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Writer’s Café, The Other Top Writing Tool

January 20, 2013 by 2 Comments

As I am putting my latest book together, I often wonder how many of you use writing tools to help organize your work. The most talked about tool has been Scrivener, which I have looked at a few times and seriously considered purchasing. It’s great Scrivener gives such a generous trial period, because I think generally writers are a cautious breed. And most, I fear, are not a wealthy bunch. The price makes Scrivener a good bargain.

However, the organization and writing tool I use and am heavily invested in with my book is Writer’s Café. To anyone considering Scrivener or a similar product, I would suggest giving Writer’s Café a look. Writer’s Café covers all the basics, such as organization of scenes, lining out chapters, story-boarding,  and character development. The software comes with a ton of options, including the ability to use it on a flash drive.

In fact, if there is one aspect of Writer’s Cafe that has caused me some consternation, it is how many options Writer’s Café actually has, which can be a bit intimidating. Just as a footnote, Writer’s Café is also compatible with Windows 8. I took the plunge and upgraded to Windows 8 this weekend and that was one of my questions. Question answered. It works just fine.

As for cost, Writer’s Café is priced the same as Scrivener, which is $40.00. You can also try it for free with a few limitations. And in case you’re wondering, I have no financial interest in Writer’s Café. Just thought I’d share.

Filed Under: Writing Tagged With: , , ,

5 Step Conversion To eBook Process

November 5, 2012 by 1 Comment

Previously: Self-publish style preferences and eBook formatting

Once I had the complete manuscript file in OpenOffice format, I was ready to create the eBook. (Again, OpenOffice worked really well for this project.) The next step was to import the .odt file into Calibre, an open source electronic book management system.

Calibre is a great tool for converting a manuscript into the final stage—your completed book. Here are the steps:

1) Add book. First icon on the upper left of Calibre. Just select the file for your manuscript and Caliber loads it into the directory under that file name.

2) Edit metadata: Second icon from the left. This is where your book gets all that cool author and publishing info. And most important, this is where you can add a cover. However, when uploading to Barnes and Noble or Amazon, you also add your cover there as well.

3) Convert Books: Third icon from the left. This is where your book gets its “Look & Feel”. I generally use the icons “Look & Feel” and “Page Setup”. For the look and feel of the book, I prefer the selection “Remove spacing between paragraphs” and leave the indent size at the default 1.5 em. All other selections I have left at the default. For the page setup, I simply leave the “Input profile” at “Default Input Profile” and change the the output to the selected device I am targeting. I’ve only used .epub and .mobi formats, so I toggle between Nook Color and Kindle Fire for the output profile. I also leave the margins at 5.0 pt. Select OK to convert your book to the output format you chose.

4) Review Format: Now that your book as been converted, it’s time to review it and make sure it is properly formatted. I repeated this step several times in order to produce a product that met my expectations.

5) Proof and Correct: Don’t worry, you will have plenty of opportunity to create these files a few times over. Unless, of course, you’re a master at getting things right the first time. Now is the time to proof your nearly-finished book a few more times. Now that it is in it’s final format, simply upload your .epub or .mobi file to their respective devices and read through a few more times. Highlight those pesky errors and go back to your word processing document to correct the errors. (This is a main reason I tried to create a template that was as close to the finished format as possible. It made finding the fixes a lot easier.)

NOTE: When uploading a file to Barnes and Noble Pubit or Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, each publishing interface will accept native .epub and .mobi files. Using this process, I felt comfortable the finished product on each store looked like what I had created in Calibre.

Filed Under: Books, eBooks, Publishing Tagged With: , , ,

Self-publish style preferences and eBook formatting

August 14, 2012 by 1 Comment

As I talked about before, I used OpenOffice for setting up the electronic versions of our books, Eleventh Hour and Midnight Hour. I created a template that I copied each chapter into. The master template held all the formatting and style preferences, and as soon as I copied the text into the master, I saved it as its own chapter.

I made the template page dimensions approximately the same size as a standard electronic book so that what I saw in the word processing document would closely resemble what I saw in the finished product on my Nook Color. (This really helped when it came to proofreading.)

Once the working file was saved, it was time to begin formatting and correcting formatting issues. Of course, since we were creating a fiction book, there were not many styles to employ.

For the books Eleventh Hour and Midnight Hour, I was working with copy scanned using optical character recognition (OCR). Which meant a lot of conversion errors. Many of the errors were easily corrected by applying pre-designed body text and paragraph styles. However, text and paragraph styles don’t always convert the way they’re supposed to and often latent formatting continued to cause problems until they were completely removed from the document.

Filed Under: Publishing Tagged With: , ,

How to create an eBook: Scanning

May 28, 2012 by 1 Comment

With Midnight Hour soon to be available in electronic book form, I wanted to share the process of transforming our printed books from hard copy to an updated electronic version.

At first, the idea of turning a print book into an electronic book seemed simple. Since I have a background in design and layout, and I keep up on technology, the plan seemed doable.

And it was. The result are two books that look professionally designed. Currently Eleventh Hour is for sale and Midnight Hour is on its way.

The process wasn’t without its hiccups, however. First of all, the rights to the original printed works didn’t come with a complementary electronic file. The publisher was unable to provide one, which meant it was up to me to scan the pages and convert the content using OCR (optical character recognition).

Tools for scanning and initial layout:
OpenOffice Writer: I used OpenOffice, not just because it’s free and I didn’t have Microsoft Office, but because it seemed to be easier for this particular application. I did compare the two, but OpenOffice worked very well.

HP F4400 flatbed printer/scanner: I did use this printer/scanner because it was the only thing I had available at the time. But it worked well for the scanning process and the OCR output was pretty accurate.

Scanning process and initial layout:
I set up an OpenOffice chapter template for the approximate size of fiction book, partly because I wanted an idea how it would look in its finished electronic format, and partly because when referencing corrections between the physical book and the electronic word processing copy, it would be easier to locate the correction if I were somewhere in the ball park of the manuscript.

Before scanning the book, I simply cut the pages from the binding. I scanned the pages using an HP F4400 flatbed printer and the accompanying software, which uses Readiris technology. I scanned using the Text (OCR) to RTF File selection. I then used OpenOffice and imported the .rtf file into the document.

Each chapter I scanned, I subsequently put into its own OpenOffice word processing document. It was easier to manage short files than one large file.

Although converting the scanned text to characters was pretty accurate, the formatting caused the most inconvenience. I was actually happy that much of the formatting transferred over, because purely plain text doesn’t keep preferences such as italics and even paragraphs. Still, there was some clean-up to do. At this point, however, all the manual labor was done and the next step was for us to do an initial edit and proofread of the chapters.

NEXT: Style preferences and proofreading

NOTE: Remember to respect intellectual property and copyright laws.

Filed Under: eBooks, Eleventh Hour, Publishing Tagged With: , ,

How fast can you read this? Test your reading speed

May 20, 2012 by Leave a Comment

I’m not a particularly fast reader, especially when it comes to well-written fiction. Therefore, I have different speed reading levels. Some writing I savor, some I skim for information.

If you’re wondering where you are on a speed-of-read scale, try this test. But don’t cheat, because there are a few questions at the end, just to keep you honest.

 

ereader test
Source: Staples eReader Department

Filed Under: Reading Tagged With:

My social writers and their online presence

May 4, 2012 by 4 Comments

I read and article (complain) not long about writers who develop a social following via Facebook and Twitter mostly, if not entirely, to promote themselves. I would say the blogger was partially right. After all, that’s what authors have to do. Even big publishers expect their signed authors to go out and promote themselves. It can be time-consuming work, which obviously takes away from the true passion of an author.

So, I’m all for the authors I’ve met online who are working hard on their craft and then hoping to share their work with readers. It’s kinda what we have to do.

But . . .

Connections online are not about rising to the top by climbing over as many connections (friends and followers) online as you can get. For many of us, the people we meet online become friends in the true sense of the word as well as resources and best of all, It think, inspiration.

So, to all my inspirational friends, keep on getting your name out there!

Filed Under: Marketing, Publishing, Writing Tagged With: , , , ,

Big publishers, little readers, and indie authors

April 20, 2012 by 5 Comments

I have found the debate over the DOJ stepping in with a suit against Apple and five of the largest publishers interesting, if not confusing after reading debates over the matter. As an author, a book reader, and a former publishing employee, I have mixed feelings about the lawsuit, but I also realize this is a dusting-out period for the publishing industry. It should definitely be a wake-up call. Here are a few of the issues I see that have brought us to this point:

Digital revolution versus tradition:
I get that Amazon is a big, giant machine that threatens the existence of traditional book marketing and publishing. But, this wasn’t a problem until digital books were here to stay, largely, I must say, because Amazon almost single-handedly created the eBook market. I actually wish the largest publishers had had more foresight and accepted that digital was the future. There was certainly a lesson to be had with the music industry, after all.

Amazon knows how to make the customer feel good:
Amazon knows how to make money, and it didn’t do it by repeatedly telling its customers why it has to charge high prices. Amazon makes money by giving customers a better price. In the case of the $9.99 eBook, Amazon found a price point that made customers feel they were getting a good deal compared with the alternatives. Despite the loss on each book, Amazon made money selling the much more expensive (than a book) Kindle. Obviously, it’s not about money, its about perceived value.

My thoughts? Given the expense of creating an electronic book, why does $9.99 even sound like a good deal? For big publishing to come along and tell customers  they can’t make money selling eBooks for even $9.99, they faced an uphill battle. It’s a hard sell to convince consumers that an electronic book costs as much to produce as a hard cover book. Perception is everything, and publishers were unable to make a convincing argument.

Indie authors, the other elephant in the room:
While the DOJ, big publishers, and Amazon are still fighting over eBook pricing, indie authors are the next issue on the horizon for traditional publishing.

Back when I worked in the publishing industry, the idea of digital books had a sputter of a start with the eRocket ereader. I realized then that digital books would become the future of reading. The publishing industry, however, didn’t. Despite that first real trial, traditional publishers didn’t prepare for the future, didn’t develop a game plan, and amazingly, are still behind. Enter stage left, the indie author and self-publishing.

Traditional publishing used to decide who it signed as authors and how the product was edited, marketed, and sold. Now that publishers have been called out on collusion over the prices of eBooks and are still struggling to hang on to an old paradigm, I wonder if they recognize the threat from authors who are more interested than ever in self-publishing.

I think many authors realize they are the important commodity in the publishing world, which is the way it should be. Furthermore, authors today are savvy business people who embrace technology. They are obviously persistent, creative people—which as far as I know, is a dangerous combination. They are developing ever more publishing options. I am very interested to see how indie authors turn publishing on its head . . . again.

I welcome your thoughts on what is happening in the publishing industry.

Filed Under: Authors, Books, eBooks, Marketing, Publishing Tagged With: , , ,

Are you confident in your writing?

April 14, 2012 by 2 Comments

Ever run across an author that makes you sit back and think, wow, that was a great story? I loved the prose. I wish I could write like that!

If you are a writer, you probably critically analyze the work of other authors. And you probably have some favorite authors, those you enjoy so much you wish you had their talent.

Well, their talent is theirs and can’t be transferred to you through any amount of osmoses. In fact, your favorite author couldn’t even give you his or her talent even if they wanted to. Sorry, talent is non-transferrable.

The upside, of course, is that you own your own talent and the ability to develop the skills necessary to make your writing shine.

I have many favorite authors. I used to think I wanted to write like them. I later realized that I was trying to achieve an unrealistic and rather naïve goal. The reality is, I believe I have a unique style and talent all my own that with skill and polish will make me an author many readers will discover and enjoy reading.

Earlier in this post, I spoke about being critical of or trying to emulate other authors. The real issue is, we are often more critical of ourselves to the point we lose faith and momentum in our writing. I say, trust your talent and become one of those authors who makes readers think wow!

Filed Under: Authors, Writing Tagged With: ,

The simplest and best writing trick

April 7, 2012 by 4 Comments

I’m always ready to find that magical nugget of advice that will help me crash through my writer’s blocks. Sorry, I have to refer to writer’s block as blocks, because I have more than my fair share. So what’s the best advice?

Simply write
Yes. I wish I had some clever advice no one has ever discovered. But the simplest and most effective way to get past that wall is to write. It doesn’t have to be great prose. It doesn’t even have to be good. Let’s not even worry about quantity. (While I like the idea of word count goals, sometimes life just gets in the way for me.)

A while back I made a resolution to write something on my projects every day, whether it was a good day or not, or I was too tired, or I only had a few minutes to write. I wrote, and I continue to write daily.

Secondary and diversionary projects, not such a bad thing
Further, I resolved to write on my main project every day, despite my many writing diversions. I confess, I have a few projects I have started, and on any given day, some generate more creativity and productivity than my main project. Since our minds often work in mysterious ways, I figure it’s not such a bad idea to write on a project where the creative juices are flowing, build up some momentum, and then use that momentum to meet my writing goal on my main project.

Sometimes forced writing is better writing
The whole idea of having to force ourselves to write even when creativity has taken a hiatus suggests that whatever hits the page is going to be crap. I disagree. I have learned that some of my better writing occurred when I was trying to fight through  writer’s block. Could it mean that our best writing doesn’t come without some hard work and frustration? I think so. I submit that inspiration isn’t synonymous with easy. It doesn’t magically appear for a few lucky authors as soon as they sit down to write.

Rather, inspiration is the result of hard work, self doubt, persistence, education, and experience.

 

 

Filed Under: Authors, Books, eBooks, Writing Tagged With: ,

Tweeking Twitter: Why pushing a sale isn’t for me

April 2, 2012 by 2 Comments

I realized something today. My welcome greeting was all wrong. By all wrong, I mean, it’s not really the way I wanted to project myself as an author. What prompted the realization was a post by Nick Thacker, a blogger I respect and who is creating, I think, a positive influence in the world of self publishing.

Nick has a post titled, The Ultimate Social Media Guide for Writers. The general theme of the post is that Twitter, and other forms of social networking, can be a pleasure and benefit to use if you figure out how to use them effectively. Nick refers to it as “add[ing] value to the conversation.” He draws from his experience in marketing and what he professes were a lot of mistakes starting out, but what he brings to the table now is certainly worth noting.

There’s something about Twitter that’s always bugged me. It’s a great platform, don’t get me wrong, but it seems like so many people treat it like it’s a gigantic networking event.

You know the type–slick salesmen walking around throwing their business cards at people like ninja stars, and forty thousand Avon or Sensy candle reps trying to get your attention.

Sometimes people treat Twitter like that as well. For those of you who think Twitter exists solely to slam your wares down other people’s throats, let me be clear:

Stop.

Sure, I would like to sell a few (more than a few) books. But, I know those books will eventually sell themselves because they are well written and have an interesting story. They probably won’t sell themselves, however, if all I do is tell people to buy them, which is why my greeting became something of an embarrassment to me.

I didn’t really want my first interaction with someone to be for them to check out my books. After all, I know how it feels to receive a greeting telling me to buy something. I don’t think I have yet clicked on a “buy this” link someone told me to go to. I have, however been intrigued through my interactions with fellow social media users to see what they’re all about.

I certainly have been pleasantly surprised by many of the people I have met through Twitter. And after meeting many of you, I decided that the best use of a greeting isn’t to push you to buy something, but to wish you the best in wherever life takes. you. After all, no one ever gets there alone.

Filed Under: Marketing, Publishing Tagged With: , ,
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