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Cover Question

BWFoster78

Myth Weaver
Not sure if this is the correct forum or if it should be under publishing? I apologize if I picked the wrong one.

I commissioned cover art for Abuse of Power, the novelette I published in Myths Inscribed. I'm giving them exclusivity until early March. At that point, I plan to offer it for free on my website.

Anyway, I'm paying an artist $40 to use one of his images, and he's going to create the cover for me.

The problem: he's asking what dimensions I need.

I have no idea. I'm want to make the novelette available for download in pdf, Nook, and Kindle formats, but I haven't researched how to do that.

Can anyone tell me what to do?

Thanks!

Brian
 
Something around 1800 pixels wide by 2400 pixels tall is ideal, right now. Devices will scale that down to something they can use, and that's a good size for the newer iPad screens. You can get away with 1200x1600, but you're better off future-proofing your work against the higher resolution screens we'll see coming down the pipe.
 
I recommend Building your Book for Kindle. It's free and you can read it on a Kindle for PC app. It's got all sorts of formatting stuff for you to consider.

Nook has different guidelines (different types of breaks, more restrictive fonts, etc), but the cover stuff is about the same. Kevin has it right mainly, but important to consider that Nook does not allow more than 2000 pixels per side and also requests 100 to 150 dpi (I recommend 150).

Here's the Nook formatting guide: Link to pdf; and here's the FAQ page.
 
Ah, good catch, Zero Angel. It's not that the Nook doesn't allow larger images though - it's that Pubit doesn't let you upload larger ones. I hadn't used Pubit for most of my more recent uploads to B&N, had forgotten about that!

Think Smashwords adjusts the image size to work for B&N? Or think B&N just doesn't worry about the 1600x2400 pixel images Smashwords sends them?
 
I know that one breakdown of about 60 ereader formats and apps said that the several files Smashwords creates cover every single use there is other than Kindle (and about one more, I think an obscure Sony app). Which still leaves it a distant second to Kindle, but an useful one-- unless you're saying the Smashwords-to-Nook process is clumsy.
 

BWFoster78

Myth Weaver
Thanks for all the help, but I'm still feeling kind of clueless here.

I'm not planning on offering the book on any website other than my own. I was given to understand, and correct me if I'm wrong, that there's a fairly easy way to take my Word file and convert it to pdf, Nook, and Kindle formats. Do I need Smashwords or is there some type of "Save As" feature or program out there?

Given those objectives, what dimensions would you recommend?

Thanks!

Brian
 
Ah, good catch, Zero Angel. It's not that the Nook doesn't allow larger images though - it's that Pubit doesn't let you upload larger ones. I hadn't used Pubit for most of my more recent uploads to B&N, had forgotten about that!

Think Smashwords adjusts the image size to work for B&N? Or think B&N just doesn't worry about the 1600x2400 pixel images Smashwords sends them?

Wow, I had no idea Pubit had different requirements. That's lame. I assume they just do an auto-convert? Dunno'.

Thanks for all the help, but I'm still feeling kind of clueless here.

I'm not planning on offering the book on any website other than my own. I was given to understand, and correct me if I'm wrong, that there's a fairly easy way to take my Word file and convert it to pdf, Nook, and Kindle formats. Do I need Smashwords or is there some type of "Save As" feature or program out there?

Given those objectives, what dimensions would you recommend?

Thanks!

Brian
Kindle uses .mobi files, Nook uses .epub. For .pdf, you can just "save as" in any new Microsoft Word (2007+ I believe) and the .pdf file extension is an option. Otherwise, you can use Calibre to convert files to .mobi and .epub (I'm sure there are others, but Calibre is free and useful).

I'd go with Kevin's suggestion of 1600 by 2400 pixels at 150 dpi.

I'd classify it as "fairly easy" if you have no special formatting (beyond italics, bold and underline). Even indentations start to get a little buggy with the different formats. I'm not sure if it is legal to distribute, but if you sign up for KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) you can upload your document, have it auto-converted, and then download a mobi version of it.

For pdf, you can actually get pretty fancy and have page numbers, headings and the whole shebang. It's straightforward WYSIWYG. It's only the "more advanced" file formats that screw up.
 

BWFoster78

Myth Weaver
Zero,

I think I'm good with pdf. I have access to the professional Adobe software and use it often.

I was advised early on that tabs present a problem, so I used Word's indent feature as I was told. I'm hoping that helps prevent wonky formatting.

I'm assuming Calibre is a free or very cheap program? If so, that sound's exactly like what I need.

I'll relay your pixel/dpi numbers to my artist. (I'm feeling cool right now; I have "an artist.")

Thanks again for the response!

Brian
 
Zero,

I think I'm good with pdf. I have access to the professional Adobe software and use it often.

I was advised early on that tabs present a problem, so I used Word's indent feature as I was told. I'm hoping that helps prevent wonky formatting.

I'm assuming Calibre is a free or very cheap program? If so, that sound's exactly like what I need.

I'll relay your pixel/dpi numbers to my artist. (I'm feeling cool right now; I have "an artist.")

Thanks again for the response!

Brian

An example of an indenting problem I had was that for my nonfiction math book I did NOT want any indents, and basic Kindles put them in automatically. But yes, using Word's indents is the proper way.

Calibre is free and available here.
 
I would recommend *against* Calibre right now. It does not use Kindlegen, and some writers uploading to KDP with Calibre exports have been having problems lately. Amazon wants mobi files generated by Kindlegen because the newest version of Kindlegen contains both the mobi file AND an epub file - I suspect they are hedging their bets against a future day when they might want to sell epub as well as or instead of mobi/AMZ format.

Technically, you *can* upload a Word DOC to Pubit, KDP, and Smashwords. I don't generally recommend that (better to upload epub to Pubit/Kobo, DOC to Smashwords, and mobi (best) or epub (second best) to KDP), and some writers have issues with their DOC uploads to KDP. But you can do it.

My software of choice for conversion is Jutoh. It costs $39, and beats out InDesign for epub and mobi conversion. Fast, easy, takes me ten minutes or less to convert a ms. to epub and mobi files ready for upload. Uses Kindlegen for mobi conversion.

Scrivener, by the way, is also set up to use Kindlegen for its mobi conversion. So Scrivener mobi exports should upload properly as well.
 
As for file size - the 2400x1600 sounds great. Just keep in mind if you use Pubit, you'll have to shrink it down to 2000x1333 or so. Easy enough to do in any image editing program, even the free ones.
 

JCFarnham

Auror
Scrivener, by the way, is also set up to use Kindlegen for its mobi conversion. So Scrivener mobi exports should upload properly as well.

See? This is why I knew it was good idea to buy while I had my NaNo Winner's discount. Thanks for the heads up on all of this, would have faffed with Word and Calibre and messed it right up too.
 

BWFoster78

Myth Weaver
As for file size - the 2400x1600 sounds great. Just keep in mind if you use Pubit, you'll have to shrink it down to 2000x1333 or so. Easy enough to do in any image editing program, even the free ones.

So, if I caught the correct gist of your last post, you shouldn't use Calibre because of something to do with KDP. Since I'm not uploading to anybody except my website, I'm assuming that's not an issue for me. Does Calibre have an issue with the file size?

Really, I just want for people to be able to download a file from my website and read it on their e-book device or computer.

Thanks.

Brian
 

Telcontar

Staff
Moderator
I don't think Calibre cares about file size. It just associates whatever image you give it with the book text. Size and shape don't matter.
 
Right. If you're just letting people download from your website, Calibre is fine, and the image size doesn't matter anywhere near as much.

Bigger image size, like the ones we suggested, is still better - because you can always scale it smaller, but scaling larger does not work well. So on the off chance you someday wanted to upload the book to retailers, you want the bigger image size.
 
Jutoh is a good choice.I would like to add one thing more that is about the choice of book design.A good book design is important to attract target customer.Anyhow thanks for sharing good stuff.
 
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