EPUBBING with NICOLA FURLONG

As I mentioned previously (Publishing an Ebook Using Smashwords (1)) getting my two published mysteries republished as ebooks became a consuming goal.

After being stymied at Amazon.com for lacking necessary account criteria, I gave Smashwords.com, the ‘people’s ebook store’ a try…and was pleasantly surprised.

The Smashwords steps are pretty simple, understandable and achievable:

1. Go to www.smashwords.com, click “Join” on the blue tool bar & complete the form
2. Click “How to Publish” on the blue tool bar, make sure you own the copyright and follow the instructions…

BUT WAIT! BEFORE YOU PUBLISH, grab a tea, some cookies and a spare hour or so to:

3. Read the free “Smashwords Style Guide”; it very clearly and simply explains what document formats are accepted and how to format them so that they convert into ebook form with the fewest problems, and then
4. Read the Smashwords Q&A.

Sounds like a lot of reading. It is but it’s well worth it; otherwise you’ll upload your precious ebook and wonder why it looks like it was written in elf language.

5. Now, BEFORE you return to the home page, log in and click on “Publish” in the blue tool bar, be ready to provide:

• a title
• a brief synopsis (a marketing blurb similar to what is on the back of a published book)
• the language of publication
• whether the book is finished or a partial and whether it contains adult content
• a price in US dollars
• how much free sampling to offer
• the category and sub-categories that classify your book
• the tags that buyers may use to search for your book
• the manuscript file
• a cover image file
• which ebook formats you wish to have your book available in (Go for the default; everything), and
• an authorization to publish with Smashwords.

Now, armed with the info needed, go to the home page, click “Publish”, sumbit all the above info and then…

click PUBLISH!

So…what happens next? Stay tuned.

Tags: ebook, Electronic / Digital Publishing, smashwords, writing how to

This entry was posted on Friday, October 23rd, 2009 at 2:45 pm and is filed under Ebooks, Electronic / Digital Publishing, Writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.