a universal file type all major booksellers accept? Or perhaps some streamlined process for uploading a book to more than one outlet?

[Laurel]

There is no universal file type. Amazon kindle books are in .mobi format and that is the ONLY FORMAT amazon sells in. Epub which is used by both Barnes and Noble for Nook and Ibookstore for ipads and other Apple devices is probably the most universal. But it's not an absolute.

The most streamline process is by publishing through Smashwords. With that, you send word docs specifically formatted to their guidelines (it's rather strict, so read their guide ebook) and their meat grinder converts it to epub, mobi, pdf, txt, etc.

It's a lot harder IMHO than when you send a doc to Amazon because of the meatgrinder's quirks -- but it does make the conversions for you -- and they distribute to most/all of the retailers you probably want to get your book into.

[Raymond]

I had very few problems with smashwords- it hates hard tabs. I like their dashboards and the fact that they have a coupon generator which lets you do promotions. They even report on the number of samplings you get....and they let you offer your book to libraries...darn I sound like i work for them but I can't imagine trying to figure out all the formats on my own.

[[deleted user]]

Laurel wrote: "There is no universal file type. Amazon kindle books are in .mobi format and that is the ONLY FORMAT amazon sells in. Epub which is used by both Barnes and Noble for Nook and Ibookstore for ipads..."

Thanks for replying. Next question: does the "meatgrinder" actually format correctly, or are you then in a situation where you have to adjust each file type to work out individual kinks (weird margins, etc.)?

[Peggy]

I have been using smashwords for about five years now. Once you meet specifications then they do the formatiing correctly. You do not have to do anything more. I even use their formatting guidelines for kindle and nook. It works for those as well.

[[deleted user]]

Raymond wrote: "I had very few problems with smashwords- it hates hard tabs. I like their dashboards and the fact that they have a coupon generator which lets you do promotions. They even report on the number of s..."

That's what I've been doing--figuring out and formatting for each individual bookseller. It's driving me nuts. I'd heard a few negative things about Smashwords, but I'm thinking of giving them a try. Question: with the coupon generator, how exactly does that work? With Amazon, the only way to gift a copy is to buy it yourself.

[[deleted user]]

Peggy wrote: "I have been using smashwords for about five years now. Once you meet specifications then they do the formatiing correctly. You do not have to do anything more. I even use their formatting guideline..."

Thanks. I was worried about that. When I formatted for Createspace, they said they took care of the Kindle conversion, but I ended up spending hours figuring out how to correct their errors.

[Raymond]

Elle- you put in the discount percent or dollars and they give you a coupon code associated with it. You can set it to expire or not. Because it does mobi you can give to kindle users too. I found the kindle give away impossible to figure out and I won't do the exclusive kindle select

[[deleted user]]

Elle wrote: "Peggy wrote: "I have been using smashwords for about five years now. Once you meet specifications then they do the formatiing correctly. You do not have to do anything more. I even use their format..."
When I upload on create space, I ignore the bar that says they will upload the same file to Kindle. I then do a little changing of format for Kindle and submit it myself. Next time I may even do a Kindle version first, as it will be for sale quicker.

[[deleted user]]

Raymond wrote: "Elle- you put in the discount percent or dollars and they give you a coupon code associated with it. You can set it to expire or not. Because it does mobi you can give to kindle users too. I found..."

I enjoyed my Kindle giveaway, but I tired of the exclusivity. My 90 day contract ended with them, and I don't imagine I'll ever go back to Select.

Thanks for your answers!

[[deleted user]]

Mona wrote: "Elle wrote: "Peggy wrote: "I have been using smashwords for about five years now. Once you meet specifications then they do the formatiing correctly. You do not have to do anything more. I even use..."

That's true. I found Createspace formatting to be ridiculously difficult and their approval process takes forever.
Ah well. Here's hoping Smashwords is relatively straightforward.

[Laurel]

If you offer your book in different editions, kindle select is a monster because they define all editions of your book as the SAME -- even though each edition has different ISBNs and AISNs. I ran into real problems with them by offering a standard and extended edition of my first book -- then put the extended edition into kindle select program. I read all their FAQs and everything before I tried it and did not learn about their definition on what is a single title until they slammed me with a threatening "you violated our policy" email.

The only blessing is they sent that email two weeks out from the end of my 90 days. When I reminded them of this and that it takes three weeks to unpublish a title their response was effectively "we don't care; unpublish now or else."


This said, I don't let SmashWords submit my mobi files to amazon. Since I'm a world builder sci-fi writer, I like to use non English characters in my books. SmashWords doesn't support those characters, especially Asian language characters -- but Amazon DOES.

So my SW version has to exclude my Asian characters, actually altering how a lot of names (character, object, etc.) are spelled. But my kindle version is a perfect textual match for my paperback editions.

[Carol]

Looks like I'm in the minority. I used BookBaby for conversion of both of my novels. Like smashwords they have guidelines for preparing your Word document, and they hate hard returns and tabs.
I'm not sure how their fees compare to smashwords, but I thought they were reasonable. They also track sales and don't charge royalties.

[R.A.]

Does Smashwords charge? For some reason I thought it was free.

[G.G.]

@R.A. It is free. I didn't pay a penny to publish through them.

@Elle Smashwords and Amazon accept word documents. Although I did follow two different norms for each of them, the way Smashwords has theirs done would probably work also for Amazon. Amazon prefers the file in html as it is supposed to removed most of the bad formatting (but it doesn't) So since SW makes you clear them all to begin with, I don't see why it shouldn't work for Amazon. I'd save it in HTML just to make sure since they prefer that format anyway.
The biggest difference between both is the table of content. Amazon's way of building it is faster and simpler.

I would publish with both SW and Amazon even if SW is distributing to Amazon since they admit that not all the books make it there even if they do make it in the prime catalog. So if you want your book to make it to Amazon, publish there as well.

[[deleted user]]

G.G. wrote: "@R.A. It is free. I didn't pay a penny to publish through them.

@Elle Smashwords and Amazon accept word documents. Although I did follow two different norms for each of them, the way Smashwords ha..."

I did everything completely backwards--publishing with Amazon, then trying B&N, then checking out SW. Thanks for all your answers!

[R.A.]

I still haven't gotten around to smashwords, but I plan to. I just get so tired of the technical side of things. Whenever I think about digging into it I get a shiver.

[J.T.]

Just follow the Smashwords guide (link is on their website). Don't use fonts larger than 16 pt, and above all, check it afterwards either with their online viewer or an eReader if you have one. (I had to fix a bunch of stuff in my mobi version because my book had a lot of italics.)

[R.A.]

Cool. Thanks.

[[deleted user]]

J.T. wrote: "Just follow the Smashwords guide (link is on their website). Don't use fonts larger than 16 pt, and above all, check it afterwards either with their online viewer or an eReader if you have one. (I ..."

Italics are a problem with smash words? I might have problems then...

[[deleted user]]

R.A. wrote: "I still haven't gotten around to smashwords, but I plan to. I just get so tired of the technical side of things. Whenever I think about digging into it I get a shiver."

Boy do I know what you mean. Formatting has become the most frustrating part of the whole process

[G.G.]

I didn't notice any problems with italic with Smashwords, at least on their side.
I was missing some because when they make us clear everything to start with a clean slate, it removes them all, so I missed some when I fixed it. The problem was my eyes and fingers and not their meatgrinder.
I won't do the same mistake with my sequel.

[R.A.]

My biggest formatting problems came with createspace. The cover I had did't fit the specifications, and it took FOREVER to get it straightened out. Admittedly, this was more because I was clueless (and so was my cover artist) than because there is anything inherently wrong with createspace.

[G.G.]

@ R.A. Do you mean for the printed version? I'm still almost totally clueless on that side. :(
What was wrong with your cover??

[Desiree]

For what it's worth, the pc has a free conversion program called calibre. I know it converts mobi, epub and pdf... Not sure how great a job it will do for you, but, it is free!

[R.A.]

G.G., when you go to upload a cover in createspace, it has to be a certain size and number of dots per inch, and maybe a couple other things. I don't remember. Also, there is a certain amount of 'bleed', where the cover will run off the end of the paper to make sure it covers the whole thing. In order to accomodate the bleed, you need extra picture and no words or important elements near the edge of the picture. Well, my title ran right up to the edge of the picture, and could not easily be adapted. My cover artist actually disappeared during the back and forth. I don't know if something happened to her or if she just couldn't take it any more. A friend had to add empty space around the intended cover so the title wouldn't bleed off the edge. I don't knwo if that makes sense to you or not, but let it just be a warning to you to have your title and name at least half an inch from any side of the cover if you decide to do a paperback.

Desiree, I've tried calibre, and can't get it to work properly. Other people seem to think it's fine, so it could just be that I'm doing something wrong. Not a tech savy girl.

[G.G.]

@R.A. Thanks! Yes it makes perfect sense since I have seen their requirements, the bleed the 300dpi, and the right size etc. I was lucky enough to see it before I had my cover done too.
I can see clearly that if you don't know it, it must be a pain in the—well you know what—to have it fixed.
After seeing your post I got scared that I might have missed something else. My problem right now is mostly to find a way to put cover/spine/back together in one continuous PDF file along with the manuscript. I may be able to format in word and save as pdf for the text but I have no idea of how to incorporate the cover part. :(

[R.A.]

G.G. wrote: "@R.A. Thanks! Yes it makes perfect sense since I have seen their requirements, the bleed the 300dpi, and the right size etc. I was lucky enough to see it before I had my cover done too.
I can see ..."

If you mean for createspace, then you don't need them together. They're uploaded separately. As for putting the cover/back/spine together, well, there are people who will do that for you-for a fee, of course. But if you already have an appropriate cover, you can chose the option to use your cover and just add a coordinating spine and back with a pre-fab format for the back blurb and spine title. You don't get much choice in fonts for those, but for me it was a much better option than trying to find someone to make a wrap cover out of my front cover. They have quite a few colors to chose from, so it isn't too hard to find something to go with a cover. i chose a kind of olive-y green with a cream colored text. Oh, yes, you can also chose the text color. And you can choose to add your own front AND back, with just the preformatted spine, or the preformatted spine and back. It can be a pain wading through the options, especially with the cover formats, but it's free.

[G.G.]

@R.A. Yes CreateSpace. That helps a lot! Thank you! Finding someone to put it together (who doesn't use Google payment thingy) will be my next step then. I have all 3 pieces. I'd take the preformatted spine though if it would mean I don't have to upload it together but I'm guessing I'd have to do that part too anyway so might as well use mine then.

[R.A.]

I haven't tried uploading a spine or back, but I'm pretty sure that you would upload the back and cover separately if you chose the pre-fab spine. But I think if you want to provide the entire cover, it all goes up in one piece. But again, I haven't tried it. I just see adds for whole covers, and I get the impression that it's all in one piece. There may be options for uploading them in pieces or all in one. You might try looking at some sites to see what they can provide. It might give you an idea of what you want.

The actual uploading is simple if you have the correct size/format/etc. The interior is more work to get right, with the paper size changes and everything. I was a little confused about it at first, but once I got the hang of it it was easy enough.

[Raymond]

It is all one piece and the most "sensitive" part of the formatting process. The "bleed" and alignment needs to be close to perfect or they don't approve it. I use a graphic designer and even they have issues.

[R.A.]

Raymond, sounds like fun. Wrap covers look so much more professional, but I just don't have it in the budget. Still, the color options for back and spine are varied enough to get a good match. For me, it was the only way to go. Maybe in a few years, when I've broken even on a couple of books, I'll feel I can invest in a 'real' graphic designer. Until then, I shop on the discount rack, so to speak. A few people have told me they first picked up my book because they liked the cover, so it works for some people. Of course, what I really want is a few THOUSAND people telling me they picked it up because of the cover...