Join Chrissy as she sits down with EPUB experts Simon Collinson and Ben Dugas from Kobo. They teach us everything we need to know about eBook files. They explain the different types of EPUB files, the tools available to authors to make their own EPUBs and common errors to watch out when creating your own file. The also discuss the future of eBooks and accessibility.

• Simon and Ben tell us what the difference between different EPUB formats is.
• Simon talks about the different ways authors can go about creating their own EPUB files.
• Ben chats about the common issues he encounters when looking at EPUB files.
• Ben recommends trying out your EPUB on different devices to make sure it will be readable on all platforms.
• They talk about accessibility and the future they see for EPUBs.
• And more! Make sure you listen all the way to end on this one.

Having EPUB formatting issues? Make sure to check out the #eprdctn hastag on twitter to get some help. 

Tools for Creating ePubs

Pages by Apple https://www.apple.com/ca/pages/

Scrivener https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener/overview

Vellum https://vellum.pub/

Draft2Digital https://www.draft2digital.com/

Kobo Writing Life: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/p/writinglife

Pressbooks https://pressbooks.com/

Smashwords https://www.smashwords.com/

Readsy http://www.readsy.co/

InDesign https://www.adobe.com/ca/products/indesign.html

Pandoc https://pandoc.org/

Books

Accessible EPUB 3 by Matt Garrish (Free on Kobo!) https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/accessible-epub-3

The Business of Being a Writer by Jane Friedman https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/the-business-of-being-a-writer

The Book Designer  https://www.thebookdesigner.com/

How to Sideload your Content https://www.kobo.com/help/en-US/article/3174/adding-books-to-your-kobo-ereader

Simon

Simon Collinson is Manager, Content Sales at Kobo, where he is responsible for analysis and forecasting of the company’s content sales business. Before moving to Canada in late 2017, he freelanced as an ebook developer and worked at Canelo, a London-based eBook publisher, as a digital editor.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Simon_Collinson

Ben Dugas is the manager of content QA and Kobo Writing Life Operations and is Kobo’s expert on all things “why doesn’t that book look right on that device?” He does not design eBooks or the software that displays them but is responsible for producing guidelines, reviewing customer feedback and working with development teams, industry experts and publishers to maintain and expand Kobo’s level of eBook support.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/bendu