Christine said she was willing to talk about anything, so today I’m tossing her some questions about why she’s decided to put Searching for a Starry Night in the Kindle format and how in the world she did it. (This sounds incredibly intimidating to me! Does it to you?)
After her answers, I’m throwing open the Comments section for questions or Howdies to her.
Welcome Christine Verstraete.
Getting Kindleized
Hi Helen, thanks for letting me visit your blog today.
1. The idea of formatting an e-book and getting it ready for the Kindle seems overwhelmingly intimidating to me. Was it a big learning curve for you?
Intimidating is putting it nicely. Haa! Well... I learn by doing — and doing – and... I did it over several times as I couldn't get rid of a multiple-blank page problem. It finally corrected though I ended up with one extra blank page and decided to leave it at that.2. What made you decide to go with Kindle, instead of some other e-reader like the iPad or Nook?
I began by trying out a short story, "Motherly Love," on Smashwords to see how it would work. The directions there are pretty good and straight-forward though I have to thank fellow author Marian Allen for putting up with my numerous questions.
Smashwords says, "simple is better." How true. I did the same formatting for Kindle (pasting story first in notepad to "erase" extra "invisible" formatting, using single space, and a roughly 0.33" or 27 px indent on first line.)
I wanted to start on Kindle first, hearing such rave reviews from other authors like J.A. Konrath and Robert Walker, who've had great success with it. I haven't found that pot of money at the end of the rainbow yet, but I'm still looking! (lol) I will be putting the book up on Smashwords next since it handles conversion for all the different sites (Sony, Nook, iPad, etc.) I don't think I want to do the formatting for each site individually. I know my limits. Ha!3. Searching for a Starry Night, A Miniature Art Mystery, has a beautiful cover. Were you able to use that for the e-version and how difficult was the cover to put up?
By the way, readers should note that you do NOT have to buy a Kindle to read the book or other stories. Amazon has a free Kindle for PC version. (which I have on my computer.)
As I don't own the cover for the original print version, I decided to make a new cover for the electronic version and an upcoming new print version using another view of the Dachshund photo which resembles the dog "Petey" in the book. He's always been an attention-getter so I decided to use him much bigger on the cover. He makes me laugh!4. How will you be promoting Searching for a Starry Night as an e-book?
Besides doing this blog tour, I'm active on several writing lists and hope to attend some local conferences. There has been such a big growth and interest in eBooks and Kindle online, so it'll be interesting to see what readers have to say in person.5. Do you think e-books are becoming more popular with kids?
I hope so. Having grown up with computers, kids are used to reading stories and lessons on the computer in school. I plan to talk with teachers to get their views and talk with them on their interest in using eBooks in their classroom lessons. I do have a lesson plan with possible questions for teachers to use as well.
Helen, thanks for hosting me! I'm looking forward to answering any of your readers' questions.
Thank you, Christine!
Here are some great links for Christine:
* Website
* Blog
* eBooks page
* Searching For A Starry Night on Kindle
Plus, Christine is having a contest during her tour:
**CONTEST: Anyone commenting on any of the blog stops on the tour can win:
* One person who comments on any of the blog tour stops will win a free Kindle copy of Searching for a Starry Night. (You can download Kindle for PC free here.)
* One person will also win a miniaturized dollhouse collector's edition of the first chapter from the first print edition, made by miniaturist LeeAnn Borgia. See my blog for links and photo.
** To celebrate the revised Searching for a Starry Night, one person will win a copy of the new print version when it is available.
Clearly, the more comments you leave, the better your chances of winning, so here are links to her other stops:
Blog Tour Schedule:
Thurs, 7/22: Acme Authors Link - Real vs. Fictional Friends
Mon, 7/26: Morgan Mandel's Double M blog = Dogs and Such
Tues, 7/27: Killer Hobbies with Camille Minichino - Crafts and Writing, what comes first?
Weds, 7/28: Marian Allen's - Talking about Writing
Thurs, 7/29: Helen Ginger, Straight from Hel - Getting Kindleized
Fri, 7/30: J.E. Taylor's blog – Writer's Quiz and Other Stuff
Mon, 8/2: Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers - craft how to with Anastasia Pollack – Writing and Crafts: Make Easy Miniature Cloth Decorations
Tues, 8/3: L. Diane Wolfe, "Spunk on a Stick" – Making the Switch from Nonfiction to Fiction
But before you zip away, leave a comment or question. Christine will be stopping by during the day.
I think the e-book format will be very suitable for kids, since they play on computers and electronic gadgets all the time. But Kindle, I have never heard of kids using that. Have you considered publishing your book in formats that can be read on Playstation PSP and Nintendo GameBoy?
ReplyDeleteCold As Heaven
This sounds much easier than I'd thought!
ReplyDeleteI've been interested in the possibility of putting some things on Kindle myself. It does make a lot of sense to use Notepad as a way to remove formatting. Thanks!
Good luck on your tour.
Looking forward to hosting Chris next week!
ReplyDeleteHelen, thanks for hosting Christine.
ReplyDeleteChristine, you answered a lot of questions for me from a readers' viewpoint. I never thought about an author having to put their book on Kindle, I thought the publisher would do that. I understand more each day how much extra work goes into a writing career. Best of luck.
Mason
Thoughts in Progress
Glad I won't have to do all of that!
ReplyDeleteBest of luck, Christine.
ReplyDeleteI did not realize you could do a direct to Kindle submission if your book was already with Smashwords. That is good to know. The people who have Kindles often look in the Kindle store on Amazon first to find books. I have discovered that my books there do better than my book at Smashwords, and I promote them all.
ReplyDeleteInteresting question, Cold As Heaven. I've never heard of that. Do you think kids would read on a Playstation or GameBoy?
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, I'm a big fan of using Notepad. I've only found, so far, one glitch with it and that's with the ampersand. I'm not sure if it leaves some code with that or if the code reappears when you copy to another program.
Diane, I'll be coming over to read her post.
Mason, I think it depends on the publisher.
That's very interesting, Maryann. This is why I love blogging. All of you are so willing to share information! That, and I get to meet such fabulous people.
Hi all, btw, Ginger has transformed me.... haaa!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by!
Maryann, yes Smashwords will put it on Amazon but I noticed a problem with my first short story, Motherly Love, on Smashwords. It's taken forever to get on Kindle so I figured it made more sense to do this one direct to Kindle then do the other ebook formats separate.
The thought of trying to figure out the formatting is kind of terrifying! :)
ReplyDeleteSounds like a terrific book.
Hey! Atleast I made you younger and not older!
ReplyDeleteYou've made is sound not so difficult as I've imagined.
ReplyDeleteDo love the "Petey" image! Yes, he makes me laugh too. :)
Best of luck to you.
You know I meant that it wasn't my pic???? haaa! I emailed you a pic?
ReplyDeleteI think its fun navigating through unchartered waters and trying to learn something new. I did the Kindle and Smashwords upload last weekend and needed help from my Yahoo! Groups. But eventually I got it done.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes for your success. Hope I will the miniature doll house as my kids would love that.
Stephen Tremp
Christine, I am quite impressed with your determination to download your book on Kindle. Actually, your determination reminds me of my blog today on Old Dogs and New Tricks. I'll post the site address here since when I try to comment using my wordpress address I keep getting an error message. If anyone know how to fix this, I'd be ever so appreciative. Anyway, big congrats on your determination! The publisher of my newest doesn't do e-books yet, so I may just put it on kindle myself. http://sylviadickeysmithbooks.wordpress.com
ReplyDeleteMarisa, well I won't say it wasn't frustrating... haa!
ReplyDeleteStephen, I admire your tenacity in following on every stop! your daughter will love the dollhouses on my website I bet.
Sylvia, thanks for stopping. Well it's probably more stubborness than determination. haa!
Christine,
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the info about Kindle. I agree that it may be the wave of the future for us writers.
I haven't had the courage to try placing my work on Kindle yet but feel encouraged by your honest discussion. Best of luck with your work!
Chris,
ReplyDeleteIs there a site for the electronically challenged who want to place out of print books on Kindle, without going through Smashwords?
Thanks!
I love your Starry Nights book cover.
Excellent tips!
ReplyDeleteI think formatting for Kindle can be relatively easy if you have a straight novel. If you have a non-fiction book with loads of different fonts and formatting, it can be a nightmare. My publisher recently used a supplier to format one of my travel guides and we had endless difficulties with icons etc. Hopefully there will be a more simple way in the future!
Hi Jean, i'm not aware of an outlet though I think enterprising persons are doing it for others. I know some other authors have been writing about Kindle on their blogs also. Marian Allen, was it you?
ReplyDeleteI'm working my way through Smashwords and hope to have their versions of Killer Career done this weekend,unless I hit a snag.
ReplyDeleteToday, a broke down and bought a kindle! The new version looks light and sleek. Also, I read the graphite color is easier on the eyes, so I picked that one, though the white is cuter.
Morgan Mandel
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com
Chris, there's a pic of you in your signature line.
ReplyDeleteStephen, I hope you wrote down every step you did. Now that you've done it, you're the expert we'll turn to for help.
Sylvia, if anyone can do it, it'll be you.
Way to go, Morgan!
I never would've thought of posting a story onto notebook first, before converting to a Kindle or Ipad. I'll have to keep that in mind. That's a great tip!
ReplyDeleteHope your blog tour goes well, for you Christine!
Hi Alyson thanks for stopping by. The smashwords directions are pretty simple once you do it.
ReplyDeleteHelen, am I seeing something no one else is? I see a pic of a woman in glasses next to the links where it says Thanks Christine. on mouse over it stays carolynrose.... that's the pic I mean... as I don't know who that is?
Or is it showing up weird on my end only?
I love the Petey picture! Dachshunds are so cute and so smart! I met one once who, her owner swore, paper-trained her own pups. :)
ReplyDeleteMarian
I'd suggest taking care when you format for Kindle. Recently I downloaded an ebook that started out looking okay, but shows intermittent formatting problems throughout. The author may have hired someone, and then no one checked the final product. So don't forget quality control! Don't just upload it and assume it's fine.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed reading the comments. My question is
ReplyDeleteWhat kinds of questions do you like for readers to ask about your writing? I ask this because I never know what to ask.
JOYE
JWIsley(at)aol(dot)com
Darn if I didn't get an error message and have to type over again!
ReplyDeleteJoye ask what you'd like to know; I or any of the other writers will be glad to answer!
Bob, I heard that. I had to re-upload and fix several times; I still couldn't get rid of an extra blank page. Chances are too that things get messed up on the Kindle side. I do plan on re-uploading one more time as I did some more changes for the print version... yes, call me crazy...
Darn if I didn't get an error message and have to type over again!
ReplyDeleteJoye ask what you'd like to know; I or any of the other writers will be glad to answer!
Bob, I heard that. I had to re-upload and fix several times; I still couldn't get rid of an extra blank page. Chances are too that things get messed up on the Kindle side. I do plan on re-uploading one more time as I did some more changes for the print version... yes, call me crazy...
Darn if I didn't get an error message and have to type over again!
ReplyDeleteJoye ask what you'd like to know; I or any of the other writers will be glad to answer!
Bob, I heard that. I had to re-upload and fix several times; I still couldn't get rid of an extra blank page. Chances are too that things get messed up on the Kindle side. I do plan on re-uploading one more time as I did some more changes for the print version... yes, call me crazy...
Darn if I didn't get an error message and have to type over again!
ReplyDeleteJoye ask what you'd like to know; I or any of the other writers will be glad to answer!
Bob, I heard that. I had to re-upload and fix several times; I still couldn't get rid of an extra blank page. Chances are too that things get messed up on the Kindle side. I do plan on re-uploading one more time as I did some more changes for the print version... yes, call me crazy...
That's a really interesting interview. While it sounds like a lot of work, the ebook thing doesn't sound so intimidating anymore. I wish you the best success :)
ReplyDeleteThanks again Helen for letting me stop by your blog. I appreciate the visit!
ReplyDelete(Now let's see if this posts once or?)
Blogger seems to be having a few problems today, Chris. I am so sorry for putting up the wrong picture. I've corrected it, but it's late in the day.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for stopping here on your blog tour and for coming by today multiple times to comment and answer questions.
Good luck with this. Be sure you talk to art teachers in the schools you visit. They may be interested in using your book in class.
ReplyDeleteMonti
MaryMontagueSikes
Hi Christine. I purchased you book on my Kindle, but haven't had a chance to read it yet. I'm anxious to see how it turned out.
ReplyDeleteSo this is a previously published book? Do you think a lot of kids have kindles? Or just the older generation?
Helen, very cool blog. Christine, I had a question, which I hope isn't out of the range of the discussion. I wondered if you have any hesitations about incorporating e reading formats to the classroom or the archives of children's literature. I've been reading about the role internet pages and reading on the web plays in reduced attention spans in children, and wondering if embedded feeds and related links become ubiquitous in reading whether the pleasure of getting deeply lost in a story may be compromised.
ReplyDeleteJust sort of trying to collect opinions on this from people who have experiences. Thanks! Good luck with the new edition.