How to make an ebook part 1

[@Anthony-gq7dk]

So glad I found your site William, a superb teacher and so clear and easy to follow. I was corralled in by Word for so long thinking that there was no other way or method , this is very usable and flexible. Great job. Many thanks .

[@WilliamGallagher]

Thank you, that's very good of you to say.

[@kevinmcaleer28]

You your videos, I aspire to this level of confidence and expertise.

[@WilliamGallagher]

That’s very kind of you to say, thank you.

[@audunskrindo5877]

Thanks, this was just what I needed. The comments and anecdotes during the explanation was just correct for my level

[@WilliamGallagher]

Thank you, that's very good of you to say.

[@mbernier59]

Dear William - I am so grateful that I "fell" onto your channel. You are such a delight to listen to and the knowledge that you've so graciously shared with all of us is beyond the pale. Thank you, M.Frost Bernier

[@WilliamGallagher]

Thank you, that's very good of you to say.

[@mbernier59]

@@WilliamGallagher- You're very welcome.

[@louiserule1358]

I send my manuscript to my Kindle app on my Mac, and that’s the way I proofread my work. It goes through as a PDF so some settings don’t get replicated, but I can ignore those. I highlight the changes I want to make and put a note with it. It works for me, and saves paper as I used to print everything but no I don’t. Love your channel, only found it this week… 👍

[@WilliamGallagher]

Thank you. I think I miss things by not printing out, but I now never print anything. Wild how much that has changed over the years.

[@waynerollack1026]

Thank-you for sharing your expertise, very, very helpful! I now feel confident enough to get started!

[@WilliamGallagher]

That's made my day, thank you.

[@robert4art2]

You, Sir, are awesome. Thank you so much for this tutorial.

[@WilliamGallagher]

My pleasure, thanks for commenting.

[@connectioncarousel]

Thank you William for this video! It helped a lot. I'm going to go check out some of your other video's now. 😃

[@WilliamGallagher]

Thank you, that's very good of you to say.

[@JosephSlinker]

As someone that makes Pixelmator videos, I love seeing it crop up in use cases I'd never considered.

[@WilliamGallagher]

And as you're someone who makes Pixelmator videos, I INSTANTLY subscribed to your channel. Love that app.

[@JosephSlinker]

@@WilliamGallagher You're too kind. ❤ Thanks again for this amazing video series. I have a goal to publish 2 books this year and make videos about the process. I'll make sure to give you credit for teaching me and link your channel. Really helpful stuff.

[@hciperson]

Great information and great delivery!

[@WilliamGallagher]

Thanks, that’s very good of you to say.

[@SAYITSIMPLE]

Very useful 🎉and savvy. Grateful. Greetings from Colombia 🇨🇴

[@WilliamGallagher]

Hello from England! Thanks.

[@gomchen6698]

Love the videos. Been used to working on Microsoft word and recently started using Pages. Presently working on making a Tibetan grammar textbook. Is there a way to start my page numbers starting after the index which is a few pages long. Presently the page numbers start from the first page. Any information will be helpful as I could not find information elsewhere. Thanks 🙏

[@WilliamGallagher]

Yes. Make a section break between the front matter and the first chapter. (Insert menu, Section Break.) Then with your cursor in the first page of the first chapter, click the Document icon at top right. Click on Section. Toward the middle of the panel that appears you'll find the options for starting the page numbers over. I just tried this to remind myself and all of this panel was greyed out and unavailable. But it turned out to be because I hadn't set any header or footer with page numbers and obviously you already have.

[@12thDecember]

Don't say "cheapest," say "budget friendly." 😄 Thanks for the vid, and especially for getting right to the point.

[@WilliamGallagher]

I have a US editor who loathes the word "cheapest" because he says sometimes the thing I'm describing isn't cheap, it's just cheaper than other things - plus he sees it as a pejorative word. I take the point, yet I also struggle over "budget-friendly" because there's no way to know what someone's budget is. And then we get off into issues like the way that - I believe - something that cost a lot of money can be a much better buy than something that's less costly but doesn't do what you need. I feel you and I have just opened a can and there are now worms everywhere.

[@julianmejia7833]

Thanks for the video

[@WilliamGallagher]

My great pleasure: thanks for commenting.

[@kevinmcaleer28]

just tried to join your mailing list via the link, but the link shortener seems to have gone bust. I still want to join your list though

[@WilliamGallagher]

Thank you. I’ll check the shortened one, I’m hoping I just copied-and-pasted it wrong the last time or I’ve a couple of hundred videos to correct. But in the meantime, here’s the unshortened one: williamgallagher.us5.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=ca9569804fc672509fb7c7b5b&id=e6c7cc433f

[@robert4art2]

Thank you, Mr. Gallagher!

[@WilliamGallagher]

Goodness, thank you.

[@sharonharveywriter]

And another one please!👍🏻😃 Seriously, would you consider doing a video on how to do a print book, format it and self publish please? I much prefer paperbacks but there appears to be more regarding ebooks than there does re paperbacks. Unfortunately I dont have a Mac currently, I have an ipad which when attached to the exterior keyboard looks like a mini laptop! But I have pages etc and also am getting used to being a new user of scrivener (only via ipad currently but realising I need the bigger picture of it which means getting the laptop version...) but I want to know much more about self publishing paperbacks from the first stage to the end one, so if its at all possible you could do a video on that, that would be brilliant 👌🏻 Thank you for your time and reading my post - and keep up the good work, love watching your videos.

[@WilliamGallagher]

Oooh. That’s interesting... much of that last episode covers what you need but just as an aside. Then there will be one about covers in a couple of weeks and again there are parts that will suit you. But there isn’t a deep dive into paperbacks. You’ve got me thinking. I did a project last year where I ended up with something like 10,000 words of script that I thought could do double duty as a book - except that’s far too short for a paperback so I let it drop. I’ll go back over it, see if I can make it a worthwhile book and then perhaps I can do an episode as I actually format and publish and sell it. Thanks. I shouldn’t promise it, but you’ve got me thinking and I’m keen.

[@sharonharveywriter]

@@WilliamGallagher Hi William, firstly thank you for replying back and secondly for the delay. Yes I had noted that the last episode covered much of it but I find its such a scarce subject its rather sad. I will look forward to the cover one as well as at the moment I’m attempting to learn Canva without much success which is most irritating! What a shame over the book that you ended up dropping, I’m sure after an read through and edit you would end up reviving it and using it :-) That would be excellent if you could consider doing a paperback session on how to format and self publish and sell a book. Even if its a one off - that would be so informative and educational I think. :-) Haha, thats ok thank you for considering it and fingers crossed (and abit of praying!)🤞🏻🙏🏻 X

[@johnnyragadoo2414]

Here's a vote for more self-publishing. Pages is very polished. I've never really connected with it, but that's probably revealing a character flaw on my part. Hmmm... Character flaw? Could I fix that by updating my style?

[@WilliamGallagher]

It's a weird thing: Pages hides everything away so that it's only there when you need it; Word throws everything in your face so you have to learn what you want before you can do anything. Yet the perception is that Pages doesn't do much and Word does. Funny old world. But noted about self-publishing, how can I resist?

[@mbernier59]

Thanks!

[@WilliamGallagher]

That's lovely of you, thanks.

[@lawrencediggs7957]

Can photobooks be published as an ebook?

[@WilliamGallagher]

Images are tricky because they're always rather big and so the ebook's file size balloons up. They're also fiddly because you have to make decisions such as whether an image stays next to a specific paragraph or is allowed to move to a next page if it looks better on the reader's screen. You can certainly do it but unless you're doing it for a wide audience, I'd share the images directly with people instead. If you do it, could you let me know how it turns out?

[@thorirbjornsson8658]

Absolutely wonderful videos, I've learnt a lot! One thing still eludes me though, and that's pagination when using Roman numbers for front end matters and regular numbers for the text itself. Exporting to ePUB I unfortunately always get "Headers and footers aren't supported and were removed", despite many tries and googling. I wish Apple would address this somehow, apparently many people are experiencing the same. Any suggestions?

[@WilliamGallagher]

Have you tried exporting to ePub using Fixed Layout instead of the default Reflowable? I know that does support headers, but I don't know at what cost to other features or the look of the book. Just this morning I finished a book for a client but for speed did it via Vellum and the Kindle book it produced looked good with headers.

[@thorirbjornsson8658]

@@WilliamGallagher Thank you! That worked! And without affecting the rest. I also want to thank you for all your wonderful videos on 58 Keys, and BTW I may try Vellum for my next manuscript, now that I have gained my self-confidence!

[@WilliamGallagher]

@@thorirbjornsson8658 Goodness, that's wonderful: I'm so pleased. Thanks for letting me know, that's made my day.

[@frankfeldman6657]

When I imported the Pages file, which was formatted perfectly, e.g., Chapter names on top lines of pages, etc., stuff had moved around, it's completely wrong and unacceptable - and, needless to say, I can't act on anything once it's in the e-book format. Help! hahaha What should I do?

[@WilliamGallagher]

Without seeing the document, my best suggestion would be to save the Pages file as RTF instead, and then try importing that. Can you let me know how it goes?

[@frankfeldman6657]

@@WilliamGallagher Chat GPT helped me a bit. I seem to be able to make things work better with a combination of things - section breaks, opening "Show Invisibles", and getting rid of lots of paragraph symbols. Now I've got to think about the cover I guess, ACK!

[@sharonharveywriter]

Just re listening to this video William, apart from that cover maker you mentioned, what about er....paint.net (Ok Windows only) but Canva which I believe is for iOS etc, unsure if window users can use that one. I cannot get on with Canva yet, though I’m reassured that it is easy once learned, but thats the bit I’m having trouble with lol, I cant see to learn it which is a great shame as it appears to be very good once you know what you are doing which I clearly don’t!

[@WilliamGallagher]

I hear a great deal about Canva and all very enthusiastic. Haven't used it myself because it doesn't seem it adds anything I haven't already got in Pixelmator Pro or Affinity Photo, but I've friends who rave about it.

[@sharonharveywriter]

@@WilliamGallagher Hi William, thanks for replying. Good to hear. Although If I’m correct (And unsure if I am....🤔) Canva is free where Pixelmator Pro and Affinity Photo is to pay for? Also on one video and I infuriatingly cannot find it now even going through videos, you mentioned having fund you used for writing or something but cant recall what you called it? Thought that was most interesting as that is exactly what I do :-)

[@WilliamGallagher]

@@sharonharveywriter You're definitely right about Pixelmator Pro and Affinity Photo. I think Canva has a free and a paid version, but I'm not sure.

[@sharonharveywriter]

@@WilliamGallagher Oooh I will have to find that out as I’m not sure.....yep i think you could be right, there’s a subscription one as well.....Canva pro. Thank you for bringing that to light for me

[@tripley66]

Gearing up for Hot Keys as you know, and the question of the day is....do ebooks need an ISBN? When I did this now almost 10 years ago, I gave every ebook a ISBN and on every platform...ie, Amazon, Apple, B&N. I first purchased 10 and then 100. Now I read ebooks don't need ISBN. What is your take on this? Muddling on....

[@WilliamGallagher]

I can't tell whether Travels with J&T has an ISBN on Apple Books, does it? I'd be surprised if Apple let you publish without an ISBN. I hadn't heard anything had changed with ebooks but it has always been possible to publish one on Amazon without getting an ISBN yourself. What happens, though, is that Amazon assigns an ISBN for you - and that ISBN is theirs. So it's their book, not yours. Might not make any practical difference at all, but I baulked at the thought.

[@WilliamGallagher]

Also, I have to tell you, I envy Hot Keys so much. I keep thinking about it, wishing I'd thought of it.

[@tripley66]

@@WilliamGallagher yes, Travels with J&T has an ISBN...one I purchased. I know about Amazon, they assign their own numbering system, but I've always used one of my own when uploading. Perhaps doing a 58 Keys on the weeds of all this in your ebook series.

[@tripley66]

@@WilliamGallagher You can have it with my compliments, although I might use it in communication with you so you know what I'm working on, albeit using a different title in the end. Hot Keys over to you....

[@WilliamGallagher]

No! You can't THROW AWAY a brilliant title! Not even if it means I can catch it. Let's compromise: I might use it in a script some time, how's that?

[@TheKatchutes]

Why does everyone always skip the “no use of enter/return button to make spacing…? Just the same as don’t use the TAB key to indent. I can’t say that he did use the enter button or return key but he doesn’t say NOT to do it… which apparently is a big no no…!

[@WilliamGallagher]

You do use the Tab key for indenting, it's the space bar that you don't. That's because a tab is a fixed thing (it will vary between word processors but not within the same document) and the width of a space is automatically changed in countless ways to fit a line when it's got to be right-and-left justified. There is a similar argument that hitting return twice after a paragraph is bad because you could specify that a paragraph should always be followed by a certain height of blank line. You can make it an automatic thing. But I still do the two returns because I find it a pain how inconsistently different word processors, text editors and design apps treat this automatic thing. It does mean that quite often I'll paste some text into one of them and either have to remove extra returns or add them in, but I live with it.

[@TheKatchutes]

@@WilliamGallagher Hmm firstly, thank you for the reply. I appreciate it. It’s good to see that maybe it isn’t as big of an issue as some claim, if you’ve been successfully creating and uploading e books. Although there is clear instructions on kdp community to not use tabs whatsoever and the more confusing part for me, to not use the enter button. Still confused as to whether it’s to not use it twice or even once… anyway So I’m guessing the e books you create may have issues on some e readers that you’re not aware about by using tabs and hard returns… If you simply google something like “kdp don’t use the tab key” you’ll see a post on kdpcommunity called “What happened to my tabs”. There “seems” to be a lot of well informed people on there that specifically say not to use them. Im just trying to find out how to create my fiction e book so it will look professional on everyone’s different e readers. It’s important to me. Anyway, thanks again and let me know what you think of the kdpcommunity post, if you have a few minutes to read some of it. ✌️

[@PeteWilson1313]

Another vote for more self-publishing.

[@WilliamGallagher]

I'm going to have to do it now, aren't I? Good: I'm a writer, obviously, but I relish taking something from an idea through the writing and out into reality, such as publishing. I'll make sure we finish this job. Thanks.

[@glennclarke9442]

LEAST EXPENSIVE WAY

[@WilliamGallagher]

Doing it all yourself seems the least expensive in cash outlay, though clearly not in time.