Support for Indie Authors discussion

I used a print layout company to typeset my ebook & POD paperback. The co. provided me with .pdf, .epub and .mobi files. Does anyone know of a program I can get that would enable me to edit the ebook files -- in particular the KDP file?

I understand there are A LOT of great programs that let you format your manuscript from the start, but I invested a hunk of change in getting a professional to lay it out & do not want to start over. And yes, I can go back to them to make minor changes ... for what seems to be an over-sized fee.

Thank you in advance for your suggestions!
Stay well,
Laura

I would give Calibre a try, it can read most (if not all) e-book formats. I don't know how well it can edit them but I think it's something to have a look at.

An alternative would then be to get a program that can merge PDF files - you'd create one PDF with just the new cover, and take everything but the cover from the old one, and merge those.

I use Calibre, too. It's very easy and converts to most, if not all like Tomas said, formats. I tried to edit once converted and wasn't able to, but I am not very experienced so it may be possible.

I've been using Calibre for years.

I prepare my final version in MS Word, convert that to 'Webpage, filtered.' suck it into calibre and convert to epub.

The epub file I'll edit if necessary - perhaps for the table of contents, then I'll upload the epub to Amazon kindle.

Gail wrote: "I use Calibre, too. It's very easy and converts to most, if not all like Tomas said, formats. I tried to edit once converted and wasn't able to, but I am not very experienced so it may be possible."

Once the file is in epub format in calibre you can edit it via the major edit button on the command banner across the top of the application.

Thanks, Graeme! So easy...haha

Hi Gail, calibre takes a little time to learn, but it's pretty intuitive.

My personal environment is

Scrivener where I build my first full draft.

Once it's good, I pump it out to MS Word where I format it into paperback and kindle versions.

I take the kindle version and put it through webpage filtered and into calibre.

In calibre I convert the raw file into epub.

Once in epub - if necessary - I edit the toc file (table of contents) to correctly capture dramatis personae, glossary, prologue, chapters and epilogues..

I then load the epub to Amazon.

Any further edits I'll only do on the MS word files, and then push through calibre and up to Amazon.

Interesting. I've been using Kindle Create to upload my books to Amazon, which has been pretty easy to format/edit before publishing. I wonder if you ever used that and if there are benefits to how you upload to Amazon? Just curious and always open to new and better ways to do things. Thank you.

I've never used it.

It might be easier.

I just continuing to use a method I have perfected over time.

Calibre won't let you edit a mobi file (unless they have added that feature since I checked it last) but it will let you edit an epub file. You can then either upload the epub file to kdp or you can convert the epub to mobi and upload the mobi to kdp.

Gail wrote: "Interesting. I've been using Kindle Create to upload my books to Amazon, which has been pretty easy to format/edit before publishing. I wonder if you ever used that and if there are benefits to how..."

My first book looks a hell of a lot better once I learned how to style it with the Smashwords Style Guide and I produced a no-frills, minimalistic .doc with only two styles.
Kindle Create had put out random results for me, like some outer links working and others not, or inserting huge spaces in between sections with little text.
If you want, you can take a look at my first novel in the Look Inside (made with the .doc) and my second and third (made with Kindle Create) to tell the differences.

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

Calibre. Worked for me. Anything EPub can be transitioned to MOBI, AWS4, whatever, and vice versa.

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?

Deborah wrote: "Calibre. ." Awesome. Will check it out!

P.D. wrote: "Calibre won't let you edit a mobi file ..." I'll see if their features changed ... Deborah posts that you can edit .mobi in it.

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.