Self Publishing Media

How To Make Your Own eBook

• Introduction
• Convert Your Writings To eBook Format
• PDF Software
• eBook Security
• eBook File Sizes
• eBook Hyperlinks
• Conclusion

Introduction

One of the first things one needs to learn about self publishing Online is how to make an eBook.

An eBook is an electronic version of your writing which can be downloaded immediately after it is sold to your customer. It works like this:

• You send visitors to your Sales Page which is a web page located on your own website (YourExcellentEbook.com).
• Some visitors will buy your eBook from the sales page by clicking your order link and making a purchase with their credit card.
• The credit card gets automatically validated and the customer is then automatically sent to your download page (Thank You Page) where they can download the eBook.

Obviously, before any of this can happen, it is necessary to convert your writings into a professional looking eBook format so the customer can download and read the book straight away.

Convert Your Writings To eBook Format

To convert your writings to eBook format, you need to convert your existing source files into the glorious PDF format.

The source file was originally generated by the word processing program you used to write your book.

For example, if you are on a Windows machine, your source files are probably Word files generated by Microsoft Office Word. MS Office Word documents usually end with the .doc or .docx extension (docname.doc or docname.docx).

If you are on a Mac machine, your source files might have been generated by the word processing program found on Macs which is called Pages. Pages documents end with the .pages extension (docname.pages).

Many Word Processors these days allow you to export your work as a PDF.

If you are using Microsoft Office Word 2007 or 2010 for example, then you can Export your work as a PDF.

If you are using Pages on a Mac, then you can also export your work as a PDF.

If you find that your machine cannot convert your documents to PDF, then you will have to download some free or commercial PDF software.

PDF Software

There is Free and Commercial PDF software and there is also an entire suite of Free Office Software which can convert your documents.

PDF was originally created by Adobe Systems so it wouldn’t be right not give them a mention here. They have a program called Adobe Acrobat. The newest versions are always quite expensive, so I generally buy legal older versions from eBay.com.

One Free PDF generator I hear mentioned a lot around Internet Marketing circles is pdf995.com. It is a full featured free PDF generator, but it is advertiser supported. It costs a minimal fee to have the ads removed.

There is also hundreds of PDF generators available at eBay for cheap.

There are many different PDF software tools available on the market. The trick is to do your research. Read about all the different features so you can evaluate which one best suites your needs. Personally I like Adobe Acrobat, but there are many other good ones on the market these days.

eBook Security

One of the main features you’ll want to look for when selecting PDF software is eBook Security. This is a must-have feature which allows you to prevent unauthorized copying of the contents of your eBook.

Not all PDF generators have the ability to secure your document to prevent theft!

For example, if you export your MS Word document to PDF, you will not see any options to secure the files from unauthorized copying.

On the other hand, if you have Adobe Acrobat installed on your machine, you can easily convert that MS 2007 Word document to PDF and secure it at the same time.

eBook File Sizes

Not all PDF generators are created the same! This is going to sound like another plug for Adobe Acrobat, but I have to tell you about this.

After converting the same document to PDF from 3 different PDF generators, I have found that Adobe Acrobat produces the smallest file size.

eBook Hyperlinks

I have seen a PDF generator selling for $95 and the hyperlinks within the document don’t work. What a rip-off!

Another important must have feature to look for when selecting PDF software is that the hyperlinks you place inside the eBook must work!

Active hyperlinks within your eBook are essential for up-selling other products and services from within your eBook.

Not only that, it is quite annoying for a reader to see a blue underlined hyperlink, go to click it and nothing happens.

Conclusion

Once you have decided which PDF software/generator you would like to use, the work is not over. There is other things to do like making (or getting someone else) to make an attractive eCover Graphic for your sales page, making a sales page and so on.

So stay tuned

Copyright: This article is copyright Ed Zivkovic. Reproduction without permission prohibited. More self publishing tips for Online publishers and other useful resources can be found at Ed’s website WebTipsPro.com.