Support for Indie Authors discussion

Hi. I just spent the weekend going through the process of creating my own epub file from my MS Word document. I have created a set of templates to help me do it much quicker and easier in the future (I have three more books ready to publish after I get the first one out the door) and made a bunch of notes for myself. As I was going over them and cleaning them up, I wondered if there might be others out there that would like to give it a try and use my template and instructions?

While it was relatively easy, if you find the idea of turning on extensions in your Windows Explorer (or even are wondering what extensions are) this might not be the thing for you, but, having said that, I can add some detail on the steps to do certain things making it easier in case you are a computer-phobe.

It might be a little time consuming the first time through, but once you get through the process once, I imagine things will be a lot quicker the next time.

When I was finished I ended up with a .epub and a .mobi file of my book. The .epub passed three different validators so I'm assuming it is good to go. Previews of the epub and .mobi also look good. I haven't actually tried to upload to KDP or any other platform at this time though so I can't guarantee anything.

Anyway, if you want a copy of my template and the instructions, let me know and I will pull them together to email out.

I would LOVE LOVE LOVE a copy of these!! My email is [email protected]. You're so awesome for this!


:D

-KM Taylor

Lisa wrote: "...Previews of the epub and .mobi also look good. I haven't actually tried to upload to KDP or any other platform at this time though so I can't guarantee anything."

Did you test the Table of Contents in the Kindle Previewer? (That is, both the hypertext link TOC in the book's body and the TOC built into the Kindle devices?)

I think it's important to have both, but especially the one built into Kindle devices (because it's available from everywhere in the eBook).

Both the in book ToC and the ncx work, as far as I can tell, i.e. I click chapter 3 and it goes to chapter 3

**thumbs up!**

KM, I'm going to send you the files shortly. You can be my guinea pig to see how easy it is for someone else to recreate the process :-)

I would like a copy of these files too, Lisa. Thank you!

Jim Dodds
[email protected]

Jim wrote: "I would like a copy of these files too, Lisa. Thank you!

Jim Dodds
[email protected]"

I sent you the files. They might end up in your junk mail folder because of the unknown email and the attachments.

Lisa wrote: "Hi. I just spent the weekend going through the process of creating my own epub file from my MS Word document. I have created a set of templates to help me do it much quicker and easier in the fut..."

Yes, please: [email protected]

Hi, Lisa! I could use those files too, thanks!

[email protected]

And me!

Ellen L. Ekstrom
[email protected]
or
[email protected]

Me too. I'm up to that point and it's either pay someone $100 to format for me, or I do it myself. I do appreciate you suffering first, Lisa, and helping the rest of us. :)
[email protected]

I found that different epub file converters are not the same - would love to see how yours compares to a commercial one out there and a free one. I know one of the biggest frustrations is having your preview look perfect (like in the NOOK) and someone using another ereader that uses epub translates it differently. If you are willing to share, my email is [email protected]

would love to give you a review once I compare them as well. you may have a little side project there!

Hi. Sorry everyone. I'm a bit behind on my posts here. I was on vacation and didn't have reliable internet (oh the horrors). Anyway, I have put the files up on G Drive for the public and you can download them there. If you have trouble accessing it there, please let me know and I will email them to you instead. On GDrive there are two things to download: the instructions and a zipped folder with the templates.

https://drive.google.com/folderview?i...

C.L. wrote: "I found that different epub file converters are not the same - would love to see how yours compares to a commercial one out there and a free one. I know one of the biggest frustrations is having y..."

What I have put together is not really a converter, as in something that will do it automatically, but rather a set of instructions on how you can manually put together the files you need for epub and mobi. I have used it successfully multiple times now and I am able to quickly create the files. You still have to do a bit of tedious cutting and pasting and find and replace in order to clean up your files.

If you belong to CreateSpace creating a mobi file is easy. You don't have to have any software. On your dashboard, under 'step 1-publish your book', you have the option to download the book preview file. This will give you a mobi file that you can then send to reviewers.
Also Scrivener has an excellent compile into Kindle export.

mobi creation is easy once you have a clean epub file. Just use KindleGen