Review: Incredibly helpful formatting guide for ebooks
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 24, 2013
If you want to learn how to format your own ebooks, this is an excellent, easy-to-use guide. It explains how ebook files work, and why they're different from fixed-format files (such as print/PDF), demonstrates the different coding and other techniques you need to create an ebook, then walks you step by step through the process, from creating a clean source file to putting those extra nice professional-looking touches on your book, to creating the entire epub by hand. I already knew a lot of HTML before going in (that probably helps; I can't judge how easy Mr. Salvette's HTML instructions are for people who are completely unfamiliar with HTML, but I taught myself HTML years ago so it can't be that hard), but I was never able to grasp CSS until I read the explanation in this book. By following the instructions I was able to create a beautiful, professional-looking ebook file.I did go down to flaming defeat when it came to creating the rest of the epub by hand. (An ebook consists of the actual book file, and then a set of other specialized files that tell the ereading device what to do with the book file.) The instructions are clear; the problem seemed to be that I'm inept with the command-line program needed to complete the final step of the process. But I got good results by running my ebook file through a free software program called Sigil, so it worked out fine in the end.The book also comes with links to a vast number of helpful resources on Mr. Salvette's site (he and his wife also have an ebook formatting business) including copy-and-paste boilerplate code and lots of other goodies for Do It Yourself ebook formatters. It adds greatly to the value of the book.I highly recommend this book for independent authors and anyone else who wants to be able to create beautiful, functional ebooks themselves.