Tag Archives: word

‘Kindle’ KDP Paperback Publishing: A Workaround IF The ‘Previewer’ Gets Overzealous.

by Anura Guruge
on November 6, 2022

Caveats:

1/ Never start off by using this workaround because it is GOOD to make sure that your margins are within limits & noting will get cut-off. Got that?

You should ONLY use this ‘trick’ if you are 120% certain that there is nothing wrong with your margins (& gutter) that NOTHING, BUT NOTHING will get inadvertently trimmed off during production. Got that?

2/ The KDP Paperback Previewer is getting more crochety in its old age — or, to be kinder, as it gets more mature. It, literally, cuts you no slack. If you have anything that barely touches the trim lines, it flags the book as being unprintable!

This is where you need to use your experience, expertise & judgement. Check the pages. Are you well & truly outside the trim lines. IF so, you really should fix it. But, is it just the case that you have text & maybe some graphics that are JUST on the line. Not over it. Just on the line.

In cricket, the line ALWAYS belongs to the umpire.

Well, KDP doesn’t have any LIVE umpires you can appeal to for some mercy. It is binary. You have to fix the margins BEFORE you can go ahead.

3/ This overzealous Previewer really only starts to show its unpleasant side when you are dealing with BIG books, with THICK spines, i.e., books with over (say) 500 pages.

4/ Well I stumbled upon a workaround. ONCE I have triple ascertained that nothing is really outside the trim lines, I set the BLEED SETTING to BLEED! Smile. You work it out. That is all I am saying. Just trying to help. SMILE.

P.S., You can ONLY use BLEED with manuscripts submitted in PDF form. OK?

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‘Lulu’ Feels Clunky Compared To ‘Kindle’ KDP, BUT I Am Hoping It Can Deliver Better Quality Premium COLOR Print Books.

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by Anura Guruge
on October 26, 2022

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Click to **ENLARGE**. ***‘Lulu’ Website***.

I remember when ‘Lulu‘ came to be {& I just checked to make sure that in was indeed in 2002}. I signed up quite quickly & was initially a huge fan. I did some small projects, including a ‘British Cathedrals calendar’ (below), which I TRIED to sell on their online store. I never tried to publish a book with Lulu. Those were the days when I still used outside publishers. When I got around to publishing my first book, ON MY OWN, I did NOT use Lulu! I don’t remember why. I used ‘AuthorHouse‘ — & that was a profound mistake. Eventually, by the time of my 3rd self-published book I had discovered ‘CreateSpace‘ (which eventually MERGED with KDP) & have never looked back since. ‘CreateSpace’ was GREAT & after about 18-months of teething-problems KDP Paperback Publishing has become as good.

Well, after a 20-year hiatus I went back to Lulu yesterday. I am not THRILLED with the print quality, from KDP, of my 1sr PHOTO-BOOK, i.e., ‘Bold Coast, Maine — In Color‘. The paper is not glossy & heavy enough. So, after looking around I eventually went with Lulu. Compared to others, they were the least ONEROUS. I was, however, quite frustrated. Lulu wants HUGE margins to prevent the cover & inside pages getting accidently TRIMMED during production. So, I had to slightly condense all my pages. That did not make me very happy.

The print costs were much higher than KDP, but I opted for the highest quality paper etc. So, I can’t bitch about that. Print turnaround & delivery are ABSURD. 6-days to print a BOOK! 6-days. Then a week or more to get it to me. We will see. But, I hope the print quality makes it all worthwhile.

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‘Kindle’ KDP Paperback Publishing: The HUGE Difference Between Submitting Manuscript As A Word (Doc.) File vs A PDF.

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by Anura Guruge
on October 21, 2022

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I discovered this, to my cost & horror, earlier today. I was rushing ahead to get a new paperback published. I had been working on the cover, heads down, all day, & now that it was done I wanted it submitted for publishing BEFORE the weekend. So, I was rushing, even more than I normally do when I get close to having a book ready.

This book, my 38th, was a FIRST for I. My first photo book. Yep, a photo book with a very few words! Who would have thought. It also happened to be the FIRST paperback I have published where the whole book (bar the cover) was in just ONE MS Word document.

All of my other paperbacks are split across MULTIPLE Word documents. These days I have, at a minimum, this set of Word documents per paperback book: front matter, TOC, Preface, Notes, body I, body II …, backmatter, Index, last_pages. I create a PDF from each & then use the PDF merge function to create the final book image PDF. {By the way, for the last 10-months — & as such last 3 books — I use, with great success ‘Foxit PDF Editor Pro‘.

In this case, with this short, i.e., 53-page, page I had all 53 pages in one Word file.

That was ‘the mistake’. In my hurry I forgot to create a PDF! YES. I forgot to make a PDF. I am still in disbelief & SHOCK. I, Anura Guruge, FORGOT to MAKE A PDF! Has to be dotage. I might have to stop this writing/publishing lark soon IF I continue to make mistakes like this.

KDP {happily} let me submit the Word file without a demur — or a warning saying “Are you sure you don’t have a PDF?”

My first intimation that something was different was when I launched the mandatory ‘Book Previewer’. WOW! It was quick. Like near instantaneous. I should have realized that something was wrong then. I didn’t. Old age.

Then to my horror the book was a MESS. Margins were off & that screwed up the pagination. The book was 59 pages long as opposed to my 53. SO, here is another strange thing. Though we are only talking FRACTIONS my cover size should have been wrong. KDP should have flagged me. I was beyond distressed.

Like a crazy person I started editing my Word file to resubmit WHEN it hit me. WHAT ARE YOU DOING? You don’t submit Word files to KDP, you submit PDFs.

It was a HUGE RELIEF to discover that the fix was simple. Just create a new PDF & submit that. That is exactly what I did.

The Preview process took much, much longer. But, my book looked like what it should. It was also at 53-pages.

So, I am doing this post as a HEADS-UP for you. Just make sure you submit the RIGHT file type to KDP. KDP is NOT going to flag you. {I think they should}

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‘Foxit PDF Editor Pro’, A Surefire & Seamless Alternative To The Overpriced & Overrated ‘Adobe Acrobat DC’.

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by Anura Guruge
on April 21, 2022

Click to **ENLARGE**. The Home Page of MY ‘***Foxit PDF Editor Pro***‘.

Click image to access the ***‘Foxit’ product page***.

Click to **ENLARGE**. Adobe’s current subscription pricing for Acrobat. No bloody way, Jose!

A couple of hours ago I submitted my latest print book to ‘Amazon’ ‘KDP’ for proofing. The body of that book, which has to be in PDF form, was created, very successfully & painlessly, using Foxit PDF Editor Pro. This is the first time I have published a print book without using Adobe Acrobat. I had been using Adobe Acrobat, albeit not without headaches & heartaches, since around 2001. So, yes, I had been an Acrobat user for 20-years. I have published over 26 books (out my 36 (or so)) using Acrobat. I will admit that I had got to the point I could use Acrobat, to produce books, in my sleep. It was down to muscle memory. Bang, bang, bang … & I had a camera-ready PDF for publication.

Then last year, after 12-years, I finally got a NEW PC. Wow. There was one downside which I knew in advance. My copy of ‘Acrobat 9 Pro’, which I had purchased in 2009, was not going to work on ‘Windows 10‘ on my new PC. I, of course, looked at the Adobe offerings. I was disgusted by the pricing. Yes, I can afford it, BUT it feels like outright exploitation. Plus, it wasn’t as if I hadn’t had my share of grief with Adobe. So, I avowed, last year that I would NOT go with Adobe. I, as is usually my want, have been true to my avowal. I did NOT get Adobe Acrobat.

Instead I got Foxit PDF Editor Pro for a one-time fee of $179. That is the same as a 1-year subscription to Adobe Acrobat DC. That is crazy.

Foxit PDF Editor Pro tries to be so alike Acrobat. To I it was seamless.

I, to be fair, only need three functions: create high-quality (clean) PDF files from Word, to be able to merge multiple PDFs into a single PDF & use the SEARCH capability to INDEX a book. I managed to do all of these, effortlessly, with Foxit.

By habit & choice I use the Print Driver to create PDFs. Have done it so for decades. Foxit provides a nifty Print Driver & I quickly edited a profile for my needs with high-quality image printing. Merging PDFs is even NICER than with Acrobat! Extremely easy. As for SEARCH, it is a mirror image of what I am used to with Adobe. Piece of cake.

So, I am happy camper.

I have NOT seen the Amazon printed proofs as yet. I will get them next week, on Wednesday. They will tell me how the image sampling worked. Yes, I am a bit nervous about that. Fingers crossed. I will, of course, let you know.

But for now, I am GLAD I went with Foxit. Screw Adobe. I don’t like to feel that I am being exploited.

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I REFUSE, As Of Now, To Be Exploited By ‘Adobe’ When It Comes To ‘Acrobat’ & PDF Creation (& Merge).

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by Anura Guruge
on November 8, 2021

Click to **ENLARGE**. PDFs of the 1st main page of my last book created using
‘Soda PDF’, ‘Foxit’ & ‘Adobe Acrobat’.

Click to **ENLARGE**. Trial versions of ‘Soda PDF’ & ‘Foxit’ side-by-side on my old Windows 7 PC.

Click to **ENLARGE**. Creating a PDF straight from Microsoft Word. I will need Foxit or Soda to merge the PDF files since I split my books into multiple Word documents for ‘safety’.

Click to **ENLARGE**. Those Adobe does its darnest to keep it hidden, there is a non-subscription version of Acrobat too. But, it is NOT that cheap.

Click to **ENLARGE**. Using Acrobat has NOT been easy. I maintain all these settings.
This is the one I use for most of my books.

Truth me known, one of the reasons I DELAYED getting a new PC was because I knew I would have to get a new version of Adobe Acrobat. I have been using Acrobat 9 Pro since 2009 — when I got my last PC. Acrobat 9, however, does not work with ‘Windows 10’ & my new PC, of course, is running Windows 10.

Yes, of course, I can afford to get either Adobe Acrobat 2020 for $299 or the subscription ‘DC’ for $155/$179 a year. Money & affordability is NOT the issue here.

Microsoft (for all its inherent deficiencies) gives me ALL of MS Office & 1TB of ‘OneDrive’ for $69 a year. Yes, $69 a year. That is reasonable. So, I pay $69/year for ALL of Office (i.e., Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Notes, Access, Outlook) & BLOODY Adobe thinks I should give them $155/year just for Acrobat.

No bloody way, Jose.

Just a matter of principle. I don’t know about you, BUT I don’t like being exploited.

So, over the last few days I have been playing around with ‘Foxit PDF Editor‘ ($159 one-time) & ‘Soda PDF Professional‘ ($48). See images above. They are BOTH good. Appear to work flawlessly. I am still LEARNING to fine tune them to get my IMAGES to the extent I desire.

To this end, I have to tell you that Foxit has been BEYOND AMAZING. They appear to have 24×7 telephone help — & good help at that. I called them — even though I am still on the trial — & asked for help. They have been WONDERFUL. So, responsive & helpful.

Soda, on the other hand, only appears to have e-mail support. Given their prices, I can afford to buy them BOTH & have them side-by-side. Plus, the option of saving to PDF directly from Word & then using Foxit or Soda to combine the PDFs into a book.

Yesterday, I was feeling a bit dejected. That Adobe had won. That I had no choice BUT to buy a new Acrobat. But, not so today. I have a third option! SMILE. I have two old PCs, running Windows 7, that BOTH have Acrobat 9. I can just keep them in mothballs & use them when I need to produce my FINAL completed PDF for a book! Remember, I have contingency plans for my contingency plans.

But, right now, I am growing more & more impressed with Foxit & Soda — Foxit, the BEST, because of their support. I like to know that there will be support if I run into trouble. For now, I am happy to say, with conviction, SCREE Adobe!

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‘Perfunctory’: What Was The Last Time You Heard That Word; Last Time You Used It?

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by Anura Guruge
on August 3, 2021

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Click to ***ENLARGE***. From ‘***dictionary.com***‘.

Click to ***ENLARGE***. From ‘***merriam-webster***‘.

Click to ***ENLARGE***. From ‘***Wiktionary***‘.

What a lovely powerful & useful word.

But, what was the last time you heard it or read it. Better still, what was the last time you used it.

I KNOW, for a fact, that I have not used in ‘recent history‘ — if ever! Maybe I never had the need; but that seems unlikely.

I came across it the other night. John Irving (b. 1942), one of my favorite authors, had used it in: ‘Trying to Save Piggy Sneed‘ (1996). It stopped me in my tracks. I will CONFESS I had to look it up to make sure that I got its full flavor. John, in his inimitable manner, had used it in the context of masturbation (& for that matter, ‘Catcher in the Rye‘). It was, as always, BRILLIANT. I am in awe of his writing (though it sometimes drives me to distraction).

Well, I did NOT want you to miss out. Hence, this post. Enjoy — but please do not do so in a perfunctory manner.

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