Kindle Mystery

by Steve The Copywriter

Posted: 10 years ago 8 replies

COPY WRITING

I know this is not the right place.

I know there is a Kindle section.

And I know I am the least technically qualified person on earth to do this.

Having said all that.

A client who I've done a lot of work for wants to bung all their ads (mine and everyone else's) with a commentary on why they were done and how they worked (the complete company marketing history) into a Kindle Book.

I know, why would they do that?

The answer seems to be (not to make any money) but to have something "published" for posterity.

They and me have absolutely no idea how to transform a word doc or a PDF into a KDP format.

I immediately suggested to outsource it. But they only "trust" me to do it.

So, can anyone recommend a simple, easy to use piece of software that will let me do this incredible task.

It really has to be something I buy because I can't take the risk on a free download (there won't be any support when I get all confused…)

And it's got to be Mac compatible.

1000 thanks.

Steve

#kindle #mystery

MikeHumphreys 10 years ago

I've always used PCs but in terms of Kindle publishing, it's probably the same for Mac. I just upload the word doc and the ebook cover into the Kindle publishing platform, set the pricing and other details and then Amazon takes care of the rest.

One option for your client is to use Draft2Digital. https://draft2digital.com/ (non-affiliate link)

With one upload you can choose which digital platforms (Amazon, Barnes & Nobles, Apple & others) you want to publish on and they take care of the rest. D2D gives you a lot of marketing options as well. Trade-off is a percentage of your sales indefinitely for their help.

My recommendation would be to be to put it up on Kindle yourself and use D2D to reach some of the other platforms.
- [ 1 ] Thanks
- 1 reply
Signature
Kickstart Your Copywriting Business: How To Get Loads of New Clients FAST!

Kick-A$$ Eight-Figure Producing Copywriting Gun For Hire | Marketing & Copywriting Blog
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9291901].message }}
- DJ Gelner 10 years ago
  
  Hi Steve,
  
  I've published nearly a dozen Kindle books now, and by far the best investment I ever made was a program called Scrivener, put out by a company called "Literature and Latte" (weird name, I know, but hey, I didn't come up with it!).
  
  It's not just Mac-compatible, it's refreshingly Mac-native, so everything works like a charm. The way it handles documents is in a folder and doc system that's really intuitive and customizable--you could make each ad its own folder or doc and re-arrange them in any number of different ways. It outputs files in pretty much any format you can think of: .DOC, .DOCX, .PDF, .RTF, .EPUB, etc.
  
  Best of all, if you also download and install KindleGen from Amazon, it makes really clean .MOBI files, which upload seamlessly into Kindle Direct Publishing.
  
  Now, granted, it takes some time to learn all of the cool stuff Scrivener can do--they have a fair number of video tutorials, and I'd watch the entire one on "compiling" the manuscript before getting too into it--that gave me fits for a while until I stopped trying to take shortcuts and sat down and took my medicine.
  
  But for $45, it's a steal--if you're serious about publishing any other projects on Kindle in the future, it's a no-brainer.
  
  Hope this helps, Steve!
  
  -D.J.
  
  [ 2 ] Thanks
  
  1 reply
  
  Signature
  
  D.J. Gelner
  Copywriter/Storyteller
  www.djswriting.com
  
  {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9293035].message }}
  
  Cool Hand Luke 10 years ago
  
  Steve,
  
  Would your client trust you to hire a professional to do it? Because if so, you can get formatting done right for something like $20 on eLance.
  
  [ 1 ] Thanks
  
  1 reply
  
  {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9293442].message }}
  
  sethczerepak 10 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Cool Hand Luke
  
  Steve,
  
  Would your client trust you to hire a professional to do it? Because if so, you can get formatting done right for something like $20 on eLance.
  
  If you know someone who will do it well for that, I'd love to have their info. Seriously.
  
  [ 1 ] Thanks
  
  Signature
  
  See My Copywriting Portfolio and Testimonials
  
  {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9295441].message }}
joe golfer 10 years ago

Rachel Rofe (long-time Warrior) has a paid web-based product that does it. I don't know her or the product but here tis:

Kinstant Formatter
- [ 2 ] Thanks
Signature

Marketing is not a battle of products. It is a battle of perceptions.
- Jack Trout
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9293529].message }}
Marvin Johnston 10 years ago

I have to agree with the post recommending Scrivener... it is a great piece of software written by writers for writers. My favorite description for it is an outline processor for writers... incredibly easy to organize your writing.

The PC version does not match the Mac version (yet) with some of the features. But except for having to use some workarounds, the PC version (which is what I use) works very well.

While I didn't find it intuitive when I first started using it, a good tutorial on (I think) YouTube made everything go together enough that I could be productive using it.

Marvin

P.S. There was a thread last year containing information and recommendations for Scrivener. Do a search in this forum and you should find it. I'm waiting for BrianM to chime in .
- [ 2 ] Thanks
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9293558].message }}
Steve The Copywriter 10 years ago

Thanks so much everyone.

Now I've got options that I never knew I had.

Steve
- Thanks
Signature
http://www.warriorforum.com/warriors...right-now.html
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9294201].message }}
Don Grace 10 years ago

I'll second Rachel Rofe, I know her personally. You can also check out Shira Gal, she did my book, not sure what she charges though but she does great work (We traded time and skillsets instead of money)
- [ 2 ] Thanks
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9295554].message }}