Amazon sells Kindle devices and books to fill them. Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) is the right arm of eBooks. Just as DOCX is the file type for Word, MOBI is the file type for Kindle devices. MOBI is proprietary and has its quirks. For “reading pleasure,” we need to make sure that our text will make Amazon happy. When Amazon is not happy the author is sent back for more homework.
As mentioned before, Draft2Digital (D2D) generates a file that is 99% Amazon-ready. Once an epub file is created, Amazon has a free tool called Kindle Previewer that allows you to see what the book will look like on Kindle.
Interestingly enough, Previewer doesn’t want a MOBI file; it wants to analyze an epub file. The Kindle Previewer is free and can reside on your Mac or Windows computer. It is easy to use, letting you drag your file onto the Previewer screen.
Once the Previewer analyses the file, you can begin to flip through the book. There are settings to make the view for Kindle devices, phones, or tablets. I found the Mac version a bit buggy and wish they would allow editing and re-saving the file.
Now begins the cycle of trying a fix to the Manuscript Word file, uploading it to D2D, going through the steps, and downloading another ePub file. Like any other “programming” effort, you stare at your manuscript, trying to figure out why the book has problems.
This step is not something to be rushed if you want a professional-looking book. Unfortunately, I have read books from Amazon that had goofy abnormalities. One book tended to paginate at odd times. Not sure what the author did, but one page jumped to the next page with two lines of text. D2D and Previewer can help you find any oddities. It is natural to want your book “out there,” but do not rush to publish.
The one mistake Previewer noted in my book is that my website link doesn’t work. That link was added when I filled out forms in D2D. The words are correct, and if a reader copied and pasted the link into their web browser, my website comes up instantly. I need to get to the bottom of this issue, but this was not a deal-breaker. The author page is at the end of the book, and frankly, I will be glad if the reader didn’t quit in the middle of the book and thinks enough of the book and my writing that they want to read about me on my website—wishful thinking on my part.
Once the layout of your book pleases you, the cycle of correcting and checking can stop. The book is getting close to being ready for submission. This means, with some trepidation, you choose a date and click submit. A word of caution, if you click submit, the book goes into review, is locked for further editing. Amazon allows little fixes once a book is published, which is slightly comforting. So, again, don’t rush this process. It took many hours to write the book, and it will take many more hours to get it to look as good as it reads.
Next Time: Checking Your Print Book for Amazon
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