What software are publishers using to create their .azw format books?

jackm8 · 11-10-2023, 06:17 PM

Amazon has that Kindle Create application for independent authors, but it's very rudimentary, simplistic, and lacking advanced formatting tools that would be needed from some of the more advanced ebooks out there.

DNSB · 11-10-2023, 07:31 PM

Quite a few authors are using word processors to create the document and then using Vellum or similar tool to convert to epub. Some are using Sigil or calibre to convert their word processor output to an epub file. A rather small group others are using Adobe's InDesign. Yet others are using third parties to produce the ebook reference file.

Once you learn to use styles properly in your word processor, it's a fairly easy process to produce an epub reference file.

jackm8 · 11-10-2023, 08:12 PM

I don't know Vellum, but am familiar with Sigil and Indesign. They don't support Amazon's .azw format on export. Epub is available, though. Indesign supports at least 3.0 .epub. I was wondering if publishers have anything else available to them, or is it all just Indesign to .epub, then that .epub converted to .azw?

DNSB · 11-10-2023, 09:52 PM

ePub is one of Amazon's preferred formats for uploading which they convert as needed. Given that Amazon is dropping or has dropped (the reports on the cutoff date keep changing) uploading .mobi, a well formatted ePub file or a properly styled Word document are probably the best formats for uploading to KDP or using with Send to Kindle.

One author acquaintance of mine tried creating a .kpf file from their ePub master using Kindle Previewer but trying to upload the .kpf to KDP turned into a total snafu. Send to Kindle does not accept a .kpf format ebook. It seems that Amazon does not want to eat their own dog food.

When testing ebooks that I am formatting for others, I will use Sigil and/or calibre's editor to create an ePub that passes epubcheck and then use calibre and/or Send to Kindle to convert for testing in Amazon's apps and Kindle eInk ereaders.

jhowell · 11-11-2023, 08:51 AM

These days Amazon makes a sharp distinction between the e-book formats that they accept from publishers and the formats that they deliver to customer apps and devices.

Professional publishers deliver their books to Amazon in EPUB format and Amazon produces a growing set of Kindle-specific formats from that. These days most customers see KFX format on their devices. In coming years something else may replace that just as KFX replaced KF8 and KF8 replaced MOBI as the dominant Kindle format. So the real question is not what software publishers use to produce AZW format, but that do they use to produce EPUB format.

Although EPUB has become the somewhat universal e-book publishing format there are still differences in the level of support for specific EPUB features and proprietary EPUB extensions available on different reading platforms. Knowing the often undocumented details of these is one thing that separates professional e-book formatters and publishers from the amateurs.

Quoth · 11-11-2023, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jackm8

I don't know Vellum, but am familiar with Sigil and Indesign. They don't support Amazon's .azw format on export. Epub is available, though. Indesign supports at least 3.0 .epub. I was wondering if publishers have anything else available to them, or is it all just Indesign to .epub, then that .epub converted to .azw?

AFAIK no-one sends azw3 to Amazon for publishing, it's epub. Amazon then convert to mobi, azw3, kfx etc based on what model the customer has or if an app and how it's delivered.

Properly done docx to Calibre or Sigil and converted to epub can easily be better than badly misused Vellum or InDesign. InDesign is now rented and expensive and produces awful epub because it's a kuldge being that it's really a tool for paper publishing (and for that if it's a novel, then PDF export from a properly formatted docx can be as good and perfect for POD or full print runs.

Calibre can automatically convert docx paragraph styles to CSS. I think Sigil needs a user supplied table. However Sigil may be better for text books or other content that's not mostly text. Final calibre epub may need CSS for images manually edited.

Fixed layout is different.

JSWolf · 11-11-2023, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jackm8

Amazon has that Kindle Create application for independent authors, but it's very rudimentary, simplistic, and lacking advanced formatting tools that would be needed from some of the more advanced ebooks out there.

Kindle Create is 100% crap! Plus, with Kindle Create, you only get Mobi & KFX. A KF8 is not created.

JSWolf · 11-11-2023, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DNSB

Quite a few authors are using word processors to create the document and then using Vellum or similar tool to convert to epub. Some are using Sigil or calibre to convert their word processor output to an epub file. A rather small group others are using Adobe's InDesign. Yet others are using third parties to produce the ebook reference file.

Once you learn to use styles properly in your word processor, it's a fairly easy process to produce an epub reference file.

Vellum is another program that should never ever be used for creating eBooks for sale.

JSWolf · 11-11-2023, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jackm8

I don't know Vellum, but am familiar with Sigil and Indesign. They don't support Amazon's .azw format on export. Epub is available, though. Indesign supports at least 3.0 .epub. I was wondering if publishers have anything else available to them, or is it all just Indesign to .epub, then that .epub converted to .azw?

If you make a well formatted ePub, it will make a well formatted Kindle eBook when it's converted.

11-10-2023, 06:17 PM	#1
jackm8 Zealot Posts: 115 Karma: 28464 Join Date: Nov 2015 Device: none	What software are publishers using to create their .azw format books? Amazon has that Kindle Create application for independent authors, but it's very rudimentary, simplistic, and lacking advanced formatting tools that would be needed from some of the more advanced ebooks out there.

11-10-2023, 09:52 PM	#4
DNSB Bibliophagist Posts: 35,464 Karma: 145525534 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Vancouver Device: Kobo Sage, Forma, Clara HD, Lenovo M8 FHD, Paperwhite 4, Tolino epos	ePub is one of Amazon's preferred formats for uploading which they convert as needed. Given that Amazon is dropping or has dropped (the reports on the cutoff date keep changing) uploading .mobi, a well formatted ePub file or a properly styled Word document are probably the best formats for uploading to KDP or using with Send to Kindle. One author acquaintance of mine tried creating a .kpf file from their ePub master using Kindle Previewer but trying to upload the .kpf to KDP turned into a total snafu. Send to Kindle does not accept a .kpf format ebook. It seems that Amazon does not want to eat their own dog food. When testing ebooks that I am formatting for others, I will use Sigil and/or calibre's editor to create an ePub that passes epubcheck and then use calibre and/or Send to Kindle to convert for testing in Amazon's apps and Kindle eInk ereaders. Last edited by DNSB; 11-10-2023 at 09:55 PM.

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11-10-2023, 07:31 PM	#2
DNSB Bibliophagist Posts: 35,464 Karma: 145525534 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Vancouver Device: Kobo Sage, Forma, Clara HD, Lenovo M8 FHD, Paperwhite 4, Tolino epos	Quite a few authors are using word processors to create the document and then using Vellum or similar tool to convert to epub. Some are using Sigil or calibre to convert their word processor output to an epub file. A rather small group others are using Adobe's InDesign. Yet others are using third parties to produce the ebook reference file. Once you learn to use styles properly in your word processor, it's a fairly easy process to produce an epub reference file.

11-10-2023, 08:12 PM	#3
jackm8 Zealot Posts: 115 Karma: 28464 Join Date: Nov 2015 Device: none	I don't know Vellum, but am familiar with Sigil and Indesign. They don't support Amazon's .azw format on export. Epub is available, though. Indesign supports at least 3.0 .epub. I was wondering if publishers have anything else available to them, or is it all just Indesign to .epub, then that .epub converted to .azw?

11-11-2023, 08:51 AM	#5
jhowell Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,498 Karma: 84420419 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Tampa Bay, Florida Device: Kindles	These days Amazon makes a sharp distinction between the e-book formats that they accept from publishers and the formats that they deliver to customer apps and devices. Professional publishers deliver their books to Amazon in EPUB format and Amazon produces a growing set of Kindle-specific formats from that. These days most customers see KFX format on their devices. In coming years something else may replace that just as KFX replaced KF8 and KF8 replaced MOBI as the dominant Kindle format. So the real question is not what software publishers use to produce AZW format, but that do they use to produce EPUB format. Although EPUB has become the somewhat universal e-book publishing format there are still differences in the level of support for specific EPUB features and proprietary EPUB extensions available on different reading platforms. Knowing the often undocumented details of these is one thing that separates professional e-book formatters and publishers from the amateurs.