I've been getting lots of inquiries about how I convert my manuscripts to Kindle or Nook recently. So yesterday, I put up a step-by-step guide for formatting your manuscript on Kindle and Nook entitled (appropriately enough) How to Format Your Manuscript for Kindle and Nook on Smashwords. It's an expanded version of my blog post on the same topic. Since I wrote that post, I've done three more conversions and learned a lot from each experience. I wanted to share lessons learned, tips, etc. to make it as easy as possible for people to follow along and create an ebook that has a cover, table of contents and so on. (I don't like ebooks that come without a cover, though in some cases it can't be helped.)

The guide assumes that you have some basic knowledge of HTML, such as tags for paragraphs, headings and italics. But you don't need to code from scratch since the guide contains lots of snippets of code that you can easily copy and paste. (It's all done for you!) This should prevent any odd errors due to typos, etc. In addition, my understanding is that Smashwords allows buyers to download updated versions for free, provided that the author replaces the old file with the new one. I wanted everyone to be able to access the latest version easily, should I make any changes. (I'm pretty sure I will as I discover new features, shortcuts, etc.)

P.S. You need a MS Windows computer to use the guide. One of the freeware programs needed to do the formatting isn't available on Mac. Sorry, Mac users! If and when I find a suitable Mac freeware, I'll definitely update the guide and let you know.

Many writers seem interested in uploading their writing on Kindle. And no wonder. It's quick and easy way to make something too short and/or out-there for mainstream publishers available to readers and make some money on the side. You can also use it to promote your longer works — maybe post a short novella to tide your readers over between longer projects, etc.

Unless you're a publisher with a distribution agreement with Amazon, you cannot give away your books for free. But you can price your stories for $0.99, the lowest price point for Kindle. A lot of people are willing to pay a buck for a quick read on their Kindle. But even for a buck, they want something that's nicely formatted.

L. K. Rigel mentioned that my paranormal romance novella A Happily Ever After of Her Own was very well-formatted. So did Zoe Winters.

I used to offer an initial version of the guide for free, but I've made some improvements after having done three more conversions, one of which was a full-length novel. So I gathered all my code blocks, lessons learned and information on formatting for Nook (which has gained in popularity recently) and compiled them into one master file. You can get it from Smashwords if you like.

Hope you find it useful. If you have any questions, feel free to post them here.