For most self-publishers, eBooks sell better than other formats. It is therefore important to not just prepare an eBook version of your book but to also make sure that it is created well. If your eBook is shoddily formatted, no one will buy it regardless of how good your story is.
Of course you can hire someone to prepare your eBook but frankly you don't need to and you shouldn't if you are working on a tight budget. You can do it all on your own. To create a good eBook:
STEP 1: PREPARE FRONT MATTER
The front matter is the text that appears right before your story starts. It will include:
- Title page. This has only your book title and your author name
- Copyright Statement page. This has the compulsory copyright statement thatevery eBook should have. It could also include a reference to the genre of yourbook, its rating and acknowledgment of the cover designer and editors. Google book copyright statements for an idea of what it should look like.
- Table of Contents page. This contains a hyperlinked list of all thechapters and back matter. For the TOC to be hyperlinked, all the chapterheadings in your manuscript will need to be bookmarked. You can do this whenformatting the manuscript but for now, just list all the chapters.
- Other Books In This Series page. If this book is part of a series, then it's important to list the other books in the series on a page of their own so that the reader can start with them before they come to your book or at least know of their existence.
- Description page. This is where the blurb of your book goes. Some books don't have it but you need it becauseeBooks are a different format. When the reader receives your book on theirdevice, it will only show the cover. If it takes them some time to get to yourbook, they might not know what the book was about and why they even wanted toread it. This page is your way of saving them the effort of going back to the retailerto read the description again.
- Dedication/Acknowledgment page. Some writers have people who they need to thank forworking on their book including beta readers or volunteer writers. Others getrid of this page completely or put in a quote that is relevant to the book.
STEP 2: PREPARE BACK MATTER
As soon as the reader finishes your book, they wantto know what's up next. This is your opportunity to encourage the reader toreview your book, place an excerpt of another book, to promote your other booksor to further encourage your readers to sign up for your mailing list. It couldinclude:
- Review Request. This doesn't need its own page. Right after 'The End'in the last chapter, you can include a short statement asking people whoenjoyed the book to leave a review at their preferred seller's site or onGoodreads.
- Other Books page. It is optional but you have it this is where you'll list all your other books
- Next Book page. If you've already published the next book in the series include the cover, description and link so that the reader can go there directly.
- Excerpt page. This is also optional and can include a chapter or two of another book thatyou already have for sale or that you're currently working on. If you'vepublished the book, give a direct link immediately after the excerpt. If youhaven't published the book, include a link that leads to your mailing list'slanding page.
- Mailing List Sign-Up page. This will usually have a short paragraph lettingthe reader know what you're working on next then a link (or button) guidingthem to your mailing list's landing page. If you're offering a free book, this iswhere you'll put its poster then link it to your mailing list.
Because of its promotional capability, manywriters get tempted to throw everything they want to the reader to do in the backmatter. They'll have a request for reviews, a long list of all their books, apage with a poster of the free book they are offering, a several-chapterexcerpt of their next book etc. This is a mistake. If you ask the reader to dotoo many things, they'll probably end up doing none. Choose only two pages maximum for the back of your book.
STEP 3: FORMAT YOUR MANUSCRIPT
This is a whole exercise that needs step by step guidance if you've never done it. Please google the words Smashwords Style Guide and download that guide. It will teach you step by step how to clean up your manuscript so that it doesn't look messy when you finally publish it. Though the guide is produced by Smashwords, their tips work for every retailer and aggregator. I know this because this how I learnt to do my own books and they've never been rejected.
STEP 4: BOOKMARK ALL CHAPTERS THEN HYPERLINK IN THE TABLE OF CONTENTS
Most retailers require that you have an active Table of Contents i.e. that means that it's clickable. For that to happen, you'll need to bookmark all the chapters in your book. Just highlight the heading of each chapter, then go to the Tool Bar on your document and click Insert. You'll find a section labelled as Bookmark. Click it and bookmark the highlighted section.
Once all chapters are bookmarked, go back to your Table of Contents and hyperlink each listed chapter to its appropriate page. This way the reader only needs to click on the Table of Contents to go to the chapter they want to read.
STEP 5: REMOVE EXTRA SPACES IN YOUR DOCUMENT
The interesting thing about typing is that sometimes you don't notice that you've hit the space key twice while writing. You might not see those double spaces but once your novel is being read on these devices, it is glaringly obvious. That's why need to get rid of those double spaces.
To get rid of double spaces, simply go to the find and replace feature on the taskbar of your document. On the find-bar type in two spaces, and on the replace-bar type in only one space. Click okay and all your double spaces will be gone.
STEP 6: SAVE A DOCUMENT FOR EACH RETAILER/PLATFORM
By now, you should already know all the retailers where you'll be selling your books. Though everyretailer has specific formatting requirements, if you follow Smashword's guide you'll probably be okay on this end.
However, note that most of these retailers are possessiveand don't want other retailers being mentioned or linked to in books beingpublished on their site. If you have a document with links to Amazon forinstance, iBooks won't accept it. That's why you need to have specificdocuments for each store. That way you can edit all your in-book links toredirect to their specific stores.
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