Sigil

Mr. Elkner installed a program on my computer to replace eCub. It's called Sigil. It does the same thing as eCub in the sense that it converts word documents (well, text or HTML documents) to ePub format. But the best part is that you can also edit the text/HTML document once it's in ePub format. You can add images, cover pages, a table of contents, chapter breaks, and more! This is really cool, because I needed to work on the spacing of one of the books I put on my Nook.

Sigil is really cool! I downloaded it onto my computer at home and am using it to edit another of my books right now! Thank you, Mr. Elkner!

I Did It !

I finally did it! I converted two of my books, "True Love" and "Centipedophobia", into eBook format and put them on my Nook. It was very simple and, even better, it was FREE!

First, Mr. Elkner downloaded eCub onto my computer. eCub is the program that converts documents into eBook format. Before you can convert a document to eBook format, go to the document and click "save As." Then save it as a text (.txt) document. If you don't do this, eCub won't be able to convert the book. Once the program is downloaded, you click on the icon. Then click "New Project". It will take you to a screen where you have to type in the title of the book, the author, and the identifier. I'm still not sure what the identifier is, but I type in a different number for each book that I convert. There are other areas that can be filled in, but that is optional. Then click next. After that, you have to locate the folder that your text document is saved in. Hit the next button. You can hit the next button again. Then you will come to a screen that has a box with checked items in it. Make sure that your document is checked. If not, nothing will convert over. Hit the finish button. Now you will see a smaller screen with the title of the book on it. Up at the top is a button that says "Compile." Press that. Once eCub is finished, your book is now in eBook format! It will be saved in the same folder as your original document.

Next, Mr. Elkner downloaded Calibre. You can use Calibre, or Adobe Digital Editions. Both are free. Click the icon of whichever program you downloaded. For this blog, I will describe what to do in Calibre.  Once the Calibre library pops up, plug in your eReader. A button that says "Device" will pop up on the top. That's how you know your eReader is registered. Next, click the button on the top that says "Add Books." Browse for the epub format of your document and click OK. Now your book is in your Calibre library! You can drag and drop it to the button that says device, or you can right click and click on "Send it to device", or you can click the item and then click the button at the top that says "Add to device."

That's all you have to do! Make sure you eject your device before you unplug it, and then you are done!

eCub

Mr. Elkner downloaded eCub on my computer so I can convert my books and poems to ePub format. I converted "True Love" to ePub format and will put it on my Nook tomorrow when I bring the cord. Yay!

My Nook

I just bought a Nook SimpleTouch. It is very simple and is in black and white, but I only use it for reading. Once I convert a poem to epub format, I should be able to download it to my Nook and show it to friends and family. I may even be able to make it available for the "Lend Me" system that Nook's have, in which I would be able to lend the poem to my friends.

I am about to convert my novel "True Love" into epub format. My aunt is reading it and giving me feedback on it, and once that is done, I will print a couple of hard copies and convert it to an eBook. (:

Making my EPUB

I Googled "EPUB creator for Linux" and "EPUB creator for Ubuntu" and several different websites popped up. Most of the websites were available under both Google searches. I clicked on the first one, and it looks to be a good website. It is called Altova (http://whttp://www.altova.com/download-epub-editor.html?gclid=COL-gfW17q8CFQlN4AodSBXc0Q). The other website that I really like is called Blurb (http://landing.blurb.com/ebooks-US?ce=google_ebooks&gclid=CMO_q5u27q8CFUdN4AodpRB51A). This one charges $1.99 to convert something into EPUB format, but that is a low price to pay.

I think these are my best options, and I will probably go with the latter. (:

EPUB

.epub is an electronic book format that has become the industry standard, allowing eBooks that use this format to be read on a wide variety of eReaders, from dedicated hardware to desktop software to online based readers. Here are a few examples:

-Apple iPad

-Barnes and Noble NOOK

-Sony Reader

-Bookeen Cybook OPUS

-Adobe Digital Editions

-ibis Reader

-Bookworm

-EPUB Reader

The EPUB ebook format allows publishers to produce and distribute a digital publication that offers consumers interoperability between software and hardware for unencrypted reflowable digital books. In October 2007 the OPS 2.0 was elevated to an Official IDPF Standard. The “.epub” file extension is made up of XML files for reflowable digital books and publications. EPUB is composed of three open standards, the Open Publication Structure (OPS), Open Packaging Format (OPF) and Open Container Format (OCF) all produced by the IDPF(International Digital Publishing Forum). In actuality, the “.epub” file is just a renamed ZIP archive containing the books files, either XHTML or DTBook, and along with a number of XML description and navigation files there are sometimes image/media files.

My Aunt's Friend

My aunt just met a woman in a class she is taking that writes books about quilting. She self-published them, and they sold pretty well. Of course, my aunt told her about me and how I want to self-publish my books. The woman said that she just recently wrote a children's book, too. She then learned about this offer Amazon has where you can make an eBook available online for free for a certain amount of days. This means that she wouldn't receive any money for her book, but since she isn't in it for the money, she didn't really care. In approximately five days, around 10,500 people downloaded her book. She was astonished. She is also hopeful that people will remember her name and look for her in the future, when she produces more books.

I am excited to meet her and talk to her about the process and how it was for her. I hope that I am as successful as she has been so far. (: