self-publishing tips – Read First Chapter.com

Tag: self-publishing tips

Self-Publishing Tip – Cover sizes

Cover Sizes - Which Comes First?

I chose to write this blog post for new authors who struggle, like I did, when it comes to getting things together right before self-publishing your own books.  I managed to flip upside down when it came time to uploading and publishing.

One reason I went upside down was because I was nervous about doing something I wasn't familiar with.  The second reason was that I had done so much research that I was overwhelmed with information and I had the information in different places.  Sheer confusion.

WHAT DO YOU ABSOLUTELY NEED TO UPLOAD AN EBOOK COVER AND A PAPERBACK COVER ON KDP.AMAZON.COM?

The ebook cover needs to be 2560px (height) x 1600 px (width).  The instructions say the ebook only has to be 76 dpi, but I always make sure mine are 300dpi.  It's just more high quality.  Amazon has a way of compressing them and they always look good online, so I would suggest you do the same.

It's all about the size.

76dpi, 150dpi and 300dpi - What's the difference?

The difference is size in dots per inch.  Without getting too technical, which isn't necessary, 76dpi is the most common size to use online, on websites, anywhere that you want your pictures to load fast.

150dpi is a bigger size, and that is seen sometimes online.  But that would usually be used for someone publishing actual artwork or photography.

300dpi is what a printer would need to print a color copy of anything.

72 dpi is referred to as "low resolution" and 300dpi is considered high resolution.

IMPORTANT LINKS TO KEEP HANDY:

Amazon offers a Cover Creator, but the covers are template based and it's best to learn how to use Gimp or some other free graphics program in order to make a cover.  They aren't hard to do.  Stay tuned for videos on how to easily make a cover.

The information about formatting in general begins at this link.

The paperback calculator is at this link.

 



Self-Publishing Tip – How to Add Chapter Header Graphics

START WITH A SIMPLE WORD FORMAT

I've been struggling with trying to do this for about three years!  I finally figured it out, thanks to some other YouTubers, one of which was Derek Murphy -- who knows all things when it comes to self-publishing!

I write in Scrivener and when it's time to proofread, I compile into Word and do the proofreading and editing there.  So I start with simple formatting.  This simple formatting will make adding the chapter graphics easier.  You need to trust me on this.  You will want to embed your fonts in Word also.

We will be going from DOCX to an ePub file.  So as a reminder, make sure you do your Table of Contents using the Heading 1 links.  I only have 3 pictures that I use in my books.  One is a small publishing icon, one is a small scroll I use on the Note to Readers page, and the last one is the Chapter Graphic itself.

IMPORTANT:  One more reminder to do your Table of Contents in Word using the links and Heading 1.  If you forget this, you will have to redo the entire process I'm showing you!  (Speaking from experience)

IMPORTANT:  See above.  Leave one blank before your Heading 1/ Chapter Titles.  You will thank me for this later!

 

Chapter-graphic-example

IMPORTANT:  Only add one chapter header picture right before Chapter 1.  Make sure it is wrapped “top and bottom” and also aligned to center.  See above picture.

Save the document as a .DOCX file.



CONVERT TO A ePUB

I use a service called convertio.ca.  (https://convertio.co/) I believe you can use this once for free, but I pay for it as I use it all the time.  If you search for 'free ebook converter', you may find another free ebook converter.  I  used to use a Chrome extension that was similarly named, convertio or something, but it stopped working for me.  You can see if they have another one in the app store if you don’t want to pay to convert.

Go to https://convertio.co/ and upload the manuscript.docx file and choose to convert into an ebook and then choose ePub.  Then click on the convert button.  It may take a few minutes to throw up a download button.

NOTE:  During this process, your ePub will pull in all of your pictures and separate your chapters into separate files.  That’s why you only want to add the one chapter picture.  You can use the same one over and over in your document and keep the transfer cost down.

Once this is done, click on the download button.  It will most likely save to your download folder.  If you want to download it into your manuscript folder, you will need to choose that folder.   In any event, it will be downloaded onto your hard drive.



DOWNLOAD SIGIL PROGRAM - THEN OPEN IT:

ONCE IT IS DOWNLOADED, open your Sigil program.  If you don't have it yet, it's a free download.  Go to https://sigil-ebook.com/sigil/download/ and download your version.

Once it's downloaded, open the program up.  When it opens up, it will be sort of blank, like above.  This is what a blank ePub document looks like.  We won't be using the blank document.

Click on File => Open => Choose your recently-downloaded manuscript.ePub file.  It will open it up in the Sigil program.

sigil open program

Once you open your manuscript epub file, it will pull in all of your chapters as individual html files.

Then there is a Styles folder.  We will be making changes to the individual html files, the Title pages, and the stylesheet.css.  Be sure to use the style sheet I have highlighted to the right.

Your images from your eBook will be pulled into the Images folder by the convertio process.  You will be using the one chapter header graphic over and over.  You have everything you need to begin to format the chapter titles.



LET'S ADD THE CUSTOM STYLES:

Sigil-css-styling

You will have to type out these codes.  Each digit and space is important.  If you forget one semi-colon or bracket, the codes won't work.  So double check your work before you copy and paste into the Styles document.

DIRECTIONS:  Go to the File Listings on the left side.  Find the Styles folder and double-click on the stylesheet.css file.  When it opens, scroll all the way to the bottom of the file.

Copy and paste the above coding into the page and save.  There is a save icon on the top menu of the Sigil program.  Or you can use Control S to save.

** See below for further coding explanation

FIX THE TITLE PAGES:

Nowt that we have saved the new css codes, it's time to change the files to pull in the new coding.

Looking at the diagram above, double click on the first file, marked index_split_000.html.  This is the first page, which is my Book Title page.  Now, even though I have coded this in Word to align to the center of the page, the ePub converter ignores this and throws my title onto the top of the page.

So I will change the class name from whatever it is (this will be auto-generated by your ePub converter) to "book_title".  (Note:  Be sure to use an underscore, not a dash)  This will then move the title down 20% from the top of the page.  I use 20% because when someone reads on a tablet in landscape, I don't want the title to disappear from the page.  By moving it only 20% down, it is still 'above the fold'.  If you don't understand this, don't sweat it.

I do the same thing on the second Title Page in my manuscript.  Make the same change to "book_title".   Changing the class name to "book_title" is the only change you need to make.

NOW WE WANT TO ADD THE CHAPTER GRAPHICS:

Sigil-book-image-coding

Double click on the first chapter page in the document above.  There will be auto-generated html coding referencing the picture.   If you look below, I have changed the coding to reference the class of "image_centered".  That's the only part of your coding that needs to change.

Once you have made this change, copy this to your clipboard.  (Control C).

Sigil-html-before-picture

One by one, you want to double-click each chapter to open it, and copy and paste this coding right above the CHAPTER 2, CHAPTER 3, CHAPTER 4, etc, in each file.  It will be a little time consuming, but believe me, it is MUCH EASIER than hoping and praying that you can get a converter to get the spacing and alignment right.

Once you have finished each one, you can then save your work, and email it to your Kindle account and check it on your ereader and on your cellphone.  I have had a perfect conversion using this method.

I hope I have helped you save all the frustration and hair-pulling I did in searching for a way to do this!

** FURTHER EXPLANATION:

The css codes added some alignment codes, to make sure they are centered.  The max-widths of 25% are to make sure my publisher icon is not too big, and the max width of 60% is to make sure the chapter header graphic does not come up too big.  The rest you don't really need to know, but if you are curious, you can go to W3School CSS to learn more.

These codes are used to style my chapter graphics, the book titles and the small publisher icon and another small graphic I use.  So if you are only adding the chapter headers, you will only need to add those codes.

Sign up below to get a download of a checklist on everything covered in this blog article.  Learn how to use Sigil and create an eBook.

Sign up below for the weekly newsletter.