Sunday, August 5, 2012

DOORWAYS on Smashwords--Have a Free Read!

Recently, I embarked on a new side quest in my writing adventure: I published a short story collection on Smashwords.

I admit,  it was totally a result of peer pressure. I have a lot of successful indie writer friends and, after hanging out with them so much, I wanted to start bringing my own toys to our play dates. After looking through my fiction catalog, I selected my three favorite shorts and sat my happy behind down to create an ebook out of them.

Ever put together an ebook before? Not me. I hadn't the slightest idea how to even start. (Well, that's not true...I started by opening a Word document and c/p three stories into it.But that's when I said WHAT NEXT?)

Lucky for a noob like me, Mark Coker has a wonderful guide on Smashwords on how to turn a manuscript into an ebook for Smashwords publishing. I pulled up the style guide on my phone and went to work.

My three stories were joined by a linked table of contents...then by two bonus excerpts...and then a fancy cover. (Love that picture, by the way. It's my new wallpaper.) I have to say I'm pretty pleased with my first forray into the wild unknowns of epublishing.

Best of all, my file was 100% formating error-free, according to Smashwords. Thank you, Style Guide, for making me look like I know what I'm doing!

And now I want to share it with everyone here...it's too neat to keep to myself.



using this coupon: YL69Z

Like it? Let me know with a comment or brief review.

Happy reading,

Ash

7 comments:

  1. Thanks, Ash. Congrats on powering through that new frontier. I'm getting ready later today to attempt to format my second book for Kindle. Somebody helped me with the first book, but thankfully left me with a set of instructions. *prays it works* ;) Thanks for the coupon code. I'll look forward to diving in soon.

    -Jimmy

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    1. Thank you, Jimmy...I actually printed out the Smashwords Style Guide--still an analog kid, I'm afraid. Not yet 100% in the digital world!

      It really is a good guide for creating a "clean" manuscript. One day I'll have to learn how to convert a ms to ebook on my own but, right now, I'm willing to let Smashwords do it for me.

      Thanks for looking at my book...do spread the word if you like it.

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  2. Wow -- good for you! I just went back today and looked at a pile of poems I hope to turn into a chapbook -- very daunting -- good to hear from someone who has completed a similar journey.

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    1. I think I'll be trying that next time...first I have to go through my work and see what's okay to print and what all goes together for a theme. Good luck on the way--be sure to let me know how it goes.

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  3. Sweet! Just downloaded. Hopefully I'll get a chance to read them soon and maybe do a review on the ol' bloggity blog.

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  4. hooray!! I'm going to (hopefully) read this weekend!! YAY!

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I'd love to hear from you!