This is amazing. I’m not ready to format yet, but have already been shaking in my boots at the thought of it. I already have a Reedsy account, looks like I know what I’ll be testing out for a first attempt!
This is one of my big disappointments with Scrivner. For all of its amazing features around organization, it's terrible at formatting a manuscript. I've tried to take it as far as I can, but I'll end up having to export to another format and use OpenOffice to really make it shine. Most of the book formatting platforms appear to be focused on an easy plug-and-play style for indies, but I want ultimate control over everything. I wish Adobe InDesign weren't subscription based, else I would go for that.
I'm with you on this one. I'm thankful there are tools that easily convert manuscripts into publishable formats, but the limitations can really make or break the uniqueness of the novel. I have Adobe InDesign and am too intimidated at the moment!! I'll either have to learn it or cancel... too expensive.
Very useful, Winston, thanks for this! I never tested their book editor, but it sounds like a great tool. I use Scrivener, which has more features, but more is not always more... As far as I understand, Reedsy book editor puts the manuscript in a format that is directly uploadable to Amazon for publishing, right? I mean, do you have to download it as Word and then upload to Amazon, or can it go directly?
Hey, Zoe! Thanks for sharing that you use Scrivener. It's a popular tool. As for the Reedsy editor, it says the following on the Export page:
"Every book written or uploaded with our editor can be perfectly converted, ready for submission to online ebook stores and print on demand services. Select the export format and options you would like."
I haven't used a Reedsy exported file to publish anything yet, but I would assume it functions on par with other platforms. If there's anything wrong with the file, services like IngramSpark and Amazon KDP should alert you during the uploading process.
The biggest benefit here is that Reedsy is free, whereas some services use this feature as a means of charging for their product. So that's a win.
Let me know if you run into any problems or have any other questions. I'll try to answer to the best of my ability. Thanks!
My question is if once it's been published, if any part of the book is owned by Reedsy or if they need to be named as the publisher/editor on the book matter. I got to the publishing stage and saw their name added automatically in the book matter which made me wonder if they need to be mentioned as we use the platform to write and edit our books. Personally, I don't want to mention it in case Reedsy will one day say they deserve a percentage of what we make as we used Reedsy Studio. Or something like that. I just want to cover my bases before final stages. Good platform though, I've been using it for a long time. It's just that last part that got to me.
Hey Tania, great question. Reedsy should not be mentioned/named as the publisher or editor in the book matter. The software is like any other software an author might use to format their book: Word, Google Docs, Atticus, etc. The author retains all intellectual property rights to their work, and Reedsy would not be able to assert ownership since it has no claim or access to the content within their tool. If Reedsy adds it automatically, I would assume that it's a marketing tactic similar to what some websites use to broaden their reach via awareness campaigns. I see no issue with removing that from the front or back matter. Thanks for bringing this up. I haven't gotten that far into the publishing process using the editor yet, so it's good to know that this is an automatic thing that happens. Best of luck with the book, Tania! Let me know if you have any other questions.
This is super-useful, thank you. It is just the confidence boost I needed to dive straight in … 700+ words later and I am rewriting my dormant dystopian manuscript.
Thanks so much for this - I'm going to try it today. My challenge has all been that I prefer to buy and use a Chromebook over other hardware. This means I'm neither Apple nor PC. Most softwares do lite versions that work on Chromebook (eg my sheets is indistinguishable from Excel, Google docs is as good as Word for my purposes). But Scrivener? Doesn't have a Chromebook version. Going to have a look this morning and see if I can get my WIP into it (currently on 3rd rewrite and hoping to get it done and out by December).
Awesome resource, oh and I didn't know you were publishing a novel here serially and that it was fantasy Mr. Malone, you should tag me with it, as I could market it week after week on both Sword & Saturday and Warrior Wednesday, might get you a few extra readers!
Wow, this looks very handy! I agree that Scrivener sucks at formatting (partly because of how I’ve organized my book). I export it to Word and reformat it there before exporting it into something else. It’s a job. I’m still likely to use InDesign to create my interior book design, but I might play around with this just to see how they compare! Nice to know there are options out there. InDesign is definitely not for the faint of heart, haha, but it gives users minute control over every aspect of the design. That may not always be necessary. This seems very user friendly.
It seems intimidating at first, but once you get a feel for the basics, I predict that you’ll love it. I taught myself via trial and error. It’s doable! The program also features some handy tutorials. Give a shout if you need any help!
This is amazing. I’m not ready to format yet, but have already been shaking in my boots at the thought of it. I already have a Reedsy account, looks like I know what I’ll be testing out for a first attempt!
Oh good!! Hopefully it makes the process easy for you. Let me know if you have any trouble or specific questions once you get there, Sara.
This is one of my big disappointments with Scrivner. For all of its amazing features around organization, it's terrible at formatting a manuscript. I've tried to take it as far as I can, but I'll end up having to export to another format and use OpenOffice to really make it shine. Most of the book formatting platforms appear to be focused on an easy plug-and-play style for indies, but I want ultimate control over everything. I wish Adobe InDesign weren't subscription based, else I would go for that.
I'm with you on this one. I'm thankful there are tools that easily convert manuscripts into publishable formats, but the limitations can really make or break the uniqueness of the novel. I have Adobe InDesign and am too intimidated at the moment!! I'll either have to learn it or cancel... too expensive.
Very useful, Winston, thanks for this! I never tested their book editor, but it sounds like a great tool. I use Scrivener, which has more features, but more is not always more... As far as I understand, Reedsy book editor puts the manuscript in a format that is directly uploadable to Amazon for publishing, right? I mean, do you have to download it as Word and then upload to Amazon, or can it go directly?
Hey, Zoe! Thanks for sharing that you use Scrivener. It's a popular tool. As for the Reedsy editor, it says the following on the Export page:
"Every book written or uploaded with our editor can be perfectly converted, ready for submission to online ebook stores and print on demand services. Select the export format and options you would like."
I haven't used a Reedsy exported file to publish anything yet, but I would assume it functions on par with other platforms. If there's anything wrong with the file, services like IngramSpark and Amazon KDP should alert you during the uploading process.
The biggest benefit here is that Reedsy is free, whereas some services use this feature as a means of charging for their product. So that's a win.
Let me know if you run into any problems or have any other questions. I'll try to answer to the best of my ability. Thanks!
My question is if once it's been published, if any part of the book is owned by Reedsy or if they need to be named as the publisher/editor on the book matter. I got to the publishing stage and saw their name added automatically in the book matter which made me wonder if they need to be mentioned as we use the platform to write and edit our books. Personally, I don't want to mention it in case Reedsy will one day say they deserve a percentage of what we make as we used Reedsy Studio. Or something like that. I just want to cover my bases before final stages. Good platform though, I've been using it for a long time. It's just that last part that got to me.
Hey Tania, great question. Reedsy should not be mentioned/named as the publisher or editor in the book matter. The software is like any other software an author might use to format their book: Word, Google Docs, Atticus, etc. The author retains all intellectual property rights to their work, and Reedsy would not be able to assert ownership since it has no claim or access to the content within their tool. If Reedsy adds it automatically, I would assume that it's a marketing tactic similar to what some websites use to broaden their reach via awareness campaigns. I see no issue with removing that from the front or back matter. Thanks for bringing this up. I haven't gotten that far into the publishing process using the editor yet, so it's good to know that this is an automatic thing that happens. Best of luck with the book, Tania! Let me know if you have any other questions.
This is super-useful, thank you. It is just the confidence boost I needed to dive straight in … 700+ words later and I am rewriting my dormant dystopian manuscript.
Wonderful to hear this was beneficial for you!! That sounds exciting. Good luck on the manuscript!
Thanks so much!
Thanks so much for this - I'm going to try it today. My challenge has all been that I prefer to buy and use a Chromebook over other hardware. This means I'm neither Apple nor PC. Most softwares do lite versions that work on Chromebook (eg my sheets is indistinguishable from Excel, Google docs is as good as Word for my purposes). But Scrivener? Doesn't have a Chromebook version. Going to have a look this morning and see if I can get my WIP into it (currently on 3rd rewrite and hoping to get it done and out by December).
Let me know how it goes! I'm currently testing it out myself. So far, so good. I'll be interested to hear your thoughts. :)
Awesome resource, oh and I didn't know you were publishing a novel here serially and that it was fantasy Mr. Malone, you should tag me with it, as I could market it week after week on both Sword & Saturday and Warrior Wednesday, might get you a few extra readers!
Hey!! Thanks. I would definitely appreciate that. Its on my private Substack but it’s all free. Just gotta subscribe to read it!
https://havek.substack.com/welcome
Subbing now
Awesome!! I approved the request. Let me know what you think. :)
Gotcha! I’ll add it to my next mega-review.
Thank you!! 🙏 Can’t wait :)
Same!
Wow, this looks very handy! I agree that Scrivener sucks at formatting (partly because of how I’ve organized my book). I export it to Word and reformat it there before exporting it into something else. It’s a job. I’m still likely to use InDesign to create my interior book design, but I might play around with this just to see how they compare! Nice to know there are options out there. InDesign is definitely not for the faint of heart, haha, but it gives users minute control over every aspect of the design. That may not always be necessary. This seems very user friendly.
I need to teach myself indesign. Especially because I want to do special things with future books and it’ll need to be through that instead
It seems intimidating at first, but once you get a feel for the basics, I predict that you’ll love it. I taught myself via trial and error. It’s doable! The program also features some handy tutorials. Give a shout if you need any help!
Definitely! Thank you 🙏