While I’d like to tell you my trials and tribulations of formatting on Scrivener (it really is a terrific piece of software), I’m going to spare you, because really, I could (and have been known to) go on for hours. (Besides, I’m getting the hang of it.)
The biggest thing I learned (and this will make you laugh) is how to “save” the compile preset settings. I was doing it by pressing the Window key (which is the Ctrl key for the Mac) and then the “Compile” button would turn into a “Save” button. Except that never saved ANYTHING, and each time I re-compiled the book, I would have to go through and manually check each level of settings. Needless to say, this took hours and hours and hours. Finally, I read that you can go to “Manage Compile Presets” and click the “Update” button, which would then save your settings. Double checking those settings became speedy and easy. So what took at least an hour, like a recompile after adjusting one small thing, now takes five minutes.
Here are the two gentlemen who had the information about the Update button.
http://jeremyleejames.com/writers/scrivener-how-to-compile-with-style/
http://michaeljholley.com/2013/04/15/how-to-format-your-ebook-using-scrivener/
Plus, I emailed Ed Ditto in a panic because the Kindle Previewer was showing all my links as this pale blue, when I wanted crisp, “hyperlink” blue. turns out, the Kindle Previewer doesn’t know, or can’t, reflect the color of links. He speedily and kindly wrote back for clarification, and I thanked him because come to find out, over on Amazon, the links do show up in hyperlink blue! Thank you, Ed!
And Gwen Hernandez was kind enough to get back to me as well, to confirm what Ed had said, as well as to give me the tip about doing a final edit in Sigil, to tweak the colors as I needed to. (Gwen is the author of the very well organized Scrivener For Dummies, which my edition of is very well thumbed and dog-eared.)
I’ve formatted the revised version of Fagin’s Boy and uploaded to several of my channels, and here are the links:
Amazon – Kindle – The “look inside” hasn’t quite caught up with my recent upload, but I’ve written the KDP folks and they’re usually pretty responsive.
Update 1/20/2015: KDP responded within 24 hours to let me know that it usually takes about a week for the look inside to catch up with the new upload, so it’ll be Saturday or Sunday when that happens. I’ve also discovered a few tweaks I’d like to make to the .mobi file, so with a little hand holding from my friend Sharon, I should soon have the file in tip-top shape.
Update 1/21/2015: I updated the .mobi file last night, and KDP had it up right away. It looks much better now, except I re-sized the divider and my logo and now they’re too big! But everything else looks good. It’s funny, though, that I used the Kindle Previewer, and it showed me the sizes of the divider and the logo in the Kindle HD, the Kindle Fire, ect., and it never looked as big as it does when you go to Amazon and use the “look inside” feature. I’m thinking that the Kindle Previewer displays the size of images relative to the e-reader being used, and doesn’t really have anything to do with how big the image actually is. That being said, I think what I need to do is return the divider and the images to the original size, maybe just a tad bigger, and I think the quality of the images will show through, even if they’re not the exact size that I’d like. (The print version of the document offers much more control, which makes sense, since each e-reader has its own display ratios.)
Kobo – ebook
Update 1/20/2015: The new file is in place, but in the Kobo view, the font looks huge! I’ll need to make more tweaks here, to decrease the font.
Smashwords – ebook
Update 1/20/2015: Smashwords has accepted the file, but there is no “preview” mode to see how it looks. I’ll double check it in my Calibre editor, just to make sure. Also, although I submitted the file to their “premium catalog” on Sunday, I’ve not heard back on whether it was accepted or not.
All Romance – ebook
Update 1/20/2015: I uploaded the file last night, but again, the font is too huge. It has been pointed out to me by my Mentor of All Things Software-ish that print settings, however reasonable they may be, do not always translate to ebook settings. More tweaks!
Update 1/21/2015: I updated and re-uploaded a .mobi file to All Romance, but considering that I’ve made the divider and logo too big, I’m going to have to redo this.
Barnes & Noble – ebook
Update 1/20/2015: Please do not ask me about Nook.
Update 1/20/2015: The print proof is on order and should be delivered Friday. What I love about CreateSpace is that they email you with notifications that XYZ has happened and tell you what, if anything, needs to happen next.
Update 1/21/2015: The print copy of the book arrived last night, and I took some time out to admire it. It really does look nice, and I’m glad I took the extra time to figure out all the tiny corners where the details make the difference. I am waiting to compare it to Ingram Spark’s copy, and then I’ll approve it.
Ingram Spark
Update 1/21/2015: I ordered the proof copy last night. I think IS was delayed on account of their system maintenance, for which I did receive an email notice. I anticipate that the only difference between the two will be the type of white paper that is used.
Let me know if you have any questions, and I’ll be happy to answer.