You may or may not have heard of an Epub file. For those of us e-publishing via Kindle or Nook, you are probably working in PDF files.
Recently, a reviewer asked for a copy of one of my books in a PDF or Epub file. I supplied a free coupon to download the book from Smashwords since I really wasn’t sure what Epub was. But it sparked my interest to want to learn. I made a mental note of it to Google it later on.
I discovered that Epub is one of the wider accepted document formats for Ebooks these days, but Amazon doesn’t prefer Epub files because it can’t control their evolution. Leave it to Amazon to work outside the norm, always pushing ahead of the rest or at least trying to.
Since no e-publishing company had required Epub from me, I abandoned the thought of converting my books to Epub files. Then, I discovered I could sell my books over at GoodReads. And guess what format they require? You guessed it! Epub!
Well, I really wanted to make my books available here. So, I went in search of an easy Epub converter. I found one at Epub to Go. Within about 2 minutes, I uploaded my PDF file, converted it to Epub, and had it saved on my computer.
Now, if you want to make your books available on GoodReads after you’ve got your Epub files ready, go to your Author Dashboard and then look for the bubble to the right of your books’ information. This bubble is called Author Tools. Here you should find a link to upload you ebook. With a few clicks – choosing how much of a sample to offer, setting your price, confirming your paypal account and address – boom! Your book will be available in 1 to 2 hours. GoodReads keeps 30% of the price you set, and you’ll get paid the rest once you earn at least $50.
Sure, I’ve been selling on Kindle since 2007. I jumped on the Nook bandwagon last year. And I sell on Smashwords. I’d be anxious to hear from others out there – readers or authors – who have purchased from GoodReads or are selling on GoodReads. Any success stories to share? Where else are you utilizing your Epub files? If so, tell us about it.
You should check those epub files before you load them to goodreads. Download the free Adobe Reader software so you can look at them and see how the text converted. PDF to ePub conversion is the least ideal of all the ways to convert to epub and those epubs will not pass epubcheck, which means they won’t always work on people’s various readers and you cannot sell these on Apple since they don’t pass the check. That’s why smashwords uses word documents and not PDF files for their conversions. I use ecub http://www.juliansmart.com/ecub and even then they require substantial corrections to pass epubcheck. http://threepress.org/document/epub-validate
Right now there isn’t really any quick easy solution to creating epubs on the home PC level that will give you quality saleable epubs. If you are really interested in making good quality epubs, I suggest this book: Epub Straight to the Point. http://www.elizabethcastro.com/epub/
Hi Cheryl-
Yes, you are correct. Those epub files were atrocious! I completely understand why they are not the norm for Smashwords, Kindle, Nook, and the like. Thanks for your input!
-Shannon
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