Author: Melinda Clayton

Melinda Clayton is the author of the Cedar Hollow series, as well as a self-publishing guide. Clayton has published numerous articles and short stories in various print and online magazines. She has an Ed.D. in Special Education Administration and is a licensed psychotherapist in the states of Florida and Colorado. Lear more about Melinda at her Amazon author page

Indie Author Day and Your Public Library

Indie Author Day LogoMelissa Bowersock recently told us about October 8th, the inaugural Indie Author Day across the US and Canada. She suggested you look here to see if your library is participating. If your library isn’t listed, you can click on the “Let us know” button to nominate your library, then give your local library a friendly call to explain the event, and ask if they’d be interested in participating.

One of the first questions you’re likely to hear from your library contact is, “But what do we do?” My local library had its Indie Author Day a couple of months ago, before news hit the airwaves about Bibliolabs and a nationwide movement. I thought it might be helpful to share some of what they did. Continue reading “Indie Author Day and Your Public Library”

eBook Formatting in Word: You Can Do This

Microsoft Word LogoThe debate continues, but I’m back to tell you yes, you can format and upload your eBook manuscript in Microsoft Word. My last post led us through the process of getting rid of all the junk, hidden code, and other weirdness . Now we’re ready to format.

There are many ways of performing the same action in Word. I start with setting up my styles. Continue reading “eBook Formatting in Word: You Can Do This”

Preparing Your Microsoft Word Document for eBook Publication

Microsoft Word LogoThere’s an ongoing debate on the Kindle Direct Publishing forum regarding formatting and uploading eBooks in Microsoft Word. Some believe it can’t be done. Others insist it can. I’m on the “can” side of the debate. The key is in making sure your document is free of any hidden code, markups, page breaks, etc.

Today, I’ll take you through clearing your manuscript of anything hidden that will cause problems during the conversion process once uploaded KDP.

A couple of things to know before starting: Continue reading “Preparing Your Microsoft Word Document for eBook Publication”

Tips for Turning Your Book into an Audiobook with ACX.com

acx LogoA couple of years ago Melissa Bowersock wrote a helpful post on her experience with using ACX to create an audiobook. A couple of things have changed since then, so I thought it might be helpful to recap and walk through my most recent experiences with ACX.

One of the best changes is that ACX is now open to UK authors and producers. Until 2014, that wasn’t the case. In addition, while ACX has always sent U.S. authors and producers a batch of 25 free Audible coupon codes upon publication, they will now send a batch of 25 UK codes, as well, if requested. This is important, because the codes are country-specific. I recently submitted a couple of audiobooks to a review site in which reviewers are from both the U.S. and UK. It was nice to have codes that would work for all reviewers, regardless of location. Continue reading “Tips for Turning Your Book into an Audiobook with ACX.com”