Always wanted to write and publish your own book? You no longer have to join forces with a publisher for this. We tell you how you can make your own e-book and then distribute / sell it yourself, so that you also have a little money left over.
Not so long ago, you depended on a publisher to publish a book. Among other things, he took care of the production of the book and its distribution to locations where the potential readers are located (read: the bookstore). If you now have a good idea for a book, you have more options than ever at your disposal.
By offering the book as an e-book, you determine how you distribute it. Moreover, you can make your book from scratch. We will not go into the writing process but assume that the story is in principle already ‘on paper’. It is, however, extra important for e-books that you provide a good table of contents, so we will discuss that first.
Create table of contents in Word
You are not bound by any restrictions when formatting the document in Word. However, provide a clear table of contents so that the reader can quickly jump to the correct chapter. Select the chapter titles and choose from the toolbar Start Bee Styles in front of Cup 1, Cup 2 or Cup 3. Open the page on which you want to include the table of contents and choose the tab References. Press the button Table of contents. Now choose which type of table of contents you want to insert.
You can update the table of contents later at any time, for example if you have added additional chapters and expanded the text. To do this, right-click on the table of contents and choose Update field.
Convert word document to epub
An e-book is often a file in a pdf or epub format. While a PDF file is a common file format that has been around for quite some time, epub was specifically developed for e-books. Other file formats that e-books also use are azw and odf.
The advantage of epub is the flexibility it offers in the display of the text. For example, the content of the file can be adapted to the screen size of an e-reader and the reader can adjust the font and font size themselves.
Unfortunately, Word cannot directly save your book in the epub format. We therefore call in the help of an external service, namely online-convert.com.
At the top of the window you will see the different conversion options: we choose Ebook Converter. Choose Convert to epub. Press the button Choose Files and point to the file you want to convert to format. You are not limited to a Word document, but can also select a PDF file. The file is being uploaded.
After this, take a look Optional settings. Here you can make additional settings. For example, if you make the e-book for a specific e-reader, you can add it Target ebook reader specify. You can also change things like the title of the e-book and the author information here. Ready? Then click on Start conversion. After this you can download and share the book.
Sell ​​ebook on Amazon with Kindle Create
If you want to distribute your e-book via Amazon, you can also use one Kindle Create. With this free program you can format your e-book in a neat way. After the installation, click on New project from file. On the left you indicate which type of book you want to make. Click on both options and see in the right pane which characteristics belong to the type of book.
So do not focus blindly on the book types, but see which elements you need. For example, the second option (Study books, travel guides, cookbooks, music books) is better for using videos and audios. Your source file also determines which book type you make. For example, you can import a Word file (doc or docx) or a formatted PDF file.
Select the file: Create will import it and automatically add chapters. You will see the book in the main window. Now look at the window Suggested chapter titles: remove the check marks next to the chapters that have not been recognized correctly and confirm by clicking on Accept selection. If you do not agree with the format at all, click Reject everything.
Would you like to divide an existing chapter into multiple chapters on closer inspection? Place the cursor on the part you want to split and choose BEdit, Insert, Split chapter here.
In the left part of the window you will find the table of contents, which is divided into three main parts: Front matter, Body and Butt. Click the plus sign next to Preliminary work. Here you can add elements such as title page, foreword and copyright information. The plus sign next to Main text lets you add new chapters.
Finally Butt access to elements such as the epilogue and author information. In the right part of the window you will find the text properties. With this you can determine the appearance of an element on the page (for example a chapter title, subheading or paragraph).
Create also offers a limited set of themes, with which you determine the design of the book. Press the button Themes, at the top right of the window. Select a theme and view the result. Finally, click Selecting. After this you can add different types of elements to your book. You can find the options for this via Edit, Insert.
First go to the position in your book where you want to add the element and then choose Edit, Insert. Choose to insert a video Movie from file and select the source. You can also insert a sound or image: select Audio from file or Image from file.
Review and publish
To check the final result, click the button Preview. This view shows the presentation of the book on various devices, such as tablet and phone. In the window Control function choose at Device for the preview device you want and use the buttons next to it to switch between horizontal and vertical views.
Plus, you can switch between different fonts and sizes via the box below. At the very bottom of the Review Tool window, you can go directly to the table of contents, so you can quickly scroll through the results.
Satisfied with the end result? Time to publish. Click on the button of the same name, which you will find at the top right of the window. After the book package is created, you can publish it through Amazon. Click on the link Upload and publish on KDP and follow the steps of the wizard.
Publish for Kobo
The way you distribute your ebook depends on the target audience and the topic. If you want your book to be available through the Kobo catalog (also a commonly used service), please visit the site of Kobo Writing Life.
Within this platform, you as the author remain the owner of the rights and you can determine the price of the e-book yourself. It is also nice that you can schedule offers and promotions for the book yourself, for example around the holidays or on special occasions. Within the Kobo environment you can also have your book converted to the epub format.
In addition to the aforementioned, more ‘traditional’ publishing channels, you can also experiment with platforms that focus on a broader range. Payhip is, for example, a platform that focuses on selling e-books and other digital products.
The makers work on the basis of a subscription model with a commission per item sold. With the Pro subscription you pay a fixed amount and no commission is charged.
Hopefully we have helped you with the above solutions to publish your own e-book. In any case, there are plenty of options!
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