Category Archives: Writing

Kandy Moved

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The serial continues at the new site: www.KandyFangs.com

I’m not a fan of serializing short fiction. Longer stories make more sense. Even then, many readers prefer reading at once and even better if it is in a completed ebook. The problem with hosting a long serial on a blog is navigation made even more problematic if shared with other posts. For Kandy Fangs, I solved the problem by moving her to her own place and setting up an episode index always visible on the side.

Setting up a WordPress site is so easy there is no excuse for creating a separate space for the serial. WordPress 3 even allows managing multiple blogs on one installation. Writers with technical skills can setup a better book-like experience by removing the blog completely, but let’s keep it simple. Besides, the blog features allow for bonus content. Decorate the site for the story.

Open up www.KandyFangs.com in a window to see how it works.

Instead of opening to blog posts, the site starts at the Welcome page. This gives the new reader a synopsis and information on what to expect. Once the serial is over, new readers may read all the episodes and returning readers may read new stories about Kandy. A link on the welcome page takes the new reader to the first episode.

Under the menu, you’ll find “Novella” and “Kandy” selections. Clicking one of these shows the categories in the normal reverse blog post order. This is nice for returning visitors, but not new visitors. Another option is to change the post order to start with the first. See Crooked Fang for an example.

I gave Kandy’s home a look consistent with this blog. If Kandy likes it, then my job is done.

How-To: Make Contents Links in Ebook for Smashwords

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You want a working contents page in your ebook. Readers love them. Anything that improves navigation is good. Done properly, the Smashwords Meatgrinder will produce epub and PDF with working contents page linking to your chapters or parts. Software like Adobe Digital Editions and iBooks on iPad will allow the reader to jump to chapters in your book. Below are screen shots of my novel, Raven Memory in Adobe Digital Editions and iBooks. The iBooks contents work by scrolling. In addition, iBooks reveals how many pages remain in the chapter. Note: In my first revision of Raven Memory, I used flowing text between chapters, and my recent revision (Sep 3) uses chapter headers.

Screen shot of iBooks showing chapter and page feature. Touch chapter slider to reveal chapter info.

Adobe Digital Editions Screen Shot of Raven Memory 1st revision with chapters flowing together. No formatted headers.

iBooks on iPad Screen Shot scrolling contents page

The Quick Guide to Working Contents

It’s that simple. Well, almost. The  Smashwords Meatgrinder is picky about formatting, and some issues may not be clear. Pay close attention to the entire guide. It doesn’t matter if you use Microsoft Word or OpenOffice.org Writer, the directions for creating working contents links are the same.

About Chapter Headers

Coker’s guide mentions using header formatting for your chapter headers. This is optional, but a good idea if your book is long. Using headers tells Meatgrinder to create a new xhtml page for the epub which may render as chapter breaks in software like Adobe Digital Editions and iBooks. You may end up with a few nearly blank pages with only a sentence or two. Ugly, but preferable over the alternative. Without formatted headers the text flows, but Smashwords Meatgrinder will break longer works into segments which may cause page breaks in undesirable spots when reading epub. Format headers for chapters to avoid Meatgrinder choosing breaks for you in epub conversion. This doesn’t apply to PDF or online reading.

As seen in the Adobe Digital Editions screen capture above, my first revision of Raven Memory didn’t format the chapter headers allowing flowing text. Due to 3 abrupt page breaks in the epub, I revised using header formatting. Now Adobe Digital Editions produces one nearly blank page (depending on screen size,) but looks fine in iBooks. See the screen shot below. This is better than breaking between paragraphs, and epub readers may get better in the future at pushing text so there isn’t a single line left on a page. (Dear epub reader software creators: Learn how to flow text correctly.)

Tips on formatting with linking contents for your ebook

  • Make sure the entire document has consistent formatting, paying close attention to the paragraph style name. If you use formatted chapter headers, they should also be consistent.
  • Use Styles and Formatting sheet.
  • Internal contents links work like external hyperlinks.
  • Don’t use automation. Create your contents links by hand.
  • Before uploaded to Smashwords, export to PDF and test every link.
  • After uploading, test the PDF and the epub in Adobe Digital Editions. Click every link to make sure it goes to the correct place in your document.

My How-To: Create Contents Links Formatted for Smashwords

Save your contents page for last after you have made certain your entire document is formatted correctly. Heading styles are optional, but recommended for longer works. Edit your styles sheet for your body text and header. If you name your chapters starting with “Chapter” then Meatgrinder will make things easier. In Shadow Memories, I named each as the title of the short story. Still works as long as you make internal hyperlinks. See Step 20 in Coker’s guide.

Your table of contents should list each chapter single-spaced after the license information. No page numbers. The contents entry should be the same as the matching heading.

  1. Go to each chapter heading and highlight the text.
  2. (Optional, but recommended) Set the format to header using the same or similar font. (Remember to use style sheets.)
  3. Use the Insert Bookmark feature. Name the bookmark matching the header, but without spaces.
  4. After you named all the bookmarks matched to headers, go back to the contents page. Select each entry and use your Insert Hyperlink feature, select internal hyperlink and select the matching bookmark.

In your document, test each bookmark hyperlink. If you missed one or made a mistake, correct. Then export to PDF and test the links there. If it works in a PDF, and your book is formatted properly, it will work after going through the Meatgrinder.

Questions?

Screen shot of iBooks showing chapter break produced by using a header format for Smashwords

Bookmark Business Cards

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My business cards arrived. Wait. Why do I need business cards in this digital age? People email, store contact information on phones, look up everything on the web, follow RSS or Facebook pages. Well, not everyone. In Raven Memory, Steve Reynolds only uses paper, none of that techno-gadgetry. Sometimes it’s still easier to leave a card in person, or stacked somewhere curious eyes may stumble upon.

I printed my cards vertical so they double as bookmarks. Useful for printed books, but not for ebooks. Well, at least some people still read physical books. I went with a printing service, one with a convenient web page, that could take my graphic image to include it on the card.

Honestly, I don’t really need business cards. The cards are cheap, simple, and might actually come in handy. If caught in the woods after dark, they could always be used as kindling to start a fire. And if a creature of the night stumbles upon the campfire, I’ll have plenty of cards left over to hand the dark intruder. She may even want to buy a book!

The front contains the standard information including what sort of stories I write. On the back is a list of my books including two future stories, because there will still be plenty of cards left depending on how often I need kindling.

Front

Back

Perspective

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From Publishers Weekly “A Bookselling Tail” from 2006 noting 2004 Bookscan data

  • 80% of books sell fewer than 99 copies
  • 96% of books sell fewer than 1,000 copies
  • Average American book sells 500 copies

According to Editorial Ass in 2008

  • Sell 7,000: “you’re a star.”
  • Sell 4,000: “strong seller.”

From Association of American Publishers on publishers.org

  • 2009 eBook annual sales up 177% overtaking audio books
  • 2009 overall book sales down 1.8%

From Bowker

  • 288,355 new traditional books in 2009
  • 764,448 new non-traditional books in 2009, up 181%
  • 45,181 new traditional fiction books in 2009, down from 53,058 in 2008

From New York Times citing Bowker 2009 data

  • Hardcover: 35% of total sales
  • Trade paperback: 35% of total sales
  • Mass market paperback: 31% of total sales
  • eBook: 2% of total sales
  • All e-commerce sites at 20% total book sales

Nearly 300,000 new books each year is tough competition. 700,000 new books in a year is a great deal of noise. In “What’s Louder than Noise?” Kristine Kathryn Rusch claims that the great American novel is now an impossibility making the point that it is now harder than ever for even established authors to get noticed. Instead of searching for the new book that will sell millions of copies, publisher should promote a thousand authors that each sell a thousand. Writing fiction isn’t a good career choice. The majority of authors never make any money.

The fiction author must set good goals: writing for family and friends, sharing with their community, selling a 100 copies, marketing to a specific niche, or simply getting a story out there. Write for love. Write for the skill. Write for the pursuit of knowledge. Write for your mom.

The love that goes into the telling makes a story worth reading.

Why do I write? I write for Torre.

[Update: The Digital Reader post claims Amazon Kindle book sales pass hardcover and the numbers imply 2009 sold Kindle books at 50% of hardcover sales. According to this TBIResearch post, Amazon controls 90% ebook market. Given Amazon sales are less than 20% of market, this claim makes sense since.]

Shadow Memories on Amazon

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Shadow Memories

My ebook, Shadow Memories, is now available on Amazon for Kindle and Kindle for iPhone. See my previous post, “New Book: Shadow Memories,” for details.

Find the book here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003U2TNDK

You will also find Shadow Memories at Smashwords participating in the Summer/Winter Sale for 100% off during the month of July. Use code SW100 at checkout (or donate a dollar if you prefer.)  http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/17029

Shadow Memories coming soon to iBookstore, B&N, and others.

Still Standing

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Writing computer programs while standing

Standing desk

After two months of using the Standing Workstation at the Office and four months standing at home, I’m still standing while working on the computer. I should have switched sooner.

Nearly five yours ago, I started working full time at a desk. My health slowly deteriorated even though I commuted daily by bicycle. It was a creeping change. I finally realized the problem: The chair is our enemy.

Humans aren’t designed to sit for long periods of time.

Since I started standing at my desk, I have lost weight, my energy has increased, and my productivity has shot up. Standing, and moving around, increases alertness. Bicycling to work in the morning wakes me up, but sitting drains all the benefits away. Now that I’ve tried standing at my desk for a few months, I can safely say I’m never going back to sitting for hours at a time.

Like any desk, only taller

Sitting is for resting. Stand up to work.

iPad Apps for Writers

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Yes, the iPad is practical. After a month, I find myself leaving the laptop behind and using the iPad including doing some heavy IT work. The right applications make all the difference. Here is a list of my favorite iPad apps for the traveling writer.

Reading Software

Don’t forget to test your latest eBook in all the readers including iBooks (iTunes link,) Kindle for iPad, Stanza for iPhone, and B&N Reader (soon.) Make sure the contents page works and pictures look nice.

Pages

The iPad version of Pages has everything a writer needs. I love the lack of “bells and whistles” clutter seen in other word processors. It supports formatting options, pictures with text flow, headers and footers. Save the fancy layout for a page layout program like InDesign if print is necessary. Share documents with your desktop using mail, MobileMe, DropBox, or using GoodReader (below.) A Bluetooth keyboard allows faster typing.  I paid $9.99 for Pages.

Dictionary.com

The Dictionary.com (iTunes link) dictionary and thesaurus based on Random House Unabridged Dictionary includes audio pronunciation, and stores recent queries. A free app.

GoodReader

Use GoodReader to read PDFs with flowing text, move office documents from your desktop computer to your iPad wirelessly, read the office documents, or open them in iWork using the new Document Sharing feature in iPhone OS. (See my last post.) I paid $0.99 for this app.

SketchBook Pro

Sketch latest ideas or produce cover artwork using Autodesk SketchBook Pro with or without a stylus. Layers support allows complex drawing or working from a pencil sketch template. I paid $7.99 for this app and purchased a Pogo Sketch stylus to go with it.

Advanced Tools

If you need to work on your home or office computer while away try Desktop Connect or iTap. Some network knowledge required. Non-techies may try LogMeIn service.

Other Considerations

  • Evernote: Some like this; some don’t. Supports voice and other multimedia notes. Service in the cloud for access from other machines.
  • PaperDesk: organize notes or doodle with a stylus.

How do you keep productive on your iPad?