Tuesday, May 1, 2012

eBook Snobs



There is a bit of snobbishness out there when it comes to creating eBooks even among the liberal and very welcoming self-publishing crowd. It has to do with creating an eBook from Microsoft Word as opposed to hand coding it with HTML or using some other sophisticated publishing tool.

Those in the anti-Word camp rile against its inflexibility and formatting frustrations, and I've had my share, so have some sympathy. But the the fact is, most authors write their books in Word and two of the leading online  eBook distributors, Amazon and Smashwords both accept uploaded word documents, which they then convert to their own eBook formats. So if your book is narrative text, then Word can be a perfectly fine starting point in creating an eBook. You do not need to know any HTML to create and self-publish an eBook and anyone who tells you different is a goose... and perhaps worse a techno-snob.

That said, if you are creating an eBook that needs some design features, utilises images, has lots of references and other more advanced features, then Word can be cumbersome to say the least. In this case you do need a more sophisticated tool than Word, but do you need to know HTML or other programming language? Not necessarily. There is a terrific new free eBook creation tool which can provide great assistance - PressBooks.

If you are familiar with the popular blog platform WordPress, then PressBooks basically has the same user interface and features with the additional feature allowing you to export your blog entries (chapters of a book for example) into eBook formats such as ePub and PDF. Because it is a web platform it is designed for creating interactive, media rich projects and so it is much better at handling these elements than Word.

PressBooks lets you easily author and output e-books in multiple formats (no techy knowledge required) including EPUB, Kindle, print-on-demand-ready PDF, HTML, and InDesign-ready XML. It is still in Beta, which means that the people developing it are still refining the features and functionality but when I had a slight problem exporting a file, they were very responsive.

While PressBooks is not going to satisfy all your eBook design needs at the moment, it is a terrific step in the right direction for those out there determined never to touch HTML or any other programming language in the creation of an eBook.

Here is a book that I recently published with PressBooks http://brokeandbroken.pressbooks.com/ The images don't look great online but they seem to come out well in Kindle.

Are you a techno-snob? Love to hear your thoughts :-)

Monday, April 23, 2012

The Tub: A story of Australian POWs on the Burma-Thailand Railway

"Mota Koi!"
Slowly Tony walked to the edge of the platform. The Jap they called Rat-face made a long speech. Patiently, Tony listened. Suddenly Rat-face kicked him violently in the stomach - a silly thing to do, Tony thought in a detached way, to a man suffering from dysentery. Bent double with pain, Tony fell against the opposite bed platform and fouled the hut. At this there were angry outcries from the other Japs, who leapt from their beds and showered kicks on the now helpless Australian. Bruised and bleeding, Tony staggered out...It had been another normal day.

First published in 1963 and now ressurected as an eBook by BWM Books
Here are some reviews:

“It is a POW story that deserves to go around the world. It is so distinctively Australian and generally free of hate. The whole concept and significance of the tub is astonishingly original and enlivening.” David Rowbotham, Brisbane Courier Mail
“Through the agony on the Burma railway the galvanised tub seemed the only permanent indestructible thing.” Pat Burgess, Sydney Sun
“The tub is ‘a symbol of the prisoners’ endurance and ingenuity.” Gavin Long, Canberra Times
“a well written and entertaining story” Peter Blake, Bulletin
“An uncommon symbol of faith and survival’ through an ‘ordeal which one in three POWs did not survive”. L. Peet, West Australian

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Jacka VC - Australian Hero


Albert Jacka VC 
Date of birth: 10 January 1893
Place of birth: Layard, VIC
Date of death: 17 January 1932
Place of death: Caulfield, VIC
Albert Jacka was born on 10 January 1893 at Layard in Victoria. He completed elementary schooling before working as a labourer, first with his father and then with the Victorian State Forests Department.
He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 18 September 1914 as a private in the 14th Battalion. After training in Egypt Jacka's battalion landed at Gallipoli on 26 April 1915. Just over three weeks later on 19 May, with the ANZACs now entrenched above the beaches, the Turks launched large-scale frontal assaults against their positions. Some Turks captured a small section of trench at Courtney's Post. Early attempts to drive them out failed, until Jacka, taking advantage of a diversion created by bomb throwers at one end of the Turkish position, leapt in, killing most of the occupants. For this he was awarded Australia's first Victoria Cross of the First World War.
Jacka quickly became famous - his likeness was used on recruiting posters and his exploits featured regularly in newspapers, particularly in his native Victoria. He began a rapid rise through the ranks, finally becoming a captain in March 1917. Jacka having risen no higher has been attributed to his frequent disputes with superior officers.
Albert Jacka was the people's hero of the Great War. In 1919 he returned to a triumphant welcome as thousands lined the streets to cheer the first Australian to be awarded the Victoria Cross, at Gallipoli.
In Belgium and France he had won the Military Cross twice and many believed, with Charles Bean, that they should have been VC's. He was beloved by his troops but resented by his superiors.
In peace time he ran a successful business but then returned to battle for his mates and their families as the Great Depression threatened everything they had fought for. It was the hardest fight of all.
The man himself has been an enigma, until now. 
With forensic skill Robert Macklin reveals an extraordinary character - a very Australian hero. Available at Amazon

Saturday, April 21, 2012

The Diary of a College Rebel



This coming of age novel by R.Harper Mason follows the adventures of Stuart "Sandy" Carson at the University of Arkansas in the 1950s. He loves to gamble, he has a bevvy of girls attracted to him and he gets into all sorts of trouble. 

Follow Sandy Carson through four tumultuous years at the University of Arkansas where he makes a life changing choice.

Download the free two-chapter sample here.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Producing & Publishing an iPhone App - Lessons Learned

Description
THE GREAT AUSSIE PIE APP 1.0 (Free)
(Published by BWMBooks)

Got a hankering for a Great Aussie Pie? Then the Pie App is for you. The Pie App will tell you the location of the nearest award winning pie.

Based on the results of the 2011 Great Aussie Pie Competition, the Pie App maps your location in relation to the nearest retail outlet selling award winning pies.

Once you have found your nearest retail outlet, the app will show you which pies were awarded Gold, Silver and Bronze medals, address details of the retail outlet and directions of how you get there from where you are.

BWM Books produced and published its first iPhone App today! While it is a relatively simple App the process has taken about three months and it cost the client around ... Well, before I tell you the price, below was my first quote:

"There'd be an iPhone developer, Business Analyst & Tester, Interaction Designer and project manager assigned to deliver the project. Adding up the tasks/ duration brings us to a range of $20,000 -$30,000 for the app which would include any fixes Apple might request of us after having submitted the app which is unlikely in this case but might still occur. "

$20,000 to $30,000 for a simple navigation App! Madness!. Suffice to say, I thanked them and went on my merry way to find someone else that could create the App. The first quote was from an Australian App development company and I'm not sure whether this suggests that Australian companies are being bluffed into thinking that creating a smartphone App is a tricky and expensive business, or this was a one-off. Like website creation, it doesn't have to be expensive. But like creating a website - some websites are simple, some are more complex and prices will vary accordingly. 

I next went to Freelancer. I looked at App development jobs similar to mine and sourced a couple of developers that priced reasonably....(less than $2,000) and went from there.


Lessons learned in creating an App
  1. Look for published apps that you can use as a model for yours. This will be very important in communicating your requirements to your developer. Contact the developer or publisher of the App that you like and ask for a quote.
  2. Get another quote
  3. And another
  4. Spend some time working out your requirements and your data sets before you start communicating with your developer. No developer likes to start working on one thing only to be told things need to change or data sets need to be updated. 
  5. Be as specific as possible in every element including wording, functions, look and feel.
  6. Have in mind your App 1.0 but begin to think about the next version of the App 2.0 but concentrate on getting App 1.0 live first before you bombard your developer with ideas about future versions.  
  7. If you have a deadline of when you want the App live, ensure you receive a test version of the App 3-4 weeks before the live date. Changes will be inevitable, you need this time for tweaks. 
  8. Be patient and expect the odd technical snafu along the way. 

BWM Books charges 20% of a project budget as its fee to project manage the creation of a smartphone App. Having a good project manager that can translate the business requirements of the client while being cognizant of the technical issues with software development is very worthwhile.  

Contact BWM Books here if you want to make your App idea a reality. 

What are some of the lessons you have learned? Let me know.





Monday, April 16, 2012

Google Alerts for Authors




Stephanie Chandler from Authority Publishing has some great tips for authors in the use of Google alerts.
I think it worth highlighting a few here that I have found particularly useful.

For those unfamiliar with Google Alerts, it is a free service from Google that allows you to recieve tailored search results to your email account or RSS feed. If you look at the image above, you will see that you have options about what you can search for (e.g. News, blogs, books, everything etc.). My advice is to choose 'everything'. You can then set the level of frequency and quality of those results and where you want those results delivered - either email address or 'feed'.

If you set up multiple alerts of different search terms and don't want to clog up your inbox with lots of random search results, then receiving a feed is probably the best way to go. To view your Google alerts feed, you need to set up a free Google account (if you don't already have one) and you can receive your feeds at www.google.com/reader . This will act as a dedicated webpage where all your search results will be delivered (rather than your email inbox).

What authors should search for:

  1. Personal Name - Find out where you are mentioned online. This may help in generating leads, contacts and opportunities.
  2. Website/blog name - Track where your website or blog is mentioned by creating an alert for your domain. Leave off the "www" and instead just specifiy the domain e.g. bwmbooks.com
  3. Book/article titles - Create an alert for your specific book title e.g. "Courting Samira" or particular blog title to see where it is mentioned.
  4. Subject of book - If you have written a non-fiction work then creating an alert of the particular subject matter of the book (if it is narrow enough) or an incident or person in the book may reveal additional research, similar works and other interesting material. For example, "battle of Brisbane", "George Ernest Morrison", "sniper". This may also reveal competitors in your field.
  5. Finding reviews  - There may be reviews of your book that you don't know about. In your search term put "book title review" e.g. "Courting Samira review".
  6. Finding potential reviewers - If you are looking for additional reviews of your book then there are many websites and blogs offering to review works for free. But how to find the right reviewer? To search for book reviews in your genre put in the search term "book review" [subject of book]. So for example, if your book was about the secrets to the perfect marriage you would put in '"book review" marriage' in the search box. Or if you have written a book about Australian military history you would put in '"book review" Australian military' (or something similar). You will then receive search results of blogs and reviewers who you can potentially contact to ask them to review your book.
One tip
Start with only a couple of alerts initally so you get a sense of what results you are receiving and whether you can cope with the volume of information that gets delivered. Refine your search terms if you are not getting useful results.




Sunday, April 15, 2012

Pinterest for Non-Fiction Authors - Adding Visual Context



I'm relatively new to Pinterest but I've quickly become excited about the possibilities it holds for non-fiction authors. For me, it is all about creating additional visual context about the people, places and incidents that are described in a book. 

For authors of history, I think Pinterest can hold particular value because so often in the process of researching a historical work, much is left on the cutting room floor such as photos, letters, audio and video material. Much of this material is simply not suitable to use in a traditional book but if you are able to combine a traditional print book, with an eBook and have additional supporting and contextual material in blogs and places like Pinterest, then this can greatly enhance the subject matter. Furthermore, it can broader your potential readership/viewership and it can be great publicity both before and after a book is published. 



It can also re-ignite interest in a subject if new photos or material comes to light years after a book is published. An example of this occurred recently when the State Library of Queensland published photos of  a period that authors I'm working with wrote about. 

Peter Thompson and Robert Macklin's The Battle of Brisbane: Australia and the Yanks at War, explores a time when Australian and US servicemen in Brisbane in 1942 had a pitched battle (over girls, among other things) and one Australian was killed and many were injured. The State Library of Queensland published some wonderful photos of that time which provide a fantastic visual context to the incident. Pinterest lends itself well to this sort of visual storytelling.

Have a look at the Battle of Brisbane Pinterest board here.  

I'd be interested in how you think Pinterest can be utilised for both fiction and non-fiction authors.