[Guest]

Well, the big day's getting closer and closer, but before I'm ready there are a couple points I don't know yet. So:

Incorporated Beta Readers' Input, where necessary? - Yes.

Proofread, No.1? - Yes.

Edited? - Yes.

Proofread, No.2? - Yes.

Used Serenity Editor? - Yes. Does anyone else use that? I think it's a pain on the eyes, but it's a really helpful pain at that.

Get Copyright. - On it.

General formatting question: Since I don't own a Kindle myself, what's the best way to deal with footnotes? Are they all relocated to the end of the document, or do they stay below the page? And if not, can I "fix" this by adding page breaks?

ISBN? - Don't I get one of these when I upload to Smashwords? If so, it's bound to the product, not the platform, right, ie. I can also use it on Amazon etc.?

Which publication platforms do you use?

Print Version - Going with Createspace there since I don't have a business of my own. For max distribution, Createspace advises white paper, but whenever I open a book - besides academic journals - I'd say what I'm looking at it is cream? How do you guys handle this?

 

[Ripley]

Whew, that's more than a couple of questions! I wish that I had more answers for you.

I'm popping in to address your footnotes question, but my experience is as a reader. I like it when footnotes are at the end of the document with a click-through link to view. Then you just hit the Kindle "Back" button to return to where you left off in your reading.

 

[Terrence OBrien]

Users can change text size, and different devices have different line capacity per page. I would question if bottom of page could even work for footnotes.

 

[Todd Russell]

ISBN? - Don't I get one of these when I upload to Smashwords? If so, it's bound to the product, not the platform, right, ie. I can also use it on Amazon etc.?

You can get an ISBN for free from Smashwords and also (a different) one from CreateSpace for free. The one from Createspace will link to your Amazon ebook listing if not automatically within a month then you can contact them and have it linked.

Which publication platforms do you use?

The primary ones: KDP (Amazon Kindle Publishing), Barnes & Noble Pub-it, Smashwords (to get into Sony, Kobo, Diesel and other Premium Distribution markets except for Amazon and B&N which I opt-out of). I also got my book in a half dozen or so smaller, niche e-tailers and I'm always on the look for more to publish at.

Print Version - Going with Createspace there since I don't have a business of my own. For max distribution, Createspace advises white paper, but whenever I open a book - besides academic journals - I'd say what I'm looking at it is cream? How do you guys handle this?

Went with cream on my horror book. I don't remember CreateSpace saying that cream paper negatively affected your distribution in their expanded channels. I did see the part that you had to use the industry standard dimensions, though. Do you have a link where you saw this?

 

[Steven R. Drennon]

I second what has already been said regarding footnotes: put them at the end of the book.

In regards to Copyright, not essential but nice to have in case you need to go to court to sue someone for unauthorized use of your content. This is more of a delay than a benefit, but others may see it differently. Legally, your written work is copyrighted by you the minute you put your name to it.

The ISBN you get from Smashwords will NOT be valid for anything you upload to Amazon. Each version or format of your book will have a different ISBN. Amazon does not require an ISBN because they will assign their own unique ID. You definitely want to upload to as many platforms as you can, though.

As far as CreateSpace goes, paper color is a personal preference. I went with cream and prefer it considerably. I think most non-fiction, however, looks better in white. Again, that's a personal preference. Also, as you go through the CreateSpace process you will see that they will assign a different ISBN for your printed version of the book.

I hope this helps!

 

[NickSpalding]

Since I don't own a Kindle myself,

Buy one. You can't 100% be sure of how well your book is formatted until you see it on a Kindle screen... You have to see what the audience sees and the only way to do that is to buy a copy of your book once it's up and read through it. Trust me, you'll pick things up you'd miss otherwise just using PC applications.

 

[Terrence OBrien]

If you have a Kindle, and create a prc file through Mobi, you can USB copy the file to your Kindle and see exactly how it looks. If something is wrong, just fix it. Repeat until it's right, then do the upload so there are no surprises.

There are ways to email a non-prc file to your personal Kindle. It's easy to do, but I'm not familiar with the formats that work.

 

[greenpen]

If you have a Kindle, and create a prc file through Mobi, you can USB copy the file to your Kindle and see exactly how it looks. If something is wrong, just fix it. Repeat until it's right, then do the upload so there are no surprises.

There are ways to email a non-prc file to your personal Kindle. It's easy to do, but I'm not familiar with the formats that work.

You don't need to email it to your kindle. Waste of time. Just connect the kindle to PC using USB lead. It will appear as a USB device. Then you can just transfer the file across to the documents folder. It will show up next time you go to KIndle home and you will be able to open it and read it.

 

[Debbie Bennett]

You don't need to email it to your kindle. Waste of time. Just connect the kindle to PC using USB lead. It will appear as a USB device. Then you can just transfer the file across to the documents folder. It will show up next time you go to KIndle home and you will be able to open it and read it.

I find that emailing it means I don't have to convert it. I can write it in word, save it as html and email it - amazon converts it and it appears on my kindle exactly how it will look when uploaded.

There's also the free kindle app for the pc so you can see what it looks like there too. But it's not the same as having your own kindle (lovingly strokes said kindle....)

deb

 

[Ripley]

I find that emailing it means I don't have to convert it. I can write it in word, save it as html and email it - amazon converts it and it appears on my kindle exactly how it will look when uploaded.

There's also the free kindle app for the pc so you can see what it looks like there too. But it's not the same as having your own kindle (lovingly strokes said kindle....)

deb

You can also convert for Kindle for free. Email to [email protected]

 

[Guest]

Hey, thanks for the swift and helpful answers!