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TRANSCRIPT
Book Formatting
with Vellum
Coming Up …
• Overview• What is Vellum?• Why you should use Vellum• How to use Vellum• How to use Vellum on a PC• Vellum tips and tricks
My First e-Books – The ‘Old Days’
PDF versions only, available via digital download
Remember PDF e-books?
My Science Fiction
My Thrillers
My Non-Fiction Books
My Fiction Books
Originally produced on Createspace & Ingram Spark, now with Amazon KDP
The Bad News …
See https://paulteague.com/why-i-threw-away-my-brand-new-mac-book-air/
• I don’t like Macs!• They’re very expensive• I don’t think they’re as intuitive as PCs• Unfortunately, Vellum is only available
on a Mac ☺• There is a solution …
Online Training
See https://paulteague.com/how-to-use-vellum-on-a-pc/
Online Training
My Advice
I’ve tried all of the alternatives and the first time you use Vellum, you’ll never want to go back ☺
Vellum Steps
• Build• Style• Preview• Generate• Update
Support at https://help.vellum.pub/tutorial/ and https://help.vellum.pub/
The SIMPLEST Self-Publishing
Step One: Head for https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/bookshelf
Step Two: Upload your book in Word format
Step Three: Use the Kindle Cover Creator
Step Four: Save and publish … you are now a self-published author
You have self-published your book listed on Amazon and making sales – BUT how professional does it look?
Publishing Paperbacks
• https://www.createspace.com/• This is where you upload and
publish print on demand books• It costs nothing unless you order
proof copies• Save your Microsoft Word
manuscript as a .pdf, it maintains the formatting in your physical book
Publishing Paperbacks
• http://www.ingramspark.com/• This is also where you can upload and
publish print on demand books• You are charged to get books approved• If you want to get a self-published book into
book shops & libraries, you need to use this service
• You will need your own ISBN – order online from:http://www.isbn.nielsenbook.co.uk/controller.php?page=121
• Slightly more teccie! [You will need to know about embedded fonts, Vellum gets over this issue]
Publishing E-Books
• https://www.draft2digital.com/• ‘We'll convert your Word document
into an eBook with clean chapter breaks, a functioning table of contents, and optional end matter to help you generate more sales.’
• Distributed to Kobo, iBooks, Nook, Scribd, Tolino, Page Foundry
• Gets over the .mobi and .epub issue!
Publishing E-Books
• Another aggregation service• https://www.smashwords.com/• Gets over the .mobi and .epub
issue!• Check the Smashwords style
guide, they have specific requirements!
Publishing E-Books
• https://www.kobo.com/writinglife• You can upload your Microsoft
Word document here and it will convert it to a .epub file
• The Kobo technical team recommend Vellum as their preferred formatting tool in this podcast: https://kobowritinglife.com/2018/07/18/kwl-ep-113-all-about-epubs-with-simon-collinson-and-ben-dugas-from-kobo/
Publishing E-Books
• Sell eBooks from your web site• Handles all ‘side-loading’
support issues for digital files
https://bookfunnel.com/
Promoting E-Books
• Take part in giveaway events and give away free samples
https://www.instafreebie.com/
Direct Sales Packages
Easily created with Vellum ☺
Writing The Book
Google Drive [Free] or Microsoft Word [Paid]. Also consider OpenOffice if you’re on a tight budget – it’s a free Word alternative.
Alternatives …
Very widely used, I have bought this and intend to start using it soon.
Widely used tool (I own it, but don’t use it for writing)
Calibre
Widely used tool (I own it, but don’t use it for writing)
I use this for plotting, and love it. Can also be used for writing.
Highly Recommended!Highly Recommended!
Widely Used & Recommended
• Scrivener is the tool that most indie authors seem to prefer
• It makes formatting and outputting files in different formats a breeze
• It make story boarding, research and planning easy
• It saves and backs up reliably• It now has an ‘output to Vellum’ option:
https://www.literatureandlatte.com/export-to-vellum
• Get Scrivener here: https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener/overview
• However, it takes a lot of learning!
Vellum Full Demo
• Build• Style• Preview• Generate• Update
Support at https://help.vellum.pub/tutorial/ and https://help.vellum.pub/
Next Steps …
http://self-publishing-journeys.com
My Podcast
My website
https://paulteague.com
