Professional eBook Conversion versus DIY - Self-Publishers Beware

Self-publishers by necessity are willing to take on nearly every task required in the process of publishing their book. Sometimes the results of those efforts are books that are less than professional in appearance.

As ebook reading devices and apps improve with each generation so does the need for well produced ebooks. As the users of ebook reading devices such as the Kindle and the Nook become more familiar with consuming books using the technology, they are also becoming more discerning when it comes to the quality of the interior design of ebooks.

Readers are able to spot poorly done book designs by self-publishing authors and are starting to do the same with Kindle and other ebooks. Spend some time reading one-star reviews of a range of Kindle books and you will find many of the reviews are not about the quality of the story or information but rather a condemnation of the formatting of the book.

The number of books available, in Kindle format no less, describing "easy" conversion methods to produce Kindle books are quite numerous. Having purchased quite a few of them myself, I can say I am no closer to being able to produce a Kindle edition that looks, or works, like I want it to.

There are certainly authors who self-publish who are perfectly capable of not only designing a nice interior for an ebook, but doing the conversion work. From what I have been able to learn, most of the authors who possess this skill are either knowledgeable in HTML or are well versed in computers.

While money is certainly an issue for self-publishing authors, this is one of those instances where "doing it yourself" in order to not spend money may cost money in the long run.

Just as paying for editing and professional design for a print edition is a wise investment, so it having your ebook professionally formatted as well. Of the 14 books I have available, all but one have earned back the cost of conversion and that lone title is close to earning out its production cost as I write.

As J.A. Konrath, one of the foremost advocates of self-publishing using Kindle, likes to say "ebooks are forever!" Investing money in having your book(s) professionally converted is a wise decision.

I use eBook Architects and have used the Kindle conversion service of CreateSpace. I prefer eBook Architects for my books with graphics and photographs and use their services for all my books now. CreateSpace has done a good job with my books that were text only and the pricing is reasonable.

eBook Architects also warranties their work with the QED quality seal of approval, the only conversion service I have found that does so.

Leap Day Blog Posts to Read!

I know, I must be getting a bit lazy. But these are some informative posts on other blogs on self-publishing that are worth reading.

The first is from Morris Rosenthal who always has great information. This post is about strategic use of free Kindle books to promote your books.

Post number two to check out is on Joel Friedlander's blog and is about creating organic traffic for your author blog site.

I have to include a third post from Joel as he updated his list of great self-publishing blogs and The Self-Publisher's Notebook made the cut!

Finally, I am starting to think about converting a few more of my books currently available in Kindle format to ePub and see if this will increase sales for the Nook. My lone book available in Kindle and Nook formats sells well on the Kindle and has produced embarrassingly low numbers for the Nook. Perhaps a few more books being available will help.  This post by Liz Castro is about the ePub format.

eBook Opportunities to Self-Publish

Print-on-demand has been a huge boon for authors who self-publish. It gave so many authors a chance to get their book in print without needing a huge financial investment to do so. Amazon gave self-published authors a means to access customers without brick and mortar bookstores.

Like print-on-demand did for paper books, eBook readers have opened a new avenue for authors to self-publish and enjoy financial success, particularly authors of fiction. 

Does this mean any book sold as an eBook is guaranteed success? Of course not. Like any traditional paper book the most important component in a books success if the answer to the question "is the book any good?" A good book is THE essential first component to a book's success. For self-published authors, once the book is in print, the hard work of marketing the book starts and is also a key component to the success of the book as is the book's cover and interior design.

Listed below are just a few of the opportunities for self-publishing authors to publish their book in an eBook format. Please note, there are a total of 19 possible different eBook software formats and 23 different physical eBook reader devices available (that I have been able to count) so this is far from a complete list.

Amazon's Kindle

ePub - utilized by B&N Nook and many other eBook readers

Barnes & Noble Nook

Apple Book store

Google Books

While there is no single format for eBooks yet (time will tell), it appears this is an excellent opportunity for authors who self-publish and should not be overlooked. It means more still to learn for authors, but time never stands still and the march of technology moves ever forward. Take advantage of the new book format and make your book available in an eBook format.