Marketing 101 - Epublishing Formats

Formats

One of the big challenges for aspiring authors considering going the route of the e-publishing game, there is the road block of what format or how to format their book so that the major re-sellers and users can access their work. Formatting can be a major challenge for even the most enterprising and computer savy writer.

First it pays to understand the major formats used by the re-sellers and their various readers. There are basically 4 major formats with which writers must be conversant. These are; ePub, Mobi, PDF and the Amazon Kindle proprietary format.

Almost all of the eReaders will read the ePub format. The Amazon Kindle is the one major player that does not support the ePub format. Consequently, to be really serious about getting your work on the major re-seller sites, it requires that the writer be able to provide their work in at least two formats, ePub and Kindle.

This is important as Amazon will not accept an e-book in their listings unless it is available in Kindle format. And since Amazon is one of the few re-sellers that has true international distribution, it is very important not to overlook this market.

Fortunately with the growth of the e-publishing industry, a wealth of conversion tools and services have sprung up to support the conversion of manuscripts into the necessary formats.

Some of the bigger e=publishing service companies offer to do the file conversion as part of the service that is offered. A few even offer a guarantee of getting a book into the big re-sellers premium programs provided certain formatting and sales minimums are met.

Most of these services require that the original manuscript be provided in Microsoft Word format. Usually there are other requirements such as the removal of any special or odd formatting, etc. Many will take a raw manuscript and, for a fee, do the complete conversion.

Before paying for any service, it is wise to check with others who have used the service to see if their experience was satisfactory. Shop around for the particular services you are needing before committing to anything.

We suggest that the writer check with the e-publisher before doing any final formatting of their work. Each has some specific requirements and you will save yourself a lot of time and headaches if you are prepared before hand to format your document for your e=publishers requirements.

One thing that can be said is that Microsoft Word is the software of choice for preparing manuscripts that are going to be subjected to an automatic conversion process. Just be aware that no matter how good the conversion software, it will still need to be proofread and editted after the conversion process.

The internet has a wealth of information on e-publishing formats, conversion programs, and e-publishers and their services.

Links and Information

The following list is my no means exhaustive and no endorsement or recommendation is implied or made about the services and providers list here.

Directory of ePublishers

How To Choose An Epublisher

10 Questions to Ask Before Committing to Any E-Publishing Service


Assignment

After reading the above lesson and investigating some of the services and software that is available, write an assessment of what you believe to be the level of services that you will require. Will you be able to handle file conversions yourself? Will you contract someone to do the conversions. Will you sign on with an E-publisher who offers a suite of services? Post your answer in the Marketing classroom for review.