Learn how to create a professional eBook using Sigil, a free and open-source software. Perfect for authors who want to self-publish without spending a fortune!
This course teaches you how to format eBooks using Sigil, a free software that helps you create a professional finish without the hefty price tag. Ideal for new authors!
Create an eBook using open-source (free) software - with a working table of contents and professional formatting.
UPDATES:
December 2020: The latest version of Sigil has been released. You can find it at Github, under Sigil-Ebook, then Sigil, then releases, then version 1.4.3. You don't have to update if you don't want to but new releases often fix niggling problems so if you have had any issues with Sigil it is worth updating.
November 2020: Sigil's latest version is out, 0.9.14. Udemy don't allow external links here, but you can find it at Github. Search for 'Sigil' and look for the releases section, then find 0.9.14.
April 2020: The software we use in this course - Sigil - has been much improved recently & looks a little different to that seen in the videos. The course is being updated but, in the meantime, please see the April 2020 Update video & downloadable workbook to see the differences in the interface. It looks strange at first but, when you see the old and new versions side-by-side, you can tell there are just a few additions & a lot more color! Send me a message via Udemy if you run into any difficulties.
ABOUT THIS COURSE
If you have read any eBooks yourself you have probably come across a few that don't have a table of contents or - worse - have one that doesn't work.
As a reader, it is irritating.
As an author, it's the mark of an amateur. Take a look on book sales sites such as Amazon or Kobo and you'll come across reviews complaining about poorly formatted eBooks, with reviewers often noting the lack of a working table of contents.
Yet it is so easy to do.
One way is to buy a Mac & expensive formatting software such as Vellum - expensive and tricky to learn.
Another is to pay for your formatting to be done by someone else. Great if you have the money, but not if you don't!
Doing it yourself means that you'll be able to update your book when you need to, without having to pay a formatter again.
In this course I walk you through Sigil, an open-source (i.e. free) program that is available for both Mac and Windows.
FAQ
WHAT IS THE COURSE ABOUT?
Learning how to format eBooks using Sigil's free software. Sigil is available for both Windows and Mac computers, but the course demonstrates how to download and use it on Windows. For the simple reason that the instructor's Macbook died :( - or it would be showing both systems.
HOW IS THE COURSE TAUGHT?
Video lessons with downloadable documents and the ability to ask specific questions and receive help from the instructor.
HOW WILL I LEARN?
By watching, trying it out for yourself, and asking questions. At the end of the course you will be able to format your own eBook using Sigil and know how to upload it to Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing, Smashwords, PublishDrive, etc.
WHAT ARE THE COURSE MATERIALS?
Video lectures which can be watched online or saved for offline viewing via the Udemy app.
Downloadable stylesheets.
HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE ME TO COMPLETE THE COURSE?
Around an hour. Many authors complain that they spend a long time working out how to format their eBook then get it published and go write another one. A few months later, they try to remember how to format it and have generally forgotten! Not an issue with this course - you have lifetime access and can return to it every time you're ready to publish.
HOW WILL I BENEFIT FROM TAKING THIS COURSE?
You'll be able to produce a very professional, beautifully formatted eBook and upload it to online sales sites. You will generally be paid royalties monthly. The more professional your eBook is, the more likely you are to get good reviews and better royalties.
If you have forgotten how to format it next time you have a book ready to publish, you can come back to this course to go through it again.
HOW AVAILABLE IS THE INSTRUCTOR?
I am here to give you support on your publishing journey. Once you have joined the course you will be able to ask questions and I'll answer those as quickly as possible - generally as soon as I get the notification from Udemy. I also assemble the most frequently asked questions into extra lectures and/or downloadable resources.
WHY IS THE COURSE SO INEXPENSIVE?
Honestly? I'm guessing that if you're a new author you probably don't have a huge pot of money to chuck at your publishing venture. You're probably wise enough to not want to take a big financial risk. It's a great idea to try self-publishing out before investing too much in it. You want to see if you've chosen a good niche, if there's a strong market for your books, before splashing your hard-earned cash at it.
You can buy expensive Adobe and other software for formatting eBooks. I don't know why you would but maybe I'm just cheap! If you're using - or want to use - open-source software such as Sigil, I congratulate you. It's a great choice. I've matched the price of this course to appeal to people like you - and me - who don't like being ripped off.
My other courses are more expensive because they took longer to create and contain more lectures and downloadable resources. This is a short course. It will only take you an hour or so to complete. I'm not going to charge you hundreds of dollars for something you can complete in an hour.
Enjoy your publishing journey. It has changed my life - I have a good income from my books. I hope it improves yours and brings you wealth and happiness.
Michelle :)
At the end of the course you will be able to produce a beautifully formatted, professional-looking ebook that can be live on Amazon within 24 hours.
Learn how to add a working table of contents to an eBook
Learn how to add images, bullets, special characters, the cover, and more.
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1 Lectures
Author of the popular books, 'Electronic Shorthand', 'Book Indexing For Authors', 'Goodreads for Authors', 'Make Your Book Work Harder' (perma-free on Kindle), 'Inversion Therapy', & 'The 10-Day Skin Brushing Detox', among others. She is a former teacher & trainer, now back in the UK from a multi-year roadtrip around North America.She started her career in Public Relations then, while her...
It got confusing when the lesson jumped to bullets and numbers. Then to Table of Contents. It jumped into completely new documents and I couldn't follow again.
wait and see
A clear, concise, and direct presentation. I found this course very helpful and easy to follow.
Perhaps you might consider adding sections on a) Basic CSS for book formatting and b) Creating clickable indexes.
Thank you!
I have already learned so much
The course has missed out on very important aspect -- formatting of tables in academic books.
I was very disappointed that the coupon for the GoodReads course was no longer active. Maybe remove it?
For those of us who have not used Sigil before, it would help to tell us where to start if we want to bypass your commentary about the update, which is seriously confusing and totally unnecessary to attend to.
So helpful! Some of the Sigil walk-throughs were a little fast. Really appreciate the sample stylesheet as some may be very new to coding language. Would be nice to have a demo of other ebook platforms aside from KDP, but reviewing Kindle Previewer was helpful and I'm sure will save us from having reader complaints later.
The course so far is very easy to understand, even for a novice such as myself.
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Alvaro T. F.
Excelent course!