Converting Paperback PDF Files To eBook Files?
Good Luck with That. I Learned Quickly Why They Say, “Talk Is Cheap.”
One of my previous customers contacted me about republishing a couple of books. Unfortunately, the original publisher of the two books went out of business and informed the author the books would disappear from the market without republication. The job included a paperback version, an eBook version, and an audio version of each book.
I took on the job, and I've already republished the two edited paperback versions on an Amazon account and they're ready to sell. The failed publisher didn’t make the original eBook files they used available. This made the eBook job much more difficult.
This is where the “talk is cheap” comes in. Based on many articles I’ve read, I thought PDF files were easily convertible to eBook files. There are many websites, software programs, and even Amazon has software for that purpose. It may well be possible to convert PDF files used for paperbacks to eBook files, but only if the books are simple as in a plain fiction book with no special formatting.
Despite all the easy to do BS, it’s difficult to convert a PDF file to an eBook (epub or mobi, etc.) After trying three different companies online and two software programs, I got nowhere. Total waste of my time.
Another disturbing factor is that some of the online companies, which I will not name, seem to be scammers. One company assured me I could use their website to convert PDF files for just $2.00 for using it for a week on as many files as I chose. Fortunately, I did a test, and my first shot failed miserably. At first, I thought, well it’s only a couple of bucks. No, I took the time to read the fine print. A $39 monthly fee started after the initial week for a useless service. I almost ran the week out, but I checked the website carefully and quickly canceled my account.
Regular eBook files aren’t easy to create, especially if they have footnotes and indexes. This makes converting the PDF files used for a paperback book extremely difficult. There are significant differences between PDF files and eBook files.
The most significant thing to me is that the text on PDF files doesn’t flow. What you see is what you get. A PDF file reads like any book you would normally read on paper. The font and the font size remain constant. You can shrink the page size, but this also shrinks the text because it doesn't reflow and that could make it difficult to read.
The text on eBooks is reflowable. Readers can read an eBook on almost any device, regardless of size, because they can adjust the reflowable text. He or she can change the font or the font size to as small or large as they choose.
Another problem faced with trying to convert PDF files used for paperback books is that they have page numbers and often have headers. Page numbers and headers, listed at the top and bottom of each page, don't work in an eBook. For eBooks, page size depends on the device and reader preferences. The table of contents is not based on page numbers. It’s based on interactive links that you click to go to the selected location.
This means that the original file for an eBook has to be created on software that allows text to flow. The software I use for this purpose is Microsoft Word, but there are others that work as well, including WPS Office, LibreOffice, OpenOffice, and Google Docs.
Now, with these two eBooks, I’m doing what I could have done to begin with. I’m using Word, which allows me to copy, paste, edit text, insert illustrations and also handle the footnotes as endnotes. I create a heading for every chapter and then use the headings to create an interactive table of contents so once I upload the file to Amazon, the eBook will work on any device.
A Short Note from My Sponsor, Me.
I’ve been writing about my new Journal/Notebooks, and I now have another model available that I will write about when I get the first sample. Besides the original journal/notebook, I’m creating customized journal/notebooks using the front and back covers of any self-published book or any other images or text you choose. I’ll include complete details in a future Substack as soon as I have samples to show. Meanwhile, please comment or email me at billbenitez@gmail.com if you have questions. Thanks.