Where to start then creating your first e-book? You got the idea and the concept, but what’s next? Now, this is the time to rearrange some working materials for your future book-writing. Creating your first e-book can be a long and complicated process, nothing comes easy.
Probably the first questions for many authors are: the plot, the audience, the market
, then the format and technical aspects. Now we are not going to talk about about plots, audiences, type of work and other basic aspects, because we do not want to heart your intellect.
If you are already here you, probably know who you are and what possibly could you drain out of your own imagination.
Our mission is to try to realize your vision with all recent tools and online marketing advices.
From planning to creation. From creation to realization. From realization to promotion and distribution.
Starting from picking up the right software to formatting rules and publishing options you always should to stay accurate and patient. First off all, you need to ask yourself “what software should you use to write your first e-book?”
Writer’s software
You would probably think that there are a lot of software applications now and many of them could make you work easier as never before since Word 97? You are absolutely right and wrong in the same time.
You are right, because we got a lot of editing programs today like Adobe Indesign and Quark Xpress, but they are professional and specified tools for a complex editing, not just for writing. The wrong point is that you need only a simple ability to write and save, so keep your e-book writing simple and fast.
Therefore we do recommend to stay on a classic way and use typical word processor like Microsoft Word and Open Office Writer. Keep it simple even with the formats.
Don’t save in a docx. or odf. just stay with .doc format, because that format is most easy transferable and recognizable in any program. Speaking about your future editing and designing tools you had obviously got the message, they are Adobe Indesign or Quark Xpress.
The following steps are easy to remember:
[one_half]Write your e-book in Word
Save it in .doc
Transfer the .doc content to Indesign
Save it as a separate Indesign project .indd[/one_half]
[one_half]Edit the content, menus, hyperlinks, etc
Create the book cover (Adobe Indesign, Photoshop, Illustrator)
Transfer and save the final project in .pdf
Prepare your publishing pack[/one_half]
E-book formats
In what format should be created your e-book? From the mentioned paragraph you had probably noticed that we had accentuated our attention on a PDF format, and it has its own reasonable moment. However, all depends of your goals and marketing plans. Today you can choose from many e-book formats:
[one_third].txt
.htm; .html
.azw
.opf
.tr2; .tr3
.aeh
.pkg[/one_third] [one_third].fb2
.chm
.pdf
.ps
.djvu
.lit
.pdb[/one_third] [one_third].dnl; .exe
.xeb; .ceb
.lbr; .bin
.prc; .mobi
.epub
.lrf; .lrx
.pdg
.pdb[/one_third]
There is no need to rush for all of them, because the majority of the represented e-book formats are not popular and not marketable in publishing, these are formats such as txt, djvu, etc. Let’s review most advanced and marketable formats from the business point of view.
Adobe PDF
Most popular and reliable format. On our site we will base our tips and reviews upon exactly this popular format. Why it is a best choice? Because you can run it in any recent gadgets and platforms with no problems and special requirements! Adobe Reader files are printable and compatible with pictures and graphics. Requires Adobe Reader, which you can get for free on their official website.
What you should know
Adobe Reader e-books are great for e-books with pictures, special fonts, or complicated layouts. They can be read on Windows PCs, Macs, and Palm devices. Printing can be disabled if you’d like, but we recommend leaving it as an option for the customer.
Microsoft Reader
Microsoft’s new Clear Type technology makes words on the screen appear just like words in a printed book. Microsoft Reader’s smart navigation system remembers where you left off reading, and includes multiple methods of page navigation, multicolored bookmarks, and whole book search features. Personalize your e-book with multicolored highlighting, drawing, font sizing, and personal notes. Requires the Microsoft Reader software.
What you should know
Microsoft Reader e-books can be read on Windows PCs and Pocket PCs. These e-books offer, in our opinion, the most book-like environment yet. Small images can be included, but manuscripts that are heavy with charts, graphs, etc, are not recommended.
Mobipocket
Features touch-screen page turning, bookmarking to facilitate quick returns to noteworthy sections, adjustable font size and color, full text search – in fact all that you need for an enriched reading experience. Turn pages in your e-book with ease, just a stylus tap takes you wherever you want to go. Bookmark notable sections of your e-book to make a quick return. Alter the font size, type or color to meet your convenience and style. Full text search ability helps you locate any word/text in your e-book instantly.
What you should know
Mobipocket Reader is compatible with almost all PDAs, and e-books are very popular with PDA users. Mobipocket Reader offers more navigational features than most PDA readers. PDAs have small screens, so these these e-books include a cover image, but usually no other images.
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