How to read eBooks without an eReader.

Posted on June 28, 2018June 28, 2018 by judyhudson@shaw.ca

Don’t have an eReader? Or even if you do, you might want to turn your tablet or phone into an eReader. Start taking advantage of online book deals, whether from kindle, kobo or nook. Do like the iPad users do and download a free app to turn your PC tablet, iPad or phone, whether android or iPhone, into an eReader.

The advantages to reading on an eReader are many:

they are often lighter or smaller than a bound book
you control the font size, and screen brightness and color
buy books instantly by connecting online
link your tablet and phone (by downloading an app in your user name to each) then check in with your book anywhere, anytime you have your phone
eBooks are generally much less expensive than even paperbacks
take advantage of special eBook sales and giveaways
connect to free books at your library without going to pick them up
no stacks weighing down your nightstand

The downside?

no nice paper smell and feel
it is harder, although not impossible, to share books

I’m a convert, for all of the pro’s reasons. And while I have a kindle and used to have a kobo reader, lately I have also been reading my kindle books on my phone and think I might go for a small reading tablet when my kindle gives out (although they seem to last forever) so I can access my kobo library.

Try it yourself. Go to the app store on your device and download the appropriate app, set up an account at the online retailer, if you don’t already have one, register your device(s) and you’re ready to go. If you have an iPad or iPhone, you might have one hidden on your device that will access apple books.

Then download the free e-copy of the first book in the Fortune Bay series, Summer of Fortune from the sidebar on the right and start reading. Then I’ll send you notifications and general news whenever I have a new book out or on special sale.

The correct date and time for the facebook party

Posted on June 4, 2017 by judyhudson@shaw.ca

Can I make any more mistakes with the date and time of this facebook party!?

I must have had the calendar open on the wrong month when I set up the party two weeks ago, and when I wrote the last post about the 20 questions survey and set it to go live today, because since then I have realized I had the date (and some of the times!) wrong. (As my husband pointed out so helpfully this morning, there is no Thursday June 7.)

And, to complicate matters more, I later changed the date to Tuesday because of a previous commitment. (A Grad!)

To say I am in my own little world when I’m immersed in the first draft of a new book would be an understatement.

So, let’s try it again.

On Tuesday June 6 I’ll be posting and chatting with readers for an hour from 10 – 11 am PDT (1 – 2 pm EDT) and again at 6 – 7 pm PDT (9 – 10 pm EDT), but you can drop in any time Tuesday June 6th and add your comments to be entered in draws.

To see the corrected original post– including what’s in the draws and my answers to the 20 Questions Survey — click here.

Now, if I can only remember on Tuesday to show up, everything will be fine!

Judy

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Facebook party fiasco!

Posted on May 31, 2017May 31, 2017 by judyhudson@shaw.ca

It was one of those middle-of-the-night revelations. I’d scheduled my Getting To Know You facebook party for the same date as my niece’s graduation and celebration dinner! I have to go–I want to go. And I knew you’d all understand, so

I’m changing the date to of the facebook party to Tuesday June 6th, the day before the original date.

Same times, same prizes. Just the day before. June 6.

To recap –

On Tuesday June 6th I’ll be posting and chatting with readers for an hour from 10 – 11 am PDT (1 – 2 am EDT) and again at 6 – 7 pm PDT (9 – 10 pm EDT), but you can drop in any time Tuesday June 6th and add your comments. If you comment, I’ll enter your name in the draws for:

1 autographed bundle of all 4 Fortune Bay paperbacks
5 draws for autographed single books
and the 10 ebooks I’ll be giving away to participants.

If you haven’t already, please let me know if you think you can come by signing in here, on the event page.

Also – thank you to everyone who has filled out the 20 Questions Survey. I’m having fun reading the responses and I’ll be posting my answers to the survey – as well as the names of the prize winners – on June 8.

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Hope to see you at the party.

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Using Word Headings and calibre to Format ebooks

Posted on November 14, 2016November 14, 2016 by judyhudson@shaw.ca

I see discussion on the writers loops about formatting ebooks, so I thought I’d put in my two cents. Here’s how I format my ebooks using the free program calibre. And, by the way, I’ll be using a PC and Word throughout.

I am not particularly tech savvy, and this was one of the easiest things I had to learn.You can give it a try at no cost and preview the results on your kindle or the calibre ebook viewer.

I do a straightforward ebook, with consistent chapter headings but no flourishes. When I’m reading, I find fancy chapter headings distracting once I’m into the book. You could probably figure out how to make your ebooks fancier in calibre too, but I have never bothered. I do put a page with images of my other books and links in the back, though.

This post is in two parts: Headings, and calibre.

Using Headings

Headings are a Word function that many ebook formatting programs use to identify chapters. It is also a useful editing tool while working on your manuscript (ms). The first thing to do is to open the Navigation Pane in your document, (the column on the left in this image. Called Document Map in older versions of Word and, confusingly, is still called that if you try to Customize the Ribbon, as I have done here.)

If your open window does not show the Navigation Pane like this, go to the VIEW tab and click on Navigation Pane. This also opens your search/Find bar. I use the navigation Pane to jump between sections of my document and, with headings and subheadings, it makes an outline of the story as I go.

To set up your manuscript in Word with Headings, go to Headings in the HOME tab, usually on the far right.

The body of your ms will show as Normal. If you want to setup a chapter heading or Part One, Part Two type of division (as I’ve done here using the days of the week) and chapters as sub-divisions, you can do that in headings.

in my case I highlighted, “Saturday, Day 1”, at the beginning of my ms, clicked on Heading 1, and my highlighted words showed up in the Navigating Pane
then I highlighted “Chapter 1”, clicked on Heading 2, and Chapter 1 showed up as a sub-heading. I always put chapters as Heading 2.
when I’m working on a ms, I also label the scenes and call them Heading 3 (Rocky apologizes.) for my Nav. Pane outline.

I also put word counts in the headings, and often label structural points, “End of Act 1”, “Mid-point”, etc., as Heading 1. You can add anything you want to keep track of or find again to the Headings. You end up with a brief outline in the Navigating Pane, and as a bonus, you can drag headings around in the Nav. Pane and the whole section moves within the document but your can’t copy the Navigation Pane to use as an freestanding outline.

When I’m ready to format the ms as a book, I save the document with a different name and, in the new ebook version, take out all of these headings notes-to -self and scene headings and just leaving the headings as I want them to appear in the book. Chapter One, etc.

To reformat the look of the headings, change one to how you want them all to look, font, size, bold, italics centered, whatever. Then highlight it and go to that heading tab, right click, and click Update Heading 2 to Match Selection. All parts set in Heading 2 (all chapter headings) should change to match.

Using Calibre

calibre icon on my desktop

Download calibre, install on desktop and open.
click Add books (top left, red icon)
calibre open on my desktop
click on ms file you want to format and it appears in the blue line at the top of your list.
Click Convert books and open this panel.
set Output format to MOBI for kindle or EPUB for everything else.
I fill in title, author, author sort, publisher, tags, series, and book #, and up load my cover image.
DO NOT CLICK OK AT THIS POINT
I click on Look & Feel in the left menu, it opens to the Font tab. Choose a font
click on the Text tab, click on Justify
click on Layout, Insert blank line between paragaphs, change Line size: to 0.2 em I find this a pleasant spacing to read,
go to the left hand menu and click on Table of Contents and click on Force use of auto-generated Table of Contents. This is where your Headings will be picked up on calibre (and other programs) to make your Table of Contents.
NOW CLICK OK AND CALIBRE WILL FORMAT YOUR EBOOK AND MAKE A NEW FILE CALLED “CALIBRE” ON YOUR COMPUTER TO STORE YOUR EBOOK FILES .
At this point you can go back and change the Output format and it will have saved all your settings and format the new ebook. If you change the output format before clicking OK you will lose all your settings and have to start from square one.
If you saved a MOBI file, you can email it to your kindle. Find your kindle’s email address in the settings of your device. This way you can see exactly what your readers will see when you upload your file to their kindle. For EPUB files, I open them on Calibre’s e-book viewer by double clicking on the name in the blue line.

Piece o’ cake! Any questions, I’d be happy to try to answer them, but this is really all I know. Works for me.

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Gearing up for the Home for Christmas Facebook Launch party

Posted on October 25, 2016November 14, 2016 by judyhudson@shaw.ca

You could win a signed set of the Fortune Bay books at the online launch of Home for Christmas, the third book in the Fortune Bay Series. The Facebook Launch is November 1 – just a week away! I’m celebrating getting the last of these four books out in eBook and trade paperback formats to online booksellers.

But I’m also celebrating my new readers and hope the facebook party will be a chance to get to know you and have you get to know me a bit better.

It’s just one hour, 1 – 2 pm Pacific time (10 – 11 am Eastern) Tuesday November 1, but I realize not everyone is free for an hour mid-day, mid-week. That’s why I’m planning three ways you can get in on the giveaways:

Come for the whole party! Grab a coffee or tea – or a glass of wine, I won’t judge. I’m planning a quiz for people who have read the prequel, Lake of Dreams, (still e-free on online platforms for a limited time longer! See links in the sidebar), a “who would you pick to play [insert your favourite character’s name] in the movie” game (I can dream!) and more.
Or just drop in for a few minutes. I’ll be giving away a free eBook every five minutes!
I’m also running an all day contest of a signed set of all 4 beautiful trade paperback books.Just check in at the launch party page any time on November 1, or at my website, to find the entry to win a signed set of books. Perfect to share with your friends.