Slideshare presented by Linda Aksomitis at TBEX Europe in Stockholm, Sweden, in 2016. Also used at a TBEX workshop on e-publishing held in Manila, Philippines. Slideshow outlines the essential steps of independent ebook publishing.

1. Writing an E-Book: From Content to
Formatting to publication
with Linda Aksomitis, MV/Ted

2. Writing an E-Book
• Uses
• Free site give-aways to build audience &/or increase mailing lists
• Increase revenue with e-book sales

3. Most Popular: Reflowable
• Single column layout text and images move around to
adapt to the size of the display screen
• File formats include HTML, EPUB, AZW, MOBI

4. Advantages of Reflowable
• Displays well on all screen sizes
• Widespread usage and popularity
• Cheap/fast to produce
• Fast to update
• Small file size (lower delivery costs on Amazon)

5. Disadvantages of Reflowable
• Limited layout control
• No bullets, columns, headers, etc.
• Text based
• Images restricted to centered or left-aligned

6. Country-Specific Details
• Copyright registration (no official copyright registration
available in Sweden, Denmark, Germany, United Kingdom; only
required in U.S. by domestic publishers)
• Mandatory deposit
• CIP (Cataloguing in Publication) availability or PCIP

7. ISBNs
• International Standard Book Identification Number
• https://www.isbn-international.org/ - the standard
internationally recognized number for selling books
• Issued by country of publisher
• Not required on Amazon or Barnes & Noble
• Free-of-charge through distributors like Smashwords
• Free in some countries (like Sweden, Canada)

8. Steps for Reflowable E-Books
• 6 Steps:
• Strip formatting
• Apply styles
• Insert / left align or center images
• Create bookmarks
• Link bookmarks to table of contents
• Upload for conversion or convert to desired formats

9. Editing
• In 2016 Amazon started cracking down on poorly edited and
formatted e-books
• Errors missed during the upload process, but flagged by
buyers, will be subject to an editorial review
• This from Amazon:
• Note that “locations” below refers to the internal divisions of
an ebook, not pages or chapters. While we are not able to
disclose this specific formula, please be informed that an
average sized novel with around 3000 locations will trigger the
quality warning with 10-15 typos.

10. Removing Existing Formatting
• Remove all of the following:
• Page numbers
• Headers / footers
• Tables
• Columns
• Bulleted lists
• Images that have been copied/pasted, including charts, graphs
(each must be an image file inserted later)
• Use free online tools to remove all Word formatting, e.g.
http://txtformat.com/

11. Styles
• Styles are required to achieve uniform text formatting
• E-books not created using styles don’t display properly
• Nonfiction e-books are typically left aligned, with a blank line
between paragraphs
• Fiction books are typically indented, with no blank lines
between paragraphs
• Images, chapter headings, titles pages, etc. are typically
centered
• All text and headings must be formatted using a Style

12. Create a New Style

13. Centered Style Settings

14. Left-Aligned Style Settings

15. Indented Style Settings

16. Title Page

17. Spacing
• Maximum allowable blank lines in an e-book is 4
• Don’t use space bar to move down to start a new page –
instead insert a controlled page break – CTRL + Enter key

18. Front Matter
• Dedication page
• Acknowledgements
• Author note or preface
• Foreword (by someone other than author)
• Introduction
• Prologue

19. Back Matter
• Epilogue
• Afterward
• Glossary
• Bibliography or Suggested Reading
• Index
• List of illustrations / contributors
• Author biography
• Online contact information / Marketing
• Excerpts from other books

20. Images
• Images should be jpg (photos) or png (screen shots)
• Images must be compressed
• Resize images to 500 to 1000 px wide
• Insert images using toolbar command
• Cover inserted by bookstore on delivery, not inserted

21. Table of Contents
• Cannot use a Word generated ToC for ebooks to be converted
to EPUB format
• To create a Table of Contents
• Highlight and apply a Heading Style to all chapter heads and
other headings you want to appear in the final e-book
• Name chapters: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, etc. (may add a second
line with a descriptive subhead if you wish - but format Center
Style)
• Insert a page break after the title page
• Type the ToC on the page – insert a page break when you’re
finished
• Bookmark each heading using Insert > Hyperlink
• Associate ToC entries with bookmarks

22. Royalties
• Amazon KDP (#1 ebook retailer) - 70% royalty on ebooks
priced between $2.99 and $9.99, and 35% royalty on books
higher or lower
• Amazon delivery costs added to books in 70% range
• Apple (#2 ebook retailer) - 70% (no delivery costs and no price
restrictions)
• Barnes & Noble (#3 ebook retailer) - 65% on ebooks priced
between $2.99 and $9.99 and 40% on books higher or lower

23. Exclusivity
• Amazon KDP Select exclusive program – same royalties but
more benefits

24. Aggregators / Distributors
• An aggregator/distributor distributes your ebook to online
retailers in their network for you, charging you a percentage of
each sale
• Advantages
• More access
• Less time
• Minimizes sales tracking
• No minimum earnings threshold
• Disadvantages
• Aggregator/Distributor earns a percentage of each sale

25. Smashwords
• World’s largest distributor of indie published e-books
• Smashwords retains 15% of your royalty to pay expenses – if
you give away ebooks in the Smashwords online store you
don’t pay anything
• http://www.smashwords.com

26. Conversion
• Upload to bookseller/distributor for conversion
• Calibre, e-book management tool, can make 20 different
conversions
• Smashwords, ensure you refer to Style Guide and follow
requirements
• http://www.smashwords.com/books/download/52/1/latest/0/0
/smashwords-style-guide.pdf
• Check site for html guide

27. Distribution from Your Blog
• Create your own conversions and contract a service like Payhip
for delivery
• Let Amazon fulfill orders – become an Amazon Associate to earn
more
• Let Smashwords distribute – become an affiliate to earn more
• To give away – provide a coupon code and give away from
Smashwords

28. What You Need to Do!
• Decide: Purpose of ebook
• Select topic
• Write
• Format
• Upload
• Publish and sell!

29. Questions
• Thanks for spending this hour with me!
• If you have questions after this session, please:
• Find me during the conference
• Find me online at http://aksomitis.com and
http://guide2travel.ca – you’ll find links to the courses I teach
• Email me directly at: aksomitis@gmail.com