Reviewing Your eBook Files

Congratulations! Now that we have sent you your eBook files, it is time to look them over and make sure you are ready to publish them. This page will give you instructions on how to install the programs you'll need, how to review your files, and how to send us any revisions you encounter.

• Downloading the Files
• Installing Programs and Viewing Files
  • The MOBI file
  • The ePub file
• Reporting Revisions

Downloading the Files

Before we get started looking over the files, you will need to download them to your computer. That process is actually pretty simple. In your email, you will see links to a secure download location on our server, like this:

This is a temporary location that will hold your files for about 2 weeks. It can only be accessed by the password you are provided, so the files cannot be seen by anyone but you. To log into this secure file location, click on the link next to “Main Directory”. This will open up the website in your browser and prompt you to enter the username and password you were given in the email. It is usually best to copy and paste the password so that you do not accidentally type in the wrong characters.

If you get an error that says “This webpage is not available” after you put in the login information, please try refreshing the page.

We recommend that you save your files in a distinct folder on your computer — in a place that you will be able to remember and easily access. To do that, you will need to right-click (Mac: Command-click) on the link to each file and select the correct option in your drop-down menu. This option is worded differently in different browsers:

• Chrome: Save link as...
• Firefox: Save Link As...
• Internet Explorer: Save target as...
• Safari: Download Linked File As...

If you do a regular left-click on the file, your computer might decide to open the file or to save it to a Downloads folder instead of allowing you to save it to a specific location. That can be confusing for some clients, so we recommend using the right-click and Save As method described above.

Installing Programs and Viewing Files

Once you are finished downloading the eBook files to your computer, it is time to download and install the programs you will need in order to open the eBook files. There are two main programs we recommend you use to look over your files: Kindle Previewer (for the MOBI file) and Adobe Digital Editions (for the ePUB file). You are also encouraged to load the files into eBook devices or apps like the Kindle, Nook, and iBooks if you have those available, but that is not typically a required step in the overview process.

Because the MOBI and ePUB files are different formats, we will discuss them individually in the sections below.

The MOBI file

The .MOBI file you were given is the format used on Amazon's Kindle platform. The best option for viewing a Kindle/Mobipocket eBook is loading it onto a Kindle device. Your MOBI file can be loaded onto any Kindle 1, 2, 3, or DX, but there may be some features (like foreign language characters and tables) that do not work on the Kindle 1 or 2. You can upload the file to your Kindle device in one of two ways:

1. Use the USB cable that came with your Kindle to copy the MOBI file to your device. Instructions can be found here.
2. Email the file to your Kindle using its unique email address. Instructions can be found here. (Note that charges from Amazon will probably apply.)

If you do not have a Kindle device, the best computer program to view your MOBI file in is Kindle Previewer. This application is provided by Amazon expressly for the purpose of reviewing Kindle eBooks, and it does a pretty good job of emulating how the eBook will look on the Kindle 2/3 and the Kindle DX, as well as on the Kindle apps for the iPad and iPhone. To download this tool to your PC or Mac computer:

1. Go to amazon.com/kindlepublishing.
2. Scroll down to the download section for Kindle Previewer (NOT KindleGen).
3. Check off the box to accept the terms of use.
4. Download the correct installation program to your computer.
5. Follow the instructions to install the software.

Here is a short video tutorial on how to install and use Kindle Previewer:

Once it is installed, start the program up, then open the MOBI file in it 1) by dragging the file from your folder or desktop and dropping it on the open program window, or 2) by using the File | Open Book menu. Note that the Kindle Previewer is currently displaying text using an older version of the Kindle display engine. This means that some of the updates that were released for the Kindle 3 like better foreign language support will not be displayed properly in the Previewer.

There are some other programs you can use to look over your Kindle eBook, but these should be used as a secondary review option, not as your primary approach to reviewing your files. Kindle for PC and Kindle for Mac are decent viewing engines for your Kindle file, but they are not emulators of the actual Kindle devices. Most readers will be reading your eBook on their portable device, not on their computer, so it is best to reserve these programs as a secondary level of review. To download the applications, go to amazon.com/kindleapps, download the appropriate application, and follow the instructions to install it on your computer. When the application asks you to register it with your Amazon account you can choose to do that, or just click the "open without registering" option. These applications usually become the default programs on your system for viewing MOBI files.

If you are unable to use any of these programs to look at your MOBI file, the last option you have it to use the Preview option on Amazon's Digital Text Platform (DTP). To do that, you will need to set up an account at the DTP, create a New Title in the system, and fill out the information on the first page of the Title Setup form. At the bottom of that first page there is a place to upload your file. Just select the Browse button, find the location of the file on your computer, and select it. The system will automatically upload and "convert" the file (it is really just ingesting it into the system), then it will reveal a Preview button. When that button is clicked, the Preview window will open in your web browser, allowing you to navigate the eBook and see what it might look like. Be aware that the DTP Preview window is not a perfect emulator of the Kindle device, so there are some pretty important issues you need to keep in mind as you are looking at your book:

1. The Preview is currently displaying text using an older version of the Kindle display engine. This means that some of the updates that were released for the Kindle 3 like better foreign language support will not be displayed properly on the Preview window.
2. The preview window will sometimes show the book text without any margins, making it look like there will be no space around the outside of the screen. That will not be how the book looks on the Kindle.
3. The fonts and font sizes are not the same as the Kindle font sizes; however, they are close, and there is enough distinction between them to get a good approximation of actual formatting.
4. The images in the Preview are not shown exactly as they would look on the Kindle screen, mostly because you are not viewing the book with an e-Ink screen. The images actually look more like they would look in a screen shot created by the Kindle, and that may very well be what the Preview tool does to show you the book.
5. The Preview shows the links in your book underlined so that you can see what is linking and what is not linking. The links do not work in the Preview, but they will work on the device.
6. The Preview does not include the header and the author’s name, nor does it include the status/menu bar at the bottom of the screen.
7. When the Preview breaks pages it has a tendency to duplicate text on the next page, especially when the last word on the page has an apostrophe.
8. The location numbers shown in the Preview window may not match the location numbers on the actual device.

Overall, the DTP Preview window is much better than the one Amazon originally made available, and it is possible to get a good idea what the book will look like on the Kindle. Only use it as a last resort, though, since the other viewing methods listed above are better solutions.

Please see the section below for information on reporting changes to us.

The ePub file

ePub is the industry standard eBook format, so it can be viewed on a variety of devices and in many software applications.

The best program to use when looking at your ePub file on a computer, whether PC or Mac, is Adobe Digital Editions (ADE). To install the ADE software on your computer, visit www.adobe.com/products/digitaleditions, click the Install button, and follow the instructions. If you don't see an Install button, see this page. When the program opens you can choose to register it with an Adobe account, or you can leave it unregistered. To open your ePub file, you can either double click on the file (ADE installs as the default ePub reading program on your computer) or click on the Library dropdown and select “Add item to Library.”

Here is a short video tutorial on how to install and use Adobe Digital Editions:

There are multiple devices that use Adobe's mobile eBook reading software to display ePub files, including the Sony Reader, the Barnes & Noble NOOK, the NOOKcolor, and more. You can test your ePub file on any of these devices without too much trouble. Just plug the device into your computer using its USB cable, open the device in your explorer/finder, and copy your ePub file into the Digital Editions folder or Documents folder on the device. Then, eject your device from the computer, unplug the cable, and you should see the book listed in your library. For more detailed information, please see the following help pages.

• Sony Reader (enter your model number)
• NOOK and NOOKcolor

If you have an Apple iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch, you can view your ePub file in a variety of software applications on the device. The most important app to review your file in is the iBooks software from Apple. If you do not have iBooks installed on your iPad you can download it for free from the iTunes App Store. Then, just follow these instructions to copy the file into iBooks.

Another good eBook app to use on the iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch is Bluefire Reader. Like iBooks, Bluefire is available as a free download from the iTunes App Store, but it uses the same Adobe mobile reading software that is used in the other devices mentioned above. It is also a very well-rounded eBook application with an active development cycle and great features. To load your ePub file into Blufire, follow these instructions on DearAuthor.

On Android systems, the best ePub software is Aldiko. You can load your own books into Aldiko to review them there.

Reporting Revisions

As you are looking over your files, you may find some things that you would like to have us change, or errors that were somehow introduced into the files during the conversion process. We are happy to make changes to your files at any time, even if you find something that is wrong after the file has been published.

Changes that our clients normally want to make to their eBooks usually fall into one of three categories:

1. Our errors: While the processes we use to extract text from PDF and Word documents are the best in the industry, that extraction process is not always perfect. In addition to thorough proofing and spell checking, we also run multiple algorithms against the code and the text in an attempt to catch anything that might have been messed up by the process. Our developers do not proofread the text word-for-word against the source files for exact accuracy, but they are always looking for errors and issues as they format and test the eBook files. If you find errors that were introduced by our process, such as OCR/typing errors, missing hyphens, incorrect or misplaced images, or missing basic formatting like italics and bold, those changes will always be fixed promptly at no cost.
2. Editorial changes: Many of our clients will catch small errors in their print book files before, during, or even after our eBook development process. We charge $80 per hour to make editorial changes in the eBook files. There are also times when re-doing the eBook process from new source files makes more sense than trying to make a huge number of editorial changes.
3. Formatting changes: Because of the differences between eBooks and their print counterparts, and because of the limitations of some eBook formats, there will be places in an eBook that are not designed the same as they are in print. We do our very best to match the print design and to use comparable design features in the eBook formats. However, we have worked with some clients who are very design-oriented themselves, and they want to have much more control over the design of the final eBook product. In cases like this, we are more than happy to make reasonable changes to the design of the eBook files to match the desires of the client. However, there comes a point when that process is no longer about making reasonable changes and it becomes a complete re-design of the eBook.
        At that point, we will set up a phone conference with you to discuss what you are interested in doing. All of these design processes are charged at $100 per hour. It is important that you understand the limitations of the eBook formats and that you be willing to be flexible as we work out design options for your eBook that will work on the different platforms you are targeting. We are happy to talk with you about these limitations before we even start the eBook creation process so that you enter the process informed and prepared. It is definitely easier to do these design adaptations as part of the original process than to do them later.

Because of the inconsistent use of actual page numbers in eBooks, the best way to report changes to us is to give us three pieces of information for each change:

1. Searchable text: We will be making your changes in the XHTML code, not in the original PDF/Word file, and the easiest way to find places in the XHTML code is to search for them. So, please give us some unique, exact, searchable text that we can use to find the exact spot of the issue in the book. Some examples:
   • the word that was misspelled
   • The first few words of the nearest paragraph or heading (for issues with images, formatting, etc.)
   • The caption text (for issues with images, charts, tables, etc.)
2. A good description of the error: This does not have to be long, but it should be precise. This can also be combined with the searchable text if that makes sense. Some examples:
   • "missppelledd" should be "misspelled"
   • Change "The red fox jumped over the lazy dog" to "The purple cat jumped over the jumping giraffe"
   • Move the image of the mountain above the paragraph that starts "When we moved to Colorado..."
3. The PDF/Word page number: On more extensive or complex changes, it is nice to have the PDF, Word, or print book page number so that we can compare the eBook to the print book in that place. This is not absolutely necessary, though, as long as we have the unique, searchable text that will let us find the spot.

Once you have this list of revisions, please send them to our special revisions email address (revisions@ebookarchitects.com). We will look them over and send you the revised files promptly.