Reviewing Your eBook Files

Congratulations! Now that we have sent you your eBook files, it is time to look them over and make sure you are ready to publish them. This page will give you instructions on how to download the files from Concourse, install the programs you'll need, review your files, and send us any revisions you encounter.

• Downloading the Files
• Children's eBooks
• Using Devices
• Installing Programs
• Viewing Files
  • The MOBI file
  • The ePub file
• Reporting Revisions

Downloading the Files

Before we get started looking over the files, you will need to download them to your computer from Concourse. In your Concourse account, go to the project page for your book and click on the Files tab on the left:

On the right side you will see links to your eBook files, like this:

We recommend that you save your files in a distinct folder on your computer — in a place that you will be able to remember and easily access. To save a file, just right-click (Mac: Command-click) on the link to each file and select the correct option in your drop-down menu. This option is worded differently in different browsers:

• Chrome: Save link as...
• Firefox: Save Link As...
• Internet Explorer: Save target as...
• Safari: Download Linked File As...

If you do a regular left-click on the file, your computer might open the file or to save it to a Downloads folder instead of allowing you to save it to a specific location. That can be confusing for some clients, so we recommend using the right-click and Save As method described above.

Installing Programs and Viewing Files

Once you are finished downloading the eBook files to your computer, it is time to look over them. We encourage you to load the files onto eBook devices like the Kindle, Nook, and iPad (in iBooks) if you have those available, but you can also use some specific computer programs for this reviewing process if necessary.

Because the MOBI and ePUB files are different formats, we will discuss them individually in the sections below.

Fixed Layout eBooks

Fixed layout eBooks (whether children's or other types) can only be viewed in specific applications. Trying to load a fixed layout title in other devices or applications will not show you the proper formatting your readers will see when they buy the eBook. Here are the devices/apps you should use for each retailer:

• Apple: iBooks on an iPad
• Amazon: Kindle Fire or Kindle Previewer
• B&N: Nook Tablet, HD, or HD+
• Kobo: Kobo Android app on any Android device (Kobo Vox/Arc not required)

For information on how to load files into these reading systems, please follow the instructions below.

The MOBI file

The .MOBI file is the format used on Amazon's Kindle platform. The best option for viewing a Kindle eBook is loading it onto a Kindle device. To upload the file to your Kindle device, please use Amazon's Kindle Personal Documents Service.

If you do not have a Kindle device, you can use your computer to review your Kindle file. While Amazon does have Kindle applications for the PC and Mac, the best program to view your Kindle file is Kindle Previewer. This application is provided by Amazon expressly for the purpose of reviewing Kindle eBooks, and it does a good job of emulating how the file will look on all of the Kindle devices and apps. To install this tool on your PC or Mac computer:

1. If you've not done so already, download the Kindle Previewer:
• Go to this web page.
• Check off the box to accept the terms of use.
• Download the correct installation program to your computer.
• Follow the instructions to install the software.
2. Once the program is installed, open it (it will be in your Programs list).
3. Open the Kindle file by dragging and dropping it into the open program window or by using the Open option on the Kindle Previewer home screen.
4. The controls and menus at the top of the program window allow you to turn pages, skip to chapters, change the font size, and switch which device you are emulating. The most important devices to test on are the Paperwhite and the Fire.

Please note that the Preview option on Amazon's KDP platform does not do as good a job of showing you what your eBook actually looks like as Kindle Previewer does. Also, note that while the Kindle for iPad application does allow loading files for testing, the way the eBook looks in the program after being sideloaded is not how it will look if someone purchases the file and downloads it to their iPad from the Kindle store.

If you see anything that needs to be changed in your file, please see the section below for information on reporting revisions to us.

The ePub file

ePub is the industry standard eBook format, so it can be viewed on a variety of devices and in many software applications. Those devices and applications typically use one of two display engines to show you the content of the ePub file: Adobe or Webkit. The Adobe display engine has not been updated to take advantage of all of the new features available in ePub files today, so there will be some things that may look less appealing in Adobe-based devices and applications than in a Webkit-based device or app.

For reviewing your ePub file, we recommend you look at the file on actual devices. Whether that is a tablet or an eInk device, you will usually be able to more easily see what your readers will see when they purchase your eBook if you use a device.

In iBooks on an iPad

If you have an Apple iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch, you can view your ePub file in a variety of software applications on the device. The most important app to review your file in is the iBooks software from Apple. If you do not have iBooks installed on your iPad you can download it for free from the iTunes App Store. Then, just follow these instructions to copy the file into iBooks.

On a Nook/Kobo/Sony

Most devices like the NOOK, Kobo, and Sony Reader allow you to "sideload" the ePub file directly to your device by connecting it to your computer and copying the file into a folder. For information on this process, please see the following help pages.

• NOOK and NOOKcolor
• Scroll down and click on "Adding books or PDFs using your computer"
• Sony Reader (enter your model number)

On a computer

If you do not have a device, you can use one of a few programs on your computer to view the ePub file.

The most up-to-date program, and the one we recommend you use for your previewing, is the Readium plugin for Chrome. You must have the Chrome browser installed in order to use Readium.

The most common program people use when looking at ePub files on a computer is Adobe Digital Editions (ADE). ADE does not have every good support for newer ePub features, so you may not see the same formatting in ADE as you do in better reading systems like Readium. To install the ADE software on your computer, visit the ADE website, then download and install the program. When the program opens you can choose to register it with an Adobe account, or you can leave it unregistered. To open your ePub file, you can either double click on the file (ADE installs as the default ePub reading program on your computer) or click on the Library dropdown and select “Add item to Library.”

On other devices

On other devices (such as Android tablets), we recommend installing and using applications from Amazon, B&N and other retailers in your testing.

Reporting Revisions

As you are looking over your files, you may find some things that you would like to have us change, or errors that were somehow introduced into the files during the conversion process. We are happy to make changes to your files at any time, even if you find something that is wrong after the file has been published.

Types of changes

Changes that our clients normally want to make to their eBooks usually fall into one of three categories:

1. Our errors: While the processes we use to extract text from original files are the best in the industry, that extraction process is not always perfect. In addition to thorough proofing and spell checking, we also run multiple algorithms against the code and the text in an attempt to catch anything that might have been messed up by the process. Our developers do not proofread the text word-for-word against the source files for exact accuracy, but they are always looking for errors and issues as they format and test the eBook files.
        If you find errors that were introduced by our process, such as OCR/typing errors, missing hyphens, incorrect or misplaced images, or missing basic formatting like italics and bold, those changes will always be fixed promptly and at no cost to you.
2. Editorial changes: Many of our clients will catch small errors in their print book files before, during, or even after our eBook development process. We charge $100 per hour to make editorial changes in the eBook files. There are also times when re-doing the eBook process from new source files makes more sense than trying to make a huge number of editorial changes. If you think that might be the best approach, please let us know.
3. Formatting changes: Because of the differences between eBooks and their print counterparts, and because of the limitations of some eBook formats, there will be places in an eBook that are not designed the same as they are in print. We do our very best to match the print design and to use comparable design features in the eBook formats. However, we have worked with some clients who are very design-oriented themselves, and they want to have much more control over the design of the final eBook product. In cases like this, we are more than happy to make reasonable changes to the design of the eBook files to match the desires of the client. However, there comes a point when that process is no longer about making reasonable changes and it becomes a complete re-design of the eBook.
        At that point, we will set up a phone conference with you to discuss what you are interested in doing. All of these design processes are charged our standard $100 per hour development fee. It is important that you understand the limitations of the eBook formats and that you be willing to be flexible as we work out design options for your eBook that will work on the different platforms you are targeting. We are also happy to talk with you about these limitations before we even start the eBook creation process so that you enter the process informed and prepared. It is definitely easier to do these design adaptations as part of the original process than to do them later.

Submitting revisions

To submit your revisions, please log into the Concourse system, go to the project page, and click on the Revisions tab in the left menu.

Click on Add a New Revision for each new revision you would like to submit. That opens up the following form:

Please give us three pieces of information for each revision you submit:

1. The source page number: On more extensive or complex changes, it is nice to have the PDF, Word, or print book page number so that we can compare the eBook to the print book in that place. This is not absolutely necessary, though, as long as we have the unique, searchable text that will let us find the spot.
2. The eBook format the revision applies to.
3. In the Notes field, please give us:
   1. Searchable text: We will be making your changes in the XHTML code, not in the original PDF/Word file, and the easiest way to find places in the XHTML code is to search for them. So, please give us some unique, exact, searchable text that we can use to find the exact spot of the issue in the book. Some examples:
      • the word that was misspelled
      • The first few words of the nearest paragraph or heading (for issues with images, formatting, etc.)
      • The caption text (for issues with images, charts, tables, etc.)
   2. A good description of the error: This does not have to be long, but it should be precise. This can also be combined with the searchable text if that makes sense. Some examples:
      • "missppelledd" should be "misspelled"
      • Change "The red fox jumped over the lazy dog" to "The purple cat jumped over the jumping giraffe"
      • Move the image of the mountain above the paragraph that starts "When we moved to Colorado..."

Once you have filled out the form for each individual revision, just click on the Save New Revision button. When you are finished, don't forget to hit the "Submit Requested File Revisions" button so that our team can take care of them. Note: we will not be able to fix revisions unless they have been properly submitted in the system.

If you have any questions about this or anything else, please do not hesitate to contact us.