#what other classics could this be applied to epistolary or otherwise

[captainsparklefingers]

I gotta say, I'm gonna be really upset when we get to the end of Dracula, and therefore Dracula Daily.

I don't know why, but there's just been something really fun and enjoyable about reading a classic this way. I know that it works particularly well here with Dracula being an epistolary novel, but I hope that somebody picks up the torch and does this with another book. I saw mention somewhere of doing Frankenstein like this, and that'd be great! But honestly? This sort of...I don't know, cupcake sized bites of a book, followed by a lot of interesting and fun discussion...it's really been working for me. And I'd love to do it again.

Man, if this is what book clubs are like, I've been missing out xD

[store4ebooks]

EBooks and Enhanced EBooks: Creating, Making and Baking

The launch by Amazon earlier in the year of their Kindle Singles scheme marked a significant and ground breaking milestone in the sea change that is happening to the world of book publishing. What Amazon are offering now is a store front for short items of 10,000 to 30,300 words. Amazon spent the previous three months working with a group of authors to create a small collection of such items ready for the launch. Up until then I had been comparing the emergence of eBooks with the iTunes phenomenon and the switch from artefacts to digital music together with the associated role played by MySpace in allowing individuals and bands to showcase their material.

However, there is another pertinent forerunner in the punk and post-punk movements in the late 70s and 80s when many small independent record labels emerged both in London and, importantly, around the country in Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield, Glasgow and Edinburgh. Suddenly, the single re-emerged as a cultural artefact with currency and worth, something to be cherished, appreciated and talked about. The concept brought musicians, singers, photographers, designers, entrepreneurs, journalists and fans together to collectively drive the creative cultural process forwards.

One of the biggest frustrations that I frequently hear from aspiring writers is how difficult it is to get noticed by publishers. Just to get a manuscript read. Not a problem if you know someone or you have a celebrity status or even notoriety, but otherwise no reply. On the other hand, self publishing is very, very unlikely to be a route to stellar success (although it could be!). No, what schemes like Kindle Singles offer is a platform for today’s Cooking Vinyl and Postcard Records to bring together like-minded writers and then promote their work to the appropriate audience. Not only does the move from physical books to digital ones offer new distribution channels so it offers a step change in audiences as the iPod generation embraces a new medium. A generation that has grown up with Facebook and Gmail is going to have a different perspective on the epistolary novel than the generation who was taught the difference between sincerely and faithfully.

Of course none of this is new. Many writers now known for their novels began by publishing sequentially in small chunks simply to obtain a cash-flow. Raymond Chandler contributed to the Black Mask Magazine, Charles Dickens was published in London’s Monthly Magazine. The short story has always been a popular format both with readers and writers. The fact that traditionally, stories have been published in collections, either thematically or by author, is primarily to manage publishing costs – including binding, distribution and promotion. The launch of Kindle Singles changes all of this. Publishing work sequentially works for writers in different ways and not just financial ones. Writers may do other things with their time. Completing work in instalments may fit in with a broader modus operandi that involves other activities.

So how do I do embrace this new world of accessible publishing?

The following steps are taken from Amazon’s own extremely clear instructions which are available on the Kindle website together with videos an other informative material.

Step 1) Build the book Amazon recommend using Microsoft (another Seattle-based company, note) Word as a text editor which is a safe bet to appeal to the lowest common denominator to be fair. Files should be saved in the classic.doc format rather than the newer.docx or any other format. Formatting should be minimal avoiding bullet points, headers and footers etc. Page breaks should be used to delimit chapters. Images can be inserted as centred jpegs but bear in mind that the Kindle is monochrome.

Step 2) Create the title page A simple title page should be created and copyright, dedication and preface pages can be added too each with their own page breaks.

Step 3) Check text formatting Amazon recommend checking section breaks, indentations, paragraphs etc before proceedings. Indexes are not possible however Bibliographies, Appendices, Notes or Glossaries can be added with page breaks in between.

Step 4) Save as filtered HTML In order to prepare for the eBook preparation save your Word document into the Web Page, Filtered (*HTM &*HTML) format.

Step 5) Convert to an eBook using Mobipocket This file can now be converted in to an eBook. Amazon recommend an application called Mobipocket Creator. This is freely available from their website (Mobipocket Creator). During this import and build process you will have the opportunity to add an image to the cover of your book. Obviously this should image should legal and available for you to use. (It is interesting how people’s attitude to copyright issues can alter when they deal with creativity in different fields.) Whilst you can generate your own artwork relatively easily these days, if visual creativity is not your forte (or even if it is) you may benefit from a partnership with a professional practitioner who can add an extra dimension to your publication. This is encapsulated in a phrase I read recently: talented designers can draw; great designers can draw people in.

Step 6) Check book using Kindle Previewer Amazon provide a separate application, also free, with which to check your eBook. This is available here: Kindle previewer. This obviously applies to the many devices including the Kindle and the iPad etc. on which the Kindle app can be run.

Step 7) Upload eBook to Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) Finally, all that remains is to submit your eBook to Amazon’s Kindle site. To do this you need an Amazon account. You can ue an existing Amazon.com account or create a new KDP account by following the instructions on their site. Once saved, the eBook should appear after 24-48hrs. Further details will appear after another 2 or 3 days.

That’s it, your book is published. So, what happens next? Overnight sensation or a long slow slog to build up a reputation? Yes, social networking, both virtual and real can help. Advertising also works but costs money, and furthermore takes skill to make it work efficiently and economically. There’s a reason why advertising executives drive Ferraris. My feeling is that the independent record label model holds out a route for new authors to establish themselves within a community of like-minded readers. Established smaller publishers could fulfil this role is they have a niche market. Specialist web sites such as http://bit.ly/2SwKOKS could play a part, but I’m sure other sites will emerge to focus even more finely on genres and themes.

One of the reasons that the new independent record labels of the 80s succeeded so well so quickly is that they acted as a nexus for a collection of the most talented creative people of the time. I’m sure that Love Will Tear Us Apart would have become a classic anyway, but the fact that Joy Division were signed to Tony Wilson’s Factory Records (released as FAC 23) and had a sleeve designed by Peter Saville all played apart in the creative symbiosis. Kindle Shorts offers fantastic opportunities for alternative paths for both emerging and established writers to attempt different creative works but building an audience for such works will require the emergence of new systems and services to coalesce new audiences and communities.

If you follow these instructions you could be a published writer by midnight and online globally within a few days. If you do follow this path, let me know and I’ll add a link to your Kindle Single on Manifesto Books web site.

There has never been a better time to start writing.

Source by Stephen Marwell

The post EBooks and Enhanced EBooks: Creating, Making and Baking appeared first on @Store4Ebooks - PDF Files.

from WordPress http://bit.ly/2Tklrfi via IFTTT

[store4ebooks]

EBooks and Enhanced EBooks: Creating, Making and Baking

The launch by Amazon earlier in the year of their Kindle Singles scheme marked a significant and ground breaking milestone in the sea change that is happening to the world of book publishing. What Amazon are offering now is a store front for short items of 10,000 to 30,300 words. Amazon spent the previous three months working with a group of authors to create a small collection of such items ready for the launch. Up until then I had been comparing the emergence of eBooks with the iTunes phenomenon and the switch from artefacts to digital music together with the associated role played by MySpace in allowing individuals and bands to showcase their material.

However, there is another pertinent forerunner in the punk and post-punk movements in the late 70s and 80s when many small independent record labels emerged both in London and, importantly, around the country in Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield, Glasgow and Edinburgh. Suddenly, the single re-emerged as a cultural artefact with currency and worth, something to be cherished, appreciated and talked about. The concept brought musicians, singers, photographers, designers, entrepreneurs, journalists and fans together to collectively drive the creative cultural process forwards.

One of the biggest frustrations that I frequently hear from aspiring writers is how difficult it is to get noticed by publishers. Just to get a manuscript read. Not a problem if you know someone or you have a celebrity status or even notoriety, but otherwise no reply. On the other hand, self publishing is very, very unlikely to be a route to stellar success (although it could be!). No, what schemes like Kindle Singles offer is a platform for today’s Cooking Vinyl and Postcard Records to bring together like-minded writers and then promote their work to the appropriate audience. Not only does the move from physical books to digital ones offer new distribution channels so it offers a step change in audiences as the iPod generation embraces a new medium. A generation that has grown up with Facebook and Gmail is going to have a different perspective on the epistolary novel than the generation who was taught the difference between sincerely and faithfully.

Of course none of this is new. Many writers now known for their novels began by publishing sequentially in small chunks simply to obtain a cash-flow. Raymond Chandler contributed to the Black Mask Magazine, Charles Dickens was published in London’s Monthly Magazine. The short story has always been a popular format both with readers and writers. The fact that traditionally, stories have been published in collections, either thematically or by author, is primarily to manage publishing costs – including binding, distribution and promotion. The launch of Kindle Singles changes all of this. Publishing work sequentially works for writers in different ways and not just financial ones. Writers may do other things with their time. Completing work in instalments may fit in with a broader modus operandi that involves other activities.

So how do I do embrace this new world of accessible publishing?

The following steps are taken from Amazon’s own extremely clear instructions which are available on the Kindle website together with videos an other informative material.

Step 1) Build the book Amazon recommend using Microsoft (another Seattle-based company, note) Word as a text editor which is a safe bet to appeal to the lowest common denominator to be fair. Files should be saved in the classic.doc format rather than the newer.docx or any other format. Formatting should be minimal avoiding bullet points, headers and footers etc. Page breaks should be used to delimit chapters. Images can be inserted as centred jpegs but bear in mind that the Kindle is monochrome.

Step 2) Create the title page A simple title page should be created and copyright, dedication and preface pages can be added too each with their own page breaks.

Step 3) Check text formatting Amazon recommend checking section breaks, indentations, paragraphs etc before proceedings. Indexes are not possible however Bibliographies, Appendices, Notes or Glossaries can be added with page breaks in between.

Step 4) Save as filtered HTML In order to prepare for the eBook preparation save your Word document into the Web Page, Filtered (*HTM &*HTML) format.

Step 5) Convert to an eBook using Mobipocket This file can now be converted in to an eBook. Amazon recommend an application called Mobipocket Creator. This is freely available from their website (Mobipocket Creator). During this import and build process you will have the opportunity to add an image to the cover of your book. Obviously this should image should legal and available for you to use. (It is interesting how people’s attitude to copyright issues can alter when they deal with creativity in different fields.) Whilst you can generate your own artwork relatively easily these days, if visual creativity is not your forte (or even if it is) you may benefit from a partnership with a professional practitioner who can add an extra dimension to your publication. This is encapsulated in a phrase I read recently: talented designers can draw; great designers can draw people in.

Step 6) Check book using Kindle Previewer Amazon provide a separate application, also free, with which to check your eBook. This is available here: Kindle previewer. This obviously applies to the many devices including the Kindle and the iPad etc. on which the Kindle app can be run.

Step 7) Upload eBook to Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) Finally, all that remains is to submit your eBook to Amazon’s Kindle site. To do this you need an Amazon account. You can ue an existing Amazon.com account or create a new KDP account by following the instructions on their site. Once saved, the eBook should appear after 24-48hrs. Further details will appear after another 2 or 3 days.

That’s it, your book is published. So, what happens next? Overnight sensation or a long slow slog to build up a reputation? Yes, social networking, both virtual and real can help. Advertising also works but costs money, and furthermore takes skill to make it work efficiently and economically. There’s a reason why advertising executives drive Ferraris. My feeling is that the independent record label model holds out a route for new authors to establish themselves within a community of like-minded readers. Established smaller publishers could fulfil this role is they have a niche market. Specialist web sites such as http://bit.ly/2SwKOKS could play a part, but I’m sure other sites will emerge to focus even more finely on genres and themes.

One of the reasons that the new independent record labels of the 80s succeeded so well so quickly is that they acted as a nexus for a collection of the most talented creative people of the time. I’m sure that Love Will Tear Us Apart would have become a classic anyway, but the fact that Joy Division were signed to Tony Wilson’s Factory Records (released as FAC 23) and had a sleeve designed by Peter Saville all played apart in the creative symbiosis. Kindle Shorts offers fantastic opportunities for alternative paths for both emerging and established writers to attempt different creative works but building an audience for such works will require the emergence of new systems and services to coalesce new audiences and communities.

If you follow these instructions you could be a published writer by midnight and online globally within a few days. If you do follow this path, let me know and I’ll add a link to your Kindle Single on Manifesto Books web site.

There has never been a better time to start writing.

Source by Stephen Marwell

The post EBooks and Enhanced EBooks: Creating, Making and Baking appeared first on @Store4Ebooks - PDF Files.

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