I have only recently started to think about other book formats and places to get them done. This is mainly due to the fact my current children's book series is 2 page format with the type over the images. So what do do?
I haven't yet done the actual upload to Draft 2 Digital because like Ingram, they insist on a date for publishing and that means your committed and I don't know if they are like Ingram Sparks who will upload even when you don't have your account of payment settings finished. There is the issue of the taxes for Canadians. We have a tax treaty with the US and it has to be in place or you will be deducted for US taxes also...needless to say, I want that all in place this time before I mess around with any upload. I gave it some thought since Draft 2 Digital will convert your book to e book as long as it is in a document file such as Word. And you can have images, be warned however, if you upload say, on Amazon, they charge 30cents per MB for the upload so you want the images to be a decent quality but not so decent that the e book costs a fortune! From the reading I have been doing. The cover for Draft 2 Digital is 1600 pixels wide, while Amazon is 2000. I have found depending on the dpi which I can leave at 300, and the way the book cover was created, it can still look pretty decent. I have converted all my images to 1400- 1800 - 2000 pixels wide and will see how much this will cost me in the end...and if the images will work. This is why I do not like having to be committed to a publishing date, who knows? With all those images which must be INSERTED AND NOT COPIED AND PASTED!!! (I put a shortcut in my ruler for it and a few other things that makes it so much faster!!!). Be aware however I have never known Word to be fixed with their text styles. I create them and then they can randomly change when re-opened which is why I seldom close them while I work on them, only save! So I have yet to take the plunge! I think I want to set it up as close to the format of the page as possible so I can be sure the images show up with the correct text! Why oh why did I have to start with something so difficult!!! My murder mysteries are going to be a walk in the park after this!!!! Digital 2 Digital has many distribution features and it seems to be a really down to earth and practical way to publish. I think it is still 10% of your sales which I like as opposed to upload fees and all sorts of nonsense. To me, it means they want to sell more so they make more which I am more comfortable with. I expect to be using at least three different methods to do my books. I like Amazon. The customer service is great. Blurb had no print previewer and had all these complicated ideas about how many pages you needed that was so much a pain. It does use Ingram Sparks for distribution however I just found it too much of a pain to get the MB's and the pages right! Ingram Sparks is improving their customer service. I think they has more popularity in the beginning than they expected and were not prepared for the interest. I think it still have the least user friendly dashboard I have ever seen however I think they will get the bugs worked out and their customer service improved eventually. I am still on the fence about Draft 2 Digital but I have a good feeling about it. Time will tell. I will keep you posted. My first attempt will be started soon! There are so many smaller print houses out there now that one needs to be very careful. It seems like everyone is on the band wagon now to make books and that is great but also not great because there are many I have found who don't even know as much as little ole me...mind you I learned the HARD WAY! lol Good luck and keep on writing!
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June 2024
AuthorArtist, Buddhist, Educator, Traveller, Cabinet Maker, kayaker, etc and now writer! |