Where can I find an affordable e-book development tool?
Hello! A professional group in which I am involved is considering publishing an e-book. I welcome any suggestions for tools/web sites that can help an e-book author create this type of project professionally and affordably! Thanks in advance, everyone!
Jess
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Jul 18, 2014
I would agree with Dave Worrall on affordable? Either way using a simple PDF tool such as Open Office or downloading Microsoft Word PDF plugin will help a great deal in creating the e-book. Both Open Office and Microsoft Word will help make very professional layouts.
Jul 15, 2014
I bought a software from Ryan Deiss called EPub, which is okay. I mean it does the job. However, you may want to avoid the hassle and go to Fiverr to find someone. I haven't gone this route myself but many others have. Look for ePub if you are considering Kindle formatting.
Jul 15, 2014
I use createspace on Amazon - terrific service and very affordable. For artwork etc I outsource in India - talk to Nitasha at realitypremedia.com - good luck!
If you want to see what the result looks like my book is 'How to be a Great Coach: Brilliant Coaching Conversations' and is on both Amazon as a paperback and kindle e-book.
Hope this helps
Jul 15, 2014
inDesign is a great tool for creating ebooks- very intuitive. I believe you can use the single app plan for $20/month (full suite for $50 or so).
Not sure if that will be more than you're looking to spend, but if you are going to continue churning out ebooks and other content I'd highly recommend it.
Jul 14, 2014
Write in MS Word. Purchase APE by Guy Kwasaki [ Author Publisher Entrepreneur ]. Join the APE community on Google+. Has been a great help to me as an author.
Jul 14, 2014
Hi
The simple answer to your question would be Convert your Book to Pdf and let the users download it post filling up form ( This is very popular among content marketers ) . Second is Convert the book to HTML and publish has web book . There are other options are there too with their pros and cons . Its not feasible to think of a right way unless the objective is known . The suggested point are only if you are not planning any business with E - book but only to let other users download and read . If you are planning a Business e.g. E learning , Its different question .
Regards
Jul 14, 2014
You might find the following free webinar useful. Steve Olsher is a great writer on startups and e-marketing. This session is about how to get an e-book working for you. I assume it will say something about how to produce one. I cannot vouch for it because it hasn't happened yet but I am planning on doing it.
https://ar117.infusionsoft.com/app/linkClick/6622/3207e16df9d5eaf3/8602480/404b9bf47291c15e
PS - The apparent advantage of a true "e-book format: is that you can't download it. Sure, you want to protect your Word and PPT file so people can't just use them. However, as a consumer the "true e-books" require me to read the thing on line right then or skip it altogether, and and often as not I don't have time right then so I end up skipping it. Whereas even if the moment passes, a good PDF may get saved and read again in a few weeks or months when the customer DOES have money.
Jul 14, 2014
If you'd like to save yourself a lot of time and opportunity cost, I know an excellent e-book publisher who is very affordable and worth your speaking with. His name is Steven Booth and he owns geniusbookpublishing.com. Don't be put off by the zombie/thriller theme he plays in for his own books.
He also likes to help people produce e-books of any genre is a nice guy and will be very helpful to you. Good luck!
Jul 14, 2014
Hi Jess,
I'm a best selling author and now have 7 books all e-books. About to get into print on demand too.
I have used a platform to help not only get the targeting, title, contents and cover image right, but also to market the books to become bestsellers very quickly.
Not sure if this is what you mean by a tool?
All depends if you want to 1) make money from the sake of books or 2) position yourself (or the group) as experts in their field and build authority?
Let me know what you might prefer and I can perhaps point you in the right direction.
Jul 14, 2014
MS Word or Scrivener for authoring (http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php )
Calibre for conversion to many formats (http://calibre-ebook.com )
iBook Author (Mac) for page layout (https://www.apple.com/ibooks-author/ )
Definitely check out Nancy Duarte’s ebook “SlideDocs” which was formatted using PowerPoint. (http://www.duarte.com/slidedocs/ )
Remember, an ebook has loads of graphics so check out http://photopin.com to search for images.
Jul 14, 2014
I highly recommend Leanpub (https://leanpub.com). It's not just a development tool, it becomes a store. I've published two books through it, and I make more money there than I do through Amazon for the same titles. It's free to use, and you only pay them when you generate revenue.
Jul 14, 2014
What a great question Jessica! I just published my first two book and have developed a number of eBooks. I have found Scrivner an invaluable tool. Others have already made the suggestions for Open Source office products and they go hand in hand.
Good luck in your writing!
Jul 14, 2014
Concentrate first on the content and targeting it to the right people for the right reasons.
The understand that an 'e-book' means any document published to be read electronically. Don't get sucked into paying money for a 'special tool'. Word works, InDesign is better if you want it formatted well. However, if you choose to upload it to Amazon's Kindle - it only takes a Word doc. Don't include page numbers.
Any word-processing program that can distill a PDF will work fine. There are a lot of scams out there charging for special 'ebook tools' or to lay them out. IF this is your first one, focus on good relevant content and just turn it into a pdf. Then it can be downloaded and read by everyone. Don't over complicate it.
Jul 14, 2014
My tool of choice is Calibre located here: http://calibre-ebook.com. You can take a document or other media and it helps you convert things into the eBook format and device of choice. It also happens to be free!
Jul 14, 2014
Check out Scrivener (https://www.literatureandlatte.com/) a very affordable writing platform that you can use to create a variety of documents including e-books.
Jul 14, 2014
first write in plane Microsoft Word , find an editor and then convert to Kindle .
Jul 14, 2014
Hello!
Specifically, what do you mean by "tool"? I have been studying the market for over a year, non-stop, so I can definitely point you in the right direction :)
Jul 14, 2014
You say affordable, but don't mention your budget. Adobe Acrobat 9 is my tool of choice, it costs around $20 as a stand-alone. However, you should be aware that Open Office's Word Processor has an Export to PDF function.
Sound advice ! Content first - always !