Next comes formatting.

Unless you are proficient with using a word processing program such as Microsoft Word, you may have problems with formatting. A common error is an improper page break.

A page break is used when you want to make sure that a page breaks at a certain place and does not allow improper flow of content to the next page. Rather than forcing a page break by using manual returns, you should use the page break command.

Other common errors in formatting are not being consistent. All fonts should be consistent and all headings should be consistent.

There are many other details to be considered in formatting, particularly if your publication uses pictures or other special characters, such as borders, page borders, tables, specific symbols to end a chapter, etc.

I find that authors are sometimes disappointed with the way their manuscript looks in Kindle. Kindle is not particularly friendly to any type of special formatting, such as pictures, symbols, characters, lines, tables, borders, spacing, etc.

Because Kindle readers have the option of changing the font size on their individual Kindle, this can change the appearance of a manuscript. I have read some books on my Kindle where there may be a single word on a page because of the font size I am using. If I change the font size on my Kindle, this would be different. This is upsetting to some authors, but it wouldn’t be to a Kindle reader.

I don’t think this characteristic should stop an author from putting their book up on Kindle.

If you are unfamiliar with formatting in a Word processing program, you may want to use the services of an expert in doing this for you and that is one of the things we do at Great Transcriptions. You can reach us at www.greattranscriptions.com.  Check out our services in the rest of this web page. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Now that you’ve written your manuscript and are ready to publish it, there are still a couple of other steps you need take. The first one is the editing.

Although you will find that there are different types of editors and each of them checks for different things, unless you have a complicated college textbook, you will probably only need an editor to check for spelling, punctuation, grammar usage, clarity, consistency and overall flow. Consider the following example from my recent book.

Edited Version: Then as the photographs were displayed, his parents recorded what each photograph meant. What wonderful memories, most of them from the early days of his parents’ marriage, and from the younger years of him and his brother.

Unedited Version: Then as the photographs were displayed his parents recorded what each photograph meant. What a wonderful memory, most of it being during the early days of his parents’ marriage, and him and his brother’s younger years.

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Where can you find content to create an information product?

Your Own Knowledge and Experience. Your own knowledge and experience is most important of all. If you put your mind to it, you will be surprised at the topics on which you have knowledge that would be of interest.

Have you solved a problem in your own life about how to handle the absence of a loved one, how you handled a problem with one of your children, what you do with little or no income, divorce, an accident, or other solution which would aid others?

Do you have a specific skill or talent that provides a solution? I know people who are extremely talented at cleaning, for example, decorating, choosing colors, shopping at thrift stores, and on and on. All of these provide solutions which could help others and which could be good topics for a book or other income producing product.

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I hope you had as wonderful a Christmas as I did.  No problems like I had at Thanksgiving.  Just wonderful family and friends togetherness, and lots of good food.  Yes, I ate a lot.

Now it’s time to get down to brass tacks and back to work.  I’ll be continuing my series on Publishing on Amazon and Kindle; then I’m going to begin  a series on “Getting Back to Basics - Marketing.”  I think you’ll find both interesting and helpful in creating information products to build your business and boost your income — and just in time for the New Year.

Stay tuned.  Sign up on the right to receive notification when new posts are available.  You’ll also receive a special report about how to choose a transcription service.

May 2012 be filled with prosperity,
good health and much happiness.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

I began my Thanksgiving morning with great expectations. I already have lots to be thankful for—my family, my health, my friends, my activities, and so much more. So when I started out early that Thanksgiving morning for the 2 ½ hour drive to Lompoc where my daughter lives, I didn’t know that disaster would strike, and that by the end of the day, all the things I have to be thankful for would be multiplied.

My plan was to leave early, which I did. I knew I needed gas but decided I could get as far as Camarillo where I would stop for gas and breakfast. Instead of driving straight, I had decided on that plan because I wasn’t quite hungry yet and that would give me an opportunity to build up an appetite and would break up the trip.

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HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL

My Create Space and Kindle blogs will continue

after the Thanksgiving Holiday.

Once you’ve passed the previous hurdles and you know what you’re going to write about, you know your audience and have done some keyword research so you know how to angle your book and have an idea about the title, the next thing to think about is the cover.

Your cover is another important element and I hear so many different thoughts on this that I’m not sure how to advise you. This decision is really going to be based on the type of book it is and your audience, or market, how you feel about it, and your budget.

Then there is the decision of how to get your cover done. If you can create it in the format Create Space requires it in, it is fairly easy to do it yourself. If you can’t create it yourself, you can order from one of the many services on the Internet from which you will probably get a boiler plate design, or you can get a professional graphic designer to do the cover for you.

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One of the first tools and a valuable tool to use is keyword research. Think about how people will find your book, what words or phrases will they use when they go for a search, either on Amazon, or just in general.

Look for words or phrases that have had at least 1,000 searches per month. For example, if I were going to search for something having to do with transcription, what words or phrases would I use? If your product were about how to find a good place to fish, you are probably very familiar with that subject, and you would think of what words or phrases would you use if you wanted to find a good place to fish. You might want to search for only specific areas or states, a specific type of fishing, etc.

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Give some thought to the type of information product you are going to create. In some cases you will only want to publish for your specific clients. You could make this similar to a brochure, a sales letter; or a special report. If you give it the right slant, it can still be of interest to a general market that would purchase your book for information rather than using your services and at the same time it would give you credibility and provide information to potential clients.

Think about who will likely be consuming your book and check out what other books are now being offered on Amazon. Consider what type of ebooks your market is buying.

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This is Part 1 of a series of blogs which will talk about how to get published on Amazon and Kindle. In these next few blog entries you’ll see how easy this is.

Great Transcriptions is an information product services company for coaches, consultants, speakers, internet Marketers and entrepreneurs, who want to boost their business. We not only provide you with knowledge to record your information and get it transcribed (which is the easiest and fastest way to produce an information product), we also help you get it published as an electronic product and on Amazon and the Kindle.

Why would you want to be published on Amazon or Kindle?

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