Is self-publishing a book one of your 2016 New Year’s resolutions? Here’s your opportunity to buy a simple-to-use online tool for book publishing.
PressBooks, an online site that allows you to create professional quality print and eBook versions, is having a sale this week.
You can buy their PDF+EBOOK Pro package for $49 (regular price is $99) with the discount code TREATYOURSELF.
But you need to act fast.
The discount is only available through Thursday, December 31, 2015 at midnight. Note: the $49 applies per book, but you can use the discount code multiple times.
What is Pressbooks?
PressBooks is a content management system that allows you to easily upload, edit, and publish your own books.
You create the content.
PressBooks takes care of all the formatting, cover page, table of contents, chapter organization, and output for various file formats.
It’s a hosted solution, with the familiar WordPress interface.
You also have the option to host your own version of PressBooks by downloading and installing the open source version in a fresh WordPress Multisite installation. (Personally, I’m happy with the hosted solution.)
What caught my attention about PressBooks was a tweet from my Twitter colleague, Teresa Rosche Otte:
I’ve used Microsoft Word in the past for creating print and digital eBooks, and I found it cumbersome to work with.
Having a workflow that’s:
- Simple to use
- Less time-consuming
- Outputs books that display well across all platforms
fits my requirements.
Getting Started with PressBooks
I know writing a book with a new tool can be overwhelming. Who wants to learn yet another tool?
PressBooks gets you off on the right foot with their short four-step guide on making a book.
You’ll learn how to:
- Add your book information, including author, title, publisher, cover, copyright
- Add, edit, and arrange text
- Choose a theme (the look and feel of the book) and theme options to customize the look of your book
- Export your book to different file formats
Need more details? PressBooks provides a longer version of the four-step guide on the same page.
Or you can download the second edition of PressBooks Guide to Self-Publishing eBook (PDF: 299K).
You’ll also find useful information in their KnowledgeBase. And help is available via email.
What Formats Does PressBooks Offer?
With self-publishing, you want to export your book into many formats for print and digital. Here are the formats you can export to:
- MOBI format (for Kindle ebooks)
- EPUB format (for other ebookstores)
- PDF (for print-on-demand)
- XML formats
Join Me!
Sharing a book you’re written shouldn’t require you to learn how to format content into chapters or figure out all the steps to output to MOBI format or PDF format.
PressBooks makes publishing your book a simpler process, allowing you to concentrate on your writing, rather than focusing on the technical details.
I signed up for a PressBooks PDF+EBOOK Pro plan today.
Want to join me in self-publishing a book in 2016?
