Where can I find professional ebook writers

behasty · 11-10-2011, 02:08 AM

Hi,
I am trying to write my first ebook,but am very slow at typing are there any ideas to locate an expert to do that for me?

Steve_D · 11-10-2011, 02:18 AM

So do you have the book already written on paper and you want to transfer it to a text document? You could place an advert on one of the various freelancer exchange sites for someone to type it up for you at a rate you can afford.

If you haven't yet written the book (e.g. if its at ideas in the head stage), then that would be trickier of course... your best bet would be to learn to touch type

BrowseTheStacks · 11-10-2011, 09:53 PM

How about one of the voice to text programs like Dragon that you see in the tv ads.

teh603 · 11-10-2011, 11:14 PM

I'll probably be in the minority here, but I'd suggest you just practice typing. With practice comes speed; I didn't get as fast as I am without having to spend most of a week typing out several thousand names and addresses for a database.

Steve_D · 11-11-2011, 02:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrowseTheStacks

How about one of the voice to text programs like Dragon that you see in the tv ads.

I don't think they're accurate enough to produce text that is ready for commercial release... not without some heavy proofing anyway. At least not in my experience!

Native · 11-11-2011, 02:35 PM

If your raw material is really worth more than the opportunity it represents, just wave some money around. Most of us aren't that well-off, and have to do our own work. I can't feel my hands much and have to closely watch my one-fingered peck and listen for the click of the keys, but it gets done.

The words "my first ebook" indicate several things of note; all of which might be best addressed by a local writer's group. If you're in a populous area they're common and you likely have numerous choices.

morriss003 · 11-13-2011, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by teh603

I'll probably be in the minority here, but I'd suggest you just practice typing. With practice comes speed; I didn't get as fast as I am without having to spend most of a week typing out several thousand names and addresses for a database.

Yep, I agree with you 100%. I just can't see how someone could put their thoughts on paper nowadays, without the editing tools of the computer. And the voice to page stuff is still not there.

HarryT · 11-13-2011, 02:56 PM

There was an interview on the BBC a few days ago with Terry Pratchett, and something I found interesting was that he said that he no longer type, as a result of his Alzheimer's, and now writes his books using Dragon Dictate, and that for him this works very well. I would imagine, though, that his assistant tidies it up afterwards, of course.

Lemurion · 11-16-2011, 09:50 AM

I've written a fantasy short story using Windows Vista's built in speech recognition software and it was surprisingly painless.

Dictation is an option.

Freeshadow · 11-19-2011, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve_D

I don't think they're (i.e. voice recog programs) accurate enough to produce text that is ready for commercial release... not without some heavy proofing anyway.

No text be it commercial, academic, or whatever, be it typed, dictated or manually written is ready for release without some heavy proofing, as you call it.

DrDln · 11-19-2011, 02:04 PM

I didn't know any typing when I wrote my first book. Even now after taking some typing lessons, I can barely type. I have about dozen eBooks. The point I am trying to make is that you don't need to be typing expert. You can get it typed after writing on old fashion yellow pad. Conversion to various formats is real easy. Hope it helps.

Todd Young · 11-19-2011, 05:39 PM

I taught myself to touch type from an old typing book of my mother's. I really think you'd be doing yourself a great favor if you taught yourself to type properly. I spent a bit of time on it, but I rushed through some of the exercises - particularly the ones that deal with the numbers row. Even now I can't do the numbers, and I wish I'd put the time and effort in to really do it properly and get my speed and accuracy up. I've got some bad habits with typing and they really annoy me.

When you're writing a book, I think you need to be able to concentrate on what you're writing. If you can't type, it just gets in the way.

Freeshadow · 11-19-2011, 10:11 PM

...and while doing so (i.e. learning to type) just be glad you don't make said experience on an old mechanic typewriter. the beginners exercises like typing 5 lines ol "a" are a pain in the fingers on those.
Altough there were benefits with the old thingys - the modern keyboards lack the comfort space between the keys. (and the sound isn't just the same)

teh603 · 11-19-2011, 11:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Todd Young

I taught myself to touch type from an old typing book of my mother's. I really think you'd be doing yourself a great favor if you taught yourself to type properly. I spent a bit of time on it, but I rushed through some of the exercises - particularly the ones that deal with the numbers row. Even now I can't do the numbers, and I wish I'd put the time and effort in to really do it properly and get my speed and accuracy up. I've got some bad habits with typing and they really annoy me.

When you're writing a book, I think you need to be able to concentrate on what you're writing. If you can't type, it just gets in the way.

Guess I got lucky; that database required me to type thirteen bajillion street addresses, so I had to learn the numbers and eventually switched to the 10-key for speed. Only drawback, I'm so much faster entering numbers on the 10-key that I have to have one on my laptop.

So much for netbooks...

HarryT · 11-20-2011, 01:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by teh603

Guess I got lucky; that database required me to type thirteen bajillion street addresses, so I had to learn the numbers and eventually switched to the 10-key for speed. Only drawback, I'm so much faster entering numbers on the 10-key that I have to have one on my laptop.

So much for netbooks...

You know that you can get external
USB numeric keypads?

11-10-2011, 02:08 AM	#1
behasty Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2011 Device: non	Where can I find professional ebook writers Hi, I am trying to write my first ebook,but am very slow at typing are there any ideas to locate an expert to do that for me?

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11-10-2011, 02:18 AM	#2
Steve_D Member Posts: 20 Karma: 19992 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Germany Device: iPhone 3GS	So do you have the book already written on paper and you want to transfer it to a text document? You could place an advert on one of the various freelancer exchange sites for someone to type it up for you at a rate you can afford. If you haven't yet written the book (e.g. if its at ideas in the head stage), then that would be trickier of course... your best bet would be to learn to touch type

11-10-2011, 09:53 PM	#3
BrowseTheStacks BrowseTheStacks Posts: 127 Karma: 24316 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Tampa FL Device: Kindle 3 3G + WI-FI	How about one of the voice to text programs like Dragon that you see in the tv ads.

11-10-2011, 11:14 PM	#4
teh603 Autism Spectrum Disorder Posts: 1,212 Karma: 6244877 Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Coastal Texas Device: Android Phone	I'll probably be in the minority here, but I'd suggest you just practice typing. With practice comes speed; I didn't get as fast as I am without having to spend most of a week typing out several thousand names and addresses for a database.

11-11-2011, 02:35 PM	#6
Native Cozy Bumpkin Stories Posts: 66 Karma: 351904 Join Date: May 2011 Location: Sprague River, Oregon Device: none	If your raw material is really worth more than the opportunity it represents, just wave some money around. Most of us aren't that well-off, and have to do our own work. I can't feel my hands much and have to closely watch my one-fingered peck and listen for the click of the keys, but it gets done. The words "my first ebook" indicate several things of note; all of which might be best addressed by a local writer's group. If you're in a populous area they're common and you likely have numerous choices.

11-13-2011, 02:56 PM	#8
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,560 Karma: 93980341 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	There was an interview on the BBC a few days ago with Terry Pratchett, and something I found interesting was that he said that he no longer type, as a result of his Alzheimer's, and now writes his books using Dragon Dictate, and that for him this works very well. I would imagine, though, that his assistant tidies it up afterwards, of course.

11-16-2011, 09:50 AM	#9
Lemurion eReader Posts: 2,750 Karma: 4968470 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: Note 5; PW3; Nook HD+; ChuWi Hi12; iPad	I've written a fantasy short story using Windows Vista's built in speech recognition software and it was surprisingly painless. Dictation is an option.

11-19-2011, 02:04 PM	#11
DrDln Banned Posts: 1,527 Karma: 2349214 Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Mountain House, CA Device: kindle	I didn't know any typing when I wrote my first book. Even now after taking some typing lessons, I can barely type. I have about dozen eBooks. The point I am trying to make is that you don't need to be typing expert. You can get it typed after writing on old fashion yellow pad. Conversion to various formats is real easy. Hope it helps.

11-19-2011, 05:39 PM	#12
Todd Young Addict Posts: 243 Karma: 1004164 Join Date: May 2011 Device: Kindle 2	I taught myself to touch type from an old typing book of my mother's. I really think you'd be doing yourself a great favor if you taught yourself to type properly. I spent a bit of time on it, but I rushed through some of the exercises - particularly the ones that deal with the numbers row. Even now I can't do the numbers, and I wish I'd put the time and effort in to really do it properly and get my speed and accuracy up. I've got some bad habits with typing and they really annoy me. When you're writing a book, I think you need to be able to concentrate on what you're writing. If you can't type, it just gets in the way.

11-19-2011, 10:11 PM	#13
Freeshadow temp. out of service Posts: 2,818 Karma: 24285242 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Duisburg (DE) Device: PB 623	...and while doing so (i.e. learning to type) just be glad you don't make said experience on an old mechanic typewriter. the beginners exercises like typing 5 lines ol "a" are a pain in the fingers on those. Altough there were benefits with the old thingys - the modern keyboards lack the comfort space between the keys. (and the sound isn't just the same)

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