Ebook Foundations

Course details

Want to make your own ebooks? Get a basic introduction to the exciting and evolving world of digital books. In this beginner-level course, Anne-Marie Concepción explains how to use, create, and sell ebooks, including reflowable, fixed-layout, Kindle, PDF, and multitouch ebooks. Anne-Marie's tips can help you choose the right format and the best tools to build your ebook. She demonstrates professional page layout software such as Adobe InDesign, free apps, and trustworthy services that will do the work for you. Plus, learn about important housekeeping details for selling ebooks, such as creating an ISBN and creating store accounts for the Kindle and iBooks.

Learning objectives
Finding, downloading, and reading free ebooks
Choosing the right format for your ebook
Building reflowable EPUBs and fixed-layout EPUBs
Using tools like Word, Sigil, calibre, Jutoh, Pages, PubCoder, and InDesign
Adding animation and interactivity such as clickable buttons
Creating ebooks for the Kindle
Learning the pros and cons of PDF ebooks
Creating reflowable and multitouch ebooks with iBooks Author

Concepts

0. Introduction

01 - Welcome
02 - How to use the exercise files

1. What Is an Ebook, Exactly

03 - Different types of ebooks
04 - Where can you get ebooks
05 - Open and read ebooks
06 - Make an ebook
07 - Distribute and sell ebooks
08 - Choose the right format

2. Reflowable EPUBs

09 - Common features of reflowable EPUBs
10 - What's inside an EPUB
11 - EPUB 2 vs. EPUB 3
12 - Make an EPUB on your own
13 - Validate and edit the EPUB

3. Fixed-Layout EPUBs

14 - What is a fixed-layout EPUB
15 - Reflowable vs. Fixed-layout EPUBs
16 - What's inside a fixed-layout EPUB
17 - Make a fixed-layout EPUB
18 - Add interactivity and animations

4. Ebooks for the Amazon Kindle

19 - What makes a Kindle ebook different
20 - Creating a Kindle ebook from Microsoft Word
21 - Convert an EPUB to a Kindle ebook
22 - Create FXL ebooks for the Kindle
23 - Distribute and sell your Kindle ebook

5. PDF Ebooks

24 - Pros and cons of PDF ebooks
25 - Create a PDF ebook from Microsoft Word
26 - Create a PDF ebook from Adobe InDesign
27 - Use Adobe Acrobat Pro to modify the ebook
28 - Distribute and sell your PDF ebook

6. Ebooks with iBooks Author

29 - What makes the iBooks format special
30 - Pros and cons of the iBooks format
31 - Create an ebook with iBooks Author
32 - Add interactivity to iBooks
33 - Publish and distribute iBooks

7. Tools and Services

34 - Pages
35 - Sigil, Calibre, and Jutoh
36 - Services that convert your file to EPUB

8. Business Matters

37 - How to get an ISBN number
38 - Kindle Store and iBooks Store accounts

Conclusion

39 - Resources and next steps