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emellaich · 08-22-2009, 11:26 AM

Hello all, excuse me for sneaking into this writers-only chit chat.

Over in "News and Commentary" Ficbot began an interesting thread, and zelda_pinwheel suggested I bring the conversation over here, so here I am.

Ficbot had noted that so many new authors seemed to publish exclusively for the Kindle, and that this frustrated him as a non-Kindle owner. My response was that the publishing learning curve might be pretty steep for newcomers to the industry.

We might want to consider adding a series of wiki articles that explain the steps in publishing. Everything from creating books in different formats, pro's and con's of different publishing web sites, and even opportunities to market your book without spamming. In the interest of starting this effort, zelda_pinwheel suggested this post. I welcome your inputs to a guide for writers. Please feel free to add your thoughts and comments to this thread, or even to add pages to the wiki that we can pull together into our writer's guide.

I am looking for both topics that writers need to understand as well as explanations and/or suggestions on those topics.

Here is my initial list of topics / wiki pages

First, an intro to ebook publishing that introduces the key concepts and links to separate pages that then explain:
1) Different formats for ebooks and the tradeoffs
2) How to convert between formats: Calibre, Sigil, and more
3) DRM and the problems of using it
4) Web sites that accept self-published books; the pro's and con's of each and where to go to submit books.
5) Options for setting up your own store using your own web site and paypal or ebay or google checkout????
6) Marketing your ebook including does and don'ts on Mobileread

Your thoughts?

P.s. If you'd prefer to simply contribute your thoughts as a new page in the wiki, then go here:
https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Main_Page
In the search box to the left type in the name of your new page. When it comes up as a missing search term, you will be given the option of creating a page with that name. If you do take that approach, please report back to this thread to let us know what pages you have added.

08-22-2009, 11:26 AM	#1
emellaich Wizard Posts: 1,101 Karma: 4388403 Join Date: Oct 2007 Device: Palm>Ebookman>IPaq>Axim>Cybook>Kndl2>IPAD>Kndl3SO>Voyager>Oasis	How and Where to Publish Your Ebooks Hello all, excuse me for sneaking into this writers-only chit chat. Over in "News and Commentary" Ficbot began an interesting thread, and zelda_pinwheel suggested I bring the conversation over here, so here I am. Ficbot had noted that so many new authors seemed to publish exclusively for the Kindle, and that this frustrated him as a non-Kindle owner. My response was that the publishing learning curve might be pretty steep for newcomers to the industry. We might want to consider adding a series of wiki articles that explain the steps in publishing. Everything from creating books in different formats, pro's and con's of different publishing web sites, and even opportunities to market your book without spamming. In the interest of starting this effort, zelda_pinwheel suggested this post. I welcome your inputs to a guide for writers. Please feel free to add your thoughts and comments to this thread, or even to add pages to the wiki that we can pull together into our writer's guide. I am looking for both topics that writers need to understand as well as explanations and/or suggestions on those topics. Here is my initial list of topics / wiki pages First, an intro to ebook publishing that introduces the key concepts and links to separate pages that then explain: 1) Different formats for ebooks and the tradeoffs 2) How to convert between formats: Calibre, Sigil, and more 3) DRM and the problems of using it 4) Web sites that accept self-published books; the pro's and con's of each and where to go to submit books. 5) Options for setting up your own store using your own web site and paypal or ebay or google checkout???? 6) Marketing your ebook including does and don'ts on Mobileread Your thoughts? P.s. If you'd prefer to simply contribute your thoughts as a new page in the wiki, then go here: https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Main_Page In the search box to the left type in the name of your new page. When it comes up as a missing search term, you will be given the option of creating a page with that name. If you do take that approach, please report back to this thread to let us know what pages you have added.