Ebook authoring

[cadman]

I have recently added some new content to my site to help people if they were interested in writing an eBook. I hope that any aspiring authors can find the information useful. If anyone has any experience in the eBook field and could offer suggestions or comments for more information that I should include that might benefit others, it would be greatly apprecited.

The content can be found in the Steps to Writing an EBook section.

Always willing and trying to help,

Cadman

[Caveman Joe]

Technical note - PDF isn't the most popular and universal format for text exchange, nor does it necessarily display the same way on all computers (that's the idea, yes, but in practice...). The "Small file size" comment is also very misleading.
I'm not gonna go on a big rant about how much PDF sucks for anything but physical printing, because I'm sure you've heard it all before. However, I will say this: PDF should be offered only as an alternative to your main format, for people who want to print the eBook and have a physical copy. Your main format should be either HTML (readable on every computer, every PDA and most mobile phones) or, better yet, plain text (readable on every computer, every PDA, most mobile phones and most MP3 players). Standard convention for italics in plain-text files is to use the underscore key, _like this_. If your readers can download your eBook and then read it on their crappy, twenty-quid-from-eBay Chinese MP3 player while waiting for the bus, then you're onto a winner.

In short, the best thing to do is to provide your eBook in three formats:

1. (X)HTML, with the CSS (if any) defined in the head, for reading on a computer. Have a feature that lets the user switch between black text on a white background, white on blue, and light grey on black, to optimise for onscreen reading.

2. Plain text, using _'s to denote italics, for reading on a low-tech device such as an MP3 player (I believe iPods have this feature too).

3. PDF, for the tiny minority of users who will actually want to print the eBook.

[Buddy]

Another good idea is to have a friend call you and ask you pertinent questions about your subject. Record the call, transcribe, and edit. Sometimes it's easier to talk about something than to write about it.

Buddy

[cadman]

Thank you Buddy. I will be sure to include that on my next update.

To everyone's success,

Cadman