How to Publish an Ebook Picture Book from a Mac: for Nook, Kindle, PDF

I promised I'd post the process I used to create my ebook, "Princesses, Princesses, Princesses!" for PDF download, for Kindle, for Nook. It's actually not that hard but certain steps can be tricky. Hopefully this little tutorial will help you avoid some of my mistakes. I need to thank VonLogan Brimhall for their tutorial. It got me started. It may work well for PC users, but I am an Apple girl. So there were just some parts that didn't translate well. In addition, the dimensions they proposed for the devices didn't work for me when importing to InDesign and to the devices from there. And finally, there were a few easier tricks I learned in the process.

Remember, Kindle and Nook both have free apps for iphone and ipad and in the android market so anything sold by them can be read on those devices as well. You aren't limited to just kindle or nook users.

Here's what programs I used...so if you don't have these 2 programs, this tutorial won't be super useful to you. I'm sorry.

• Adobe Photoshop (any version should do- I have CS5)
• Adobe InDesign (version CS5 is what I used, I don't know if earlier versions work, I think CS4 does)
• Adobe Acrobat (I used Pro, you'll need more than just the reader)

I'll start with the most difficult and go to the easiest. Ah, you thought I'd start with the simple and work my way up. Too bad. Time to jump right in.

Or download a PDF of this entire post, HERE.

Creating a Nook picture book

Step 1: Open each image in Adobe Photoshop. Resize all of your images to fit within a space 2550 pixels wide by 3242 pixels high, set at 300 dpi. (ignore the screen shot numbers below, just fill in what I specified)

And save as jpg images (do not check the progressive scan option, baseline standard jpg is what you choose). 

 I wanted my images to be the best quality, so don't worry that Nook's screen resolution is actually less than 300 dpi, if you set it to these dimensions, it'll be downsized properly and look tighter. To resize them you can create an action (see help section in photoshop) to rotate & size them all automatically. However, if you first create them at these dimensions, your process in this step will be simple.
I had to rotate my images 90 degrees counter clockwise because I wanted it to look like a real horizontal picture book spread and not a single vertical page.  Then the viewer using the Nook just turns the device horizontal to read instead of vertical.

Save all the images in one folder. I named my folder NookKindle because you'll use the same images for each device.  And make sure the files are named so they are in the correct order. For example, I named mine cover, page01, page02, page03 etc. 


Make sure there are no glitches or spelling or formatting errors in your images before moving on.

Step 2: Open Adobe InDesign CS5 (or you can try it in an earlier version...post in the comments if these steps still work for you).

• Press 'COMMAND N' (cmnd N) for a new document. And Click 'OK'.
• Press 'cmnd D' to place an image on the page.
• Choose your file (start with cover.jpg or whatever you named your cover). Click 'Open'
• A thumbnail image will show up with a little brush. Drag it to the upper left corner and line up with the reddish purple margin and CLICK the mouse button. It'll end up looking like this...going off the page. LEAVE IT as it is. Do not worry. It'll all work out.

• Save it by pressing 'cmnd S'. Put the files all into a separate folder so they are easy to access later. 
• Do each of the above steps again and again until you've saved each of your images as a separate .indd document. 

Step 3: Make your book file (using InDesign)

• Go to File/New/Book or choose Book from the main InDesign Menu Panel and name your book file and click Save
• In the pop-up window, press the + symbol on the lower right to add your content to the book. 

• You can select all the files at once by clicking and holding down the shift key, just make sure they are in the order you want them. Then click Open.

• Save the Book file you just created by clicking the disk icon in the open panel which includes your book files.

Step 4: Export to EPUB

• Here's where my instructions again vary from VonLogan's. Thankfully, it's simpler. Click on the small dropdown menu icon in the upper right  corner of the book files panel. Click Export Book to EPUB... and save it under yourbooktitle.epub

• In the "Digital Editions Export Options" panel, under General, you can include data such as your name or company name under publisher and an isbn number if the book has it (those can be purchased but are not necessary)

• Then click Images on the left and change the jpg size option to High instead of Medium.
• Click Export

Your book is now ready to upload and sell on the Nook. Go to http://pubit.barnesandnoble.com , create an account, and upload your book. It takes longer to get through the review process for Nook than for Kindle...a full 72 hours. But that's not too bad. Have your bank account numbers and tax id numbers ready when you create your account.

Creating a Kindle picture book

Now that you've created your book for Nook, creating the Kindle book will be easy. You already have all your files ready and in InDesign. If you didn't follow those steps, follow steps 1-3 under Creating a Nook Book. Then, follow the next few steps and it'll be up on Kindle in less time than on the Nook.

Step 1: Download the Kindle plugin for InDesign here 
You must be running Mac OSX 10.5 or later and InDesign version CS4 or later


Step 2: Open your Book.innd file or if you didn't save it, follow step 3 under the nook instructions above.

Step 3: Export to MOBI for Kindle

• Click Export Book for Kindle... and save it under yourbooktitle.mobi . Click Save.

• Click Images on the left and change the jpg size option to High instead of Medium.

• Click Metadata on the left and fill in the information.
  
• Click Export

You now have your Kindle compatible file to upload.

Go to kdp.amazon.com (kindle direct publishing) and create a publisher account. Again you'll need all account and tax info handy. Word of caution, they will try to get you to sign up for KDP select. I chose not to because of the exclusivity for 90 days. Just an FYI.

There are many options to review (more than for Nook) concerning royalties, digital rights management etc. I cannot tell you what to do here, except that you should read each thoroughly and then make your choice.

FINALLY the easiest one to create...

Creating a PDF downloadable Picture Book 


Step 1: Resize all of your images to fit within 865 pixels wide by 562 pixels high at 72 dpi. These will need to remain horizontal as you'd want to view them in a normal pdf reader. In this version of your ebook, what you see is exactly what you get. Then Save each image as a jpg in a folder labeled PDF with names that will keep them in the proper order.

Step 2: Open Adobe Acrobat Pro

• Click File/Create PDF/Merge Files into a Single PDF...

• Click Add Files and Add Files again, Select the files and click Add Files.
  

• Make sure they are in the right order and click Combine Files.

 

• And when the next window pops up, just save the file as YourBookTitle.pdf
• Scroll through the document and make sure it looks how you want it to look (it should if you've prepped it right and then followed the steps). 
• If there are no changes, YOU ARE DONE! Your PDF is ready to upload for sale.

Step 3: Selling your PDF book
PDF books open in any pdf reader, on computers, on smartphones, tablets, etc. It's nice to make sales this way because no one takes a cut of the profit. You can sell them off your blog, webpage, etc. and use paypal as the money changer. However, I just chose to upload mine to another illustrator's store that she has set up and link to it off my blog. I highly recommend it. Go there and click "create an account" at the upper right. Nice and simple.
Here's the link...

THE ILLUSTRATED SECTION

You are now in business. Just a reminder, having an ebook doesn't mean you'll make money...it's got to sell. You've got to market it and most importantly, it has to be good. Best wishes to you! (Let me know if I got any of the above information wrong--thanks!)

If you appreciate this tutorial, I would greatly appreciate positive reviews of my ebook on Nook, Kindle stores and even a download or two of the book. ;-)