Kudos for taking the time to write a guidebook but you should think seriously about getting an editor if you plan on selling any copies.
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I just wrote a book about iPad
- Thread starter yohaniv
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Kudos for taking the time to write a guidebook but you should think seriously about getting an editor if you plan on selling any copies.
Dont give up your day job
This is not true and makes no sense. The iPad was designed to be intuitive and user-friendly. You could say that by thinking outside the box you can put the iPad to some less-obvious uses.
The reader will be the judge of whether it’s amusing or not. Can you imagine a comedian opening his act with the line ‘I’m really funny and I’m going to make you laugh’? He would die on stage.
Leave out 'But mind you' - it's inane waffle, and you probably mean 'apps' rather than 'app'.
You probably mean a plain white background or a plain bright colour for mood lighting. This would work as a studio FILL light, NOT a flashlight.
Click Flashlight WHERE? Do you mean go to the App Store and search ‘Flashlight?’
lightning, or lighting?
If that does not leave an impression… what?
...and assorted grammatical atrocities
Not only can the Magnetic Field Detector be used for the compass,
Just fling a few paperclips onto the center of the iPad's screen
Magnetic field detector is magnet for itself. Grammatically similar to how Yoda might speak
Just do not ask me how do they work. This is a book – not a conversation.
it will not scratch the screen or even break it
Cat Toys Lite and Expensive Cat Toy apps simulate mice (and other vermin in the non-free version) in a box.
Especially for those who do not know how to whistle.
Whistler Dog, Dog Whistle Trainer and Ultrasound Whistle can simulate whistling.
even ones inaudible to the human ear
Basically what you have done here is browse a few apps from the app store and make a bit of a list of how they can be used. Not really your own work, and I have to say, pretty much unreadable. Is English even your first language? It looks like the sort of abbreviated text-speak that teenagers use on their mobile phones.
I don't want this to sound abusive but there's nothing good I can say about your efforts - they're truly awful. There's not one sentence that doesn't require a major overhaul. If you really want to try and earn money by writing, go to your library or bookstore and read about the art of writing. It IS an art, and it needs to be learned. What you have here is a grammatical car-crash which is neither interesting nor engaging.
I think some of the other posters on this thread have been too kind, offering creative titling for this abomination.
Think about it - if you can't even think of a title for your own work - should you be writing at all?
This is not true and makes no sense. The iPad was designed to be intuitive and user-friendly. You could say that by thinking outside the box you can put the iPad to some less-obvious uses.
The reader will be the judge of whether it’s amusing or not. Can you imagine a comedian opening his act with the line ‘I’m really funny and I’m going to make you laugh’? He would die on stage.
Leave out 'But mind you' - it's inane waffle, and you probably mean 'apps' rather than 'app'.
You probably mean a plain white background or a plain bright colour for mood lighting. This would work as a studio FILL light, NOT a flashlight.
Click Flashlight WHERE? Do you mean go to the App Store and search ‘Flashlight?’
lightning, or lighting?
If that does not leave an impression… what?
...and assorted grammatical atrocities
Not only can the Magnetic Field Detector be used for the compass,
Just fling a few paperclips onto the center of the iPad's screen
Magnetic field detector is magnet for itself. Grammatically similar to how Yoda might speak
Just do not ask me how do they work. This is a book – not a conversation.
it will not scratch the screen or even break it
Cat Toys Lite and Expensive Cat Toy apps simulate mice (and other vermin in the non-free version) in a box.
Especially for those who do not know how to whistle.
Whistler Dog, Dog Whistle Trainer and Ultrasound Whistle can simulate whistling.
even ones inaudible to the human ear
Basically what you have done here is browse a few apps from the app store and make a bit of a list of how they can be used. Not really your own work, and I have to say, pretty much unreadable. Is English even your first language? It looks like the sort of abbreviated text-speak that teenagers use on their mobile phones.
I don't want this to sound abusive but there's nothing good I can say about your efforts - they're truly awful. There's not one sentence that doesn't require a major overhaul. If you really want to try and earn money by writing, go to your library or bookstore and read about the art of writing. It IS an art, and it needs to be learned. What you have here is a grammatical car-crash which is neither interesting nor engaging.
I think some of the other posters on this thread have been too kind, offering creative titling for this abomination.
Think about it - if you can't even think of a title for your own work - should you be writing at all?
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Yeah, I feel the same way. I didn't have the heart to say it at first, but.. It's true.
It's an iPad. It's the easiest tech device to operate on the planet. My mom is in her mid 60s, has an iPad and an iPhone, and can work them fine. There's only one button on the device. You want apps? Touch "App Store." It's that simple.
To the OP:
I think you're in a sticky situation. You desperately need an editor because your book is absolutely horribly written. But I think that if you spend the money on an editor, you will end up upside down in this book because you probably wont sell enough copies to make it up for the cost of editing.
I am guessing that you are self-publishing through CreateSpace or Hulu. Just so you know, the typical print run for a book on those self-publishing services is 1 or 2 (the amount the author orders to make sure the print looks nice.)
Good luck and be realistic!
Having published 2 books on the iBookstore already (and over a 100 publications), here is what I will tell you:
Edit: just downloaded and skimmed your book. Here are my comments:
This is all I can think of now, PM me if you have specific questions.
- Research the title - it cannot be the same as something else out there
- Make a catchy phrase if you're going to be publishing more than one - something like Mark's Book on iPad, Mark's Book on iPhone (don't use these as they are horrible examples)
- When you publish to an epub, make sure your table of contents doesn't repeat in the book - no one needs 2 of them. If you do this right, the top left button should display the contents for you. I use Pages '09 to export to epub and it takes my table of contents and does it automatically to be right. If you do this, don't select 'Make first page cover page.'
- Make sure your ligations are turned off - this can be annoying if its on since it makes text look weird in iBooks.
- If you wish to save money, go through lulu.com > isbn is quite expensive and lulu gives it for free and only charges certain amount per transaction. I couldn't find a cheaper alternative.
- In regards to the artwork, I suggest making something from scratch on an iPad itself (use a stylus) and then edit it on Sketchbook or Sketchbook Pro - this works well for me.
Edit: just downloaded and skimmed your book. Here are my comments:
- You need to do what I mentioned above in regards to the table of contents. Your first pages are unnecessary.
- There is no need to give an intro to a chapter before it arrives - combine the whole thing into one chapter.
- You used a lot of images in your book - no where is there citation to be found. I highly doubt that these are all yours and even if they are, the application pictured in them certainly does not belong to you (safari for example). You need to do citations somewhere in your book and refer them to the correct page. A footnote perhaps.
- There is an excess amount of punctuation and unnecessary sentences - remove these as they make it hard to read. Frankly speaking, I had the urge to delete the book after 10 pages in. Remove the clutter.
- At few places, the entire paragraph is written in bold. Bold should be used as most for 2 sentences (more than 1 is a pain to read for many). Use italics if you must.
- You need a convention for certain types of paragraphs. For example, tips should be in a blue box. Warnings should be in a red box or so on. Come up with your own.
- For a book like this, a manual, you should compose an index so that the book can be used for reference and not just a one time read. People should have a reason to keep this on their iPads.
- Reduce the size, for 168 pages 15MB is way too much. If you're using pages, right click on the images and click on reduce file size so that you remove the clutter.
- There is no need for a cover page when the book is loaded in iBooks. The cover page is simply there as a thumbnail in the library. Although you can keep this, I don't see a need for it.
- At the start of your book, the © by ... is the only thing appearing on the page. This is a waste of a page.
- Last note: lets assume I am new to this. I see that there is a guide by Apple listed in the top free books. Why would I want to download yours instead? What is this offering to me that the other books won't? You need to answer these questions in book description page.
This is all I can think of now, PM me if you have specific questions.
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@ first 4 replies from my last, you are referring to unedited part I pasted here. On the link is edited one... And yes, English is not my first language. This book is adaptation of my original book (and it is not the first one, but it is first in English). So be gentle. Wait till Chinese come to write your books. 
Mind you this manual is not to be taken as just another unofficial handbook, even that half of it is written that way. Think of it more like half manual and half blog/diary. And yes, this is why I allowed myself some (or a lot) of writing freedom. That is also the reason I could not find right title even when I opened topic here. Hence I chose some default one.
Some really useful technical tips from the last reply. Should really switch to Pages. I use Indesign and Sigil and both are crap (especially when combined).
Mind you this manual is not to be taken as just another unofficial handbook, even that half of it is written that way. Think of it more like half manual and half blog/diary. And yes, this is why I allowed myself some (or a lot) of writing freedom. That is also the reason I could not find right title even when I opened topic here. Hence I chose some default one.
Some really useful technical tips from the last reply. Should really switch to Pages. I use Indesign and Sigil and both are crap (especially when combined).
@ first 4 replies from my last, you are referring to unedited part I pasted here. On the link is edited one... And yes, English is not my first language. This book is adaptation of my original book (and it is not the first one, but it is first in English). So be gentle. Wait till Chinese come to write your books.
Mind you this manual is not to be taken as just another unofficial handbook, even that half of it is written that way. Think of it more like half manual and half blog/diary. And yes, this is why I allowed myself some (or a lot) of writing freedom. That is also the reason I could not find right title even when I opened topic here. Hence I chose some default one.
Some really useful technical tips from the last reply. Should really switch to Pages. I use Indesign and Sigil and both are crap (especially when combined).
Saw your PM, you're welcome. Glad I could offer advice. Again, I think Pages '09 is best for you. Download the trial version if you must and check it out. In regards to others, the OP is asking for advice on his book. He isn't asking for comments on whether his book will sell or not or if there are others like it. Mature up...
Get real! What the critics here have offered is a mild version of the ruthlessly brutal beating the publishing industry will give the OP when he offers up his efforts.
I offered corrections and viable alternatives - why is that not mature?
Before he gets any proof reading performed he needs his work professionally translated (i.e. NOT just a quick pass through Google Translate). You said he asked for advice - well my best advice would be to title it 'Work in very early stages of progress'.
If you encourage him to see his work through rose-tinted spectacles, then you're party to setting him up for a major fall. Honesty is really the best policy. So be honest - would you pay for that?
While I agree that the book wouldn't sell in its current state, it should be clear that my comment above was not intended towards you, but toward those who couldn't stop trolling. The forum is a place for discussion - everyone has their own opinions, some may agree while others may not. At the same time, I wasn't exactly encouraging him... I was providing tips on how his book can be made better (read all my replies above). I do, however, feel that telling the OP his book can be found on Google or is nothing more than common sense is no way helpful. What is helpful is advice on how and what he can do to enhance the user experience, or at least provide something not already present.
So far this is the best. You going to throw a kickback to whoever helps you with a title? Depending on how successful your book is, of course
I voted for this as well
Did I miss this part? Who is this book intended for? Is it going to be in English? Do you have an editor?
Why would you capitalize the "i" in iPad on your cover page (IPad 2 for Creative Beginners)? I wouldn't even give it a second look based on that.
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