When my clients need print books adapted to ebook format, I rely on the expertise of Luca Funari, an ebook coder who has been helping me make print books into lovely ebooks since 2017. I asked if he could answer some questions about the process of getting from manuscript to ebook or print book to ebook. It is super important to me that my clients are happy with both their print and ebook products, and Luca goes the extra mile to make sure his books look good and work right on Kindle or other ereader software. In this article Luca shares some answers to basic questions about ebook adaptations. (Check this post if you’re looking for a side-by-side visual comparison of a print book and an ebook.)
Photo by Fraenkly on Unsplash
I am getting my book designed for print. Should I make it available in ebook format as well?
This is a marketing decision, and there is no one answer that applies to all cases. See what authors, speakers or content creators in your genre and market do. But yes, most books are released in both formats. Digital ebooks can be sold at a lower price, and purchased from anywhere, which should increase book sales.
Can my print book designer create an ebook for me?
Usually print designers are unable to create ebooks, because ebooks require different procedures and different software than print books. Ebooks are basically like small websites that require an HTML/CSS knowledge rather than artistic skills. This is why Julie works with me, Luca, for ebook adaptations.
Can I create my ebook myself?
It is possible to create your own ebook file, but the quality of the final result depends on: (1) the complexity of the ebook; (2) the quality of the software you use for the conversion; and (3) your own technical abilities. If you have never done coding or ebook conversion before, the time it will take to figure it out yourself is probably worth much more to you than the cost of paying someone who creates ebooks all the time to adapt your book to ebook format.
At what stage in the book writing process should I (a) contract an ebook designer and (b) send the ebook designer my book?
It’s a good idea to find and contract your ebook designer before you need him or her, to avoid long wait times for your ebook. But you should send the book only when you have the final version, corrected and proofread.
If your book has a print version, it is necessary that the print formatting be completed before starting ebook formatting. This saves you from having to pay double (both the print book designer and ebook designer) to fix any errors found in the book at the end of the project. There should be no more errors in the book by the time it comes to me. When you work with Julie, she quotes on ebook adaptation along with print layout, if desired.
What file formats do I need for my ebook? What are the standard ebook formats and for which platforms?
The standard, free/open ebook format is EPUB. All platforms accept and sell it, other than Amazon, which sells its own proprietary formats. The most common Amazon format is the MOBI format (but I used the plural "formats", because Amazon owns a lot of them—FK8, KPF, etc.) Technically all e-publishing platforms accept other kinds of documents too; most of them accept DOC files, HTML or plain text format TXT.
Self-publishers should submit MOBI or KPF when publishing on Amazon; all other platforms prefer the EPUB format. When I create ebook files for Julie, I always include both EPUB and MOBI ebook files.
What is the difference between “fixed” and “reflowable” format for my ebook? If I am offered both options, which should I choose?
A “fixed” layout ebook is basically a “what you see is what you get” way of converting an ebook. It is used for books where images are the main conveyer of the message and not words (children’s picture books, photo books or comic books). The fixed ebook layout has been created to adapt these kinds of books to digital devices, although it has its limitations. These books will virtually look exactly the same on any and every device: no surprises, but also no ability to make the text, margins or spacing bigger or smaller if you are reading on a bigger or smaller device. Imagine a full pdf page of your book shrunk down to fit on your cell phone screen: at some point fixed layout ebooks are impractical and illegible.
"Reflowable" ebooks are more like a website, which your phone, e-reader, or computer reads and adapts to your preferred settings, screen size, etc. For example, in the image below you see the same reflowable book being read at different settings: the reader on the left chose to make the font and line spacing bigger, the reader on the right preferred to keep it small.
As far as which is better—fixed or reflowble—the raison d'être for ebook technology and digital reading is adaptability, readability and accessibility for those ideas. Ebooks must offer accessibility and readability to as many people as possible, including people with physical disabilities. They should be adaptable to as many devices as possible, to reach as many people as possible. For this reason, I believe that a digital ebook should be readable on many devices and must offer some crucial features: character resizing, image magnification, table magnification, font interchangeability, audio, dictionary, different background colours, and more. Most of these features are only possible in a reflowable text ebook like an EPUB or MOBI file. When the reader changes the character size all the text flows and it becomes readable and accessible to more persons. For this reason an ebook should be reflowable if at all possible. Even books with complex layouts should be adapted to the reflowable format for more accessibility, if at all possible. (If it weren't for these aspects, the PDF format which your print designer can easily export from InDesign would work perfectly for ebooks.)
In this graphic, you can see how a reflowable ebook read on an ereader gives the reader the option to pick the font that he or she prefers—this is obviously a perk of reading an ebook verses a printed book.
I love the look of the fonts in my printed book. Can my ebook look exactly the same?
For the ebooks I create, I recommend that we allow the reader to specify the fonts on his or her reading device or app, and not worry about matching them exactly to the printed book. This saves time and money. But yes, the font licences can be purchased and embedded in the ebook if the author really wants the look of the book to carry through on all devices.
How much should I budget for ebook adaptation?
Prices vary depending on the complexity of content and the type of layout: fixed or reflowable. For a “fixed” layout ebook, the price is usually per page. The price may go down if there are many pages. "Reflowable" ebooks are more difficult because there are many elements that affect the production time. For example: the length of the text; and the number of complex time-consuming elements in the layout.
Pricing also varies with the quality of the work and experience of the ebook coder. For example, you might find someone online who says they will do a “quick and dirty” conversion of your novel using a software like Calibre. If you want a quick conversion, do not expect any attention to detail or service if you are not happy with the conversion. An ebook adaptation (not conversion) with attention to detail, layout re-adaptation to digital format, image optimization to reduce the file size, attention to platforms requirements (what does Kobo require that Amazon does not, etc?), with various final formats (MOBI, EPUB, etc.) or ebook tweaking to satisfy different platform requirements creates a high-quality final product but costs more.
What kinds of elements are harder to convert to ebook format?
All the elements in your book layout that are not "plain" text increase the production time. A few of the more time-consuming elements in an ebook adaptation are: lists, footnotes, endnotes, boxes, hyperlinks, tables, images, fonts, or multi-column layouts.
These elements add extra time to the ebook coding process because they cannot be handled by some kind of automatic conversion software, and even if the ebook coder starts the conversion process using software, he or she usually has to edit the code to fix different issues that come up when viewing the ebook in different devices or apps.
How long does ebook adaptation take?
Here again, there is great difference in time investment between an automatic conversion of a text-only novel without any attention to detail, which can require one hour, and a good adaptation for a technical book, with great attention to detail, which can require some weeks of dedication. I once had a complex ebook adaptation take me 86 hours!
For this reason, when Julie and I collaborate on an ebook adaptation, we say that it takes somewhere between one and three weeks. A faster conversion might be available for a rush fee, but usually the ebook adaptation is done while the print book is going to press, which means the ebook and print book can be ready to release around the same time.
Can you upload my final ebook files to Amazon or other platforms for me?
In 99% of cases I say “no”. I prefer not to have your password or have access to your self-publishing account, for liability reasons. This is mainly because the behind-the-scenes area in your Amazon, IngramSpark, Book Baby, etc. account shows your payment information, and allows me to make any change I want to your print or ebook. I always suggest that my clients learn to upload their ebook files themselves.
Many thanks to Luca for sharing the inside story for self-publishers wanting their books converted to ebook. If you’re looking for book interior layout for print and/or ebook, book a free consultation with me here to get started.