The source code for the O. Henry book I used in this explanation, including the toc.ncx file and the OPF file, is available in the book downloads section on my website.
This process can be automated for large book jobs using the Mobigen tool available on Mobipocket’s website. Mobigen is a command line tool that allows you to do the same building functions as Mobipocket Creator. With the right information and some programming, you could also build the OPF and NCX files on the fly, thus automating the whole Mobipocket creation process.
http://www.mobipocket.com/dev/
Chapter 8
Previewing and Publishing
After your book has been cleaned up and formatted, you will need to take a look at it to make sure that there are no outstanding problems and that the formatting looks the way you want it to look.
Before you pursue either of the preview options below, it would be best to take a quick peek at your HTML file in a Web browser. The formatting will look completely different there than it will look on the Kindle since the default Kindle styles are not applied, but this is an effective way to find heading, block quote, bold, and italics tags that are not closed properly. Just double-click on the HTML file to open it in whatever browser you normally use and scroll through the book looking for issues in those areas. They are usually hard to miss since an unclosed tag will affect the rest of the document. If you make changes to the HTML file, you can go back to the Web browser and refresh the page (usually by pressing F5 on your keyboard), or just close that browser window or tab and open the HTML file again.
Previewing on a Kindle, the Best Way
If you have a Kindle of your own, or have access to one owned by a friend, you should definitely view your book on the actual device. To do that, you will need to get the HTML file into a format that the Kindle accepts. You cannot just copy HTML files directly onto the Kindle; they must either be in the Amazon Kindle’s .AZW format or in the Mobipocket format.
Option 1: Load the HTML File on Your Kindle
If your book does not have images, you can e-mail the Kindle-ready HTML file directly to your Kindle, or you can have it e-mailed to you for manual upload. See below (after Option 2) for instructions on both of these methods. You cannot e-mail more than one file to your Kindle at time (not even if they are zipped up together), so if your book has images you will need to use Option 2.
Option 2: Create a Mobipocket Book
Since the Kindle reads unlocked Mobipocket PRC files natively, creating a Mobipocket file is the easiest way to see what your book looks like on the Kindle, especially if the book has images. To create a Mobipocket file, just follow the instructions in Chapter 7. I consider this to be the best approach to testing and publishing a Kindle book, so I highly suggest you use this option.
How to E-mail the Book File to Your Kindle
You can send the Kindle-ready HTML or PRC file directly to your Kindle, or you can have it e-mailed to you for manual upload. To do this, you will need to know the kindle.com address that is assigned to your device. You can find and change this address easily. Just go to the Amazon.com website, log into your account, click on the “Your Account” link at the top of the page, and scroll down to click on the “Manage Your Kindle” link.
At the top of that page you will find a section that allows you to view or change the e-mail account assigned to your Kindle
(for example, [email protected]).
If you send an e-mail to that account with your HTML or PRC file attached, it will be sent to your Kindle over Whispernet. If you would prefer to load the book on your Kindle manually, or are not in an area with Whispernet access, you can send the book to your free.kindle.com address
(for example, [email protected])
and the converted Amazon AZW file will be e-mailed back to you. You must also make sure that the e-mail address from which you are sending the book is listed in your approved e-mail list on the Manage Your Kindle page.
How to Manually Copy the Book File to Your Kindle
To manually upload a book to your Kindle, you must have a USB cable, which ships with the device. If you have lost this cable, you can purchase a replacement at from Amazon.
Plug the large connector into a USB port on your computer, and plug the small connector into the bottom of the Kindle. Your Kindle screen will change to a message about it being plugged in.
Now, go to “My Computer” (or Finder on Mac) and you will see the Kindle listed like a drive in the list. Open the Kindle folder, and you will see some subfolders. The “documents” folder is where all of your book content is stored. If you are uploading a file that Amazon converted via e-mail, or a Mobipocket book you created, just place it in that folder.
Once you are finished copying the file over, close the Kindle folder window. In Windows, eject the Kindle using the “Safely Remove Hardware” icon in your System Tray, and unplug the Kindle when you are told it is safe. On a Mac, eject the Kindle as you would normally eject a disk. Then unplug the USB cable from the bottom of the Kindle.
Once your Kindle is switched back from USB mode, go to your Home screen and find the book you just uploaded.
Previewing on the DTP
The second-best option for previewing your book is to use the Preview tool on the DTP Dashboard. To upload the book, log into the DTP Dashboard at http://dtp.amazon.com/. If you do not have the book set up in the Dashboard yet, click the “Add new item” button. Go to “2. Upload and Preview Book.” Click on the Browse button and find the file you would like to upload. If your book has images, you will need to zip up the images and the HTML into one zip file, and upload that to the Dashboard. If you have a PRC file, just upload that alone.
Once the file has been uploaded and converted, you can click on the Preview button to take a look at it. The DTP Preview window is not a perfect emulator of the Kindle device, so there are some pretty important issues you need to keep in mind as you are looking at your book.
The Preview is currently still displaying text using the version 1.1.1 engine. This means that the updates that were released for the Kindle 1 with version 1.2 as well as the new functions (like tables) that are available in the Kindle 2 will not be formatted properly on the Preview Screen.
The font sizes are not the same as the Kindle font sizes; however, they are close, and there is enough distinction between them to get a good approximation of actual formatting.
The images in the Preview are not shown exactly as they would look on the Kindle screen, mostly because you are not viewing the book with an e-Ink screen. The images actually look more like they would look in a screen shot created by the Kindle, and that may very well be what the Preview tool does to show you the book.
The Preview shows the bookmark links in your book in blue so that you can see what is linking and what is not linking. They will not be blue on the device.
The Preview does not include the header and the author’s name, nor does it include the status/menu bar at the bottom of the screen.
Overall, the current Preview screen is much better than the one Amazon originally made available, and it is possible to get a good idea what the book will look like on the Kindle.
Publishing Your Book
To publish your book on the Amazon DTP, all you need to do is fill in the three sections under the book title (Enter Product Details, Upload & Preview Book, and Enter Price). The sections are fairly self-explanatory. Once you are finished filling out the required information, a Publish button will appear. When you press that button the process will be started to publish your book on the Amazon Kindle store, and you will not be able to make more changes or upload a new file until the process is complete. The book will show up for sale sometime between 12 and 72 hours after that button-press, but the description and cover image may take a little bit longer to show up on the product page.
If you want to sell the book in the Mobipocket format as well, you can choose skip the DTP publication process and only publish the book through Mobipocket.
This is because Mobipocket will allow you to distribute your book to the Kindle, as well as to dozens of other eBook sites. Mobipocket and Amazon both pay a 35% royalty for eBook sales. However, Amazon will pay you royalties 60 days after each monthly period as long as you have accrued at least $10, while Mobipocket officially states that it can withhold your royalties until you have accrued $150. Also, be aware that when you publish through Mobipocket you cannot track the individual sales of an eBook on the Amazon Kindle store.
I usually suggest to my clients that they publish on the two stores separately, and just de-select Amazon from the list of approved retailers Mobipocket can distribute to.
The Mobipocket publication process is beyond the scope of this book, but I have created a video tutorial on my website that takes you through the process step-by-step.
A Note about Digital Rights Management (DRM): Books uploaded to the DTP as an HTML file will be sold in a DRM-free format. That means the purchaser can change the extension on the AZW file to PRC and read the book on a Mobipocket-supported device. If you want your book to be sold with DRM encryption, you will need to create a DRMed Mobipocket file and upload that to the DTP.
Conclusion and Formatting Services
Well, that’s it! Hopefully by this point you have found answers to all of your questions and have successfully published your book on the Amazon Kindle. If you have hit a brick wall or need help with the process, or if your book is just too difficult for you to format yourself, I stand ready to assist you in any way I can.
I offer a range of services to authors and publishers, including:
Full-service eBook preparation and formatting: I can take your file or hard copy book and turn it into a fully-functional, beautifully formatted Kindle eBook. This full-service option leaves you with no need to delve into the HTML, or worry about the final appearance of your Kindle book. In addition, if you have purchased a copy of this book and have found the process to be more than you want to tackle, I will discount the sale price of this book off the cost of your eBook preparation. Just send me a copy of your receipt.
File conversions: Sometimes all you need is the ability to get your book into HTML. I can convert your PDF or Word document into useable HTML if you are unable to do that conversion yourself.
Hard copy conversions: OCRing a book is not always an easy process, and can become an expensive endeavor if you try to do it all yourself. I use the best OCR software available, and my thorough file preparation will leave you with a digital file that can be easily reformatted for print or for eBook publishing.
Code cleanup: If you want to do the formatting yourself, but the initial HTML cleanup is making you sweat, I can do the major code cleanup, giving you an HTML file that will be easy for you to format with headings, margins, etc., as explained in this book.
Troubleshooting and error-checking: If you are stumped with a formatting issue and you just need someone to fix the problem, I can do that for you very easily.
Screen shots: Since the DTP Preview does such a bad job of showing what a book looks like on the Kindle, I can take screen shots of key pages in your book on my Kindle, allowing you to see how your formatting process is going.
Mobipocket File Creation: In addition to formatting your book, I can also create the Mobipocket file you can upload to the Mobipocket eBookBase.
Publisher Consultations: As a long-time eBook professional I am well-versed in the preparation and delivery of digital book content. If you are a publisher looking to set up an eBook conversion process in-house or working on any other eBook project, I would be more than happy assist you.
Other services: I am available for other eBook-related services as well. Please drop me a line if you have any questions or need my help in any way. Also, be sure to check out my websites for information about other services that are not listed here.
Joshua Tallent
eBook Architects LLC
http://eBookArchitects.com
http://KindleFormatting.com
[email protected]
512-939-3466
Appendix A
Supported HTML and CSS
Miscellaneous Tags
Comment. Not displayed in the book. (page 92)
... Links to a bookmark anchor ("#bookmarkname") or to an external website. (page 89)
... Establishes an internal bookmark to which you can link. (page 89)
... The opening and closing tags in your document.
Kindle Formatting: The Complete Guide to Formatting Books for the Amazon Kindle Page 10