Have you ever wondered how a book is created? Specifically, the part between the final edit and the actual book? As an independent publisher, I’m responsible for everything that happens. Luckily, it’s all pretty simple. Here’s a quick tour through the process.
From docx to ebook
We’re starting with the edited, hopefully typo-free document in Microsoft Word “docx” format. For an ebook, that needs to be transformed into “epub” format, which is what all ereaders expect. There are many ways to do this — I use the easiest, a program called Vellum.
When Vellum reads in my docx file, it’s smart enough to recognize chapter breaks. I can change some basic formatting styles, but really, it’s pretty simple.
On the left, it lists all the different sections. In the middle, it shows me what’s in that section. Over on the right, I can see what it will look like on different ereaders. I also load my ebook cover (which is just a jpg file with certain dimensions), and add the “copyright”, “acknowledgements”, “about the author”, and “also by” sections.
After the content is all in place , I tell it which vendors (e.g., Amazon, Kobo, Nook, etc.) I want files for, and then click a button. Vellum generates separate epub files for all those vendors and I’m ready to upload the ebook to each vendor!
Paperbacks
Creating a paperback is slightly more complicated, but the interior formatting is once again the easy part because I use Vellum. All I have to do is specify how big the pages will be, and what size font I want to use.
Once again, after I’ve made my selections, I just need to click a button and it will generate the pdf needed to send to the vendor for the paperback interior.
(The complicated part on paperbacks is the cover, because it’s all one file and the spine width depends on the number of pages in the book. Sometimes it’s a little frustrating trying to get the paperback cover the dimensions it needs to be.)
Obligatory Pet Picture
Foster kitten Milky Way was helping me format the paperback this week. See? Vellum is so easy, even a kitten can format a book!
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