How to Make a Kindle eBook from Scratch Posted May 5, 2014 by & filed under,. Update (Sept. 11, 2015): The character set for Kindle eBooks is now UTF-8.
- Petitioning Amazon To Make Kindle For Mac Download
- Amazon Kindle For Mac Download
- Petitioning Amazon To Make Kindle For Macbook
From the Kindle Publishing Program page: Amazon Kindle Publishing Guidelines: this PDF outlines their standards. KindleGen: a command line program to convert the source files into Kindle Format 8. Kindle Previewer: a simulator, so you can test your eBook. Sample Books: I strongly recommend that you look at the samples. Some have examples of how to add images, text, media, etc. If you own an Amazon Kindle and have Amazon Prime, you can say Avada Kedavra to paying a dime for the entire Harry Potter series. Amazon has recently acquired the exclusive rights to make the series part of its Kindle Owners’ Lending Library.
And recommends using the UTF-8 character over entities (© over ©). There are many ways to create a Kindle eBook, but creating your own source files, and then using KindleGen to convert it into Kindle Format 8 will give you more control over the end result, than relying on a plugin. If you are a web designer, like me, you already know the technologies you need to make Kindle eBooks from scratch: HTML, XML and CSS. All you need to know is how to put those technologies together, and you’ll be in business. What you’ll need. Text editor: most text editors will do for this task, but I’ve had editors crash on me when editing really long books (hundreds of pages long). I usually prefer doing my eBook editing in, but may work just as well for your needs.
From the page:.: this PDF outlines their standards. KindleGen: a command line program to convert the source files into Kindle Format 8. Kindle Previewer: a simulator, so you can test your eBook.: I strongly recommend that you look at the samples. Some have examples of how to add images, text, media, etc. This tutorial will cover the basics of making a simple eBook, but its just a matter of studying the publishing guidelines, and sample books to be able to make more complex eBooks.
File structure To create an Kindle eBook, you need the following files:. The book in HTML format (it can be all in one file, or you can break it up, a chapter per file, for example). An OPF with the book’s details. An NCX (Navigation Center eXtended) table of contents. Cover image (JPEG or TIFF). Any other assets your book may have (CSS files, images, fonts, etc.) If you download the, you can see how their files are organized.
Formatting the book: HTML This can be time consuming, but all you need to do is convert the book into a web page. You can use XHTML, or HTML5, but have to be careful to set the encoding as ‘Latin-1’ (ISO-8859-1) UTF-8 (see the update at the beginning of this article).
Here’s a template of what your HTML file may look like. You can export from inDesign (or Word, ugh!) into HTML. If you are like me, though, you’ll cringe at the sight of the generated code, and you’ll want to clean it.
I strongly recommend for that. When structuring your book with HTML, keep things simple and structural. Use HTML to set up your headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, lists, strong or emphasized text, etc. You can see a. Here’s an abridged version of what the HTML for a book chapter may look like (notice the id in the chapter title, and the pagebreak class at the end, I’ll explain what that’s about soon). Chapter Two Subtitle Some quote Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur. As you can see, you can add divs with classes, and even images (check out the publishing guidelines for the details).
Just remember that you have no control over the size of the device an the base font the reader is using. Think responsive!
Formatting the book: CSS Unless you are doing a graphic heavy book, children’s book, or comic book, your CSS will be very simple. Remember that Kindle users are able to set the size and font they want to use, so you shouldn’t fiddle with that too much. Table of Contents Overture Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Epilogue. If you divided the HTML into multiple files, make sure they point to the file, and id. For example: Chapter 2. Table of contents: NCX In addition to having a table of contents in your HTML, you need to have an XML file with the same information. This XML file allows for better user experience, since it lets readers navigate the book better.
If you downloaded the sample books, you can see the ones included with them, but here’s an excerpt of the NCX TOC version of the HTML TOC from above.
Just be careful to keep the links accurate, and the playOrder, well, in order. The Book Details: OPF The OPF is an XML file that has all of your book’s details, from ISBN, title, author, book cover, to the list of all the files included in the package. As with the NCX, I recommend using one of the sample book’s OPF as a template. Book title en Author name Copyright owner Publisher images/cover.jpg. Some of the OPF files in the book samples have comments with explanations, but the one above should give you an idea of the information it contains:. Metadata: Information such as book title, author, publisher and cover art.
There is in the OPF website. Manifest: The list of all the files included in the package (HTML, and NCX). I recommend that you list all CSS and image files as well. If you do, when generating the Kindle book, any missing (or misspelled) files will generate a warning. Spine: The list of HTML files, in the order in which they must be read.
Guide: This element points to key items in your book, such as the TOC, where the text starts, if there is a dedication, etc. Cover Image As you can see in the OPF, you need to include information about the cover image. The image should be:. JPEG or TIFF. 1.6 ratio preferred. Minimum: 625 pixels on the shortest side and 1000 pixels on the longest side. Best: 1563 pixels on the shortest side and 2500 pixels on the longest side Creating the Kindle eBook Now that you have all the necessary files, you are ready to create the Mobi.
Here’s where KindleGen comes in. After you for your platform, you need to run it in the command line. The KindleGen download includes instructions, but the command would look something like this: / Applications / kindlegen / Users / me / Documents / Book / book. Opf If you are in a Mac, the easiest way is to drag KindleGen into the Terminal, then drag the OPF, and click enter. KindleGen will start running, and if everything is fine, a Mobi file will be generated in the same folder where the OPF is located. Some of the errors you may encounter may have to do with broken links in the TOC (usually typos in the ids or links), and missing files (typos in file names).
Your masterpiece is done! Once you have the Mobi, you can open it in Kindle Preview, any other eBook reader, or even an actual Kindle device. If you are happy with the results, you are ready to upload it to the!. Tags:, 12 Responses to “How to Make a Kindle eBook from Scratch”. delete google plus android Fabulous, what a web site it is!
This web site presents useful information to us, keep it up. I created web pages using Notepad and now I want to convert these HTML pages into an e-book.
I spent some time looking for information. Alicia’s this site is the best for me.
So I presume I don’t need either WinZip or Epub as long as I have my HTML files and cling to Kindle Direct Publishing. Keep your good work up. That’s right.
You don’t need to WinZip or EPUB, all you need is. It doesn’t even require that you have all the XML files I described in the tutorial, just the HTML, but you’ll get better results if you take the time to create them. If you want to also submit your book to Apple’s iBookstore, then you will need to create an EPUB, though. The method I described is for Amazon only. tomozawa Thanks Alicia, I have successfully uploaded my HTML files and eBook cover to Kindle. Living in Japan,the Cover Creator is not available at present.
So I logged in the kindle site on the stateside. Thanks again for your tip about Apple’s iBookstore. Thank you so much for this helpful blog article. It really helps so much! However, with that said, I guess I’m getting confused. There was talk on the Kindle forums that Kindle no longer accepts Mobi and that it’s obsolete formatting.
I don’t know what to believe. I’m not sure about that. According to the: “KindleGen generates a single file with a Mobi extension which supports both Mobi and KF8 format.”. Thomas White Can you suggest about listing justify ul and ol. If we are previewing listing on Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 device not showing justify. It might be device’s issue or coding?.
I have not encountered that issue, but then again. What I can recommend is to to open to open the document in a web browser, and if it’s justified, then it’s probably a device issue. Mohamed This is wonderful and lucid and clear, Alicia.
Does it also work for an Arabic (right-to-left) ebook?. In theory, yes (although I’ve never done it myself), since it’s mostly HTML and CSS,. The problem is that, so I you’d have to embed your Arabic font, and if it works, it will only work on Kindle Fire HD, and Paperwhite, and you wouldn’t be able to distribute it via Amazon. You may want to look into creating an EPUB, instead. Hello I am so happy I found your website, I really found you by mistake, while I was researching on Bing for something else, Regardless I am here now and would just like to say thanks for a fantastic post and a all round thrilling blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have time to look over it all at the minute but I have bookmarked it and also added in your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read more, Please do keep up the great b. Just what I need to finish up my eBook, Good Food for Great Dogs: Busting the Dog Food Myths–Secrets of Canine Nutrition.
I write in WordPerfect, and most books on Kindle formatting start with Word (ditto the “UGH!”), so this post is perfect. Recent Posts. Archives. Categories.
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I made a discovery that I want to share with you. Have you ever wanted to read a Kindle ebook but don’t own a Kindle? Well I just found out that you can actually read Kindle ebooks on your PC or MAC!
Petitioning Amazon To Make Kindle For Mac Download
Kindle For PC & Mac If you have an account at Amazon then they offer you free software to install on your PC or Mac that will then enable you to read any Kindle ebook! Here are the links to download it. Once you download and install it (you will need your Amazon account log in details) you will then see an icon like this one: Then when you buy or get a free Kindle ebook you will see it listed inside the software on your computer!
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Petitioning Amazon To Make Kindle For Macbook
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