This link will give you the program for either PC or Mac formats. Correct any errors, then download Adobe’s Digital Editions. To create a epub file, pick the epub option then compile again. Obviously, ebooks are a lot cheaper to give away than paper books. I always create a epub file because not everyone has a kindle and when giving away free copies of the book, it’s nice to have that option. Look through the whole document for formatting issues and make sure the chapter and web links work. For kindle, download the free kindle reading app for PCor Mac. If you click on a error message, it will take you to that error in your document. The nice thing about Jutoh is that if you hit the “error” tab at the bottom of the Jutoh screen, it will show you all the mistakes you make and tell you what the error is. When you’ve selected mobi you hit “compile” and the program will create a folder in your computer’s “document” file titled “Jutoh Documents.” It will put the mobi and Jutoh file there. Smashwords will also accept mobi files, so you might as well start there. As mentioned, for kdp.amazon you want the mobi format. Once it’s uploaded and formatted the way you want (remember no fonts bigger than 16 point or unusual fonts – ereaders aren’t sophisticated enough to handle these things) you pick the format you want. Just pick the “chapters by page break” option when setting it up in Jutoh. You can do it within the program, but doing it in word first will save you time. One time-saver for you is if you put in page breaks in the word doc that you download to Jutoh, it will automatically make these the chapters breaks. One other caution for Jutoh specifically – I recommend you use Jutoh’s styles when formatting your book (centering, special formatting), it will look better in the end product. **Be aware that Amazon and Smashwords don’t accept documents that have links to other people’s websites, so don’t put them in. You can also easily put in hyperlinks to your book’s website or sites to buy your other books – if you have more than one. The nice thing about both of these programs is that you can upload you book and create the links to each chapter without all the putzing needed when working with a word doc. There is a small learning curve (as their would be with Scrivener) and Jutoh has a very good user’s guide/help section to the program if you need it.

Both programs cost approximately $40, by the way. But I purchased Jutoh and have been happy with the results. I have viewed a webinar for Scrivener and it looks like a fine program – has a few more bells and whistles and probably works better for non-fiction authors since it’s a lot easier to move chapters around and you can load websites very easily. Mobi is used for kindle and epubs are used for everyone else (nook, kobo, ipad or any other android reader). I am aware of two programs that allow you to create a fairly quick mobi or epub file: Jutoh and Scrivener. Sounds easy, but it does take a bit of time to do all the recommended steps.

It’s free and if you follow that guide, your word doc will easily upload to Smashwords and Amazon. Word Document:įor this option the best way to get it right is to follow Mark Coker’s formatting guide that he created for his Smashwords clientele. I think perhaps creating the mobi file is a touch easier, but both require a bit of work on your part. I’ve done both and I’m not sure which is easier. There are two ways to upload your book on both Amazon and Smashwords: A formatted word doc or a mobi doc.

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