How to create an Ebook

[Divia]

I had this idea floating around in my mind after I read about another lady.

How does one create an ebook for free. I thought I might try my hand at writing a novella and then allowing it to be downloaded on all ereaders. Obviously it would be YA. The point isn't to make money, the point is to get my name out there. (I wouldn't do a hack job and just publish anything, it would go through rewrites).

Has anyone done this and how much does it cost?

[N. Gemini Sasson]

You can do it for free on Smashwords. You can offer a variety of formats through Smashwords and set your own pricing (including free). Smashwords will then distribute to the various retailers (B&N, Amazon, Apple iBookstore, etc.).

You can upload directly fairly easily to Amazon and Barnes and Noble, but for Amazon you as an indie can only go as low as 99 cents there. Not sure how it works, though, if you have your book free on Smashwords, but have them distribute to Amazon for you.

ETA - It doesn't cost to publish an e-book to Amazon or B&N, either.

[fljustice]

One of the easiest places to do that is Smashwords.com. They have a "meat grinder" aka converter that will turn your Word doc into the various formats for free. You have to do a lot of work on the word.doc to strip it of extraneous formatting, but Smashwords has a free comprehensive style guide that steps you through the process. Once your book has been approved they will "publish" it at all the major outlets (Kindle, Nook, Kobo, etc.) at the price you set (including free.)

You'll want to have cover art, back matter, blurb, author info, etc. If you want to charge for the book, you'll have to set up a Paypal account (if you don't already have one.) If you're charging, I'd recommend opting out of the Kindle andNook and publishing your book directly through them. Both have their own converters and pay monthly whatever you've earned, rather than quarterly (with a minimum of $25) for Smashword.

There are other universal converters and ebook stores, but Smashword is the one I'm familiar with. Feel free to PM me with questions. And best of luck with your book!

[Divia]

Great advise. Thanks to much

[Mythica]

I used MobiPocket Creator to make an ebook out of the stuff I wrote on my ancestors (it's free): http://www.mobipocket.com/en/downloadso ... reator.asp

But I didn't publish it - it was just for me.

[G. Alvin Simons]

Divia,
Check out my reply on the Chat thread about Kindle - What's The Point concerning Word format for Kindle or Nook. The same procedure will work to create an EBook. In fact, I'm planning on using it to convert my next novel.
Alvin

[LoveHistory]

The creation isn't a problem for me, but the formatting is another story. I lost the file where I had all the dimensions and formatting tricks listed for Kindle.

[fljustice]

[quote=""LoveHistory""]The creation isn't a problem for me, but the formatting is another story. I lost the file where I had all the dimensions and formatting tricks listed for Kindle.[/quote]

Here's a list of free formatting guides for all the major outlets from Galleycat:

http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/ho ... ook_b29811

[LoveHistory]

Awesome! Thanks, Faith!