To compile means to produce something by collecting information from other sources. There’s a computer science definition for compiling, but for creating ebooks, the more common definition of “compile” is more useful. In simplest terms, it’s a program that compiles code. Besides, if you can learn all of the convoluted hoops you have to get your Word document through to get it ready for Smashwords or Amazon, you can learn HTML.īut beyond that, there’s a new reason to use HTML for ebook formatting: you can compile HTML files using a compiler and the Kit language. Learning it can be a bit of a curve, but there are excellent guides available for free online, and even more detail in books like Guido Henkel’s Zen of Ebook Formatting. It gives you the best control over the formatting, and it ensures that your ebook editor isn’t injecting a bunch of useless or nonsensical code into your books (I’m looking at you, Microsoft Word). If you’re an independent author, I think HTML is the best way to format and maintain you ebook catalog. And it didn’t require expensive software. So instead, I opened one file, made the change once, and automatically updated fifteen different files in just under twenty seconds. It’s a simple change, but it can still take 10 minutes to open fifteen different files, paste a line of code in the right spot, and save them out.
Every time you want to edit your author bio, add a book to the back matter, or update your newsletter invitation, you have to open, update, and save 15 different files.Ĭase in point, a while ago I wanted to add the new logo for Gnomish Press to the front of all of my ebooks. However, if you have three books available on five platforms, you need fifteen separate HTML files. Retailers and readers alike prefer this approach. For example, if you buy Orconomics on Amazon, all of the links in the back of the book should take you to Amazon books. That’s because if you want to follow best practices, your back matter should have platform-specific links. If you sell multiple books on multiple platforms, you can quickly find yourself buried in files.
HTML, Word documents, and most other ways that indie authors have to format their ebooks all have the same common flaw: rework.
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