EPUB Machine (Your Kindle Formatting Butler)
()
About this ebook
EPUB Machine (Your EPUB Formatting Butler) is the second of the three user manuals for the Nepo Press web-based book formatting system. We might call the system EPUB Machine when making EPUB files, Mobi Machine when making Mobi files, and PDF Machine when making "camera-ready" PDF files for printing paperback books. The same system does all three. This book focuses on how to make EPUB files (eBooks) for the Barnes & Noble NOOK and NOOK Apps, Kobo eReaders, Apple's iBooks---just about every eReader except Kindle---showing you everything you need to know to get started. If you want to create EPUB eBooks, this is the book to start with.
For making Mobi files (for Amazon Kindle and Kindle Apps), start with Mobi Machine (Your Kindle Formatting Butler). These two manuals contain essentially the same information---once you have read one, you probably do not need the other. Pick based on whether your primary interest is EPUB or Mobi.
After you have read one of these manuals, you are ready to make eBooks, but you'll probably want to read the third manual, Advanced Mobi and EPUB Machines, eventually. It covers advanced formatting techniques including how to make "camera-ready" PDF files for publishing and selling printed books through CreateSpace and Amazon.
For self-publishers, EPUB Machine hits the sweet spot with the best combination of high quality, low cost, ease of use, and flexibility.
What do you need? You need a computer with a web browser, a word processor or text editor, an internet connection, and a Nepo Press book account. You don't need to install any software. Your same manuscript will work for Mobi files, EPUB files, and PDF files, giving you "one-stop" formatting with nearly instant turn-around. Format your books on your schedule, not someone else's. No limit to the number of revisions, so fixing typos or changing your list of "Other Books by This Author" can be done whenever you wish.
If you are using the Nepo Press service, or planning to use it, this is the "missing manual" to help get you oriented and up to speed quickly.
The trick is to add simple, visible markup to your manuscript then feed that to the EPUB Machine. The result is a professional looking eBook, without the formatting errors so commonly seen in self-published books.
Frank Sergeant
I do a lot of eBook and print book formatting for Nepo Press. Because of this, I suppose, I am particularly sensitive to needless formatting and proofreading errors and do all I can to eliminate them.I think I have found a nearly perfect method for proofreading. The trick is this: if even a single error is detected, another full proofreading must be done. Simple, easy to understand, but nearly impossible to do in practice.
Related to EPUB Machine (Your Kindle Formatting Butler)
Related ebooks
Mobi Machine (Your Kindle Formatting Butler) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEasy eBook Publishing Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNotjohn's Guide to E-book Formatting Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5How to Create Your First Ebook Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Advanced Mobi and EPUB Machines Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEasy DIY E-book Formatting to Increase Book Sales: Self-Publishing Hacks, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow to Write and Sell an Ebook Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Indie Poet Formatting: Indie Poet Rock Star, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSo you want to publish an ebook Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBuild A Bulletproof Ebook Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIt’s Free and Easy to Self-Publish Your Book: A Step-By-Step Guide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFormat Your First eBook: Without Special Tools, Skills or Software.: How to Self-Publish, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsScrivener Windows EBook Creator Quick and Dirty Resource Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsE-Book Formatting for Novelists: A step-by-step guide for the independent novelist or small press Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5How To Build A DIY E-Book Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKindle Word & HTML Formatting Guide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHandcraft Epub in 7 Steps Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow to Proofread: EBook Formatting: An Indie Author's Guide, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow to Make and Sell Ebooks Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The A-Z of Formatting: All You Need to Know to Publish in ePub, Mobi or KPF Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSEVEN KEY CHEATSHEETS TO CREATE A MOBI OR EPUB EBOOK Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMaking Word.doc Files on Linux Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFormatting eBooks with Open Office Writer Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBuild and Publish your ePub using iBooks Author Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow This Book Was Made & How You Can Make Your Own Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPractical Thoughts on Becoming an Author Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow to self-publish an ebook - EBook Creator Guide: Easy, fast and perfect! Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Language Arts & Discipline For You
Grammar 101: From Split Infinitives to Dangling Participles, an Essential Guide to Understanding Grammar Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Writing to Learn: How to Write - and Think - Clearly About Any Subject at All Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Speed Reading: How to Read a Book a Day - Simple Tricks to Explode Your Reading Speed and Comprehension Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Writing Well, 30th Anniversary Edition: An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lost Art of Handwriting: Rediscover the Beauty and Power of Penmanship Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Show, Don't Tell: How to Write Vivid Descriptions, Handle Backstory, and Describe Your Characters’ Emotions Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Get to the Point!: Sharpen Your Message and Make Your Words Matter Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Barron's American Sign Language: A Comprehensive Guide to ASL 1 and 2 with Online Video Practice Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Craft of Research, Fourth Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fluent in 3 Months: How Anyone at Any Age Can Learn to Speak Any Language from Anywhere in the World Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Everything Sign Language Book: American Sign Language Made Easy... All new photos! Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Webster's New World: American Idioms Handbook Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5500 Beautiful Words You Should Know Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Verbal Judo, Second Edition: The Gentle Art of Persuasion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Talk Dirty Spanish: Beyond Mierda: The curses, slang, and street lingo you need to Know when you speak espanol Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Elements of Style, Fourth Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Chicago Guide to Grammar, Usage, and Punctuation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Learn Sign Language in a Hurry: Grasp the Basics of American Sign Language Quickly and Easily Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Talk Like TED: The 9 Public-Speaking Secrets of the World's Top Minds Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dirty Sign Language: Everyday Slang from "What's Up?" to "F*%# Off!" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAs We Speak: How to Make Your Point and Have It Stick Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It's the Way You Say It: Becoming Articulate, Well-spoken, and Clear Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How To Write A Children’s Book Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Summary of Lessons in Chemistry Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Reviews for EPUB Machine (Your Kindle Formatting Butler)
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
EPUB Machine (Your Kindle Formatting Butler) - Frank Sergeant
EPUB Machine
(Your EPUB Formatting Butler)
Frank Sergeant
copyright © 2012-2014 Frank Sergeant
all rights reserved
Smashwords Edition
published by Nepo Press (http://nepotism.net)
4th Edition, April, 2014
(formatted May 01, 2014 at 05:43 PM)
cover image credits:
Woman With Angle Grinder Spraying Sparks
(c) Can Stock Photo Inc. / jorgophotography http://www.canstockphoto.com/woman-with-angle-grinder-spraying-sparks-9093838.html
For Juliette
The companion book (Mobi Machine) was secretly dedicated to Amy. This book is dedicated to Julie, Amy’s darker sister. While Amy is writing and publishing for Amazon’s Kindle, Julie is very suspicious of eBooks, especially Kindle. She prefers to publish in a more universal format: EPUB. I love Amy and Julie, so I had to write a book for each of them.
About EPUB Machine
EPUB Machine (Your EPUB Formatting Butler) is the second of the three user manuals for the Nepo Press web-based book formatting system. We might call the system EPUB Machine when making EPUB files, Mobi Machine when making Mobi files, and PDF Machine when making camera-ready
PDF files for printing paperback books. The same system does all three. This book focuses on how to make EPUB files (eBooks) for the Barnes & Noble NOOK and NOOK Apps, Kobo eReaders, Apple’s iBooks—just about every eReader except Kindle—showing you everything you need to know to get started. If you want to create EPUB eBooks, this is the book to start with.
For making Mobi files (for Amazon Kindle and Kindle Apps), start with Mobi Machine (Your Kindle Formatting Butler). These two manuals contain essentially the same information—once you have read one, you probably do not need the other. Pick based on whether your primary interest is EPUB or Mobi.
After you have read one of these manuals, you are ready to make eBooks, but you’ll probably want to read the third manual, Advanced Mobi and EPUB Machines, eventually. It covers advanced formatting techniques including how to make camera-ready
PDF files for publishing and selling printed books through CreateSpace and Amazon.
For self-publishers, EPUB Machine hits the sweet spot with the best combination of high quality, low cost, ease of use, and flexibility.
What do you need? You need a computer with a web browser, a word processor or text editor, an internet connection, and a Nepo Press book account at nepotism.net/formatting (you can start with a free trial account). You don’t need to install any software. Your same manuscript will work for Mobi files, EPUB files, and PDF files, giving you one-stop
formatting with nearly instant turn-around. Format your books on your schedule, not someone else’s. No limit to the number of revisions, so fixing typos or changing your list of Other Books by This Author
can be done whenever you wish.
If you are using the Nepo Press service, or planning to use it, this is the missing manual
to help get you oriented and up to speed quickly.
The trick is to add simple, visible markup to your manuscript then feed that to the EPUB Machine. The result is a professional looking eBook, without the formatting errors so commonly seen in self-published books.
Table of Contents
Dedication
About EPUB Machine
Preface to the Fourth Edition
Note to Readers
Introduction
Chapter 1 -Your Manuscript
Chapter 2 - Writing a Novel From Scratch
Chapter 3 - Working With An Existing Manuscript
Chapter 4 - Running The EPUB Machine
Chapter 5 - Additional Notes
Boxes
Comments
Drop Caps
Ellipsis Marks
Emphasis
Forcing Line Breaks
Hyphens and Dashes
Images
Indentation
Manuscript Directories
Mono-spaced Fonts
Paragraph Alignment
Quote Blocks
Quote Marks and Smart Quotes
Scene Breaks
Small Quotes
Appendix A - How to Get Your eBook To Your eReader
Appendix B - Publishing Your eBook
Appendix C - Tips
Quotes curl in the wrong direction
Tags incorrectly combined with body of paragraph
Backing up your work
Reading in a web browser
Distributing the HTML version of your book
Printing a hard-copy of your manuscript
Word processor versus text editor
Appendix D - List of Tags
Appendix E - Word Processor Settings
Appendix F - Windy Day Manuscript
Notes and References
About the Author
Preface to the Fourth Edition
The EPUB Machine has gone through several stages of evolution.
The first generation required an author to (a) download, install, and configure several pieces of software, and (b) switch from a word processor to a text editor.
Gentle (and not so gentle) feedback suggested that authors did not enjoy either requirement, although there were exceptions.
In the next generation, we eliminated the need to switch to a text editor, but the burden of installing the software remained.
Finally, in the current generation, that burden has been lifted. Instead of every author installing the software on his local machine, we install the software on the Nepo Press server. Now an author uploads his manuscript through a web browser, clicks a button, and downloads the resulting EPUB file.
This has the additional advantage that the author never needs to re-install software to upgrade the system. We do all of that in a central location. The next time the author connects to the web site, the new software is available automatically.
We wanted to make the Nepo Press formatting service as close to one-stop formatting
as possible. Previously, an author could make both Mobi files (Amazon Kindle) and EPUB files (B&N, Apple, Kobo, etc.), but what about paperback books? The current generation solves that problem also. The touch of a PDF button now produces a camera-ready
PDF for publishing paperback books through CreateSpace.
So, the EPUB Machine is also a Mobi Machine and a PDF Machine, but the focus of this book is