The Heavy Metal Garage CAR-toon eBook Development.

Kindle iPad eBook Cover Preview

Have investigated the eBook route to get our Heavy Metal Garage CAR-toons into the big wide world.  That is the option without getting a printed on paper car magazine on board.

The real issue with this route is that your typical Street Machine, Dream Car Garage, Classic Restos or Gasolene  fan isn't particularly computer or high tech gizmo literate.

But do they have iPads?  Kind of the computer for the computer illiterate. I know most magazine publishers are hoping so.

The real saviour is the Kindle reader and it is available for all platforms like the iPad and SmartPhones. I think phones are the real future platform. Kindle on a SmartPhone is really usable and so convenient.

We have the content and it is a matter of producing the ePub and MOBI formats.

We are using the open source Sigil as the ePub editor.

Sigil editor with our eBook

It has both wysiwyg and html code views of your work, tools to generate the table of contents, default html code, meta data, the semantics required to tag some files and a code checker.

Also use Adobe Digital Editions for previews, and generate Kindle MOBI files using the Kindle Previewer.  Sigil allows adding in audio and video files too, but I couldn't get them to play on any of the Readers yet.

eReaders Aldiko for the Android Phone, Stanza for the iPhone, or Adobe Digital Editions for Mac/PC  are needed to see the view the .ePub file.  You need a Kindle or the Mac/PC Kindle Reader app to view the .MOBI file.  The Kindle Previewer also allows you to check on all the Kindle platforms, such as the iPad.

Kindle Devices Previews

We are using it on our Samsung Android phone and it works great and is very readable.   An iPad Mini or such 7" tablet would be better, but not something that fits in any pocket I have.

Our Kindle sBook on Android Phone (with wide margin setting)

There are a few places that will help you self publish your book, such as Smashwords, Amazon and even Apple. This CNET article covers it all.

We have now produced and published the first edition of Hot CAR-toons, Dudes, Dudettes & Stuff At the Heavy Metal Garage  The book has a $3.99 price on Amazon.  Seems reasonable to me.  And it is already selling.

The Amazon KDP allows you to also upload revised Editions any time, which takes the risk out of editing and proof reading.

iPad Kindle Preview of earlier draft

The interesting thing about Smashwords is they get you a free ISBN number and that their Meatgrinder tool can work from WORD files, as long as you use the simple format in their style guide.  The good thing about that, as I , and I guess just about anyone else, has had many years of using WORD. Smashwords will then get the books into all the eBook retail outlets, except Amazon, and you can do that your self.

All very much like having a CD manufactured and distributed by CDBaby to get into Amazon and iTunes.

Of course, like everything else, no one will find and buy your book or CD unless it is promoted and marketed. A job all in itself, and what traditional publishers and Record labels did.

We already have our Zazzle online store, SoundCloud and YouTube Channels, so it does not seem out of the question to have an eBook or two either.

We had previously thought about publishing "Zen and the Art of the Digital Oscillator" to go into our time developing the Fairlight Instruments  CMI Series II and Series III then the 15 years we spent at the Roland Corporation Japan developing various things...... always thought that might be interesting to some one.... but maybe not.

Contact us at Art & Technology.