Smashwords Style Guide Part 4

Step 25. How to Upload your Book!

Once you're convinced your book is properly formatted, click the "Publish" link from the main menu, anywhere on the site. Do not click this link if you want to upload a new version of a book you previously uploaded (instead, go to Dashboard: "Upload new version").

On the Publish page, you'll fill out all the data a.s.sociated with your book, and you'll attach your book file and your cover file. Before you click the [publish] link at the bottom of the page, triple check that you filled out all the options above.

If you price your book at "Reader Sets the Price," this option is available for customers who purchase at Smashwords.com, but is not supported by our retailers. If you choose this option, your book price will default to $4.95 for retail distribution only though you can click to Dashboard: Settings afterward and select a different default price for retail distribution only.

Choose a price that ends in $.99, because Apple requires all prices to end in $.99 (although free is acceptable as well). If you provide a price that doesn't end in $.99, Smashwords will raise your price to the nearest $.99 when we ship to Apple, and for Apple only. Therefore, if you give us a price of $1.20, it'll become $1.99 at Apple.

After you click the [publish] b.u.t.ton at the bottom of the Publish page, your browser will pause for several seconds as your file uploads to Smashwords. If you have a slow internet connection, it may a pause for 60 seconds or longer. While it's paused, do not click your browsers reload b.u.t.ton, because it could cause you to double-publish the book. Next, you should progress to the conversion page with a spinning wheel. You do not need to watch the spinning wheel.

If you click the [publish] b.u.t.ton and it bounces you back to the previous page, carefully read the error messages before proceeding. If you're having problems uploading, visit the Smashwords Support center at https://www.smashwords.com/about/supportfaq#Uploading for tips. for tips.

Once your book is finished converting, it will immediately go live on the site and will automatically be considered for Premium Catalog inclusion. You'll also receive an email confirmation.

Step 26: How AutoVetter Works The moment your upload completes, our AutoVetter AutoVetter feature will a.n.a.lyze your book and immediately tell you if your formatting has any glaring errors that could prevent you from gaining inclusion in the Premium Catalog. This will allow you to quickly fix the most common problems so you can fast track your book for the Premium Catalog. feature will a.n.a.lyze your book and immediately tell you if your formatting has any glaring errors that could prevent you from gaining inclusion in the Premium Catalog. This will allow you to quickly fix the most common problems so you can fast track your book for the Premium Catalog.

Just because AutoVetter flags a potential error doesn't mean Smashwords is "rejecting" your book. You'd be surprised how often authors email me to complain that Smashwords keeps rejecting their book. AutoVetter a.n.a.lyzes your book for several potential problems, and its a.n.a.lysis is usually accurate.

The AutoVetter error that tends to be erroneous most often is the "Printed In" error. If those words appear in the body of your book, and not in the t.i.tle/copyright pages, then you can ignore the Printed In error. However, if your copyright section says something like "Printed in the United States," you should remove that phrase because this is your Smashwords ebook, not your print book.

If AutoVetter flags your book with a possible copyright error, it will delay your inclusion into the Premium Catalog. It means you didn't follow the instructions in Step 21b Step 21b above. AutoVetter wants to see a proper copyright statement, plus either the phrase above. AutoVetter wants to see a proper copyright statement, plus either the phrase Smashwords Edition Smashwords Edition or or Published by [your name] at Smashwords Published by [your name] at Smashwords If AutoVetter is giving you errors related to tabs, s.p.a.ce bar s.p.a.ces, textboxes and tables, and you cannot locate the source of the error, be sure to check your headers and footers. These are all critical errors that will prevent your inclusion in the catalog.

To check your Premium Catalog status, visit your Dashboard and look under the "Premium Status" column. If it says "pending review," it means you're waiting for Smashwords to manually approve your book for the catalog. The process can take up to a week, sometimes longer.

If it says "modifications required," click on the link to see what modifications are required.

If it's waiting for you to submit your book for consideration, click the link and resubmit your book.

Each time you make a change to your book, the status will change to "Needs Submission" until you click the resubmit b.u.t.ton. The resubmit b.u.t.ton, which you'll see after you make any change other than price, is your way of telling our review team that your new changes are ready for review. After you click the resubmit b.u.t.ton, your status will change to "pending review." Don't worry, if you're book was previously approved for the Premium Catalog, the previously approved version will continue to ship in the meantime.

Once your book is approved for the Premium Catalog, it will ship to partic.i.p.ating retailers in the next shipment. We typically ship once every one or two weeks, although we will sometimes ship earlier or later. You can check shipment status by clicking on the Channel Manager link in your Dashboard. After your book ships, it may still take several weeks for your book to appear at retail. This is determined by the retailer, not Smashwords.

Learn more about the Premium Catalog and its distribution outlets at http://www.smashwords.com/distribution

Step 27: After You Publish: Check Your Work After your book appears on the site, check the formats for quality. The more formats you offer, the better your ability to serve your readers. If a certain format doesn't do your book justice, you can deactivate it (for example, if you publish a picture book for children, our .TXT and .PDB formats won't show images, so you might want to deactivate them. If the images are nice-to-have but not need-to-have, then it's probably okay to leave those formats in place because more formats open you up to more readers). Remember that EPUB is your most important format, and it is a requirement for inclusion in the Premium Catalog. The MOBI format is required for distribution to Amazon. Even if you already distribute to Amazon on your own, many Smashwords customers prefer to buy Kindle books at Smashwords.com so DON'T deactivate your MOBI format.

Usually a quick look at the HTML reader version will help you spot potential formatting problems, because it acts like a canary in a coal mine. If things aren't right, it'll let you know! Don't worry if page breaks aren't where you expected them (this is normal and okay!). After you correct any problems, go to your Dashboard Dashboard and then click and then click Upload a New Version Upload a New Version next to your t.i.tle. From there, you can re-upload your file. next to your t.i.tle. From there, you can re-upload your file.

To check the quality of EPUB, you can download and install the free Adobe Digital Editions reader software from Adobe. Once you install it, simply visit your book page and click on the link to download your full EPUB. To check the MOBI format, which is used by the Amazon Kindle, and you don't have a Kindle, download the free reader software from Adobe. Once you install it, simply visit your book page and click on the link to download your full EPUB. To check the MOBI format, which is used by the Amazon Kindle, and you don't have a Kindle, download the free Kindle for PC software or if you're on a Mac, software or if you're on a Mac, Kindle for Mac. Once you have this installed, you can click on the MOBI version of your book and it'll instantly open in this helpful Kindle app.

CHECK FOR EPUBCHECK COMPLIANCE: If you want your book distributed to the Apple iBookstore, the EPUB file we generated for you must pa.s.s EPUBCHECK, which is an industry standard compliance validation tool. We've built a lot of magic into Meatgrinder that allows us to automatically repair many EPUBCHECK problems without your intervention, but we can't fix them all.

If your book doesn't pa.s.s EPUBCHECK, it means there's a problem with the source file you uploaded to Smashwords, and your book won't ship to Apple. If your book has been in the Premium Catalog for multiple weeks, and you watch our Apple ship dates pa.s.s your book by, then this is most likely the cause.

Here's how to check: After you publish your book, and you've fixed any remaining AutoVetter errors, download your EPUB file to your computer's desktop, and then upload the file to this free validation service: http://threepress.org/doc.u.ment/epub-validate. Click [browse] to locate your file on your desktop, then click [validate] to run the test. If your book pa.s.ses, it'll tell you. Congratulations! Go celebrate.

If it fails, it'll toss up (mostly) incomprehensible spaghetti language telling you why your book failed. Take a deep breath (Very important). Try to study and understand the messages, but don't pull out too much hair if it's confusing, because it is SUPER-CONFUSING. Click over to the official EPUBCHECK Error Reporting Page at http://code.google.com/p/epubcheck/wiki/Errors to learn more about the errors. Take another deep breath. No, you're not stupid. The confusing errors are stupid. Welcome to the early days of the ebook revolution. We're confident these tools will continue to get better over time. to learn more about the errors. Take another deep breath. No, you're not stupid. The confusing errors are stupid. Welcome to the early days of the ebook revolution. We're confident these tools will continue to get better over time.

If the tips below don't help you, or you find they only drive your EPUB-addled brain to the breaking point, one of the most effective ways to fix the problem is to reformat your book using the Nuclear Method, as described at https://www.smashwords.com/about/supportfaq#nuclear, because the Nuclear method will clear out all the gunk you cannot see (it'll also remove all your formatting, so use it carefully). Or, contact me for a referral to a low cost formatter.

Common Reasons for EPUBCHECK failure: Missing the "http://" in front of a web address - If your book contains improperly formed hyperlinks, it'll fail EPUBCHECK. For example, if you right mouse click on a hyperlink, and you see the link points to If your book contains improperly formed hyperlinks, it'll fail EPUBCHECK. For example, if you right mouse click on a hyperlink, and you see the link points to www.website.com www.website.com instead instead of of http http://www.website.com, it'll fail.Missing the "mailto:" in front of an email address - If you're linking to a live email address, the email address underneath the hyperlink (right mouse click then click - If you're linking to a live email address, the email address underneath the hyperlink (right mouse click then click Edit Hyperlink Edit Hyperlink to see) should begin with " to see) should begin with "mailto:" so it looks like mailto:[email protected] mailto:[email protected] where, of course, you'll replace [email protected] with the actual email address. where, of course, you'll replace with the actual email address.HTML and Styling errors This is a catch-all for "that which we mere mortals cannot understand." Microsoft Word often contains the remnants of old or hidden styling that you can't see with the naked eye, especially if your book originated in a program other than Microsoft Word, or if your book was once in HTML form. Unless you're a geek or HTML expert, these errors, even after studying the EPUBCHECK error reporting, are very difficult to decipher and identify. If you can't figure it out on your own, you may need to reformat your book from scratch by implementing the This is a catch-all for "that which we mere mortals cannot understand." Microsoft Word often contains the remnants of old or hidden styling that you can't see with the naked eye, especially if your book originated in a program other than Microsoft Word, or if your book was once in HTML form. Unless you're a geek or HTML expert, these errors, even after studying the EPUBCHECK error reporting, are very difficult to decipher and identify. If you can't figure it out on your own, you may need to reformat your book from scratch by implementing the Nuclear Method, which will purge all the hidden corruption. The Nuclear Method will also purge all other formatting.Misidentified Image Files - If Word thinks your image is a Gif file when it's really a JPEG, for example, this can cause an EPUBCHECK error. This is often fixable by deleting the image along with a couple paragraph returns above and below the image, and then re-import the image. - If Word thinks your image is a Gif file when it's really a JPEG, for example, this can cause an EPUBCHECK error. This is often fixable by deleting the image along with a couple paragraph returns above and below the image, and then re-import the image.Properties Error - If you examine the - If you examine the Properties Properties in your Word file (In Word 2000 & 2003, go to in your Word file (In Word 2000 & 2003, go to File: Properties File: Properties; in Word 2007 click on the round Office b.u.t.ton at the upper left of the screen, then hover your mouse pointer over Prepare Prepare, then click Properties) Properties) and you see strange HTML characters in there, remove them. and you see strange HTML characters in there, remove them.PlayOrder Error If you see "playorder" in the spaghetti messages, try deleting your table of contents and retype it, following the step by step outlined in the ToC section above. Make sure you created your linked ToC using the bookmark method, and not Word's ToC field codes. If you see "playorder" in the spaghetti messages, try deleting your table of contents and retype it, following the step by step outlined in the ToC section above. Make sure you created your linked ToC using the bookmark method, and not Word's ToC field codes.

Step 28: How to Market Your Book Although we make it free and easy to publish and distribute your book, your book will not sell unless you get out there and sell it! It's your responsibility to promote your book. Read my free companion guide, The Smashwords Book Marketing Guide at at http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/305 for a complete overview of how to use Smashwords to promote and sell your book. for a complete overview of how to use Smashwords to promote and sell your book.

Send Feedback So I Can Improve This Guide!

I hope this guide was useful to you. Please send me your comments and suggestions. Your feedback will help me improve this guide for other authors.

Won't you please take a moment to tell your friends about Smashwords?

Mark c.o.ker Founder Smashwords, Inc.

first initial second initial at smashwords dot com

Follow me on Twitter - Smashwords news, trends in ebook publishing: http://twitter.com/markc.o.ker

Helpful Resources: Smashwords Support Center - FAQs, troubleshootinghttps://www.smashwords.com/about/supportfaqThe Smashwords Blog - Smashwords news and other ebook trends:http://blog.smashwords.comSmashwords operational updates, bugs, fixes, miscellaneous:http://www.smashwords.com/about/betaSmashwords Book Marketing Guide - 25+ marketing tips, all freehttp://www.smashwords.com/books/view/305How Smashwords Distributes Your Bookshttp://www.smashwords.com/distributionYour Dashboard Monitor Premium Catalog Statushttp://www.smashwords.com/dashboard ###.

Keyboard Shortcuts:

If you take the time to learn some special keyboard shortcuts, you can dramatically reduce the time it takes to format your book. Often the keyboard shortcut involves pressing the CTRL CTRL key on the PC or the key on the PC or the Command Command key on the Mac, followed by a key on the Mac, followed by a ^ ^ (called a caret) and a letter. (called a caret) and a letter.

HIGHLIGHT ALL: CTRL+A - This key combination highlights the entire book, making it easy to apply a global change to the formatting. After you highlight everything by pressing CTRL+A, for example, a right mouse click anywhere, followed by a click on Paragraph, will allow you to globally modify your paragraphs, or your line s.p.a.cing, or allow you to instantly apply a special first line paragraph indent. - This key combination highlights the entire book, making it easy to apply a global change to the formatting. After you highlight everything by pressing CTRL+A, for example, a right mouse click anywhere, followed by a click on Paragraph, will allow you to globally modify your paragraphs, or your line s.p.a.cing, or allow you to instantly apply a special first line paragraph indent.

COPY or CUT: CTRL+C or CTRL+X - Highlight any text string with your mouse (click and hold your mouse key, then drag your mouse to highlight), then click CTRL+C to copy it into memory. After you copy something into memory, the original text stays where it is. If you CTRL+X, or cut it, it removes the text from the screen and places it in memory. - Highlight any text string with your mouse (click and hold your mouse key, then drag your mouse to highlight), then click CTRL+C to copy it into memory. After you copy something into memory, the original text stays where it is. If you CTRL+X, or cut it, it removes the text from the screen and places it in memory.

PASTE: CTRL+V - This allows you paste text anywhere you want after you copy or cut it. - This allows you paste text anywhere you want after you copy or cut it.

FIND AND REPLACE: CTRL+H - This is one of the most powerful features. Let's say you used the - This is one of the most powerful features. Let's say you used the Tab Tab key to create first line indents in your original ma.n.u.script, and now you read in the Style Guide that Tabs are about as welcome as the stomach flu. But what if your 100,000 word novel has 2,000 paragraphs? It would take you five hours to zap all those Tabs. With Search & Replace, you can zap 'em all in about 5 seconds. Just press the CTRL key on your keyboard at the same time you press the H key. key to create first line indents in your original ma.n.u.script, and now you read in the Style Guide that Tabs are about as welcome as the stomach flu. But what if your 100,000 word novel has 2,000 paragraphs? It would take you five hours to zap all those Tabs. With Search & Replace, you can zap 'em all in about 5 seconds. Just press the CTRL key on your keyboard at the same time you press the H key.

In the Find what: Find what: field enter: ^t field enter: ^t In the Replace with: Replace with: field, enter nothing, then click the field, enter nothing, then click the Replace All Replace All b.u.t.ton. b.u.t.ton.

If you used s.p.a.ce bar s.p.a.ces instead of indents, you can use a variation of the FIND AND REPLACE tool as well. Activate show/hide, and take a look at the s.p.a.ce bar s.p.a.ces. Maybe you're using what looks like three, four or five s.p.a.ce bar s.p.a.ces. In fact, if you used s.p.a.ce bar s.p.a.ces, you might find it varies. Again, if you had to manually remove these it would take hours. Find and replace does it in seconds. Follow these steps: 1. In the Find what: Find what: field, enter a field, enter a ^p ^p followed by five taps on the s.p.a.ce bar. ^P is the symbol for a paragraph return. By entering followed by five taps on the s.p.a.ce bar. ^P is the symbol for a paragraph return. By entering ^p ^p first, you'll ensure you're only zapping the s.p.a.ce bar s.p.a.ces you're using for first line indents. first, you'll ensure you're only zapping the s.p.a.ce bar s.p.a.ces you're using for first line indents.

2. In the Replace with: field, enter ^p ^p only. only.

3. Repeat step 1, but this time search for ^p ^p followed by four taps on the s.p.a.ce bar. Then replace with followed by four taps on the s.p.a.ce bar. Then replace with ^p ^p and then click Replace All. Then repeat it all over again for and then click Replace All. Then repeat it all over again for ^p ^p followed by three s.p.a.ces, then two, and finally one. followed by three s.p.a.ces, then two, and finally one.

Remember, after you purge the bad first line indents that you originally created with a Tab or s.p.a.ce bar s.p.a.ces, be sure to add either proper first line paragraph indents, or implement the block paragraph method, described above described above.

THE QQQ TRICK - Have you ever copied and pasted something into Word, only to discover it inserts paragraph returns in odd places? This commonly happens when you copy and paste text from an email into Word, or from a Web page into Word. If you have a lot of text facing this problem, try what I call the QQQ Trick. Do a CTRL+H, search for ^p^p and replace with QQQ then search for ^p and replace with nothing. Then search for QQQ and replace with ^p^p and voila, you have reflowable text again. This trick has other uses with other variations. Essentially, you're using a wildcard - QQQ - as a temporary placeholder for something. I chose QQQ because the letters are unlikely to ever appear in natural language. - Have you ever copied and pasted something into Word, only to discover it inserts paragraph returns in odd places? This commonly happens when you copy and paste text from an email into Word, or from a Web page into Word. If you have a lot of text facing this problem, try what I call the QQQ Trick. Do a CTRL+H, search for ^p^p and replace with QQQ then search for ^p and replace with nothing. Then search for QQQ and replace with ^p^p and voila, you have reflowable text again. This trick has other uses with other variations. Essentially, you're using a wildcard - QQQ - as a temporary placeholder for something. I chose QQQ because the letters are unlikely to ever appear in natural language.

Table of Contents How Smashwords Publishes Books: How Smashwords Distributes Books: How Ebook Formatting is Different from Print Formatting How We Convert Your Book into Multiple Ebook Formats The Three Secrets to Ebook Formatting: Keep it Simple, Keep it Simple, Keep it Simple!

Understanding the Different Ebook Formats Step 22. The End of Your Book Step 25. How to Upload your Book!

Step 28: How to Market Your Book