THE Group for Authors! discussion

I started blogging back in 2002, at the advent of the new tool kit that made blogging universal. I think that self publishing is the Long Form next step. I think that new tools will make our work as writers who self publish ever easier.

Here is a post about this that introduces you to a new publishing tool that I think will help us all a great deal. http://smartpei.typepad.com/robert_pa...

Dave Winer who developed the breakthrough blogging tool back then is working on a new outliner today called Fargo that I suspect will also help us. fargo.io

What are you seeing and using that is making your life easier?

I've been playing with PressBooks for the last two days. This is the single most painless way to e-publish I've ever seen. I am reminded of the fun I had when WordPerfect first hit the scene. Seriously, Robert, I tilt a figurative longneck in your virtual direction.

Without reading the instructions, I was able to generate a fully functional MOBI file for a 38-chapter novel in about an hour, using a double-spaced manuscript as the source text. All the formatting was done for me by PressBooks.

Not only is it free, it's web-based. I can edit on the fly with a netbook or a smart phone.

The paradigm has shifted.

I think that Hugh McGuire - the man behind PB's - is a Gutenburg of our time

Only time will tell...

I was a little dubious about PB - having had a troublesome time with a web site on WP - but I've just tried it out and it is very easy to use. The proof of the pudding will be when my book is finished of course, but so far I'm impressed - thanks for the heads up!

I'm new to writing and am interested in writing and self-publishing fictional short and long stories.

I've heard of Smashwords for self-publishing. It even provides with a free ISBN number tool as well.

Could anyone mention the pros and cons for both Smashwords and PressBooks ? How good is one from another ? And which one would be more preferred to self-publish e-books ?

Shlomo wrote: "I'm new to writing and am interested in writing and self-publishing fictional short and long stories.

I've heard of Smashwords for self-publishing. It even provides with a free ISBN number tool as..."

Personally, I'd always opt for Smashwords. PressBooks is OK, but it's an authoring system that you can use to produce ebooks. Publishing through it is, from what I've seen, not free (the option suggested is expensive - presumably to raise money for PressBooks), as it is with Smashwords, unless you do the distribution yourself or upload to other sites.

As long as you adhere to the formatting Smashwords asks for (not a headache by any means), you can use anything that will produce a Word .doc file to author your book in.

PressBooks is neat enough, but I really don't see it overtaking Smashwords any time soon. The templates are handy, but not astounding.

I tried to register on PressBooks, and all it did was mark my account as a spammer. I've sent them a message through their contact page, but there's been no response of it yet. I guess, I'll have to stick to Smashwords for now. I was impressed with PressBooks' organizing design implemented within it's website itself.

Thanks Steve, for all the help.

I have had good results with Folium Book Studio (http://www.foliumbookstudio.com). It works best for people who like to upload their own e-book files to the various booksellers. You can set up free projects for 21 days—and purchase an ISBN for them if you like—or pay a higher price for a permanent project.

The price is for use of the formatting software. You own the created file.

Shlomo wrote: "I tried to register on PressBooks, and all it did was mark my account as a spammer. I've sent them a message through their contact page, but there's been no response of it yet. I guess, I'll have t..."

Shlomo, it's probably WordPress that's causing the problem with you signing up - they can be tricky on some email addresses or user names. The design of PressBooks is excellent - it's just that I prefer the freedom for fuller formatting that you get with a word processor ;)

You're very welcome :)

C.P. wrote: "I have had good results with Folium Book Studio (http://www.foliumbookstudio.com). It works best for people who like to upload their own e-book files to the various booksellers. You can set up free..."

That sounds interesting, C.P. I will investigate that in due course, thank you.