Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to questions received via email…
Copyrights & Trademarks
Book Covers
Uploading to Kindle
Book Covers
Q: What is the best format for my eBook Cover?
A: The best size for an EPUB or Kindle book cover is 600 pixels wide by 800 pixels high with a resolution of 72-dpi and color of RGB. I prefer JPG format, but you may also use PNG. The goal is to have the best quality image without being too large in K size, since some e-tailers are starting to charges the author for every book download that is larger than 3MB, such as Amazon.
Copyrights & Trademarks
Q: I like to know if I give a book which I own to be digitized by a
company, is it legal? I own the book.
A: When you say you “own the book”, do you mean you own the copyright to the book? It was handed down by will, or other? This has to be legally proven. If you do own the copyright of the book, then you most likely can digitize the book for resell. I say most likely because, I would suggest you check with the copyright office to make sure of your claim. (to make sure there won’t be other family members, etc, who might pop up and lay claim to the work).
If it just a book you own, then no, you can’t legally digitize the book (at least for resell or sharing purposes). Unless it is in the public domain, pre-1923 for US. Again, you will have to check with the copyright office to make sure the work doesn’t have a legal claim to copyright against it.
Otherwise, if you own the legal copyright, I would say yes.
Uploading to Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)
Q: Very good video on creating a book cover for Kindle: uploading .doc and then zipped html + image.
Question: why upload the .doc file at all?
Everything else I have read has me using Kindlegen and Calibre but
your system is so simple. Why not just upload one zipped file?
A: Question refers to Video Tutorial The reason I have you upload the DOC is to achieve the HTM file from Kindle. You can’t ZIP a Word DOC and image together and upload, it has to be an HTML type file. You can convert from Word to HTML, however, Word puts a lot of garbage coding in the file, so I recommend using Kindle’s HTM conversion.
In fact, the Amazon KDP service uses the KindleGen conversion, so…. ;)
My “system” is simple, and will get the file up, but there are features you may want that even this “simple” method does not do. My DIY formatting KIT is the best solution for making an file for BOTH EPUB devices and KINDLE. (Kindle allows EPUB upload and then converts the file to MOBI). Cool, Huh?
My Kit also uses the SIGIL program and shows you how to create the “jump” feature (toc.ncx file) – allowing customers to jump from chapter to chapter within the book, rather than having to go to the TOC each time. This is not possible with a straight, one page HTML file (as described in my video).
KindleGen is difficult to use, and is not necessary for most author-types. I have over 25 years computer experience and even I had issues using it. Calibre can convert a file, but puts a lot of unnecessary code, plus you can’t edit pages. It also does not correct validation errors. I recommend you use SIGIL.