ebook authoring

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Cliff Ravenscraft @GSPN on August 22, 2012 at 10:01am

I know that Scrivener does epub (I assume Apple & Nook would support it) and Kindle output.  

I've not yet purchased the software, but I WILL as soon as I'm ready to start on my first book.

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/scrivener/id418889511?mt=12

Permalink Reply by David Jacobs @davidjacobs on August 22, 2012 at 1:10pm

Yes, I have a 30 day demo of Scrivener but i have not put in the time yet to really get to know it well. It's a fairy involved program. But it does look like it could do the job well so I'm going to put in the time and will let you know. Let's use this thread for anyone writing ebooks to share their experiences. We can build a great resource for the community. 

Permalink Reply by David Jacobs @davidjacobs on August 22, 2012 at 1:54pm

Just discovered a pretty good resource called Lacuna Books. https://www.lacunabooks.com

This is a complete ebook authoring web app that looks quite good. It's free to use and then costs $10 per book to generate an epub file. Does not generate Kindle. Epub will get you on iBooks, Nook and most other platforms that are not Kindle. This is the least expensive and best option I have seen yet, although I'm stil digging into Scrivener. But for others that want something dead simple and very inexpensive, this could be a good route to go. 

Permalink Reply by Shannon Kay on August 23, 2012 at 5:30pm

Have you tried Calibre for converting between formats?

Permalink Reply by David Jacobs @davidjacobs on August 23, 2012 at 7:09pm

I have tried Callbre and it can do a very good job. It's not the easiest or most intuitive program to use however. 

I have learned several good bits of information over the past day though. 

If you have an epub file, you can submit that to Amazon and it will turn right into a Kindle format. Supposedly it works quite well. 

Also, I put some time and effort into Scrivener and I really like it now. The app is setup for large book, novel and academic research papers, so it's not clear at the outset how to set it up for an online ebook. I went with the blank template and built from there. What that does is strip it down to the bare bones, which is fine, because you don't need much more than that. If someone comes up with a better way, please let us know. I did an introduction and converted it to epub and kindle right out of Scrivener and it looked good. Amazon, by the way, has an awesome previewer app that simulates the different Kindles so you can see how your book looks on the regular Kindle vs the Fire for example. 

I still think Lacuna Books is great, but I am moving ahead with scrivener. You can download a full 30 day trial, so I have lots of time. I fact, I will finish this book before the trial is over, and if it comes out good, I will buy for sure. by the way, tentative title for the book is: Social Business Marketing in the Connected Age. It will be free from my website at http://www.davidajacobs.com. Sorry for the shameless plug. 

What are you writing or thinking of writing Shannon?