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Ebook Tools

by Agoge Warrior
16 replies
I am very new at this marketing thing and figure I will need to learn how to do my own copywriting. From what I'm reading on the forum, it can be quite expensive to outsource plus the copywriters already have a full plate, so figure I learn to do this myself.

Can any suggest the best tools to put together an E book, regardless of the number of pages?

Do most of you use Microsoft Word and just save the file as PDF? How about graphics? I have seen some Ebooks that have pretty elaborate graphics? Do you need to use some Image Editor to come up with you own graphics?

Just would like to know where to start and how to go about creating an Ebook. I will figure out the copywriting part, wording, etc. myself, I HOPE!!

Thanks!
#ebook #tools
  • Profile picture of the author Peggy Baron
    I can't speak for others, but I write my ebooks in Word and convert it to pdf when I'm all done. Then I zip the pdf up and ftp it to my site.

    I usually buy graphics for inside the book from istockphoto.com. The price is very reasonable. I have the ebook cover made for me, as well as the website graphics if I'm going that route.

    Hope this helps.

    Peggy
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    • Profile picture of the author billspaced
      I do the same thing, though I have an additional step because I don't have the latest version of Word -- I save as .doc, then open the .doc in OpenOffice and then export to PDF.

      You can outsource your graphics or make your own. You'd be surprised at what you can create yourself using something simple like Photoshop Elements.
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      Bill Davis
      Chief Marketing Officer, SoMoLo Marketing

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      • Profile picture of the author Agoge Warrior
        Cool..really good advice and I appreciate it. Sounds like Open Office is the way to go and will give a stab at pulling graphics or creating my own. Thing is, I don't have a clue how to use Photoshop Elements
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        • Profile picture of the author billspaced
          Originally Posted by zosowolfpacker View Post

          Cool..really good advice and I appreciate it. Sounds like Open Office is the way to go and will give a stab at pulling graphics or creating my own. Thing is, I don't have a clue how to use Photoshop Elements
          Just like everything else, dive right in. Check out some books by Scott Kelby on Amazon (not a pitch here, just advice that I've followed myself); he's a professional photographer that shows you how to use Elements, the full-blown PS, plus a lot of other stuff).
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          Bill Davis
          Chief Marketing Officer, SoMoLo Marketing

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  • Profile picture of the author Lee Ka Hoong
    For the ebook, I wrote it and converted it to a PDF file. As for the cover, just outsource it since I'm not in design field though. Outsourcing it since it costs you about $5-$10 for a single ebook cover.
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    • Profile picture of the author Agoge Warrior
      Originally Posted by KiDkillER View Post

      For the ebook, I wrote it and converted it to a PDF file. As for the cover, just outsource it since I'm not in design field though. Outsourcing it since it costs you about $5-$10 for a single ebook cover.
      Can you guys suggest a good place to outsource the cover?

      I am with you. The less time I have to spend on making fancy graphics, the more time I can spend on the content of the E-book and the rest of the campaign essentials that are important.

      Man, feeling overwhelmed! Learning alot of stuff all at once to try and get this thing rolling.
      How to affiliate market, how to build a website, how to do an E-book. Will tough it out and give a go and see what happens!
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  • Profile picture of the author Peggy Baron
    Yeah, making your own graphics can be a lot of fun and very rewarding, but time-consuming. Do consider where your time is best spent.

    Peggy
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  • Profile picture of the author LesleyJohnston
    Another great free resource for images is Sxc.hu just watch what the guidelines are as some images need to be credited to the originator.

    Also you can use JingProject.com to take free screen capture and screen shots - very useful from the creators of Camtasia/SnagIt. Not used it myself but it looks good and did I mention it was free!

    Hope this helps

    Lesley
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  • Profile picture of the author ian rowe
    Hi do you know of any free ebook cover software.?
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  • Profile picture of the author Ali Nobis
    try a few freelance websites, i have seen multiple people post for cover jobs. and i think the price is about the same as listed 5-15 dollars.
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  • Profile picture of the author eddywebs
    I use plain old Microsoft word and use Cute pdf writer to print the ebook as an PDF , its free and simple !
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  • Profile picture of the author Fraserb
    Hi,

    Word /Openoffice are good to create the original documents and I think they both have pdf creators. You can also use cutepdf which is free.

    As far as software goes try eCover Software Pro or
    eBook Software

    (both these links do not contain affiliate links so buy with confidence that I'm not trying to sell you something )

    Hope this helps,

    Fraser
    :-)
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  • Profile picture of the author gbd
    I agree with FraserB. If you want your Ebook to be portable across platforms (readable by Mac as well as PC enthusiasts) PDF (Portable Document File) is the way to go. You can create FREE ones with FREE open source software by visiting openoffice dot org and downloading their stuff. Don't lock yourself into a single platform - there is a world beyond the PC with money to spend.
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  • Profile picture of the author mello
    Adobe has a free online pdf. Limited but may be useful to get you going. There's lots of free pdf file makers - try cnet.com and search for them. For covers I'd go the outsorce route if you want it to look special (which you must do if you're selling) and need an ebook cover for sales copy. If it's a giveaway you can get away with a simpler self-created graphic cover.
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    • Profile picture of the author tenaciouscreations
      Just finished writing my first e-guide. I use Word 207 to write it as I was more familiar with it than Open Office. When I was looking for a topic to write on I noticed a lot of people were struggling with either taking pictures or edit pictures for their e-books and websites.

      So you guess it I wrote a guide on how to do just that. In that guide I take a user through doing some editing tasks with Paint.net. Now granted I prefer to work in Photoshop but if you don't have the money to buy it Paint.net is a great alternative. Not only because it is free but also because it functions very similarly to Photoshop. So if later on down the road you decide to get Photoshop all that experience you picked up with Paint.net won't be lost.

      Ben
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