ePub - The Easy Way - #TipsTuesdays 5

Wittegen Press

$2.99 | £1.99
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So last week I talked about converting your edited novel for Amazon and Smashwords (Checklist for Creating the eBooks from your Beautifully Edited Novel), today I am going to talk about Google and the dreaded ePub.

Tips Tuesdays, is a weekly blog feature where I impart tips on anything that crosses my mind :). There will be recipes, book/film/TV recs (not full reviews, those are for another day), things I discovered by accident, links to websites, basically anything and everything that might be useful.

ePub - The Easy Way

Now ePub is a very versatile format and can be used to do all sorts of amazing things, but, as I said in last week's post, if you are publishing a novel it is good to keep is simple. If you don't need it, don't put it in and you will be more likely to end up with a document compatible with all eReaders that take that particular format.

I'm going to tell you two possible ways of creating ePubs rather than starting from scratch. The first is the easiest, but if you end up with any issues using that method, the second has worked flawlessly for me for years (or at least the same technique, only creating simple HTML from scratch - you'll see what I mean when you get there :)).

You will need the following pieces of free software for both methods:

• Calibre
• ePubCheck - this is a command line tool that requires Java, if you are only doing the odd book you can use this online checker ePub validator.
• an ePub reader (I use BlueFire)

ePub via Docx and Calibre

Calibre now has a fantastic ePub converter and editor included within it. It always used to be good at converting from certain formats to certain formats, but recently it has really upped its game. This is by far the easiest method of creating an ePub.

1. Take your nicely formatted docx you created for Amazon.
2. Edit the front information to indicate it is the Google version (ISBN etc).
3. Load it in to Calibre using the "Add Book" option.
4. Click the convert book option and open the dialog.
5. Choose ePub as the output format.
6. Browse for your cover image using the button under "Change cover image:"
7. Make sure the Author, Publisher, Tags and Series fields have the correct information in them.
8. Fill in the description in the last box on the right under the book version no (has two tabs, normal view and html Source.
9. Click on ePub Output in the left menu (9th one down) and make sure "Preserve cover aspect ratio" is ticked.
10. Click OK and the conversion will start (when it returns you to the main screen you will see a little message in the bottom right (jobs: 1 with a little whirly symbol). When this goes back to jobs: 0 your conversion is complete.
11. Save the ePub to disc using the "Save only ePub format to disk in a single directory" option from the "Save to disc" menu.
12. Run ePubCheck on your ePub to make sure there are no errors with the structure.
13. Open the file with your ePub reader and go through it to check for:
    • formatting errors
    • missing links
    • incorrect links
    • missing images
    • any other mistakes.

ePub via HTML, Mobi and Calibre

Wittegen Press

$2.99 | £1.99
Amazon | Other

You'll need two extra FREE pieces of software for this method:

• Mobipocket creator
• An HTML editor - I use PSPad

That HTML version of your book you download from Amazon - this is where is comes in handy. If you didn't download it, don't worry, just go back to KDP bookshelf, click on your book, go down to the bottom of the page that loads and the option is still there to download it. Then click back to return to your bookshelf so you don't republish the book.

1. Go to where the zip file of the HTML is stored and extract it (make sure to extract into a directory so the files aren't muddled with any others).
2. Click into the new directory and then into the html directory inside that.
3. Edit the name of the HTML file to something sensible (the name of the book is a good one :)).
4. Open the html file with your HTML editor.
5. Remove the line "<meta name="generator" content="Amazon.com" />" since it will no longer be the file generated at Amazon.
6. Edit the front content to note that the book is the Google version (ISBN etc)
7. Remove the Table of Contents (you will add it back in later using Mobipocket Creator)
8. Find every <a href="#TOC"> tag and remove it (do not forget the remove the associated </a> tag as well). If you miss this step it will cause errors in Mobipocket creator later.
9. Find the first chapter heading.
10. Add in class="chapter" to the paragraph (<p>) tag. If your chapter headings have a unique style you can simple search and replace the whole paragraph tag with a copy of it with class="chapter" inserted. e.g. replace
    <p style="margin:2.52% 0.00% 1.68%; text-align:center; page-break-before:always">
    with
    <p style="margin:2.52% 0.00% 1.68%; text-align:center; page-break-before:always" class="chapter">
11. If you didn't search and replace, repeat steps 9 and 10 for all the chapter headings.
12. If your chapter headings are formatted like links because they used to link back to the TOC it's a good idea to edit the style to remove the link colour and the underline. It looks better.
13. Save the file.
14. Open Mobipocket creator and choose the HTML option under import.
15. Choose your edited HTML file and click import.
16. Click on Cover Image in the left menu and use the Add a cover image button to add your cover image in (remember to hit the update button at the bottom of the tab once you have loaded the image).
17. Go to the table of contents menu option
18. Click add Table of contents and fill in the following options for the First Level:
    Tag name = p,
    Attribute = class,
    Value = chapter
    
19. Click Update
20. Go to the Metadata menu option
21. Fill in all the details for the book and click update at the bottom of the page.
22. Click save.
23. Open the containing folder for you work (if you click on files at the top it will tell you where your base folder is).
    
24. Go to the folder where you unzipped the html from Amazon and go into the image folder.
25. Copy all the images except for the main cover.
26. Go to the folder Mobipocket created, go up one and create a folder called image (you only have to do this the first time you use this method).
27. Paste the images you have copied into this directory.
28. Go to where you store your cover images and copy the file you added in as the cover in Mobipocket.
29. Paste this file into the book folder created by Mobipocket (not the image folder).
30. Go back to Mobipocket and click Build - choose "No Compression" and "No encryption".
31. If you get warnings you've probably put the image files in the wrong places - just check to see where it says it's looking for the image files in the warning message and then put them there. I always get it wrong at least once :). Then hit build again.
32. Once you have built with no warnings or errors preview the file with Mobipocket Reader and check all the links and the formatting. 
33. If you see any errors, edit the HTML files to correct them (you could probably wait and edit the actual ePub using Calibre, but I always think it's best to go from source).
34. Then go to files, highlight the HTML file and delete it.
35. Then add the new HTML file in using the Add File option.
36. Recreate the Table of Contents.
37. Rebuild the book.
38. Once you are error free you will have a working .prc file in the book directory that Mobipocket created.
39. Open Calibre and add this file using the Add books option.

Wittegen Press



$3.29 | £2.19
Amazon | Other

40. Click the convert book option and open the dialog.
41. Choose ePub as the output format.
42. Make sure the Author, Publisher, Tags, Series and description fields have the correct information in them.
43. Click on ePub Output in the left menu (9th one down) and make sure "Preserve cover aspect ratio" os ticked.
44. Click OK and the conversion will start (when it returns you to the main screen you will see a little message in the bottom right (jobs: 1 with a little whirly symbol). When this goes back to jobs: 0 your conversion is complete.
45. Save the ePub to disc using the "Save only ePub format to disk in a single directory" option from the "Save to disc" menu.
46. Run ePubCheck on your ePub to make sure there are no errors with the structure.
47. Open the file with your ePub reader and go through it to check for:
    • formatting errors
    • missing links
    • incorrect links
    • missing images
    • any other mistakes. 

You now have an ePub file ready for upload to Google.

I hope this is a help to some people - I know when I first started this whole eBook thing I had no clue where to begin :).

Do you publish using ePub? What method do you use? Having seen the options, do you think you will use ePub in the future?

If you are a reader, do you ever download the ePub format?

Original Doctor Who did it BEST! - #MonsterMonday 16

Wittegen Press

$0.99 | £0.99
Amazon | Other

Greetings and welcome to my blog on this raining Monday, today I have chosen some of my favourite monsters from original Doctor Who for Monster Monday 16. I hope they bring back good memories like they do for me.

Monster Mondays posts may be fiction, film reviews, book reviews or me waxing lyrical about a particular monster. Monsters can be paranormal, sci-fi, fantasy or even simply human. So basically, anything monster goes. I also invite anyone who would like to, to join in with their own post. (See end for details).

Original Doctor Who did it BEST!

When I think monster few things bring back more childhood memories than Doctor Who. I grew up with Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy as my doctors and I love them all. Yes the monsters are often cheesy and look a little silly next to modern special effects, but they scared the beejeesus out of me as a child.

The one who springs to mind instantly is Davros. Now the Daleks frightened me, but they were never quite as bad as their creator, Davros, because he still had a humanoid face. That almost made is worse somehow.

Davros is a scientist with a great mind who set out to save his people, but he forgot about conscience and caring and everything that makes people great. His megalomania took over. He created Daleks to be the best, to be conquerors and he left out all emotion and mercy because he believed it made them weak. In his frenzy of creation he forgot everything good. I remember seeing him when I was very small and his face and his semi-human voice seemed to be showing the death of the Kaled man he once was. The above image is from Genesis of the Daleks.

Another Doctor Who original I remember trying to make a mask of was the Fendahleen from Image of the Fendahl.

Wittegen Press

$3.29 | £2.19
Amazon | Other

These are part of the Fendahl, a creature that travels from planet to planet destroying all life on it. There is the Fendahl core, the intelligence behind the creature and the twelve Fendahleen, worm like creatures that end up about human size and are the vessels for the Fendahl to feed. They can freeze other creatures with their psychic power and feed of their psychic energy. I didn't actually remember the story of the Fendahl at all until I saw it again on DVD, but the Fendahleen stuck with me over time. Their form really wormed into my brain.

Sticking with the idea of snakelike monsters, another one I always liked was the Mara from Kinda and Snakedance.

The Mara manefests as a giant snake when it is forced to, but it is so dangerous because it mostly lives unseen in the minds of the unwary. In Kinda the Mara uses Tegan to cross to the real world from the void where it is trapped, possessing her and using her until it finds a more useful host in the form of Aris, one of the natives of the planet they are on. The hosts of the Mara are marked by a snake symbol on their arm and if they cover it up there is no way to tell they are possessed. A lot of people don't like Kinda, but it was one of my fav episodes.

Finally I have to mention the Haemovores from The Curse of Fenric. I adored this episode when I first saw it; not only does it make the Doctor far more interesting, but it also has vampires, okay Haemovores, but same difference.

Wittegen Press

$3.98 | £2.98
Amazon | Other

The Haemovores are such interesting monsters. They are the cursed, living under the sea until the release of Fenric calls them to the surface to hunt in the open. the older they are, the more hideous they become, changing from human form to something much more monstrous, killing without mercy.

I think what I liked most was they weren't the ultimate baddies either. They were monstrous and could only be defeated by a psychic shield created by absolute faith in something, but they were being used as well. They were scary and yet sad as well. The perfect monster.

I love original Doctor Who, I think some of the stories are absolutely amazing. I like some of New Who too, but I'm not so completely attached like I am to original Who. Yes the monsters were people in rubber suits, or glowing balls surrounded in bubble wrap, or giant rubber snakes or metal work and silver painted plastic balls, but the stories were all better for it. With limited special effects the story has to convince the audience to believe and believe we did.

Are you a Doctor Who fan? Do you miss the days of bubble wrap and light-bulbs or do you prefer CGI and moulded latex? What is your favourite Doctor Who monster?

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Monster Mondays #16 Links 

If you would like to join in, please feel free to make your Monster Monday post and add it to the list.

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