Category: ebooks

Market Yourself with eBooks: Volume 2 (Free ebook)

Post author By Michael Rohani
Post date June 2, 2017

Market Yourself with eBooks: Volume 2

Volume 2 in our new free ebook series Market Yourself with eBooks is now available.

Like volume 1, you can get it for free now and you don’t have to give your email address or fill in an opt-in form. Just click and download. Share the link with whoever you think will be interested.

Volume 1 explains the concept of publishing as a form of content marketing. Volume 2 shares six features of great ebook for marketing purposes. This information is useful to anyone developing a content marketing campaign, especially for business professionals who can benefit from an ebook strategy.

Content marketing, ebook marketing strategy, content development, ebook design — Volume 2: Six Features of great eBook for Marketing Purposes

CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR COPY: Volume 2, Market Yourself with eBooks: Six Features of Great eBooks for Marketing Purposes

If you like it, let us know. If you would like an ebook for your business, give me (Michael) a call at 425-771-2905.

Don’t forget to subscribe to my blog and follow me on Twitter to get more publishing and content marketing tips.

ebooks ISBNs

ISBNs for eBooks

Post author By Michael Rohani
Post date May 3, 2016

Each edition of a book, including each ebook edition (each format is its own edition), that is to be sold through retailers, needs a unique ISBN. An ISBN is the International Standard Book Number consisting of 13 digits (after 2007).

Book distributors and retailers rely on ISBNs to identify and track books. Not having an ISBN can therefore be a barrier to distribution. Amazon has its own optional “ASIN” alternative, but this is of no use with other distributors and retailers. ISBNs remain the most widely used system for books.

I recommend that the ISBNs for all available editions be listed on the publisher page. This is an example of how you can list them:

ISBN: 000-0-0000000-0-0 (Hadcover edition)
ISBN: 000-0-0000000-0-0 (Paperback edition)
ISBN: 000-0-0000000-0-0 (Audiobook edition)
ISBN: 000-0-0000000-0-0 ebook (ePub)
ISBN: 000-0-0000000-0-0 ebook (Kindle/Mobi)
ISBN: 000-0-0000000-0-0 ebook (ePDF)

eBooks conversion does not automatically convert the ISBN in the meta data.

Having this list on your publisher page allows bookstores, librarians, and readers to see all the available options, which can help increase sales. For example, readers can now see that a hardback is available if they prefer hardbacks for gifts or what ebook edition to order so they can be sure they are getting a format that works on their preferred e-reader devices.

If you are an independent publisher, it is important to understand that the third set of numbers in the ISBN represent the registrant or publisher.
That is, when a bookseller, buyer, or librarian uses the number to look up your book, those numbers need to identify you, the publisher. If you buy numbers secondhand (available through companies that buy them in bulk and offer them at a discount), the number will be registered to someone else whose brand may not be helpful to your company.

eBook Creation ebooks

The Costs of Creating eBooks

Post author By Michael Rohani
Post date May 3, 2016

What it costs to create an ebook depends on what type of file you are starting with, and what type of result you are seeking. Ebooks can start out as a printed book or be created only as an ebook. Some strategies include converting the file for use only on tablets and other strategies aim for all devices—desktops, tablets and mobile phones. For complex books, such as textbooks, these different approaches require different strategies for how tables, sidebars and other features are preserved and presented. In most cases, the goal is to preserve the graphic features and style elements in the print edition, which may require recreating them in a way that looks similar in the ebook editions.

For many books, especially complex books, file preparation is the main costs—not the stage known as conversion. Conversion is relatively easy and mostly automated when a file is very simple or prepared correctly. However, even after a file is converted to ePub, it is normal that some file editing and preview tests and adjustments are necessary to eliminate export code errors.

eBook Creation eBook Meta Data ebooks

Creating Effective eBook Meta Data

Post author By Michael Rohani
Post date April 24, 2016

The ePub, Mobi, and ePDF formats can include embedded meta data (information about the book) for e-readers and search engines. This data is often displayed in the e-reader device allowing readers to know what a book is about before they select it.

ebook meta data — Embedding meta data in your ebook will help readers find your book and understand what it is about.

Meta data categories

The meta data doesn’t happen on its own. It must be put there. Ebook conversion software doesn’t add it. Only a knowledgeable designer or producer of the ebook file will know to enter the information. The data is collected from whatever sources are available—usually the information on the publisher page and the book’s backcover. The main meta data categories are as follows:

eBook Creation ebooks Publishing

How eBooks are Created

Post author By Michael Rohani
Post date April 17, 2016

Most authors today write their books using text editing software. Book designers and publishers import the final edited texts into professional page layout software. The book is then designed and exported as an ebook. This export process has a number of limitations, so the file (which is actually a folder containing many html files) is then unpacked so that the code can be edited by a person skilled in code editing (html and css). Once the digital files are adjusted the book is ready for testing and publication.

man reading ebook — ebooks are often popular with people who travel.

In 2012, Apple introduced iBook2 and the free iBook Author software. This software offered ways to add enhanced features to ebooks without the need to edit the code. This looked very promising for textbook publishers. However, after the new iBooks software was introduced, users noticed and began to complain about the required license agreement that clearly warned users that they could only sell the .ibooks ebooks through Apple.

ebooks ePub format Kindle Mobi Format

How to Preview Your eBook Files

Post author By Michael Rohani
Post date March 26, 2016

You just had your print edition converted to ebook editions, meaning ePub and Mobi formats. Now what? You need to upload the file to online retailers who will provide you with their digital rights management. However, before uploading the files, you’ll want to preview them and see how the print edition has translated into the ebook format so you can request changes if necessary.