eBOOK ASSEMBLY

March, 2015

Getting ready to assemble a few eBooks, I grabbed a bunch from my kindle and examined them - asking what did they include? Because no one is talking about this. Not completely. And no two people are in agreement.

First of all, rules change daily at places like Amazon. One thing to consider is that they WILL start an eBook on the first word of the manuscript, not the first page of the eBook file. This is because there is such a variation in how many pages you as a reader have to spin through before you get to your story.

You can see this if you "GO TO" Table of Contents (TOC). Then you can choose - the cover. Or the Copyright. Or the About this Author, or any other section that was tagged for inclusion in the TOC. You can see if these things are in the front or back of the manuscriopt itself.

Second consideration, if you allow sample pages then they are a percentage of the book. If you have a ton of stuff in the front, it will be counted in the page count. (This may change. Who knows?) If you are doing sample pages, check the latest rules. They change their algorithms like they change their shirts.

* Colored Cover  (JPG in a reasonable size) ---- actually, Amazon puts this in compressed from your cover file (last I heard). At the present time anyway. You should have your own set of JPGs of the cover to use on Facebook, Twitter, your webpage, your newsletter, and anything else.

* Plain text cover - back up for when the cover doesn't get in. Text.

* Copyright Page (here or in the back) Can and should use this even if the work is not registered. You can add that it is registered once it is. While waiting, you can state that it has been filed with . . . . and update when you can. Pirates exist.

Reviews of other books / this book, if available  - in the front or the back. You make better sales if the reviews are posted to Amazon. (No friends and relatives. They check.) You CAN put your friends and relatives comments inside your book however. Don't overdo it.

Dedication  (if you have one) I wouldn’t dedicate a short story. Others? Sure.

Acknowledgements (usual unless you did everything yourself) (whatever you need from this list or anything and anyone else) – You CAN put this on the Copyright page to conserve page count

• Photo credits (interior and exterior)
• Cover credits
• Stock art credits
• Copy editing
• Story editing (Developmental editing)
• Formatting
• the model info if you used one

* Table of Contents

• Every Section from the cover forward
• The book itself even if no chapters (short story for example)
• All the back sections
• Can be in the front or after the end of the book – seen both – prefer the front

* The Book Itself All chapters (if you use chapters) (Short Story, Novella, Book)

Thank you for reading now please leave a review BEGGING Page (this sometimes pops up in more than one place – careful – it can get annoying.) Check your favorite author's format for ideas. The link you request them to use will vary with the distributor site. If you only use Amazon (some people do) then you are fine. Otherwise you can beg without a hot-link.

• You could also list books grouped under different pen names – a little cross-fertilization

Next Book Teaser (if you have one – resist making this too long!)

*About the Author  (your bio – keep it short – link your FB page, website, blog, Twitter, whatever - using LIVE LINKS (hot address) )

• If this is a pen name and you have others, mention them

WARNING: Some distributors get hot and bothered when you link to a competitor. (Which is why people link to their own website and list books but do not hot-link them). SMASHWORDS is one of these who go a little crazy if the book has ANY reference to a competitor. Silly but true. If you are using ONE distributor – not a problem. If several – your back pages material will vary depending on where the books are published. (Amazon, Apple, B&N, Smashwords, etc.) In that case, just list the books by title and skip the hot links. Reduce the effort.

If your book is shorter than the added pieces – cut things back.  (Like for a Short Story)  Make sure to link to your website. That’s all they need.

* means a must-have