Please HELP! Need Neubie Friendly Guide on Creating a Ebook

Istvan got his point there - you are asking how to write an ebook on how to write an ebook ..... hmm

I think you people are misunderstanding me...I was asking if there was something available that shows you HOW TO WRITE AN EBOOK...Peroid. I wasn't saying that I wanted to write an ebook on how to write an ebook...How did my simple question get turned around? I'm new but I'm not an idiot...

Hi Djspinman,

I believe that Istvan actually answered your question about how to write it. It's good advice.

Di

Easy when you know how

Here you go... How to Write and Publish your own eBook

Hi, Steve,

I, too, enjoy writing fiction. Truthfully, the answer to your questions depends on several things. First, regardless which program you choose to write the book in, OpenOffice or Word or some other, most of them will allow you to set up the format before you start writing. If you have written in software that will not allow that, you can copy and paste the text into one that does.

My software of choice is Word. I have taught Word for several years, and am familiar with how to set it up to do anything I might need to do, including printing multipage books stapled in the center like a 'real' book, and the pages be in the right order. It takes some doing, but it is possible.

The first, and most important part of writing fiction is to just write it. Don't take time to edit as you go. Wait until it is done, then edit all at once. The only time I don't follow this advice is when I write myself into a corner and have to back up--thankfully, that doesn't happen as often as it once did.

I am not familiar with the set up for Kindle, but Amazon has some good training materials on how to set it all up. My daughter just published two books of poetry to Kindle. While she enjoys working on a computer, she is not a computer whiz by any means, so I think the training materials must be pretty good.

For formatting, just decide what you want before you start. What color font, font family, and style will the headings be? Sub-headings? Body text? For best results, use black text on white background.

Do you want something easy to read on paper or on the screen. A sans serif font like Arial is better for online (probably for Kindle, too), since it does not cause as much eye fatigue as a serif font such as Times New Roman. The rule I teach my students is to use sans serif (Arial or Verdana) for the body of the writing, and a serif font (Times New Roman or Garamond) for the headings.

Decide where you want the page numbers and the style of page numbers you need. For instance, do you want page numbers in the top corner of the document pages, or the bottom center? Do you want to use only a number, or Page ? of ?, or some other format?

Are you going to have images? If so, will they be cropped and sized before hand, or will you need to be able to do that in the writing software? Word will do that; I don't know enough about OpenOffice to make a comment on it for that feature.

Consistency of format is important. If you plan to use color fonts, be selective and don't use too many. Too much color on a written page is distracting, and may turn readers away.

Since you are using OpenOffice, I am assuming you are familiar with the software. (I know--I take too many things for granted, sometimes.) Basically, the answer to most of your questions is: 1) No, you don't have to have an expensive ebook writing software. 2) Yes, you can write the book and then format it. Or you can set up the formatting, and then write the book. It depends on how you want to do it. 3) I have not worked with Kindle, so I will leave that question for someone else to answer.

I hope this helped.

Regards,

Linda

This is not the first book I've written, but it is fiction and it is the first one I want to sell in a ebook format.
I am more concerned about formatting: I do NOT want to write and then have to format IF I can use software to write 'in' and save that hassle?
Kindle through Amazon is my preference as the potential sales market is larger.
The issue I have is formatting. I don't want to spend money on this and I find the advice on offer bewildering (I'm a journalist as well!) as to the different formats and software.
My nightmare is writing the book and being told "you should have written it in this or that software/format" or "you need to start all over again"!

Thanks but that was the original premise of my contact - NOT to have to pay for a book about formatting!

This one is cool. I'd better check this as well

Here ya go:

http://www.warriorforum.com/war-room...ml#post1228336

Paul