Blogging, Writing, and Publishing

Submitting a pre-designed cover can be tricky depending on the type of software and computer system you are using. In my present set up, I am using Adobe Acrobat CS4 to design my books and cover. I also use it to format eBooks including Kindle format versions. Though uploading books is not usually a problem, submitting a cover is. Ugh, it's all squished. With CreateSpace, I can submit my manuscript and cover in PDF format. However, for Kindle, it is best to submit the manuscript in mobi or other Kindle recommended format. However, the cover must be submitted as an image and that's where the challenges come in. When designing a book for print, I design a cover with front, back and spine components. For an eBook, all that's needed is the front cover. I used to create this by taking a PDF and saving it as a jpeg or tiff image. Then I would crop out the spine and back cover, then save. I would then upload a perf...

CreateSpace is an excellent self-publishing solution. I primarily use Lightning Source for most of my publishing needs, but there are some advantages of printing with CreateSpace as well. Primarily, books are listed “in stock” at Amazon.com and CreateSpace stores if printed with CreateSpace. My Lightning Source books are available on Amazon.com but usually not listed “in stock”. Thus, I often make my books available for print with both Lightning Source and CreateSpace. If you chose to use one or the other, or both, make sure your title information, ISBN and other book administrative details are accurate and listed the same in both venues. Without that level of detail, your book manuscript and cover submissions may not be approved. Additionally, if you try to link your printed book with an Amazon.com Kindle version, or your paperback with your hardback version, it may prove difficult if title information details vary too greatly. For example, my manuscript is entitled Red Bike Publis...