HOW TO CREATE A "PREVIEW CHAPTERS" E-BOOK FOR FREE

A couple of months ago, I asked my publicist if it was possible to have sample chapters from Knightley Academy posted online. He frowned and told me that the only piracy-proof way to do so would be to produce a read-only non-downloadable e-book, something like the “search inside!” feature on Amazon. However, these were really expensive to produce. So, although I had really wanted to offer readers a chance to preview Knightley Academy, it looked like it wasn’t going to happen.

And then, about a week ago, I was clicking though a random music e-zine when it occurred to me that, whichever company had produced the e-zine, their format was perfect for an e-book. I pulled up the website, Issuu.com, curious how much it would cost to have them produce some preview chapters of Knightley.

I clicked on the “about” page, looking for a “cost of services” section. That’s when I realized that Issuu.com allowed you to instantly convert any PDF into a read-only, non-downloadable e-book or e-zine hosted on their website for free.

I quickly formatted the first two chapters of Knightley, saved them as a PDF, and hit upload.

When I let my publicist know about what I’d found, he immediately passed the discovery on to his colleagues. When I told my agent, he excitedly rattled off a list of clients who could benefit.

And so, I’ve decided to share the wealth: if you have a short story, preview chapters, deleted scenes, or anything else that you’ve always wanted to share with readers, here’s how to create it for free using MS Word and the internet:

1. Sign up for Issuu.com

2. Open a Word Doc. For sample material relating to a book, it’s best to Insert–>Picture–>From File and place a picture of the book cover on the front page.

3. Include important information: ISBN number? Release date? Publisher?

4. If you’re using text from an ARC (AKA 1P), think about adding a disclaimer along the lines of “uncorrected proof”

5. Add chapter headings. Get as creative as you’d like with the formatting. You can find some great fonts at http://www.1001freefonts.com/ and it’s a few easy clicks to install them—just google “how to install fonts on a mac/pc”

6. Go to File–>Print–>PDF–>Save as PDF

7. Follow instructions to upload to Issuu.com

8. Use a URL shortener for a customized, shareable URL. I chose bit.ly/kach12

9. Share on your website, Twitter, Facebook, etc.

You can read the first two chapters of Knightley Academy, out March 9 from Aladdin, as an online preview here: bit.ly/kach12