Convert PDF Files To Kindle-Friendly Format

16 years ago

You really don't want to do that!!

Anything that purports to create Kindle files from PDF's should be avoided like the plague! The conversion is not that straightforward.

Kindle files are usually created with Amazon's DTP (Digital Text Platform), and while PDF is one of the listed input formats your results will be less than stellar - certainly not something you'd ever want to show anyone! If it's only a file for yourself (i.e. you don't intend to distribute or market it) than it may suffice.

Best results are achieved by inputting HTML into DTP, specifically the HTML created by MS Word.

If you have no intention of selling your resulting file then you could also use MobiPocket Creator to make a Kindle-compatible file.

Bill

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thrigrri 16 years ago

Hey Bill

I am looking to convert PDF files to a Kindle friendly format because I am trying to sell an ebook that I've created in Kindle...

But the thing is that, when I tried uploading the ebook (in PDF), the output (when I tried previewing it) was like... The entire alignments were messed up... So I thought maybe I should convert the PDF file into a Kindle-friendly format (so that the entire presentation could be as what I see in Microsoft Word).

Any advices you have for me on this? Thanks!

Cheers
Jun Yuan
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KirkMcD

16 years ago

Like he said, Save it from Word as HTML and feed that to the Kindle.

Thanks

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mywebwork

16 years ago

Hi Jun

Once again you will not have good results using a PDF as a master for the Kindle.

If you have the master of your book in Word format then that is the way to go. Aside from letting you convert to HTML (which is essential for a good Kindle experience) it also allows you to format the book in other formats (such as ePub) using SmashWords, and that in turn will permit you to sell it to owners of other eReaders such as the Sony PRS or B&N Nook.

Other things you want to watch out for are fancy formatting and page numbers. Don't go overboard in formatting your Kindle book with multiple fonts, Kindle readers have the option of changing the font style and size. And that same ability makes page numbers meaningless. The lack of page numbers means formatting your book with a hyperlinked table of contents, again Word is good for this.

If you have any charts or tables in your book you may want to reformat them using graphics, the resizing ability mentioned above can play havoc with HTML tables.

And finally, if you are selling on the Kindle Store remember that your book should allow a "preview chapter", generally the first one. So write it so the first chapter intrigues the reader enough to consider purchasing it, and if its "ten steps to becoming a billionaire" don't give them all away in the preview chapter!

Hope this helps

Bill

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thrigrri 16 years ago

Wow!!! Thanks so much for all the information Bill! I really, really appreciate your help on this... I'm in the midst of working on my first Amazon Kindle product - Was wondering if I could post it here when I'm done and then you give me your critiques?

I'm new in this and I really appreciate all the help you have given me... Let me once again say a very big THANK YOU for all your time in helping me out there!

Cheers
Jun Yuan
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mywebwork

16 years ago

Glad I could help, I have been immersed in Kindle publishing for a few months now for a project I am working on. If you get stuck shoot me a message and I will see if I can assist.

You probably have these, but if not get a hold of these essential documents:

http://s3.amazonaws.com/kindlegen/Am...elinesV1.3.pdf

Smashwords - Smashwords Style Guide - A book by Mark Coker

The second is the formatting guide for SmashWords, a service that can get your book published for Sony PRS, Apple iPad and B&N Nook eReader users (and others as well).

One other consideration if you are serious about selling on the Kindle is the cover image - it has to meet certain size and quality standards or Amazon DTP will reject it. Best bet is to get a professional graphics artist to take care of it. On Kindle people really do judge (and buy) a book on its cover!

Also it is a very good idea to have an experienced editor look over your book before you publish on DTP or SmashWords. Treat it as if it were a book being published for your local library or bookstore - in a very real sense it is!

And you can also format your content for CreateSpace, making a real printed paperback book complete with ISBN number available for sale on Amazon. And these are first class books, not the laser-printed Lulu variety. No inventory to stock, and you get the profits from every sale on Amazon. BTW - If you do go that route you can save a few dollars by purchasing your own ISBN number instead of using their service. Just Google and you'll find a number of services that do this.

Finally use both your Kindle & CreateSpace books to leverage your position on the Amazon Authors page that publishing there entitles you to.

Best of luck with your book, I'd love to see how it turns out!

Bill

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thrigrri 16 years ago

Hey Bill

Thanks for that! I do not have the 2 guides which you provided in your post... I've already downloaded them and going to read through... Appreciate it!

By the way, I have just submitted 2 ebooks onto Kindle for publishing... And I'm now waiting for their approval. And also thanks so much for your help! I'm really new in ebook publishing in Kindle so definitely I'll have loads to ask as I move on along the way... Would really appreciate your help...

Oh... One thing I would like to ask for your opinion on - I see that, we can get 70% royalties if we price our book at anything below $9.99. Anything above that we can only get 35% royalties... That being said, I see the trend being that most people price their kindle ebooks at below $9.99 - With that in mind, will we able to generate good profits - For example if we were to price our ebooks at $9.99 we would get approximately $6.99 in commissions (before tax)?

Also, I would like to seek your opinion regarding the selling of ebooks - I'm looking at writing ebooks related to Internet Marketing... Do you think, in your personal opinion, that it will sell well?

I've also taken a look at SmashWords - And I see that they do not accept ebooks that are re-written using Private Label contents - So, in order to be able to successfully get our ebooks published there, we will need to write it from scratch...

In terms of profitability, between Kindle and Smashwords, in your experience, which one you think is more profitable?

Appreciate your advice... Thanks so much for your time and help!

Cheers
Jun Yuan
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mywebwork

16 years ago

Hi Jun

Yes SmashWords is insistent upon original content. And Amazon is also changing its tune here - they used to allow you to upload Public Domain works but now don't permit it if the work has been uploaded to Kindle previously. So put aside any plans to make money off of a Kindle version of "Think and Grow Rich" or "Scientific Advertising" - you're too late!

In a sense this is a good thing, if Kindle and Nook eBooks got the reputation as being just a pile of PLR and regurgitated trash (not that I equate the two) then the marketplace would suffer. By insisting upon original content the marketplace will grow with quality content, which makes for happy consumers.

The 9.99 price is the "sweet spot" that many Kindle authors set their work at - most Kindle readers balk at paying more. Amazons 70% offer is actually great, it used to be 35% and it used to be only for US Publishers. Now its 70% (in the 2.99 - 9.99 price range) for publishers worldwide. A great part of the deal is that if Amazon puts your Kindle book on sale you are still paid based upon the price you set, not the price they sell it for.

As for selling a lot of IM books I'm not so sure - and of course you should note that the following is strictly my own opinion, so I may be out to lunch here! But I view the Kindle marketplace as similar to the traditional book marketplace. And in the traditional book market IM books don't do that well, with a few notable exceptions (Perry Marshall's AdWords book and Rosalind Gardner's Super Affiliate Guide are two exceptions that come to mind). I can walk into my local book store or library and find 10 Italian cookbooks or European Travel Guides for every IM-related book.

Internet Marketers are also used to getting their information on PDF files that they can read on their computer (yes I know there is a free Kindle reader for PC, Mac & Linux). They also get a lot of info for free,and enjoy videos as well. Not too many of them get their information from printed books, and I don't think they will necessarily make the move to the Kindle.

But again the above is my own opinion - perhaps you'll become the IM Guru of the Kindle world. If you do feel free to rub it in my face!

Best of luck

Bill

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thrigrri 16 years ago

Hey Bill

Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts, as well as your insights, with me... I really appreciate it!

By the way, I've skimmed through the 2 reports that you have shared with me (on Kindle and Smashwords) and it's really good! I have not read them before and I definitely will spend an hour or two going through these 2 reports thoroughly... Can't help but to say another big thank you for them!

Well, as for selling PLR ebooks, prior to deciding to publish ebooks in Amazon Kindle, I see that a lot of marketers are selling Internet Marketing ebooks (that they have resell rights to) on Kindle... The thing I have notice is that, these marketers just throw the entire ebook up as they are and the only way they are trying to get customers is to sell at really rock bottom prices (not just in kindle but also in places like Tradebit).

And the worst thing is - Some of these products are of such a low quality and I get really angry when I see such products (these people simply are just out there for the money, and don't even bother about educating people and helping them along).

I don't know how successful I will be - But my aim is to provide people with top quality Internet Marketing guides - With proper formatting, and also explanation in layman terms, and also give examples to illustrate my points - So as to help people, especially newbie, get started in generating a full-time income online...

I know that this is a long and hard journey (I've read posts from people on the Internet that we have to wait between 4 to 6 months at least before we can see some steady income coming in - What's your opinion on this?) I'm just going to keep going and hopefully be able to see some good results come the end of the day... Wish me luck on that!

Oh! I didn't know that the royalties payout is at a flat rate of 70% (for products that are priced between $2.99 and $9.99). I thought its only for US customers... Thanks for that! This really gives me a much needed booster to keep going!

Hmmm... There's something I would like to seek your opinion on - Other than Kindle and Smashwords, and also other sites such as Tradebit, Payloadz, and E-Junkie, are there any other sites that you would recommend I sell my ebooks to?

And one more thing - I'm signed up for both Tradebit and Payloadz (even upgrade my account to a premium one) - And I see that, for both of these sites, I am required to insert a unique Instant Payment Notification (IPN) link in my PayPal account (which I have set to receive payments).

However, the thing is this - There's only 1 field available to insert a Instant Payment Notification (IPN) URL... Was wondering how can I go about it (if I wish to use PayPal to receive payments for both sites because I think PayPal is still a widely preferred choice for most customers). Any suggestions for me here?

Thanks so much for your time and your great help! I really appreciate it...

Have a great weekend!

Cheers
Jun Yuan
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Get Top Internet Marketing Products At Hugely Affordable Prices - http://www.internetprofitmachines.com
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caseyzeman

16 years ago

Hi Jun, you should also put your product up on Clickbank.

Bill I am very interested to talk to you about Kindle as well. I had the exacts same questions as Jun. Thank God i checked the history before posting the same question. I am looking for someone to do the submitting for my book. Do you know anyone who will do the converting and possibly the cover as well?

Thanks
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marlon_phillips 16 years ago

Hey Bill,

The market I am going into has an old public domain book that I want to provide on my site in several formats, audio, pdf and ereader. (Nook and Kindle)

Is the best way to format this book for the ereaders to copy and paste the content into Wordpress?

Thanks,

Marlon
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- mywebwork 16 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by marlon_phillips
  
  Is the best way to format this book for the ereaders to copy and paste the content into Wordpress?
  
  Hi Marlon
  
  I will assume that this was a typo and you meant to say "Word", not "WordPress"?
  
  If so then you are correct, the first step would be to get the content into Word. I would actually advocate an intermediate step and copy it into a text file first, and then into Word, just to remove any odd formating that might be carried over from the original copy.
  
  The guides from Amazon and SmashWords will show you the correct formatting. You'll also need to create a hyperlinked Table of Contents.
  
  Otherwise you can see my responses to Jun Yuan to get yourself started.
  
  Best of luck, and welcome to the Warrior Forum!
  
  Bill
  
  Thanks
  
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mywebwork

16 years ago

Originally Posted by caseyzeman

Bill I am very interested to talk to you about Kindle as well. I had the exacts same questions as Jun. Thank God i checked the history before posting the same question. I am looking for someone to do the submitting for my book. Do you know anyone who will do the converting and possibly the cover as well?

Hi caseyzeman

Sorry, didn't see your response until now.

Feel free to contact me in regards to the Kindle, happy to help.

All the best

Bill

Thanks

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RichardHK

16 years ago

Bill,

You're a wonderful example of the truly amazing human beings on these Warrior Forums who do not hesitate to jump in and help others get things done. Great, specific, and voluminous advice on Kindle and other eBook issues. Well written and most valuable. Thanks.

Thanks

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Richard, Hong Kong
Business Consulting

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Convert PDF Files To Kindle-Friendly Format

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