Booknook.biz

Ebook Conversion Services

We can convert almost anything--print, text, Word, pdf's, Open Office Writer and WordPerfect files--into .mobi (Kindle) and .epub (iPad, iBooks, Barnes & Noble Nook, Sony eReader, Kobo and most smartphone reading applications). Contact us for a quote on your project.   View Products >>

Convert from PDF

PDF Conversion to ebook format can be one of the most challenging conversion methods. But we have successfully converted many pdf files--even those with ligatures and crop-marks--into beautiful Kindle and iBook ebooks. Send us your pdf for a firm quote.   View Products >>

Convert from Print

Many authors with rights-reverted works don't have the original digital files, or there were so many changes to the ARC's (Advance Review Copies, or in Ancient Times, "galleys") that they need to have the printed book scanned and converted into a digital file before it can be converted into an ebook. While Booknook.biz does not do book scanning, we have companies we recommend for high-quality work. We take the resulting file, clean it up and create your new ebook. Email us and we'll help you get started on ebook creation.   View Products >>

Convert from Word

Given a "clean" Word manuscript, we can generally provide extremely fast turnaround, if we don't currently have a backlog. If you send us your Word file, we can take a look at the underlying coding and get back to you with a hard quote. Normally, ebook conversion from a Word file is the most cost-effective conversion method, starting at $75.00 for 15K word novellas and Kindle Singles, and averaging $135 for conversion to both epub and Kindle format.  View Products >>

At Booknook.biz, we want you to be able to find the answers to your most common questions; (please click the question to be auto-scrolled to the answer).  What makes us different?  For one thing, you can pick up the phone and call us; we’re neither nameless nor faceless.  And we return emails and calls.  Your business matters to us, as does your success.  Want to see the efforts we put into your success, above and beyond converting your books?  Check out our newsletter archives for tips on marketing your ebook—whether you use our service or not.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What are the main ebook formats?
2. What kind of content can you convert?
3. Okay, so: how much?
4. Is proofreading included in that price?
5. How many copyedits are included in that price?
6. Do I need an ISBN?
7. How do I get my book on Apple's iBookstore?
8. How do I upload to Amazon? And Nook? Where do I go?
9. How do I register my copyright?
10. Do you have other resources I can have?
11. How do I contact you?

What are the main ebook formats?

There are really only two remaining ebook formats, of the numerous types that were floating around some years ago. 

• The first and foremost, in terms of commercial sales, are the Kindle format(s), those being mobi, prc and azw.  Colloquially, these are called "mobi" by most people in the business. 
• The second, used by Apple, Adobe Digital Editions, Nook, Google Editions, Diesel, Kobo, etc., is epub.  Epub allows greater design flexibility than mobi, because it uses a more advanced level of html.
• Two other formats, Palm (which is actually what's called a "wrapper") and .LIT, (which was Microsoft's attempt to gain entry into the ebook marketplace), are really not supported any longer in any significant numbers, and so we do not normally include conversion to those formats as part of our conversion quotes. Palm used a lot of formats that appear as PRC or PDB files on regular computers. 
• You might find this page from Bookbees really useful in determining which formats go with which books:  Bookbees Beginner's Guide Chart.

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What kind of content can you convert?

We can convert pretty much anything:  from Word, PDF, WordPerfect, text...we've probably done it.  We've even converted a nearly 300-page manuscript that was all in jpeg images, not text, into a readable, reflowable eBook.  We'll help you navigate the stormy seas of being an ebook pioneer.

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Okay, so: how much?

Although I'd love to be able to answer your question instantly, I don't have "one-size-fits-all" pricing for every book.  If you have a clean manuscript in Word (these prices are for two deliverables; one book in ePUB format, one in MOBI (Kindle) format, so for both, not each: 

 

Category	Length	Basic Price
Minimum Fee	(Book remake, short story--anything)	$50.00
Novella	Up to 17,500 words	$95.00
Novel I	Up to 75,000 words	$160.00
Novel II	Up to 100,000 words	$185.00
Novel III	Up to 150,000 words	$200.00
Novel IV	Up to 200K words	$250.00

 

 

Almost every repeat client receives a "fast track discount," as repeat clients go through the process far more rapidly, while first-time clients require additional assistance in getting through the process.  The prices shown above are for first-time clients. 

Things that will add to the cost of your plain paragraphical (like fiction) title?  Significant numbers of internal documents like emails, notes, letters; footnotes; maps or illustrations; embedded fonts.  Books that have been scanned are charged at a higher rate (unless they've been manually proofed and edited first), as they tend to have significant odd characters embedded in html. Using images as fleurons will also add to the price. 

Moderate or Complex formatted titles (like non-fiction titles), regardless of length, run more, due to indices, appendices, photographs, illustrations, tables, footnotes, etc.  Significant formatting, like found in many self-help books or DIY titles, will also add to costs.   Non-fiction titles start at $150.00 and go up from there. 

We have a minimum charge per-title for any new piece of $85.00, regardless of length, even for a novella, due to the html conversion required on every book, whether it's a Kindle Single or "War and Peace."  We now have a new minimum charge for any book remaking for books we've previously made--swap out a cover, change the copyright page, add titles to your "Other titles by this author" page, etc., of $50.  We're not trying to gouge you, but making edits in a "Kindle book" isn't like making changes in Word, where you can simply edit and "save;" a Kindle book is a binary database file that must be built from its html source, so even a single change takes us time and effort. 

To assist you in estimating your more-complex title (non-fiction, bulleted lists, charts, graphics,equations, background colors, inline images, etc.): assume that if your title has design elements on up to 20% of the pages, it has "moderate" formatting and will run $1.65/page for conversion to both formats.  If your book has up to 40% of the pages with design elements, assume that the price will come in at about $1.95/page.  Books that are more complex than this will have custom pricing.  All images in all books (excepting the author photo and cover image, which are included in base prices) are charged at $20 for every block of 10 images, so if you have 35 images, that would be an additional charge of $80.00, above and beyond the base price.  PDF versions of simple-formatted titles (like fiction) are individually assessed for pricing, which can vary widely depending upon how the PDF was created, but for fiction, the prices shown above for Word titles will be close in pricing. Conversion from print or PDF are the most expensive methods of conversion, so if you have your source word-processing file, send that to us for your best possible price!

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Is proofreading included in that price?

Naturally, we look over each book, and try to ensure that it's reasonably error-free before we send it to you for review; but as the publisher, you are responsible for proofreading your own book, just as all publishers are.  We convert manuscripts/books from your format into ebook format.  We of course will correct any error made during the conversion process at no cost to you. 

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How many copyedits are included in that price?

Generally speaking, none.  However, we realize that errors can occur in even the most diligently-proofed and edited books, so we will make up to 5 corrections for you (a correction being one typo, or adding a word or editing one line) as part of the price.  Any additional copyediting requested by you, after production of the epub review copy--in other words, once the html has been turned into an epub version of the book--can be happily accommodated by us at our going rate.  (Our rates are stated in the production materials provided with our quotes.)

Once the books are completed, if you come back to us later, and tell us (as many authors do!) that your readers found typos, and you'd like to fix them, we'll make those edits for you at the same rate, plus a $25.00 book production fee per title (not per book) for remaking the books.  We charge the remaking fee because unlike MS Word, edits in ebooks aren't as simple as changing a typo and hitting "save;" we have to do a fair amount of work to edit an epub, save it, make certain tweaks to use it for generating a Kindle book and then making the matching Kindle version.  We're not out to gouge anyone...but even the smallest change takes time to revamp into both book formats. 

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Do I need an ISBN?

If you intend to sell solely on Amazon and Nook, you do not need an ISBN, they will assign you unique identifiers that work with their internal cataloging and inventory system.  If you wish to sell on other vendors, for example, Apple, you'll need an ISBN for each "version" of your book, so one for epub, one for the Kindle version, and you should buy those at Bowker. 

In theory, every new edition of a book--a Second Edition, a paperback, an audio book, an epub ebook or a mobi (Kindle) ebook should have its own ISBN, and the day may come when that is necessary for selling, but right now, if you only intend to sell on Amazon and Nook, you can get away with not buying one. 

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How do I get my book on Apple's iBookstore?

You may find a list of Approved Apple Content Aggregators at this link:

HERE.

which you can research in order to find a distributor that meets your needs.  Unless you have a Mac, and fulfill the requirements to become an iTunes publisher, you cannot self-publish to Apple as you can Amazon and Nook (Barnes & Noble).

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How do I upload to Amazon? And Nook? Where do I go?

You can find a video about uploading to Amazon here.

You will take your completed Kindle (mobi or prc) book and go here, to upload your book.  For Nook, you'll go here.  Remember to keep a copy of your cover image handy--you'll need it in both places.  Ideally, a "perfect" cover image to upload as the retailers' "product image" is a jpg that is 960x1280px @72dpi; this will meet both Amazon and Barnes & Noble's requirements. 

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How do I register my copyright?

You can use the Copyright Office's ECO system for registering your copyright online.  You can go here to find it:  http://bit.ly/gDAU9V

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Do you have other resources I can have?

You bet we do!  First, feel free to rummage around our KnowledgeBase, which has answers to tons of questions we've received over the years, ranging from "how do I use Twitter" to "how do I market my book," and other inquiries.  You can find our Knowledgebase here:  CLICK HERE.  I know it appears slightly different than the main site, but look for our coffee cup, and you'll know you're in the right place. 

Second, we've created a Handbook--"eBookery:101," which is an easy-to-use, illustrated guide to the very basics of ebooks.  It's not a "how-to" guide for making your own (obviously!), but it shows you the various devices, how books appear on them; how ebooks reflow; talks about how ebooks don't have pages, and also has a resources guide full of information.  It's in PDF format, completely free, and downloadable from our YouSendIt Dropbox--just click "download" when you see the big download button.  You can obtain our Handbook by CLICKING HERE.  When you open the PDF, make sure you click the Bookmarks icon on the left-hand-side of your PDF Reader--it will display a handy, fully-linked and interactive Table of Contents that you can use to rapidly skim the information for precisely what you want.  We hope that these resources are handy to you. 

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How do I contact you?

Come to our Contact Page!  You can also send us your manuscript for quoting directly by uploading it to us here, and sending us a note to go with it, so we know how to reach you.  That's the fastest method to get a return quote.  Alternatively, our phone number is at the bottom of every page (scroll down), and the phones are answered after noon, MST.  Calls are generally returned 3 days a week, and phone appointments are encouraged, especially in our High Season (from Labor Day through midnight, December 24th, when we are running crews 24/7).  Although we run crews through Saturdays, emails and phone calls on the weekends are not returned until Monday, thanks. 

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