Publishing a Kindle e-book on Amazon

Thanks for the tips Valerie. I'll keep that in mind.

Nikki

Hi Nikki

I added a page break after the end of the chapter, Kindle formatting takes away any paragraph spacing. Like Val said no fancy fonts. The lucky thing is that you can upload your document and see a trial version. I am doing a sort of diary on my blog www.stevebichard.com also with links to other helpful sites.

For a Kindle as simple as possible seems better, you do not need it as a PDF file although Kindle do suggest some PDF formating advice. Mine was loaded straight from word.

To format for publishing on demand as a book form is slightly different, but I have some advice on my blog for that as well.

I will add a chart sometime for exactly what I did, as some advice can be conflicting and it was confusing until I actually did it myself. Saying that, I am easily confused as it was all new to me and I might have been able to fine tune a little more.

Hi Nikki,

With ebooks, don't over-format. In fact, the less formatting the better and no 'fancy#' fonts as some reading devices won't accept them. You'd be better off with single or 1.5 spacing, and paragraphs should either have a pre-set first line indent (not done by a tab) or flush to the margin. Don't insert page breaks or more than 3 or 4 carriage returns to separate chapters - the text on the device needs to be able to scroll. If you want a division of some sort within a chapter use some centred symbols. The chapter headings will speak for themselves as a new item.

Hope that helps, and good luck!

Valerie

Hi Steve, sorry I meant publicising, as in getting people to know your book's out there (slip of the finger).

I'm currently writing 2 books - the first is about living as a large family with varying ages of children in France and our various experiences with schools, healthcare, starting businesses etc I'm about 3/4 of the way through that. My second book started as a series of blog posts I did last November for the NaBloPoMo (National Blog Post Month - writing a blog a day throughout November) which went really well. I've got the bones of the book from the 30 blog posts and now I'm rearranging and expanding on them. I'm working on completing this second book within the next month or so and plan to publish it as an e-book. I'm planning on using it as a learning curve so that I've gain some experience before finishing and publishing my first book (hopefully later this year) which has taken me much longer to write and I really want to try and get it right with that one.

All my current writing is non-fiction, but I'd love to have a go at fiction one day.

I have one question about e-publishing - is there any sort of formatting of the original word document which will make it easier for uploading? I'm currently going through my document setting heading and text styles and double spacing etc, but wondered if I'm perhaps making problems for myself when I'm ready to upload. Any tips?

Good luck with the second book :)

My draft copies for printing arrived in the post this morning, really quick service. Just have to read through it yet again and then I can have it also available in print.

I am a bit like a kid with a new toy this morning, its so exciting.

Unless the 20 publishers that I sent a few chapters to have a change of mind of course!

That would be a big 'W'

It would be nice to get feedback from anyone that has tried it with Amazon. I just wanted to order a few myself to send to special friends, so it can gather dust on their bookshelves.

soz!

LOL - cheeky

Really excited for you Steve, it just goes to show if the Arctic Monkeys can by-pass the system so can anyone.

'Print on Demand?' WOW! I can only echo Val's poignant 'W' statement....W!

Thanks Val and Ron

I sold an extra couple of books last night, so it looks like the review might have helped.

I just have to do a little tinkering, then it will be ready for the Amazon print on demand programme.

I do hope this thread will spurn others to try and get any unpublished books out on Kindle, it is such an easy way to start.

Accolade indeed Steve; Must be gratifying. Go for it!

This idiot machine.

What I actually wrote was Wow, that a brilliant review. You really struck a chord with that lady. You must be so chuffed.

Or something along those lines, but all it did was a 'w'.

Let's see what happens this time...

W

Thanks for all the encouragement on this thread, I must admit that I have been slightly nervous about getting a review on Amazon.

It is not that I cannot take criticism, it is just that it was quite emotional at times writing the book and I hoped that the emotions would filter through to at least one reader and I did wonder that my amateurism might let me down.

However, this early review on Amazon UK really brought a lump to my throat.

I might not sell thousands of copies, but this one person has made me feel that all the effort was so worthwhile.

By
This review is from: Vantastic France (Kindle Edition)

I was happy to spend a few euros to upload this book to my kindle as I saw it as a novelty but didn't have high hopes of a literary masterpiece - and a lot of those are free for kindle anyway! I live in France and expected a very light superficial read and was planning to read it a little at a time whilst reading Nicholas Nickleby.

Well, I have to say I was in for a surprise. It wasn't long before I was so absorbed in Vantastic France that Dickens had to wait until I'd finished it. There are a lot of light hearted fun moments in the book but it is also a very honest and real narrative about what living in France is really like for English ex pats (of which I am one, in Brittany, where the story is set) and for the Breton people who have to put up with us!

Vantastic France, is, however, much more than the above. It is also a very moving story properly constructed, which deals with issues such as loyalty, snobbery, family secrets and difficulties in second-time-round relationships and step parenting.
Go Steve go and right that sequel! Also please think about releasing Vantastic France in paperback as I would buy it as a gift for friends and family who don't have an eBook reader. This is not just a book for ex pats living in France, it is a heart warming story about real people that leaves the reader wanting more.

Well done Steve. I look forward to hearing how it has gone in a few months time. It wasn't something I had even thought of.

Hi Nikki

The easy part was publishing, well on Kindle it is. Just took me a year to realise that!

The hard part is writing the follow up, which the first few readers asked about.

I started it today, trying to build a on the story, which is the easy bit with my imagination and all the tit bits I pick up on forums. I am sure there is room in the story for a new couple that started a new forum in France!

The hard bit is keeping all the facts correct from the previous book.

It has to stand alone, but also has to keep past readers interested. The first page is done, so its down hill from now on!

How far have you progressed?

Good luck Steve. I'll definately be looking into doing this when my first book's finished. I think the hardest part now is publising your book, but you definately seem to be off to a good start, so well done you!

Excellent news, Steve. Well done. And it's only the beginning.

Hey Steve, that's really good! well done.

Just to say that I have sold 15 books so far in just over a week, which is quite encouraging for my first attempt.

A very special thank you to a certain person who helped with a little extra editing. I have also added Twitter and Facebook page links to my new blog. Every little promotional effort helps in the early stages, thanks for all the advice.