Description

Creating and Formatting e-Books

Online Class

 

 

How This Class Works

The first lesson goes out on Monday. The remaining lessons are sent on subsequent Mondays.

Class members read the lessons at their convenience. Lessons have optional assignments to which I will respond with constructive feedback. The level of participation is up to each student. By working through the assignments you will have a file ready to upload to Kindle Direct Publishing. I encourage you to participate in group discussions. We all learn from each other. Based on the book Formatting e-Books for Writers: Convert Your Word File to Kindle.

(By providing you understand you will receive the Practical Inspirations News, which is sent periodically. You can change your mind at any time by following the instructions with each Practical Inspirations News email.)

Class Outline

 

Lesson 1: A Brief History
E-publishing statistics
Micro-history of e-publishing

Lesson 2: Decisions to Make
File types: PDF, RTF, MOBI, EPUB, AZW
Formatting options: DIY or a service

Lesson 3: Steps to a Good e-Book
Write a good book
Edit a good book
Create a good cover
Consider the reader

Lesson 4: E-book Fundamentals
Elements of the book
Font
File name
Cover
Content
Sidebars, pull quotes, columns
First essential steps
Clean up manuscript
Throw away what isn’t used
Page extras

Lesson 5: Next Steps in Formatting
Change fonts
Page breaks
Chapter titles and subtitles
Formatting paragraphs

Lesson 6: Formatting the Details
Front matter
Footnotes
Table of Contents
Links –internal and external

Lesson 7: Graphics, Covers, and Other Extras
Graphics
Text box
Interactive features

Lesson 8: Publishing
File conversion
File upload
Set up KDP account
Uploading your book
Correcting problems
After publishing

Lesson 9: Format Changes for Other Types of Files
PDF
EPUB

Lesson 10: Distribution Methods
Directly from Amazon, Apple App Store, etc.
A third-party distributor
From a website

Lesson 11: Pricing and Marketing
How much is too much?
Is free ever better?
Through your website
Social media
In person

Lesson 12: Where to from Here