Smashwords Style Guide

Ebook By Mark Coker
Rating: (4.8)
Published: May. 05, 2008
Category: Non-Fiction » Computers and Internet » Digital publishing
Words: 10967 (approximate)
Language: English

Ebook Description

Read this before publishing on Smashwords! The Smashwords Style Guide makes it easy to format your manuscript to produce high quality multi-format ebooks. Includes tips on how to earn inclusion in the Smashwords Premium Catalog. This book is updated frequently. Updated January 9, 2010.

Tags

ebooks, epublishing, formatting tips, premium catalog, publishing, self publishing, smashwords, smashwords formatting, style guide

Available Ebook reading formats:

This book is free.

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Kindle (.mobi)	Download
Epub (open industry format, good for Stanza reader, others)	Download
PDF (good for highly formatted books, or for home printing)	Download
RTF (readable on most word processors)	Download

Reviews

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Review by: Michael Bruce-Lockhart on Jan. 22, 2010 :
The guide is a must read for anyone who wants to publish on Smashwords, even if you are a software engineer(which I am). It is well-written and does a good job of demystifying the arcane world of Word. However, I do think it needs a linkable index. My day job required me to read a lot of guides. Generally I would skim them to get a feeling of what information was available and where, then turn to the relevant section when I needed it. You can't do that with this guide. Most disappointing is that it is particularly hard to use on a Kindle because digital ink technology makes paging so slow.

I would also like to see more information on images. Science Fiction/Fantasy books often require maps. After spending a week learning to use Illustrator in order to produce a good map, I was dismayed to find it doesn't show at all on my Kindle.

Review by: John Wolf on Jan. 21, 2010 :
Great little guide Mark. I did have a question that wasn't addressed in the guide. Since my bookcopy in Word was set for 5.5x8.5" pages, I left it that size for the upload. It didn't seem to matter, but I was wondering if you had a recommended page size?? Also, where I placed a blank line between paragraphs was ignored by the converter, so I uploaded again with a centered line with ~ ~ ~ in the line to get this separation for shifts of point of view within a chapter. Is there something I missed on how to actually get a blank line, say between paragraphs done as blocks without the first line indented?
John Wolf -

Review by: David DeRosa on Jan. 11, 2010 : (no rating)
Not only did did the Style Guide make it possible for me to publish an ebook, it gave more info in a few pages, about MS Word, than anything I've read from Microsoft.

Thank you for making this available for free.

Review by: Wilson James on Dec. 30, 2009 : (no rating)
I am finding the “The Smashwords Style Guide” very useful. In fact, I could not have published my Smashwords ebooks without it.

Although I have been a ‘Word’ user for years, I learned some new things, such as the ‘show/hide’ feature. I also like that the book shows the easiest way to do formatting tasks, including the direction to reduce the whole file to its simplest form as a ‘txt’ file to get rid of all the bad formatting that has crept into the document; and only then re-save it in ‘Word’ and add the little bit of necessary formatting.

In short, I like the idea and the implementation of Smashwords. This book helps us authors with necessary information and it is a great addition to the overall helpfulness of your site. Please accept my thanks.

Wilson James
BLOG: http://wilsonjamesauthor.blogspot.com/
ebooks: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/WilsonJames

Review by: PaperBox Books PBB on Dec. 23, 2009 :
Excellent - easy to follow and full of useful tips and ideas. This guide helped me get the upload right the first time.

Review by: Jim Chevallier on Dec. 21, 2009 :
I've only glanced at it so far, but it appears to be excellent. And not only for publishing works here. Anyone planning to publish on the Kindle, for instance, would do well to read it, for a strong understanding of the peculiarities of this new mode of publication.

Review by: Greg McQueen on Dec. 11, 2009 :
Overall, I found the Smashwords Style Guide easy to follow and very useful ... And I can't wait to start making my work available through Smashwords!

Greg McQueen
www.ireallyshouldbewriting.net

Review by: Laura Shinn on Dec. 01, 2009 :
This guide is exactly as it is described, a guide to walk the writer through the formatting process. Even if you're a novice, or I should say especially if you're a novice, reading this ebook is all the more important. I've been writing for ten years and published for seven and there are several things listed in Mark Coker's formatting instructions that I wasn't aware of through Word. This ebook is highly detailed, yet delivered in such a way that even my youngest child would understand.

For those who are working in Word 2007 or plan to purchase the upcoming Word 2010, be aware the formatting instructions are based on Word 2003. Regardless, each item in Mr. Coker's formatting instructions can still be found in Word 2007. Most of it will be in "Word Options" when you click on the Word icon button in the top left corner of your document. The others will be found in Page Layout under Custom Margins or in Review. I do recommend Word 2007 users save their m/s in the 97-2003 Compatibility Mode so the final document you upload is a .doc rather than a .docx.

I read through the Style Guide slowly to make sure I formatted everything as recommended or required and was able to do it in only a few hours (I'm very picky and wanted to make sure my m/s was perfect). Needless to say, the uploaded document went through in the first try. Follow the guidelines and you shouldn't experience any problems at all. If you'll open your m/s as you read, you can change it as you go. This removes much of the stress when you see how many pages are in the Style Guide. Don't let that deter you. About a third of the ebook at the beginning is information already found on the website and you've probably already read it.

I'm looking forward to uploading many more books in the upcoming months and watching to see the new and different directions this company will take. It's very exciting to be your own boss and see your dreams realized.

Laura Shinn
www.laurashinn.com

Review by: Wayne Watson on Nov. 22, 2009 : (no rating)
Thank you for this guide- it has really helped me raise my game!

Most of us use Word like we use our brains- at about 5% of their potential!

I have learned more since downloading this guide about formatting than in all the years I have been using this software.

Also, having been properly motivated, I managed to make a presentable cover for my book!

Again- THANK YOU!

And to all other writers- download it and READ IT!

Here is the portal to the future :-)

Wayne Watson
Meddlers In Time.

Review by: Oren on Nov. 01, 2009 :
A very necessary guide in order to master the harsh realm known as Smash Words!

Review by: Samuel Horelick on Oct. 09, 2009 : (no rating)
I must agree with previous reviewers - this book is a "must read" before submitting. An excellent detailed guide!

Samuel Horelick

Review by: Anne Lyken-Garner on Sep. 28, 2009 :
I spent the afternoon reading this before I uploaded my first book. It was extremely helpful to me. I would've been totally lost without it. Thank you for a job well-done. I recommend this to everyone starting out with Smashwords.

Review by: Maria E. Schneider on Aug. 30, 2009 :
Good stuff and essential reading if you want to upload a book! Thanks for writing down the details in such a compact form.

Review by: E. Patrick Dorris on Aug. 01, 2009 :
After seeing the results of some books here that were not formatted using this guide, I am glad that I read this simple yet indispensible guide and use it for everything I have published so far.

Underestimate the importance of this guide and it's instructions at your peril. OK, maybe not peril, but do what it says, please!

Review by: Randolph Lalonde on Aug. 01, 2009 :
Fantastic guide! After dealing with a dozen or so eBook retailers, Smashwords is a breath of fresh air so far. I'm in the process of converting my work (11 titles at the moment), so it can appear here and this guide is absolutely essential.

Review by: George Angus on Apr. 01, 2009 :
This style guide is an absolutely crucial read prior to publishing your ebook. I was all fat, dumb and happy thinking I'd just hit "publish" and my beautifully formatted ebook with the fancy colors and fonts would be whisked away to stardom.

After reading the style guide, I now get it. Ebooks are a different animal. I do want my book available to the largest number of readers so I'm going to follow the advice here.

I also agree with Christopher. The guide is not written for techies at all. If you have even a passing knowledge of MS Word, you will find this guide helpful in walking you through the steps.

An absolute must read.

George

Review by: Christopher Pinckley on Mar. 28, 2009 :
If you are an independent author/writer, then there is no getting around reading this ebook(unless you are also a software engineer).

What I loved about this book was that Mark doesn't take any reader for granted, anyone can understand his instructions. Mark also happens to be a very patient guy and extremely helpful, all of which comes through very clearly in this easy to understand guide.

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