Spent the past couple of days updating. Finished New Year’s Eve, and got both the paperback and the ebook done and uploaded to Amazon. The update was long overdue. The section on Microsoft Word was still good and solid. It was just the small section about Kindle Create that I had to basically rewrite. They had updated/changed the software a couple of times over the past couple of months. I had kind of updated the digital copy regarding the changes, and had written a blog post about the corrections, etc. I really should have corrected things earlier, however.
The reason I feel bad is that Dec 30 and Dec 31 (the days I was working on the update), those very days two copies of the book sold (one each day). One was a digital copy and the other was a paperback. The digital copy won’t be a problem, because I can just contact Amazon and sometimes they will “push” a new/updated copy to the person who ordered, if I ask nicely. The person who ordered the paperback copy is a little more difficult. I know I would be unhappy if I ordered a book and it got updated the very day the old copy that I was to receive got shipped out. I feel really bad about it. I would send them a free copy of the updated version, if I knew who it was who ordered it. Of course, Amazon isn’t going to give me a name and address (understandably and rightfully so–they shouldn’t). I don’t know, maybe I can just explain, buy a new copy, and get Amazon to send the new copy as a gift from me without them giving me the address. There were several other copies sold in the last few weeks. Maybe I should send them all new copies. Though one was in the UK. I can’t imagine what shipping costs would be.
I really should have gotten on the ball and updated sooner. My bad. People would still be able to figure out that the software had been updated, and they would work through it. But still . . . And there was the small section on creating a template that wasn’t perfectly correct. I think I mentioned that in the earlier post on corrections.
Kindle Create didn’t change a lot with the last update they made, at least not the inner workings. They did change the initial interface though. I will say that the interface looks more clean and professional now than it did. But it was enough of a change to cause confusion to anyone following along in my book.
Here is what it looks like now.
The only weird thing is that if you click on where it says “+Create New,” it just highlights it (the project at the top of the Recents list is highlighted in screenshot). I spent a good couple of minutes double clicking on the highlighted Create New label, thinking that it was clickable. I wondered why my computer was so slow when nothing happened. So, then I figured out that you still have to go down and click on the Choose button. Clicking on Create New only highlights it. Seems like they would have had both options. Or maybe I’m just being nit-picky (is that how you spell that? lol). Anyway, the interface looks nice.
And after you click on choose, this is what you see:
Where you leave Reflowable highlighted and then go down and click on Choose File (.doc, .docx) to browse for the Word file you want to import. Fairly easy stuff. It just didn’t match up with what I had written in the book regarding the older version of the software.
In any case, I use Word to do all my writing and formatting, and then just use Kindle Create as the upload vehicle for the ebook for Amazon. Why? I figure it’s their software, so there won’t be any glitches. I just import the Word manuscript into the software, make minor changes and adjustments, click the publish button (which creates a file acceptable to Amazon). I just log onto Amazon and upload the file, sending it on its way. Ebook published. Voila! I just wish they wouldn’t update the software so often. Every time they do, it makes that section of my book obsolete, or at least not correct in parts. LOL. Overall, the KC software is OK. It just doesn’t have a lot of functionality. You can do minor editing, but that’s about it. You can also preview what your book will look like on a reader’s tablet or device, which is nice. You preview the book on Amazon after the upload anyway, but it is always nice too check it out before the upload, so you can correct any problems ahead of time.
Fortunately, Microsoft doesn’t change Word a whole lot, or too often, so that section of my book stays pretty current and solid. Maybe I just jinxed myself by saying that . . . Hope not.
Below is a copy of the book’s Table of Contents. Just to give you an inkling of things. You can imagine just how dry and boring it can be to have to go back through it all to update. It is certainly not as fun or creative as writing a story. But, I can’t complain really. If it helps people out it’s a good thing, right? At least the person/writer won’t have to go through the month-long struggle that I did of trying to figure it all out. The book is very concise and organized. I have to refer to it at times, especially if I go for a long period without doing any formatting. And I have to say, each time I do go through it and play around in Word, I stumble on, or learn new things. So in the end I guess it’s a Win-Win. I just now realize that I probably need to add a section on using Tabs. Oh well, maybe in the next edit. In any case, if you are looking to format a book, I’ve got you covered!
Even though the blue carried over in the copy and paste, the sections aren’t clickable links, obviously–at least not here. If they were, no telling where you would end up. Life’s an adventure, huh? Well, in any case, Happy New Year!
Table of Contents
To Set Font Style and Font Size: 11
If a Chapter Ends on an Odd Page: 24
Removing Headers and Page Numbers: 35
Front matter and formatting page numbers: 39
Adding a table of contents: 45
Check everything over, making sure all is in order. 57
To Prepare/Publish your ebook: 61
To Prepare/Publish your Paperback. 83
Notes on Cover creation/upload, etc. 86
Streamlining and Automating: 93
Edit and Resave as a Template: 100
Other Options/Other Formats. 105