Ebook bootcamp
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Transcript of Ebook bootcamp
About Tom McCluskey
• Co-founder of Portland-based Digital Bindery• Founder of the Ooligan Press Digital Content
Department• General purpose tech geek
1. What is an ebook?2. How are ebooks used?3. How safe are ebooks?4. What books make the best ebooks?5. Distribution6. Sales and Marketing of ebooks7. The ebook conversion process
What is an ebook?
The basics:• Self-contained package that includes all the
content for a book—text, images, metadata, and more!
• Similar to a mini-webpage• Allows readers to control the reading
experience (typeface, font size, etc.)• Reflowable text
Ebook formats
Two main ebook formats make up the bulk of the ebook market:
• Epub: open standard developed by the IDPF
• Mobi: Bought by Amazon in 2005, and is the basis for the .azw Kindle format
Epub formatEpub 2.0.1• Open, non-proprietary ebook format• Read by the largest number of devices• Fairly basicEpub 3.0• New version, as of October 2011• Lots of bells & whistles• Fixed layout is a sub-format– Intended for graphically complex layouts
• mobi/azw is Amazon’s format for the older Kindle devices
• Newer devices like the Kindle Fire support KF8, which has more bells and whistles
• KF8 can be used to create fixed layout files for the Kindle Fire
Reading Systems
These are the software that interprets the ebook format for the device you’re reading the ebook on.
• Adobe Digital Editions (ADE)• iBooks• Readium• Azardi
Devices
• Four main kinds of devices:1. Eink screens2. Tablets3. Smartphones4. Computers
Eink devices
• At this point, greyscale only• Slow page refresh rate• Very low power consumption• Not backlit• Many use ADE
Tablet computers
• Finer control of layout (eg fixed layout) is supported
• Vibrant full color• Full video and audio is
possible• More varied reading systems
available, especially if apps are supported
Smartphones
• Very varied reading systems• Audio and video content
available• Serious screen size limitations
make fixed layout books less viable
• A recent Mintel survey shows 22% of respondents read on their cell phones
Computers
• Wide variety of reading systems• Full audio/video capability• The Taleist survey showed the PC to be the
second most common ebook reading device
Metadata
What is metadata?
• Information about your content:– Title– Author name– Copyright date– Language– Most recent modification time– ISBN
How is metadata used?
• Reading systems can use it to organize your library (eg, sort by author/title)
• Retailers use it to make sure that they’re selling the correct book
Ebooks and piracy
• Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology makes it harder for people to copy ebooks
• Most major retailers will by default use DRM on your books
• Privately licensing DRM on your own is extraordinarily expensive
How are ebooks used?
Ebooks are used by•All ages•All income levels•All genres
Getting books onto the device
• Purchase through the associated bookstore
Getting books onto the device
• Side load the content– iPad/iPhone
• Plug the iPad into the computer• Open iTunes• Drag the book into the Books
library• If you do not have a Books library
download a newer version of iTunes.
• Sync the iPad• The book will appear in the iBooks
library
Getting books onto the device
• Side load the content– Kindle for iPad
• Plug the iPad into the computer
• Open iTunes• Select your device• Choose Apps from the
top nav bar• Scroll down and select
the Kindle App• Drag books into Kindle
Documents• Sync the device• These books will appear in the Kindle for iPad app
Getting books onto the device
• Side load the content– Kindle/Nook/Smartphone
• Plug the device into the computer• The device will appear as an external
drive• Open the device to view the files• Drag the book into the correct folder
– Kindle/Kindle Touch/Kindle Fire: Documents– Nook: My Documents– Nook color: My Files > Books– Smartphones are variable. Look for eBooks or Digital Editions.
• No syncing is necessary• Eject the device
Getting books onto the device
• Side load the content– Sony Reader
• Remove the SD card from the reader
• Plug the SD card into your computer – Note: if your computer does not have an SD card reader, USB SD
card readers are an inexpensive solution
• Open the SD card folder to view the files• Drag the book into the folder• Eject the SD card• Reinsert it into the reader
Other ways to read ebooks
• EPUB– Adobe Digital Editions (Adobe)– Nook for PC/Mac
(Barnes & Noble)– Reader for PC/Mac (Sony)– Readium (Google Chrome Plugin)– Azardi (Infogrid Pacific)
• MOBI (Kindle format)– Kindle for PC/Mac/Kindle Previewer (Amazon)– Calibre (calibre-ebook.com)
Why not use PDFs?
1. Reflowability
What can authors do to make things more accessible for those
with print disabilities?• Provide alternate text for all images• Do not rely on color to communicate
information• Avoid blocks of text that are difficult to read
(italics, underlining, bold, all-caps)
ReadabilityFourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
FOURSCORE AND SEVEN YEARS AGO OUR FATHERS BROUGHT FORTH ON THIS CONTINENT A NEW NATION, CONCEIVED IN LIBERTY AND DEDICATED TO THE PROPOSITION THAT ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL.
Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Does DRM work?• By all reports, ebook DRM is
trivial to break• Inconveniences paying customers• Not proven to have an effect on
piracy• Keeps people from sharing
favorite authors with friends• Studies on music and game piracy
have shown pirates to also be the top buying demographic
• “The problem for authors is not piracy; it’s obscurity”
Watermarking
• Most famously used by Pottermore for the Harry Potter ebooks
• Embeds a code in the ebook identifying the buyer of the book
• Also called “social DRM” because it only uses social pressure to enforce copyright
• The IDPF is considering writing official specifications for watermarking epubs
Copyright issues
• Anything you write is copyrighted as soon as you write it—don’t bother mailing it to yourself
• Copyright lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years
• Registering your copyright can entitle you to statutory damages, and also serves to enter your copyright into the public record
Copyright alternatives (“Copyleft”)
• Licenses to your work that allow for freer use of your creation
• Creative Commons is the most widely known• Various kinds of licenses depending on what
you want to allow• Creative Commons licenses have been treated
by the courts as valid licenses
What books make good ebooks?
Are there books that don’t really work as ebooks?
• Large format books– Atlases and Star charts– Giant coffee table books
• Typographically complex books
• Workbooks• Design limitations– Artisan Checklist
Distribution
Getting your ebook onto the market
Distribution
Pricing Models
Agency Wholesale
Most Favored Nation Status
Distribution
Retailer
Sells the book at whatever price they want Pays the distributor 60-75% of the RRP per download
Distributor
Stores the file, delivers metadata and files to the retailer
Pays the publisher a royalty of 50-60% (on average) of recommended retail price (RRP) per download
Publisher
Submits the electronic file and all the metadata to the distributor Markets the book
Traditional Distribution: Wholesale Model
There are a few online retailers (most notably the Sony Reader store) that require this traditional model.
Distribution
DIY
Amazon
Kindle Direct Publishing
35% Royalties
70% Royalties
KDP Select
B&N B&N Pubit!*
65% Royalties
40% Royalties
Apple iTunes Connect 70% Royalties
Google Google Play
45% Royalties
52% Royalties
Kobo Kobo Writing Life
Other Smashwords
Distributing directly to retailers
ISBNs
• International Standard Book Number• 13-digit number unique for each book sold• In the US, they are sold by R.R. Bowker• $125 for one, heavy discounts for bulk
purchases (10 for $250, 1000 for $1000)• Bowker says: one for each format sold• Some retailers will sell without an ISBN and
use their own number to track sales
BISAC Codes• Book Industry Standards And Communications Code• Created and maintained by Book Industry Study Group
(BISG)• Some retailers will not accept a title without at least one
BISAC code—some accept several• Codes can be generic (cooking) or very specific (Cooking /
Methods / Baking)• The codes look like this:
CKB004000 COOKING / Methods / BakingFIC022060 FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Historical
• They can be found online (google bisac codes)
Sales and Marketing
• Ebook retailers and distributors are not marketers—if you’re self publishing, marketing your book will be your responsibility
• An online presence will help you market your books successfully. Don’t leave this for the last minute, as it takes time to build!
• According to the recent Taleist survey, email campaigns and newsletters are the biggest contributor of sales
• Established publishers like authors with an online following, too!
How do I set a price for my ebook?
• Royalty issues
$0.00 $0.99 $2.99 $9.99 $14.99 $199.99 $200.00
Amazon X* 35% 70% 70% 35% 35% 35%
Apple 70% 70% 70% 70% X X
B&N Pubit X 40% 65% 65% 40% 40% X
Google 52% 52% 52% 52% 52% 52%
*Available as a temporary promotional tool for KDP select members.
How do I set a price for my ebook?
• Marketing issues– Comparable titles• Author/Publisher
type/reputation• Genre• Size• Target audience
– Use price adjustments to attract audience• JA Konrath The List Experiment
Can I sell an ebook from my own website?
• Yes!• Pros: you will receive
100% of the sale price• Cons: discoverability—
without a bookstore you’ll be unable to grab thosecasual browsers
The ebook conversion process
There are two extremes for ebook conversion:• Automatic: Your ebook is converted from its
initial format to epub or mobi by a series of scripts or a program (meatgrinder)
• Manual: The conversion is done by hand, with a human personally making all the changes and writing every bit of code
The Digital Bindery approach
• We have the knowledge and experience to do any conversion completely manually
• We have tools that speed up the task, allowing us to work smarter, not harder
• Our tools are one-step-at-a-time, not meatgrinders, so there is constant designer input
• Multiple rounds of both internal and client proofing ensures that the end product is exactly what the client wants.
Before and after
Proofing an ebook
• Proofing is the final stage of production—at this point, all the editing and design work is done.
• Proofing is to ensure that there were no problems in conversion.
• In addition to textual and formatting errors, we look for problems in various reading systems and display types
• Make sure to proof on the devices you want to target!
What to look for
• Text changes: these are most likely to appear where formatting has changed, but can be anywhere.– Special characters, like é or ß, should definitely be
double checked• Formatting changes: Ensure that the layout of
the text is easy to read, and talk to your converter about any changes from the print version that you don’t understand.
What else to look for
• If you have tables or sidebars in your book, ensure that they work well in a variety of orientations and font sizes
• Ensure that italics, bold, different typefaces, and so on are properly applied
• Make sure that punctuation stays with the words it’s supposed to
Converting images for ebooks
• Many readers use eInk screens, so images that look good in grayscale are very important.
• Ensure that references to important colors are clarified for grayscale devices (“red bar” on a chart, for example)
• Images containing text are not advised• Covers may have to be modified, as they
should be recognizable as thumbnails
DIY EPUB
Limits of technology & devices
Readability and Legibility
We read differently in print and on screen—or do we?
General Best Practices
Page Layout: Page Spread
Print Two-page spread Fixed length and
width
Digital Single-page layout Ereader Dependent
Standard eInk: 600 × 800 iBooks: 600 × 860 Kindle Fire/Nook Color: 600 ×
1024
Practical Advice
File > Document Setup
Getting an idea of how it will look
Practical AdviceChapter Breaks
In EPUBs, each chapter or equivalent section should be its own XHTML file
Choose one paragraph style to indicate where these breaks will occur
This will force all chapters to be their own file and start each chapter on a new page
Page Layout: Margins
Digital The Great Margin
Controversy
Print Fixed margins Traditional page
proportions
Practical Advice
If you decide to use margins:• Keep them smallish• Use explicit measurements
(Pixels)
Adding Margins to EPUB export
Page Layout: Columns & Grids
Digital Consider Screen size For full control over
multi-column layout, consider Fixed Layout
Print Multi-column layout
for wide formats Economize space Dynamic layout
Practical AdviceTarget large devices
Practical AdviceRe-Imagineering
Practical AdviceUse an existing stylesheet
•CSS exported for the pullquote from InDesign is empty:•div.pullquote {•}
Practical AdviceUse an existing stylesheet
Page Layout: Tables
DigitalThree solutions.1. Keep the data as a
table2. Create an image
from the table3. Re-Imagineering!
Print Format information
in an easily visible way
Control placement Flow with text Fixed on page
Practical AdviceKeep it as a table
Adobe Digital Editions: Sigil:
Practical Advice
Object menu > Object Export Options
Create an image
Adobe Digital Editions:
Practical AdviceRe-Imagineer!
Average Elevation: Less than 100Percent of total area: 10Area in square miles: 300Depth: 400Percent of a mile (depth): 7.5Cubic miles: 22.50
Average Elevation: 100-200Percent of total area: 25Area in square miles: 750Depth: 300Percent of a mile (depth): 5.7Cubic miles: 56.25
Typefaces and Settings: Onscreen Reading Issues
Digitally native typefacesTypefaces designed for screen use
Georgia, Verdana
Some old favorites don't work on screenGaramond icky on screen, but lovely in print.
Typefaces and Settings: Licensing Issues
Digital1. Embedding fonts with InDesign can
invalidate the epub2. Embedded fonts are not widely
usable (Fixed Layout is the exception)
3. License must allow embedding or distribution
4. Some fonts require the license to be in the epub file (which may cause the file to be invalid—make it an XHTML file instead)
Print Font files don't live
with book
Practical AdviceEmbedding Fonts
1. Embeds the font1. Font folder in the OEBPS
directory2. Encrypts the font
1. In the META-INF folder3. Adds @font-face to the CSS
Typefaces and Settings: Typeface Availability
Digital Device-specific
availability Do not rely on fonts
to deliver information
Print Text needs Production methods Designer's choice Wide range of
OpenType faces available
Practical AdviceUse font-stacks and generic font-families
Font-stacks:
p.body {font-family: Helvetica, “Helvetica Neue”, Arial, sans-serif;}
H1 {font-family: Times, “Times New Roman”, Georgia, serif;}
p.codeSection {font-family: courier, “Courier New”, “Lucida Console”, monospace;}
Generic Font-Families:
serif, sans-serif, monospace, cursive, fantasy
Typefaces and Settings: Size and Leading
DigitalFont-size: Use relative sizing for the best
accessibility 1.00em = 16px (usually) Use the proper tag for when the
ereader completely ignores your css
Leading Line-height Margins
Print Fixed size and leading
settings 10/12, 11/14
Based on one design iteration
Practical AdviceUnderstanding vertical space
} line-height
Margin
BorderPadding
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nunc eleifend gravida
adipiscing. Sed sit amet augue id nunc pulvinar scelerisque id quis felis.
Vivamus quis felis eu tellus interdum ultricies. In mattis felis lacus. Nullam
adipiscing ultricies lacinia. Curabitur imperdiet varius mauris, id bibendum quam convallis
eget.
Nullam ac nunc ut quam posuere posuere in nec nulla. Nunc mattis dolor quis
neque molestie mollis. Sed at tortor sapien, eu aliquet eros.
Practical AdviceUnderstanding vertical space
} line-height
Margin
BorderPadding
Practical AdviceExporting from InDesign
} line-height
Margin
• Margins will be set by paragraph styleSpace Before: Top MarginSpace After: Bottom MarginRight Indent: Right MarginLeft Indent: Left Margin
• Leading will become line-height• No borders• No padding
Typefaces and Settings: Hyphenation and Line Breaks
Digital Bad-ish hyphenation
dictionaries No control of widow
and orphans Soft what now?
Print Sophisticated
hyphenation dictionaries
Easy control of widow and orphans
Soft returns
Practical AdviceRemove Extras
FindChangeByListModify the FindChangeList.txt file to add things you end up doing oftenAnne Marie Concepcion’s FindChangeByList-epub script
http://www.epubsecrets.com/downloads/AMsFindChangeForEPUB.zip
Remove • soft returns• discretionary hyphens • double spaces• double paragraph returns • thin/hair/quarter/etc spaces
Why? They will be ignored or show up as ugly little boxes.
Typefaces and Settings: Justification
Digital Space shmace Looks sub-optimal at
larger font sizes Causes eye strain,
frustration and a severe case of the uglies
Print Saves space Traditional alignment Comfortable reading Solid text block
Color
Digital RGB I see your Pantone and
raise you a #700b2a;
Print CMYK Pantone Matching
System
Images
Digital Getting higher
iPad 3 is 264ppi iPhone 4 is 326 ppi
Print High-res (300dpi) Orientation of images
determines page layout
Text wrap
Practical AdviceImage Settings
Object Menu > Object Export Options
Practical AdviceAlt Text
Object Menu > Object Export Options
Bridge:
Creating a Mobi/KF8 file
Creating iBooks
• Can only be created using iBooks Author
• Can only be viewed on the iPad (not iPhone, etc.)
• Any .ibook files created with iBooks Author can only be sold through Apple
• Add pages/section/chapter
• List of pages with thumbnails
• Styles button (blue)• View and Orientation
buttons
• Thumbnails/Outline is either/or
• Glossary toolbar is a new toolbar for glossary terms
• Styles drawer is next!• Layout boundaries,
rulers, & invisibles are like InDesign
• Similar to Master Pages in InDesign
• Allow you to set a default layout for a chapter or section
10 tabs for Inspector:• Document• Layout• Wrap• Text• Graphic• Metrics• Table• Chart• Link• Widget
