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Category: eBooks (Page 8 of 8)

Read It Anyway You Like Baby!

January 9, 2011 /

One of the most daunting challenges of publishing in eBook format exclusively is choosing which platform to target. Or at least that’s how it was at first. Thankfully, you can read an eBook on pretty much anything that has a video screen! Anyone still on the fence about buying eBooks take note, all of the major eBook sellers have free readers for the Mac, PC, and all popular smartphones. So don’t let the lack of a Kindle or Nook keep you away from eBooks!

I’m particularly excited that with the success of the iPad, the tablet market place has been growing at a rapid pace. This past CES showcased a number of new Windows and Android powered tablets, and the BlackBerry Playbook. The Playbook, while not Android powered, looks pretty sweet and is a strong signal that RIM is still in the game! And of course, more tablets, means more people reading eBooks which will accelerate the move to the new literary medium. I still love my Nook, but I see a tablet in my future!

What to Write With: Choose Your Poison

January 5, 2011 /

My wife has been planning to write a book about, well about a lot of things actually. After I posted my eBook HTML template yesterday, she asked me whether it was the right starting point for her projects. I explained, that for me, a software developer, using Dreamweaver to edit a collection of chapters in HTML formatted files made sense. But for her, maybe not so much.

In the end, I suggested that she use tools that felt natural to her for the task. She’s an expert at writing with Microsoft Word, so it makes sense to use that to write the book.  Few, if any, are writing eBooks in ePub format directly. And I’m sure that somewhere out there, people are using WordPress or Blogger to write their eBooks too!

The Making of Books: An eBook Template

January 5, 2011 /

My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. — Ecclesiastes 12:12

Indeed the making of books is endless, even more so now in the age eBooks. That would leave one with much to be wary of indeed, but not in this instance!

My first eBook, Anime Aftershocks, is a compilation of blog posts. So it was only natural, to me at least, to write the eBook using an HTML editor. Dreamweaver isn’t exactly a great word processor, but it got the job done. For later work, I figured I’d use Microsoft Word or OpenOffice.org. That would be easier, or so I thought. I soon discovered that I would be faced with potential conversion issues and would likely have to convert the book to HTML before processing anyway.

With that in mind, I decided to stick with Dreamweaver and developed a template that has become the starting point for new eBooks which I’m sharing here. It is largely based on what I learned using Calibre, and Amalthia’s Ebook Formatting Tutorial. The Preface file contains some brief instructional commentary. Feel free to use this any way you like, and have fun making books!

Download eBook HTML Template

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