

This advanced section might be a little bit challenging, and it is not necessary for every self-publisher to understand. However, you need to convert the EPUB format into MOBI format by using a command-line program from called KindleGen, which is available for free from. Likewise, the MOBI format is based on the standards outlined by the International Digital Publishing Forum for EPUB. Having a good understanding of EPUB 2.01 will certainly prepare you for the release of EPUB 3.0.

This promises to have good support for embedding audio and video files, which is currently lacking in EPUB 2.01. Sometime down the road, EPUB 3.0 will be released. This guide will provide you with a basic understanding of the EPUB format so that you can construct your own EPUBs by hand-coding them yourself. It is not a very exciting read, and the instructions are geared towards software developers rather than self-publishers. Instructions on the EPUB 2.01 standard are available here. The EPUB format is based on the International Digital Publishing Forum's guidance for the EPUB 2.01 format. You can also utilize the knowledge in this section to tweak your EPUB that came out of Calibre to get it exactly the way you want it. This will allow you to not rely on Calibre, and construct your eBooks entirely from the ground up. However, if you are a purist, this section will discuss the actual layout of an EPUB file and how to convert EPUB files into MOBI with the KindleGen program. Introduction to Advanced FormattingFor many self-publishers, converting eBooks from your XHTML source code using Calibre will be suitable to provide a professional reading experience for your customers. Prerequisites for Manually Coding EPUB and MOBIĬreating Your Own EPUB Files and Prepping for MOBI Conversion Table of Contents for EPUB and KindleGen Tutorial Additionally, there are some helpful hints for formatting for Smashwords in this tutorial. Templates for XHTML and EPUB are also available for your formatting arsenal. For those looking for something more advanced, you can also peruse the Regular Expressions tutorial, as well as the EPUB and KindleGen tutorial. The full tutorials for the eBook formatting series include a basic XHTML tutorial, a tutorial for converting your manuscript into XHTML, and a Calibre tutorial for converting XHTML into eBooks. Please view a more up-to-date and better EPUB and KindleGen tutorial at the BB eBooks website. This tutorial is out-of-date due to changing requirements from Amazon.
