[stylist] eBook publishing experience, a warning about hiring eBook formatters

Thu Jun 27 17:20:17 UTC 2013

Bridgit,
You and Donna are great with your suggestions. While I know about Control
for "shutting up" JAWS and some of the others, I did not know how to find
the B for buttons, or the X for check boxes. My training was extremely
spotty partially because of hearing problems, and having to take an aide to
take notes. She had difficulty even understanding what the instructor was
talking about, and missed many details. I saved those notes in my lesson
file, and knowing so much more now, I realize what is missing.
Along  with saving your notes, I do intend to get on the tutorials instead
of going back to my lessons from 2005, because so much has morphed.
Jackie  , -----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Bridgit
Pollpeter
Sent: Wednesday, June 26, 2013 3:09 PM
To: 'Writer's Division Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [stylist] eBook publishing experience,a warning about hiring
eBook formatters

And you can also shut JAWS up by hitting the control button, smile.

There are a lot of keyboard navigation hot keys you can use instead of
up and down arrowing. Like Donna pointed out that with Google and many
other sites, you can hit H and it will take you from heading to heading,
often times the headings also acting as links. Or it at least jumps you
to a different part of a website and you can down arrow from that point
instead of reading an entire page.

If looking for a button, hit B. For check boxes, hit X. To find combo
boxes, or otherwise known as drop-down boxes, hit C. Some keyboards are
different especially on laptops, but control and the home key will take
you back to the top of a page, and control and the end key take you to
the bottom. If searching for a link, hit insert and the F7 button, and
it will bring up a list with only links. You can find the one you want
and just hit enter.

There are a lot more hot key functions. Perhaps I will work on creating
a short-cut with several of these hot keys that are really helpful.

I get you just don't like to hear all those numbers as opposed to it
being an issue hindering your search or ability to use a computer,
correct? Like I said, control will shut JAWS up, so if using arrows,
after hearing first part of a website or something, hit control and it
will not read the rest of the line. Same if using hot keys, or you can
use a hot key, and again, after hearing first part on a site like
Google, just hit H again to go to next item.

None of this probably makes sense, sorry.

Bridgit

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Donna
Hill
Sent: Wednesday, June 26, 2013 2:22 PM
To: 'Writer's Division Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [stylist] eBook publishing experience,a warning about
hiring eBook formatters

Jackie,
I get the idea that you're having problems in the Google searches. Are
you going from one search result to the next with down arrows or with
"h" for next heading? The latter works much better whenever you can use
it. I find that with Jaws 12, I hit "h" till I get past the sponsored
results and hear "Search Results" and at that point, I up and down arrow
to confirm that I'm focused on the first search result. It is both a
heading and a link, so you can enter on it to get to the page. If you're
reading and you figure out you're not interested in that one, go back to
using "h." In Google or any other search engine, you should never have
to copy a URL and past it. You just enter on the heading link that
starts each new search result. Maybe that's not what you meant, though.
HTH, Donna 

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
Jacqueline Williams
Sent: Wednesday, June 26, 2013 12:40 PM
To: 'Writer's Division Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [stylist] eBook publishing experience,a warning about
hiring eBook formatters

Thanks Bridgit,
I do copy and paste the entire sequence given into the box on Google and
it seems to take all the numbers. But sometimes when I get to the page
with all the results of the search, it starts out with a multitude of
numbers which does not allow me to get out of the circuit. My "insert,
down arrow" will only go to the last row of numbers, and not beyond.
Sometimes they read as billions, millions, thousands, hundreds, and that
is where I lose my ability to visualize the number. This is one reason I
never do anything involving numbers on my computer, (bank statements,
pay pal, etc.) Perhaps it is a matter of settings. I hope to have my new
computer with up-graded software in use within a month, and perhaps I
will simply go through all of the tutorials. Until then, there is
"avoidance!" Jackie

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Bridgit
Pollpeter
Sent: Sunday, June 23, 2013 11:53 AM
To: 'Writer's Division Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [stylist] eBook publishing experience,a warning about
hiring eBook formatters

I think those numbers are just a part of the web address. It doesn't
mean anything beyond that, nor is it important unless you're dealing
with something directly with a given website, which wouldn't be the case
for anyone visiting a site. A sighted person will see those numbers as
we hear them.

Bridgit

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
Jacqueline Williams
Sent: Sunday, June 23, 2013 1:47 PM
To: 'Writer's Division Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [stylist] eBook publishing experience,a warning about
hiring eBook formatters

Donna,
My hat goes off to you for this tedious and challenging journey. This is
a good resource for us. The discouraging part to me is the amount of
numbering throughout this piece, and almost every other informative
e-mail I get about websites, resources. I do not know what they refer
to. An example:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-heart-of-applebutter-hill-donna-w-hi
ll/1
115426305?ean=2940016415000. If you use JAWS this is mind-blowing.
Regardless, congratulations on the end result. Jackie

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Donna
Hill
Sent: Sunday, June 23, 2013 10:33 AM
To: 'Writer's Division Mailing List'
Subject: [stylist] eBook publishing experience,a warning about hiring
eBook formatters

Hi Fellow Writers,
Below is the text of my latest post on my self-publishing adventure. 

There are links to Smashwords' free Style Guide (.rtf) and to my book
pages on Smashwords, Bookshare, Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The article
starts with a photo of the book cover, and there's a mini sound bite at
the end which I didn't include here (It's Sound Cloud & it works with
Jaws on Firefox but not IE10). It's all at:

http://donnawhill.com/2013/06/20/a-writers-wormhole-ebook-self-publishin
g-mi
stakes-mystifications-and-misdemeanors/

Enjoy,
Donna

A Writer's Wormhole: eBook Self-Publishing Mistakes, Mystifications &
Misdemeanors: by Donna W. Hill 

June 20, 2013

The Heart of Applebutter Hill book cover shows a cave scene: stalactites
reflected in an underground lake, while a hand holds the Heartstone of
Arden-Goth, a blue, heart-shaped sapphire

When people struggle to interpret grammatically butchered sentences,
brain scans reveal an energy dip below the left temple. The phenomenon
is the "left anterior negativity effect" (Discover, 12/2013, "The
Brain"). I experienced that dip first-hand many times while in the eBook
self-publishing stage of my novel, The Heart of Applebutter Hill. Did I
say I was going to leave formatting to the professionals? That didn't
work. Could my experiences be a warning to other soon-to-be
self-published authors?

Self-Publishing eBooks Through Smashwords

There are loads of eBook sellers (Kindle, Nook, Sony, Apple, Kobo, and
on and on). Wanna format, upload and keep track of each one yourself?
Not me. Smashwords is the largest eBook aggregator, distributing books
that meet their rigid demands to more outlets than I knew existed.
Currently, they don't routinely distribute to Kindle; I had to publish
it separately through Kindle Direct Publishing

 http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CNG6DDM

Nook is the next biggest seller, so I decided to do that one through
Nook Press

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-heart-of-applebutter-hill-donna-w-hi
ll/1
115426305?ean=2940016415000
<http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-heart-of-applebutter-hill-donna-w-h
ill/
1115426305?ean=2940016415000&itm=1&usri=2940016415000>
&itm=1&usri=2940016415000

 I provided an accessible version for readers with print disabilities to
Bookshare

http://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/639304

and let Smashwords

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/313071

do the rest.

The Smashwords system, affectionately known as "Meatgrinder," converts
properly-formatted .doc files (never .docx) into seven different file
types. The trick is making that properly-formatted .doc. Smashwords has
a free <http://www.smashwords.com/b/52> Style Guide:

http://www.smashwords.com/b/52

It explains everything you need to know -- almost. I've read it many
times.

Smashwords founder Mark Coker is quite specific that you must make
manually-linked tables of contents and not use Word's automatic TOC
option. The process starts with writing up your table of contents,
bookmarking each chapter in the book and then linking to those bookmarks
from your TOC.

Let the Professionals Format Your eBook?

OK, so I hired a company to format the eBook for Smashwords. I assumed
the professionals would use Smashword's Style Guide. My guys were great
to work with, friendly, impressed with my book, and have an answer for
everything. Ultimately, they refunded my money and assured me that what
happened with my book never happens. I hear that a lot.

We got off to a confusing start; I sent them the wrong file -- my bad.
When they approved my book, they asked me for the JPeg of the cover. I
immediately sent it with the right file, an explanation and my
apologies. Their first attempt used the wrong file anyway. They said
they never got the right one, but had the JPeg I sent with it. Hmm, my
left brain is having trouble processing. Did I say I'm compulsive and
keep my e-mails? As stupid as I felt for sending the wrong file to begin
with, I didn't get a warm and fuzzy feeling from their obviously flawed
explanation.

Their next attempt -- using the right file this time -- came back
without a table of contents. They had removed it. They said, to my
further confusion, that Meatgrinder would generate one. But, to appease
me, they said they'd re-do it with something they hoped would "trick
Meatgrinder" and satisfy me. There's that dip again.

Their last attempt showed up with my Smashwords book page URL missing.
How do you accidentally eliminate one URL in the middle of a page? I can
feel that left anterior negativity just remembering it.

Solutions, Results & Excuses

I fixed the missing URL and uploaded it. It passed "Autovetter" --
Smashword's' automatic format checker. That meant I could sell it on
Smashwords. To get in their Premium Catalog, however, it would have to
pass a manual inspection. It failed. The problem? "Inoperative Table of
Contents," among other things.

I was so sick of going back and forth with the formatting folks at that
point that I went to work. It took ten times to get it right, but it was
finally approved. That's when I contacted the pros with a postmortem. By
then, I knew how to determine how many bookmarks and hyperlinks the pros
had created. My novel has 54 chapters -- all with names (don't be
scared, they're quite short) -- and a half-dozen sections of front and
back matter. My .doc -- approved by Smashwords -- ended up with 60
bookmarks. The professionals had none. And as for hyperlinks? How does
"2" sound? And, they were auto-generated -- just what the SW Style Guide
says not to do.

To my further confusion, they claimed that, despite what SW's Style
Guide says, Smashwords does take files with Word's automatic TOC, and
that it was really Meatgrinder's shortcomings. They were magnanimous
enough to say that
-- under the circumstances -- this was quite understandable. The real
culprit, according to my guys, is Microsoft. MS has never fixed their
fiddly Word program, which adds secret bookmarks and hidden code that
can't help but wreak havoc with other software. Blame Microsoft; I'm
cool with that -- mostly -- but following the Style Guide eliminates
that crap. There goes that left anterior negativity again.

Advice from a Novice eBook Formatter

Formatting is tedious; it offers none of the joys of the simplest
writing endeavors ... until you learn that you did it right. I did it
right once; you can too. Save your money. Do it yourself!

###

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