1. Snitzer

    Snitzer New Member

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    The Mechanics Of Self-Publishing

    Discussion in 'Self-Publishing' started by Snitzer, Aug 2, 2014.

    As a space opera obsessed, low key hobby writer with minimal expectations of revenue generation and a handy web site I'm wondering the best way to package short stories for download from said web site. A few years ago I tried it with simple text heavy HTML, never did like it so scratched the whole deal.

    The vision is downloadable files that can be opened/read from a wide variety of devices, from tablets to smart phones, Kindles, Nooks, all that. I've experimented with Mobipocket, Jutoh, read all about the Tower Of Babel confusion surrounding the E-pub formats and I'm left feeling like a butterfly attempting to mount a hurricane.

    There's a lot of writer's forums out there, I looked over a few, this one appeared to be well populated so I registered and here I am. My question (s): Is anybody actually doing this? What formats, and what software is used to generate those formats? Any response will be appreciated.
     
  2. friendly_meese

    friendly_meese New Member

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    Judging by the fact that you've had no responses in 19 days, I'm guessing everyone here is on the KDP and CreateSpace bandwagons. I asked a similar question just today but no longer expect any responses.
     
  3. Chaos Inc.

    Chaos Inc. Active Member

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    Oh wait! Me!

    Put all your stories in a .PDF and store them all in a file on your webserver. Create a main page with several links to different categories that contain links to your stories. When the user clicks on the link their device will automatically ask if you want to download it. All the work is done by the device they're using. Granted they will now have a copy of your story.

    If you want the user to pay before they download the file then you're going to have to get into scripting. This is a bit more challenging and involves 3rd party sites like Paypal. This is probably why writer types aren't doing this from scratch as it's a profession all on its own.
     
    NigeTheHat likes this.
  4. NigeTheHat

    NigeTheHat Contributor Contributor

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    PDF is likely to be your best bet. You might be better off offering a couple of different file types rather than trying to find one size fits all.

    Word will convert to PDF for you, or there's plenty of free file conversion tools on the internet if you don't have a copy of that. I use Calibre for .mobi and .azw3 conversion.

    PayPal don't make things easy for you to work out, but once you know what you're doing it's not that hard. PM me and I'll run you through the process if you like.
     

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