Writing an Ebook

Table of Contents

Chapter 1. Ebooks definition

Chapter 2. Epub 2 and 3 standard

Chapter 3. Ebook readers and formats supported

Chapter 4. Writing process

Chapter 5. Ebook Authoring Software

Chapter 6. Publishing and ISBN process

Chapter 7. Conversion software

Chapter 8. Reader Software

Chapter 9. Examples of Ebooks and Uses

Chapter 10. Free Ebook Sites

         Chapter 11. Sites and Resources

This is a work in progress but I wanted to get it started. Each chapter will become a separate post when finished.

Chapter 1 Ebooks definition

Digital formatted book that may include audio, text and multimedia with links to websites if the reader has browser capability.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-book

Ebook Primer Educause

1. Text-
2. Audio-
   

   Audio books or "books on cd" have been around for a long time, but the audio books most related to mobile learning are those designed for reader users who have a problem with print. The Daisy format has been designed for those users and stands for  "Digital Accessible Information System" or Digital Talking Book.

   The books are based upon the Daisy Standards and will support both text to speech and Braille output content in a mixed media approach for various readers and tablets.

   Available Daisy formatted books can be found here as well as other sites listed on the Daisy site. Bookshare offers them free for qualifying students.

   • Bookshare
   • Project Gutenberg
   • L'Association pour le Bien des Aveugles et malvoyants in Switzerland
   • Vision Austalia's Information Library Service in Australia
   • CINB Digital Library in Canada
   • National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) in the United States
   • National Braille Press
   • O'Reilly eBooks

The ASB has some public domain books that you can download and use with a public reader.

Chapter 2 Standards 

Epub 2(current) and 3(coming) standard

http://idpf.org/

http://idpf.org/epub/30/spec/epub30-overview.html

                   Chapter 3  Ebook readers and formats

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_e-book_readers

CBZ, CBR, CBC, CHM, EPUB, FB2, HTML, LIT, LRF, MOBI, ODT, PDF, PRC**, PDB, PML, RB, RTF, TCR, TXT , Amazon, Bnoble, other proprietarial

http://www.the-ebook-reader.com/ereader-comparison.html

http://www.epubbud.com/readers.php

http://bookworm.oreilly.com/ online epub reader

                  Chapter 4  Writing process

Ultimately, an ePub file is merely a zip file consisting of XHTML and XML metadata, so it is possible to create one "by hand" yourself. A good tutorial for this can be found at http://www.jedisaber.com/eBooks/tutorial.asp.

http://viney.com/free-ebook-self-publishing-guide/

http://reviews.cnet.com/self-publishing/

http://www.celtx.com/

Style guide http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/52

Style and hints http://www.authorhouse.com/AuthorResources/default.aspx

Validating files http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2011/08/15/lessons-learned-about-enhanced-or-multimedia-epub-ebook-validation/

CreateSpace- Tools

https://www.createspace.com/ https://www.createspace.com/en/community/community/resources/formatting_your_files?view=all https://www.createspace.com/en/community/community/resources/creating_content?view=all

https://www.createspace.com/pub/services.home.do?tab=LAYOUT

                        Chapter 5 Ebook Authoring Software

1. Feedbooks (http://feedbooks.com/share/): You can log into Feedbooks and create your own content, which will be made available in ePub, as well as other formats like PDF and Kindle.
2. ePub Tools (http://code.google.com/p/epub-tools): Command-line tools suitable for batch processing and integration into toolchains. Includes tools for conversion from Word, RTF, DocBook, TEI, and FictionBook.
3. Rome?- multimedia output? convertible?
4. eScape - ePub Creator (http://www.infogridpacific.com/igp/AZARDI/eScape%20-ODT2ePub) -
5. eCub (http://www.juliansmart.com/ecub)  - "a simple to use EPUB and MobiPocket ebook creator"
6. Sigil (http://code.google.com/p/sigil/) - Multi-platform WYSIWYG ebook editor. It is designed to edit books in ePub format. 
7. Mobipocket Creater http://www.mobipocket.com/en/DownloadSoft/default.asp?Language=EN
8. Plucker HTML accumulator http://www.plkr.org/download
9. ? http://www.publishyourownebooks.com/free-software-for-indie-authors/  not sure about this one

• yWriter This is a free novel-writing application that you can use to write your next story.- breaks your novel into chapters and scenes For PC.

• Storybook
  

10. Edupub http://edu.epubbud.com/ https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lePPFxPfacoeWozRzzI006s0kNsvTaq2wH1DBj1qsRc/edit
    
11. Wordpress Blog to epub plugin http://anthologize.org/
    
12. FlatWorld http://www.flatworldknowledge.com/
    
13. Web page to ebook http://dotepub.com/ cloud
    
14. Scrivener
15. Scribus http://www.scribus.net/canvas/Scribus
16. Blurb   http://www.blurb.com/ 
    17. Adobe Indesign  http://www.adobe.com/products/indesign/features.html 

Chapter 6 Publishing and ISBN process

• Amazon- https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/signin
• Lulu http://www.lulu.com/publish/ebooks/ has epub converter
• http://www.publishyourownebooks.com/
• Twitter resources http://www.publishyourownebooks.com/twitter-hashtags-for-ebook-publishers/
• Smashwords-http://www.smashwords.com/about/how_to_publish_on_smashwords
• Flexbook http://www.ck12.org/flexbook/
• http://futureofthebook.blogspot.com/p/links.html

Chapter 7 Conversion software

• Calibre (http://calibre-ebook.com): a free tool for Windows, Mac OSX, and Linux that allows you to convert to ePub from a wide variety of formats.
• Adobe InDesign (http://www.adobe.com/products/indesign/)
• BookGlutton API (http://www.bookglutton.com/api): If you have your book in HTML format, you can convert it into ePub using their online conversion API
• ePub Tools (http://code.google.com/p/epub-tools): Command-line tools suitable for batch processing and integration into toolchains. Includes tools for conversion from Word, RTF, DocBook, TEI, and FictionBook.
• eScape - ePub Creator (http://www.infogridpacific.com/igp/AZARDI /eScape%20-ODT2ePub) -
• eCub (http://www.juliansmart.com/ecub) - EPUB and MobiPocket
• DNAML's PDF2EPUB (http://www.pdftoepub.com/) - Convert PDFs to EPUBs in 6 easy steps. The nice thing about this software is that it can handle headers and footers which are often challenging when converting PDFs.
• ODFToEPub (http://www.pincette.biz/odftoepub/)  - An OpenOffice extension that lets you save a document as an ePub.
• ePub2Go (free, web-based converter)
• Zamzar (free, web-based converter)
• ePubBud (free, web-based converter)
• Pages (commercial, Mac only)
• http://futureofthebook.blogspot.com/p/links.html

http://www.armandmorin.com/ebook/- commercial- exe format

                             Chapter 8 Reader Software

1. Android reader  Comparison

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Android_e-book_reader_software

2. Aldiko http://www.aldiko.com/
3. Blio https://www.blio.com/blio/screens/category.jsp#
4. Firefox plug in https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/epubreader/
   
5. Mobipocket http://www.mobipocket.com/en/DownloadSoft/default.asp?Language=EN
   
6. KOBO http://www.kobobooks.com/
   
7. Adobe http://www.adobe.com/products/digitaleditions/
   
8. Kindle apps http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=ms_sbrspot_5?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771&pf_rd_p=1259190242&pf_rd_s=center-22&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0015T963C&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=07H3AGZEQCWKMGD5W1XG
   
9. Sony http://ebookstore.sony.com/download/
   
10. plucker http://www.plkr.org/download http://www.plkr.org/download/windows
    

                      Chapter 9 Examples of Ebooks and Uses

FlexBook http://www.ck12.org/about/about-us

Memory Aids -

Action planning forms

Checklist

Notes

Possible inclusion of Qr

JIT instructions

Link Resources

Reference/documentation

Self contained modules

 

 

 

  Chapter 10 Free Ebooks

1. http://www.gutenberg.org/
2. http://www.feedbooks.com/
3. http://manybooks.net/
4. http://www.baen.com/library
5. http://www.free-ebooks.net/
6. http://www.mobipocket.com/freebooks/Default.aspx
7. http://www.ipl.org/
8. Fictionwise
9. Munseys
10. LibriVox Audiobooks
11. arXiv.org
12. WattPad
13. Smashwords
14. http://www.freetechbooks.com/ computer science/math
15. http://www.onlinecomputerbooks.com/
16. Google books http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000031855266&pubid=21000000000234277

Free Audio Books

• LibriVox
• LearnOutLoud.com
  Literal systems 
  Audiobooksforfree.com
• Free Classic AudioBooks. Digital narration for the 21st Century.
• Project Gutenburg They also have audio books, both human-read and computer-generated.
  

Not Free

• iTunes Music Store
• Simply Audiobooks
• Jiggerbug
• Amazon
• Audible 
  
  
  
  Chapter 11 Sites and Resources
  
  
• http://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/category/how-to/
• http://viney.com/free-ebook-self-publishing-guide/
• http://download.cnet.com/windows/e-book-software/?tag=rb_content;contentMain
• http://www.publishyourownebooks.com/free-software-for-indie-authors/
• http://www.ebookresourcecenter.com/
• http://reviews.cnet.com/self-publishing/
• http://reviews.cnet.com/how-to-self-publish-an-e-book?tag=mncol;txt
• http://scribd.com
• http://goinswriter.com/resources/
• http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2011/03/ebooks-and-self-publishing-dialog.html
• http://www.barnesandnoble.com/help/cds2.asp?PID=8153#2
• http://www.sterlingpublishing.com/sterling/author-guidelines
• http://www.ebook-publishing-tools.com/
• http://www.elizabethcastro.com/epub/

• http://blogs.adobe.com/vikrant/2011/04/epub-and-html-export-in-indesign-cs5-5/