FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

You will be sent a mobi file, that you can upload to your Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) account at Amazon. Mobi is the native file format that the Kindle uses for ebooks. While you can upload other file formats (like Word, PDF, and even epub) to KDP, Amazon then uses software to automatically convert the file to mobi (see the next question, below). By uploading your own mobi file, you avoid Amazon having to do any conversion. That means your book will look exactly how you want it to look.

A very good question! If you upload any file other than a mobi file, Amazon has to use software to convert your file into the mobi format. Because this is being done by a computer, the process is fully automatic. You may have intended the file to look a certain way, but the conversion process does not know what you intend – it just does what it’s programmed to do. The other problem is that Word files (especially for books that have been edited heavily) tend to be “messy”. They may look okay on the screen, but if you look at the hidden information in the file there is all sorts of junk remaining in the file that can confuse the conversion process. Because I convert the manuscripts to HTML, and then edit the files by hand, I remove all that extra junk. The result is a clean file that displays exactly how you want. The final reason to work with me is that I want your book to look how you intend it to look. I will work back-and-forth with you until you are happy with the result. Unlike a computer, I will do what you intend!

I realize that no matter how often the manuscript is checked, typos often slip through. For some reason they often become more visible once the manuscript has been converted to another format (eg: from Word to Kindle – there is something about seeing the book in a different layout that makes the typos easier to spot). I'm happy to fix a “reasonable” number of typos for free. I consider “reasonable” to be ~30 typos. If you have more changes, I will have to charge a fee for the time involved

Sorry, no. We only provide mobi files for Kindle.

Yes, I do! This is an extra service on top of the formatting, and will have an additional fee. Indicate that you want me to upload your manuscript when you contact me, and I will discuss the pricing with you.

It does not matter, you can use any font.

All the epubs I deliver are validated using http://validator.idpf.org/ , so you should have no problem with them at any online retailer. If you do get any errors while uploading them, I will work with you until the problem is fixed!

The most popular section break characters are *, ***. * * *, # and ###. But it’s really your personal preference – there is no standard that you have to adhere to.

Certainly, that is very easy!

Yes you can – for Kindle/epub and CreateSpace books. For Smashwords you can have a graphic at the end of the chapter, but if you want a graphic at the start it has to be after the chapter title.

Standard fonts are Garamond 11 for the body of the book, and Myriad Pro for all the headings and headers/footers. But if you would prefer me to use other fonts, that isn’t a problem – just let me know.

Word is preferred format for the manuscript, but I can accept many other file formats, for example PDF, indesign etc. Just send me a query, and I will get back to you.

I can accept payment via Payoneer, Skrill and PayPal. You don’t need an account with those payment processor to pay – I can send you a invoice, and you can pay it as if you were making any other online purchase.

Sounds great! Send me a message, and we can work something out.