So I had a thought. I'm going to try to publish LYE STREET myself, as an eBook through Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing. I think it will be an interesting project. It will allow those fans who have eBook readers to get hold of the novella, and because LYE STREET is a prequel to the DEEPGATE CODEX it might also be a way to promote my other books.
The Amazon Kindle publishing process is a tad confusing, especially regarding formatting. So far, I've used an application called "Mobipocket Creator" to, well, create the required format from the original .doc file. After a few hours fiddling with paragraph spacing, it now looks fine in the Kindle Previewer. I've also edited the original manuscript to make things a little clearer for those who are new to the DEEPGATE CODEX. This version of LYE STREET will be the "writer's cut", if you like. In addition to this, I've included an excerpt from SEA OF GHOSTS, although this worries me slightly since it adds 30 pages to a 130 page novella. I'm concerned that readers might think LYE STREET is longer than it actually is. Perhaps I can clarify this in the blurb? Or should the excerpt be shorter? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.
The cover was designed by Ian McQue. We opted for something simple, a design we hope will stand out as a thumbnail. I also wanted to make it clear that this is a novella rather than a novel. It looks like this:
Lacking a Kindle myself, I'm not sure if all eBooks require a Table of Contents. Can anyone help me out there? Should I put a Table of Contents at the beginning? It seems odd to include this for a single work of fiction, but then it might make it easier to navigate. I found an article which explains how it is possible to accomplish such a thing in MICROSOFT WORD, but I don't use MICROSOFT WORD, so it's left me baffled.
Then there's the issue of price. Amazon gives a 70% royalty rate for eBooks priced between $2.99 and $9.99, and 35% for those priced lower. $2.99 seems too high to me, so I think I'll opt for an initial price of $0.99, and see how that goes. I'm keen to see how pricing affects sales.
Anyhoo, I expect to publish the book in the next couple of days, so I'll keep you updated.
11 comments:
Table of Contents is easy.
What version of Word?
Send it my way of you want....
Please publish as an ePub as well. Iron Angel happens to be the first book I purchased for my nook. It would be a shame not to be able to get this.
Apologies if this is twice, blogger acted funny.
Please also publish this as an ePub. Iron Angel happens to be the first book I purchased for my nook. It would be a shame not to be able to get this.
On the topic of ToC.
If it is split up into chapters at all a ToC is useful on an eReader if they are links to the beginning of chapters. On the nook, when I select "Goto" on the menu besides letting me select a page, any chapters and links are displayed in the list.
Ok Guys,
Thanks for the info. I'll try to put a ToC in.
I don't know what an ePub is, but I'll look into it.
p.s. Sorry it takes me a while to receive these comments. Blogger is no longer emailing me when they appear. I don't want to switch off moderation because every time I do that I get spammed.
An ePub is what every eReader other than Kindle uses. Barnes & Noble Nook, Sony eReader, Kobo, iBooks, etc, etc.
I forget if you're a Mac guy or not (possibly if you don't have word), but there is a good ePub authoring tool called "Sigil". Then you could use "calibre" to convert to any other eBook format, including mobi.
Calibre is a good product for eBook management and conversion no matter if you're a Mac or a PC
Great. Thanks for that. I'll look into it.
Superb idea! Always wanted to read Lye Street.
I think Kindle editions do seem to almost universally come with a ToC.
If you're worried about the excerpt making it appear as if the novella's longer than it is, just include a comment in the Amazon product description that there's also an excerpt for Sea of Ghosts.
Couldn't help noticing that you're talking/writing in dollars - will it be available through the UK Kindle store, too?
Yep. It will be available in the UK. It's just that the Kindle Direct Publishing part of the Amazon site lists everything in dollars. In pounds, it should about about 75p.
I have *finally* implemented the ToC, so it's all set.
Alan, also upload the book to smashwords.com if you have the opportunity. They're pretty big now, and once your book is up there it'll be syndicated to lots of other big ebook selling sites such as Barnes and Noble.
Calibre is, indeed, pretty good for converting to various formats. Epub, unless anyone's already mentioned it, is the open source standard ebook format, so far as I know, where Amazon's own format is essentially proprietary.
You might find it useful to browse mobileread.com as well.
Cheers for the info, Gary.
I'll do those things.
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