Is this the right place for this type of upload?

[angharad09]

Apologies if the answer to this question is obvious -- I did look, but I feel like I probably missed something.

I'm working on a short nonfiction (history) book that I plan to offer for free, and I'm wondering if the MobileRead ebook collection would be a good place for it, or if you only want books that have been previously/traditionally published.

If this is not a good place for it (or even if it is), can anyone suggest other platforms? I want a place that's free and easy for readers to sign into, and that has a trustworthy reputation. I do want to keep the copyright, and I haven't yet researched exactly which Creative Commons license to use, but I'd like it to be widely available for noncommercial use. I have been looking at Obooko as one option, if anyone has feedback on that.

Thanks for any advice!

[pdurrant]

IMO, https://smashwords.com/ is the place for you.

But you're welcome to upload it here too.

And to ask for advice in the Writers' forum.

[Quoth]

Smashwords is good. It's difficult to do less than 99c 99p etc on Amazon.
Smashwords also distributes to Libraries, Kobo, Tolino, B&N (Nook), Apple Books etc.
Also NO-ONE *needs* the CC licence. It's just a convenience and may not be what you want. The default is "Copyright" which implies ALL rights are reserved. You can add a paragraph after the the ⓒ 2020 angharad09 which outlines what permissions you are releasing or retaining.
Upload epub2, a dual mobi that has old mobi and AZW/KF8 (because unlike Amazon, Smashwords doesn't know what Kindle someone has). You can also optionally upload a .doc for LRF, HTML, text and PDF options. However Smashwords has less than perfect .doc conversion.
Make the epub2 in Calibre from a docx import and then the dual mobi from the epub2. Use Tablet profile on page setup to avoid resizing images.
For LibreOffice (MS Office is similar)
Make sure you use Paragraph styles, all one page style with no header/footer, that any chapters are Level1 and anything not in the Table of Contents is body level, even a Title. Use Page Break Before any level that should start on a new page, but without a style.
Don't use Register True or Snap to Grid.
Edit and save in odt with an EXTRA SaveAs in docx for Calibre. Don't reload the docx. The only difference with MS Word is to use the docx for all open/save.
Do an extra Save As in MS doc format, that you never open, for Smashwords other than epub and kindle.

Oddly epub2 from Calibre via docx is the best format to upload to Amazon KDP too. They convert it perfectly to whatever formats are needed, including KFX with advanced features.

[BookCat]

@Quoth: Don't SmashWords use the Meatgrinder anymore, or have they become more sophisticated?

@Angharad09 Ignore what I've asked Quoth, it probably isn't relevant anymore, I'm just personally curious.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by BookCat

@Quoth: Don't SmashWords use the Meatgrinder anymore, or have they become more sophisticated?

@Angharad09 Ignore what I've asked Quoth, it probably isn't relevant anymore, I'm just personally curious.

You can upload an epub to Smashwords. I'm not sure if they meatgrind that for the other formats. But at least the epub would be of good quality code assuming you made it that way.

[Quoth]

Smashwords process a .doc file and also accept "mobi" and "epub2". Do make sure your epub2 passes epub check and only make the "mobi" from the checked epub.
You'll get better results uploading an epub2 made in Calibre from docx for epub customers and a "dual mobi" made from the epub2 in Calibre for Kindle customers, as Smashwords can't know what model/firmware is in use.
The .doc is then only needed for HTML, LRF, PDF and Text downloads. You pick which formats you'll make available.
We aren't happy with the PDF and HTML produced from the .doc, so I think we removed them.
The epub and dual mobi covers all current readers. If someone is still seriously using an ancient Palm or pre-epub Sony, they probably can do their own conversion from epub!

A kindle users needs to use the Aa and then select Publisher to see the KF8 version on some Kindles. The DXG and older, but not Kindle Keyboard with FW 3.4.x can't do KF8, and thus only read the old mobi version in the file. Unlike the Kindle tool, the Calibre dual format for Kindle with embedded fonts isn't much bigger than the epub2 with embedded fonts. You need to either embed ALL fonts or none at all.

If we edit or add styles compared with before, or change formatting to use something new we test on Kobo, phone & tablet apps, PW3, Kindle keyboard, DXG and a Sony PRS350. We stopped testing on the Nook and a Binatone, because the Sony PRS350 was enough.

We don't bother testing KFX now or kepub.

If something "new" is tried, then we don't trust Amazon. We do a test purchase for old mobi in USA and in UK for PW3. The preview Amazon offers at the KDP upload stage may not reflect what real customers get.

[angharad09]

Apologies for the delayed response ... many thanks, all! This will help a lot.

[Jellby]

Moderator Notice
Please continue the formatting discussion in Advice for ebook formatting/conversion