How to become an ebook publisher without spending money

Late last year, I published an article about how to read Kindle Books without buying a Kindle. The article was written with a larger goal in mind, to put you on a path to becoming an ebook publisher, creating books and other documents that can be read on Kindles, iPads, iPhones, personal computers, and just about any other ebook reader or personal computing device.

If one or more of the following applies to you, then this article has a lot to offer to you:

• You have written a traditional book, and are thinking about publishing it as an ebook.
  
  
• You are thinking about publishing a new book, and think that starting with an ebook would be quicker and cheaper.
  
  
• You have a web site, blog, or podcast and you want to offer your audience downloadable documents.
  
  
• Kindles and ebooks are the new hot thing and you want to get in on the action.

All of these things were true for me, and I certainly had the desire to get something out the door and into the hands of an audience. However, I had a couple of obstacles between me and an ebook:

1. I barely knew anything about ebooks other than they existed.
   
   
2. I didn't feel like spending a lot of time, or much money, learning how to publish an ebook

I'll spare you the middle of the story and go straight to the end. If you want to learn about the ebook production process, even if you don't want to write an ebook yourself, go to Smashwords.com and sign up for their free service. They will take you by the hand and show you how to get your book properly formatted, and ready for sale.

If you take the next step and actually create a book (it doesn't have to be either very good or very long, so go ahead and put something together), give lots of copies to friends, relatives, or anyone else who will give you some feedback about it.

After you get some feedback and edit or even rewrite sections of the book, go ahead and put it on sale. If you use the Smashwords distribution system, you can even give it away for free, and have Smashwords track your downloads. The great thing about Smashwords is that they turn your book into a version suitable for every kind of ebook reader. They will even turn it into a PDF document.

At AirSafe Media, I took one previously published book and turned it into an ebook, and created two other ebooks in a matter of days. One was based on existing online articles, and a second based on a training manual I made for another purpose. All three are available for free download, and I made them available as a PDF file and in versions that could be read in a Kindle, iPad, or in an ereader or smartphone.

If you want to go a step further, after you become familiar with the Smashwords process for creating ebooks, check out the the free book Publish on Amazon Kindle with Kindle Direct Publishing from Amazon. If you have something is good enough to sell, go ahead and try Amazon. The worst thing that could happen is that you will make some money.

Speaking of money, I paid nothing to use the Smashwords system, and nothing to use Amazon Direct Publishing. You have no excuses, go publish something.

Resources
Smashwords Author page for Todd Curtis
Amazon.com Author page for Todd Curtis

How to read Kindle books without buying a Kindle

The Kindle ebook reader is a lovely device that some people love. However that love comes at a price. The cheapest version cost less than $100, and if you buy one, you have to put up with the hassles of learning how to use it, keeping track of, and maintaining it.

You can avoid the expense and hassle of buying a device by downloading a free Kindle application that will let you use your computer, tablet, or smart phone to read Kindle books.

Why is all this good stuff free?
Amazon.com, the company behind the Kindle, isn't in the charity business. While the Kindle devices generate revenue, over the long term they will make most of their money through the paid content, including books, that can be displayed on the Kindle device or on one of the free Kindle apps you can download.

How do I get this free Kindle App?
Simply go to Amazon.com at http://www.amazon.com/gp/kindle/kcp and download the appropriate Kindle app for your device. You can get an app for the following devices:

- Windows PC
- Mac PC
- iPhone
- iPad
- Android
- Blackberry
- Windows Phone 7

Once the download is finished, you can use your Amazon.com account to log into the online Kindle store to either buy content or to download free content. You don't have to have a Amazon.com account to read books and use other content, there are several advantages. One of the biggest ones is that you can download a sample of a book and evaluate it before you decide if you want to buy it.

Magic Kindle Powers
Since the Kindle app is free, you can download it for every device that you have. There are two ways that Amazon makes this a convenient option. First, if when you purchase a book, you can download it and read it on every device where you have a Kindle app. Second, if you make notes or bookmarks in a book on one device, when you open up the book on another device, all the notes and bookmarks transfer as well.

Try these free books
You don't have to get your books from Amazon. You can read .mobi format ebook file on your Kindle reader. Check out these two free ebooks from AirSafe.com's partner Speedbrake Publishing.

Parenting and the Internet
The AirSafe.com Podcasting Manual