The Freedom to Share Your Story: Learn to Use Free Tools and Services to Empower Yourself, and Embark on the Writing Journey of Your Dreams

By Jonathan Hawkins

Have you ever wanted to write your own book and publish it for the world to read?

Are you excited at the idea, but unsure about the details, or even where to begin?

This book can help.

 

All you need is a computer, internet access, and an idea for your story. This step-by-step guide will provide you with the rest. Inside, you'll find everything you need to go from blank page to completed book, presented in simple and clear steps. You don't need to pay for an expensive office suite or complicated image software.

Purchase this book and you'll discover how to use completely free software and online services to:

• Create and format a digital manuscript
• Make your own book cover
• Publish your finished book online at major retailers
• Easily track and manage your book's presence online
• And more!

Buy this book now, and empower yourself to embark on the writing journey of your dreams!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jonathan Hawkins
• Release date: May 2, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201035679

Jonathan Hawkins

Jonathan is passionate about all things fantastical, imaginative, and uplifting, and expresses that passion best using the written word. He has a knack for writing instructional materials, creating step-by-step tutorials, and simplifying complex processes. When he's not writing, he enjoys jogging, rock collecting, meditating, wholesome video games, and animated shows.

Book preview

Introduction

The goal of this book is to provide you with the guidance, tools, and confidence to write your own e-book and self-publish it online.

All you will need is a computer with internet access, and the ability to install software to it. The software and services that this guidebook recommends are free of charge for anyone to use. There are no hidden costs or catches.

Even if you have never used word processing or image editing tools before, rest assured. As long as you can use a computer at a basic level, you can follow the step-by-step guidelines presented here to create your own e-book and share your story with the world.

Step 1: Installing Software

The first step on your book writing journey is to make sure you have all of the necessary tools, or software, installed on your computer. There are two main types of software that you will be using to create your e-book: word processing software to write and format your manuscript, and image editing software to create a book cover.

If you already have familiarity with these types of software, by all means make use of your favorites. However, no prior experience is necessary. Each part of the process will be covered in detail. Follow along with each step at a pace that feels comfortable to you.

The word processing software that this guidebook recommends is called LibreOffice. It is a free collection of software comparable to Microsoft’s Office suite. Specifically, you will be making use of LibreOffice Writer to type out your manuscript and format it for digital publishing.

The image editing software that will allow you to create a cover for your book is also free to use. It is called the GNU Image Manipulation Program, or more commonly GIMP for short. It is powerful, with many features to learn, but you will be guided throughout the process, so there is no need for concern.

The following sections will cover the installation of both LibreOffice and GIMP. If you already have word processing and image editing software installed on your computer, you can skip ahead to Step 2, which will discuss manuscript formatting.

1.1: Installing LibreOffice

Open your computer’s web browser to: https://www.libreoffice.org/download/download/ or search your favorite search engine for the term LibreOffice and visit the Download LibreOffice page. Scroll down the web page a bit, and you should see the latest version of LibreOffice listed for download. If you are not familiar, the term download means you are saving a copy of a file from the internet onto your computer.

The website should automatically detect what operating system your computer is using (Windows, MacOS, or Linux), but if it detects incorrectly, or you want to download a different version, you can click the box under Choose your operating system to select something else. Click on the large Download button and LibreOffice should begin saving the installation file to your computer.

You should see a small area appear in your web browser showing the installation file being saved to your computer. When the download completes its progress, the software will be ready to install. Simply click on the name of the file from that same small area of your web browser to begin the installation process.

Alternatively, you can also find the saved installation file using your computer’s file viewer. Go to the Downloads folder of your computer to find the installation file that was saved, and double-click the file from there to install the software.

The default installation settings will be sufficient for your needs. Read each step in the installation process, follow the prompts, and use the Next and Install buttons to proceed with the settings the installer suggests.

If you are using a Windows computer, you may see a User Account Control screen appear, asking if you want to allow LibreOffice to make changes to your computer. This is a safety precaution that Windows takes when installing software. Since you obtained LibreOffice from its official source online, it is safe to say Yes at this prompt.

When you reach the last screen, you will see a message that LibreOffice is installed on your computer. Click the Finish button and LibreOffice will be ready to use.

These steps only need to be done once. Now that LibreOffice is installed, it is usable on your computer without needing to go through this process again.

1.2: Installing GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program)

Navigate your web browser to: https://www.gimp.org/downloads/ or search for GIMP in your favorite search engine, and the GIMP downloads page will be one of the first results available.

Scroll down the page and you will see the current stable release of GIMP. Just like before with LibreOffice, the GIMP website will automatically detect your computer’s operating system, but you can change it to another option if necessary by clicking the name next to the Show downloads for message. Click the button to download the current release of GIMP directly and it should begin to save the installation file.

When the file finishes downloading, just like before, click the name of the installation file from your web browser to open it, or navigate to your computer’s Downloads folder and double-click the installation file from there to begin the process.

Follow the prompts that appear, and use the default settings that the installer suggests. Windows computer users may be presented with the User Account Control warning again, but it is safe to allow GIMP to proceed with installation.

Once GIMP has finished its installation process, you will have a powerful tool that you can use to create a cover for your book. You won’t need to repeat these installation steps again.

Step 2: Formatting Your Book Manuscript

There are two distinct methods that will be covered in this guidebook for formatting your e-book’s manuscript file. If you follow along with the guidance provided here, ultimately you will be making use of the Draft2Digital platform to self-publish your e-book across a variety of popular online storefronts.

In March of 2022, Draft2Digital and popular competitor company Smashwords combined their strengths together in a company merger. This enabled both the existing Draft2Digital process, as well as the Smashwords manuscript formatting guidelines, to be valid approaches to publishing content on the Draft2Digital platform.

This guidebook will cover both approaches. The Draft2Digital process is simpler and more automated, making it the recommended approach for most people. However, if the automated system is insufficient for your book’s needs, or you simply want finer control over the end result, following the Smashwords process can provide the solution.

2.1: The Basics Of Using LibreOffice

Before you tackle the manuscript formatting, it is important to understand some basics about using LibreOffice, especially if you are unfamiliar with using word processing software. Start by opening up LibreOffice Writer. To do so, double-click the LibreOffice icon on your main desktop screen, or you can find LibreOffice Writer from the Windows start menu. You can also search for it in your computer’s files by clicking the magnifying glass icon and then typing LibreOffice into the search box.

When you first open LibreOffice, it may seem like an overwhelming amount of icons and options are presented to you. The good news is, you won’t need to use everything you are seeing. You start with a new blank text document, and the first step you want to get used to doing is saving your progress to a file on your computer.

At the top-left of the screen you will see a row of words starting with File, then Edit, then View and so on. Each word is a separate menu that you can click on to find a list of options and settings you can modify. Start by clicking where it says File and its menu list will appear. About halfway down the list you’ll see Save and Save As... options. Click where it says Save As... and the save window will appear.

Choose a location on your computer where you want to save your manuscript file. If you are unsure where to save it, the Documents folder is an easy location to remember. Click on the left side of the save window where it says Documents to access that location on your computer.

Once you have chosen the location you wish to keep your file in, you will see a box where it says File name: or simply Name shown on the screen. Give your manuscript file a unique name that you will remember easily. After typing a name into the box, click the Save button at the bottom. This will create a new file in the location and with the name you chose.

Now that you have a file created, saving your progress on the manuscript is simple. You no longer need to use the Save As... option. Those steps are only necessary when a file does not exist yet, or when you want to create a new one. Instead, from here on in you can just use the Save option from the File menu to save your progress.

The Save function is much faster, and your existing file simply gets updated with your latest changes. If it helps you remember the difference, you can imagine them reading like: Save As... Something New and Save Changes. Remember to save your progress frequently as you are writing. If you close your manuscript, and wish to access it again, you can navigate to the location you saved your file, and double-click on it to open it again. Alternatively, you can start LibreOffice Writer again like you did the first time, and use the Open option from the File menu to navigate to your file and open it that way too.

Along the top of the LibreOffice screen, below the row of menus, are a variety of icons that can quickly perform useful functions. If you hover your mouse pointer over each one, it will show a small description of what each icon does. You’ll find icons for opening files, saving your progress, printing a document, and many other functions. You can also find all of these features inside of the various menus, so use the method that feels more comfortable to you.

Commonly used icon examples include the Undo button, the Paragraph Style modifier, Font Size, Font Name, Bold, Italic, and the Align modifiers. For most of these to work as intended, you first use the mouse to select the portion of your text you wish to modify. To do so, click and hold down the left mouse button, and move the mouse cursor across your text. You will notice a rectangle that appears around the portion of your text where you moved your mouse. This rectangle means that the text is selected, and when you use options to modify your text, they will be applied to the selected portion.

For example: this text is bold. In order to apply the bold effect, first you would type out your text normally. Then you would use your mouse (left-click and hold) and drag the cursor across the letters you typed. When the desired words are the only ones selected inside of the rectangle, you would then press the large B icon to apply the bold style to your selected text. Alternatively you can select your text, go to the