The Trouble with E-Books
by admin on November 10, 2012
I’m not a fan of technology. The irony is, of course, that I am married to a man who is. That is why for my birthday this year, my husband bought me an e-reader.
The tablet sat unused for three months. After all, I prefer to read my paperbacks while soaking in a hot bath, something I fear would not be compatible with anything electronic. My husband, however, thought I needed... Show more
The Trouble with E-Books
by admin on November 10, 2012
I’m not a fan of technology. The irony is, of course, that I am married to a man who is. That is why for my birthday this year, my husband bought me an e-reader.
The tablet sat unused for three months. After all, I prefer to read my paperbacks while soaking in a hot bath, something I fear would not be compatible with anything electronic. My husband, however, thought I needed to learn the technology of e-books because he believes eventually all manuscripts will be formatted that way. He is a kind man and only complained once that he had bought me a very expensive paper weight, for that is what the tablet was for many weeks.
But when Phil Harris of All Things That Matter Press emailed to say he was beginning the production process of my short story collection, I immediately began thinking of additional ways to generate interest. One of my ideas was to publish a couple of stand-alone short stories that had not been included in the collection but related in some way. A new short story, “All We Need Is a Little Magic,” chronicles what happens to Josh years after he meets Tracy and Liam in “Hope in the Laundry Room,” which appears in the collection. I wanted to offer the sequel to readers for a great price, and that meant publishing the short story as an e-book.
I should have revisited an e-mail my editor friend, Sandy Haven, had sent about e-book readers, but I did not. I plunged ahead one ambitious morning to convert my manuscript into an e-book through Bookrix.com, an online community of writers which started years ago as a place to read free books but has since evolved to include e-book and audio book publishing but has since evolved to include e-book and audio book publishing.
It took only an hour to convert my short story into an e-book for sale.
After I clicked the button that asks, “Are you sure?” I knew I was in trouble.
The formatting was all wrong.
After my husband woke up, I told him what I had done. He smacked his forehead with exasperation. “Why didn’t you ask me for advice? I work on these e-book readers all day. I know all about them. Why do you always have to blindly go into the desert and shout out after you’re lost?”
Okay, so I was a little impatient and a little more ignorant than I thought I was.
I dug up Sandy’s e-mail which only confirmed the things my husband had already mentioned to me: every writer should be aware how their own book will be potentially seen and manipulated by readers in the e-book venue, which means every writer should have an e-reader and know how to use it.
Well, I had an e-reader. I just had not learned how to use it.
Three hours later, after downloading an incredible amount of necessary software onto my e-reader, I discovered that my Android-based e-reader is incompatible with Bookrix’s download option of Readmill for the iPad. Sure, I could view the book as a PDF, but I can do that on my desktop also. I wanted to know how my short story would appear on the Kindle, which is what my e-reader used.
Frustrated beyond words, I set the tablet aside. Now I know why writers hired e-book editors. Those people are like my husband, savvy with the technology that makes it all happen, in addition to being gifted with words.
Unfortunately, I did not have the money to hire an e-book editor. I was only producing a couple of short stories as promotional items. That’s why I was going it alone.
Needless to say, I eventually figured out my mistakes—one e-book later. My only hope is that the reader will forgive me for them. My husband fears my promotional efforts will backfire on me because I did not seek out his advice or follow Sandy’s advice BEFORE clicking the “Are you sure?” button that launches the book into the stratosphere where changes cannot be made.
Of course, not all e-publishers prohibit editing after publication, but Bookrix does. That is why I will remember to not delve into my next technology adventure without a guide. And unless you know more than you think you do about technology, my advice to you is to ask for help long before you need it.
Read the sample of my book please!