I’ve spent a lot of time trying to automate the creation of the books for Planet eBook, because the more I do so, the more books I can publish. But the reality is there’s always going to be some manual work required to create a smooth workflow to handle the two tasks I regularly perform:
- Creating new books
- Going back and fixing existing books
All our books are laid out in Adobe InDesign and one of the biggest bottlenecks I’ve been up against has been the fact that all conversion from InDesign to PDF has had to be done manually.
Lo and behold, I just found a free solution! Peter Kahrel has created a script that allows me to batch convert the files to PDF with the exact output settings I need.
Noticed problems with our books?
As I go along publishing the books, in the background I’m constantly refining the workflow and creating typographical and layout rules that I can use to create books and fix the existing ones. As I kill off these problems that force me to start over again with a book, I’m saving time in the future. So the wash up is, I should be able to publish more books, at a higher quality, in the same amount of time.
By my reckoning, in 2-3 months I’m going to have a really smooth workflow in place that’ll make my life a lot easier.
If you notice typos and odd text layout issues in the books from Planet eBook, please let me know and I’ll fix them. Fixing one little typographical problem in one book my well result in you helping to fix many future books.
What sort of typographical problems should you report?
The most common problem I’m trying to eradicate is incorrect quotations being used. I haven’t quite got the automation right to get this perfect yet so I need to hear from you (email richard.crocker AT nitropdf DOT com) if you notice them.
Here’s some example of the mistakes I’ve been trying to wipe out completely.
book text here‘.
’book text here.
book text here“.
”book text here.
I’m off to send Peter a thank you note.
4 Comments
THis is a great project. I am going to link to it from my site http://www.Connect2Books.org, a non-profit organization that aims to combat declining literacy levels among American teens.
Thanks.
Gordon Rogers
Thanks for all your hard work, Richard. I’m sure everyone who comes here appreciates it.
Can I give away these books free to my members, at no added cost to them? – I am creating a Real Estate newsletter with a free sign up for that, and may have a paid membership for my blog-investors report. – I am looking for free giveaways as gifts.
Thanks,
Don
side thought… as with everything new online, once the bugs are worked out and lots of media attention has been gathered, will your books have a cost?
Allintacoma, feel free to give the books to people — as long as you don’t charge people for them and share them as I’ve published them. Also, please don’t market them in ways like: ‘pay for this membership subscription and get a whole lot of classic novels free’.
Regarding your question about whether these books will ever have a price tag. I won’t ever charge people to download or access the books. Completely free books is the aim of the site.