Maintenance: Adding Publications


Disclaimer: Maintenance pages are for those who update this website. Nonetheless, everyone is free to look.

Material(s)

  • Two pictures of the publication’s front cover - see “Cover Art” below and also Pictures and Images on this website
    • Feature-size (720 pixel width) image (portrait format/orientation)
    • Thumbnail (75 pixel width) image (2:3 aspect ratio, width:height)
  • Descriptive text (not the published text)
    • One-line summary (text)
    • Back-cover blurb (text)
  • Links for commercial ($) publications
    • Link(s) to paperback purchase page
    • Link(s) to Kindle purchase page
    • Other link(s)
  • Links to free-downloads, if any
    IMPORTANT: The work’s copyright notice must be visible in each of these

Cover Art

  • General Notes (assuming final 6x9" productions for hardcover, paperback, and electronic editions)
    • Five (5) panels to be used individually or combined:
      • Front cover, 1800x2700 pixels (300 ppi) [6x9"] with title and author
      • Back cover, 1800x2700 pixels (300 ppi) [6x9"] with image, text, and ISBN block
      • Spine, ?x2700 pixels (300 ppi) [?x9"] with title and author (width determined by page count)
      • Inside front flap, 1200x2700 pixels (300 ppi) [4x9"] with text
      • Inside back flap, 1200x2700 pixels (300 ppi) [4x9"] with text
  • Print Editions
    • Hardcover - Full front/back wrap with spine and inside-cover flaps both front and back
      • Spine width will be determined by page count (consult printing company)
    • Paperback - Front, back, and spine (no inside-cover flaps)
      • Spine width will be determined by page count (consult printing company)
    • Consult printing company for resolution, CMYK or RGB, and other image file requirements
  • Electronic Editions
    • Front cover-only (no spine, no back cover)
    • 1800x2700 pixels (6x9 Standard Paperback at 300 DPI)
    • Full color
    • Will be embedded in *.pdf, *.epub [Apple reader], and *.mobi [Kindle] files
  • Web Page
    • Note: See “Electronic Editions” above for cover art to be included in download files
    • featuredImage: 360x (width) *.webp (or *.jpg) reduction of Electronic Editions cover
    • thumbnail: 75x (width) *.webp (or *.jpg) reduction of Electronic Editions cover

Scrivener Notes

When preparing downloadable publications with Scrivener, electronic versions can be generated in *.pdf, *.epub, *.mobi, and *.txt formats.

Miscellaneous Preparations:

  • Structure the work in Scrivener as desired into Parts (optional), Chapters (optional but likely), and Scenes (aka, Sections)
  • Create a front-matter section:
    • Create a color front-cover graphic
      • Place at the top (first item!) in the project’s “Front Matter” folder
        • 1250x1600 pixels at 300 dpi
        • Include title and author
    • Create a text-only cover page
      • Title
      • Author
      • Copyright Statement
  • Compile format and layouts preparation
  • Copy the Paperback (6x9") compile format and save-as “Distribution Copy” in “My Formats”
    • Assign layouts for part headers, chapter headers, text sections, front matter, etc.
      • Apply formatting to layouts as desired
    • Transformations
      • YES: Convert “smart” punctuation to “dumb”
  • Compile the needed output files
  • *.docx Only
    • For external publishers
    • Format according to their requirements
  • Amazon (print/paperback)
    • Format according to Amazon print/paperback requirements
  • Kindle (electronic edition)
    • Format according to Kindle print/paperback requirements - see also *.epub and *.mobi in “Webside free download copies” (next section)
  • Website free download copies
    • *.txt Only
      • No cover art
      • Include the front matter’s text-only cover page
    • *.pdf, *.epub and *.mobi
      • Include the cover art in the compile
      • Include the front matter’s text-only cover page

Procedure

  • On the website development system:
    • Determine the name of the publication’s directory (PUBDIR) from the title of its publication:
      • Change all letters to lowercase
      • Change blanks into hyphens
      • Drop all punctuation (commas, apostrophes, colons, etc.)
      • Examples:
        • “Serpent’s Smile” becomes serpents-smile
        • “Ask, and it Shall Be Given” becomes ask-and-it-shall-be-given
    • Launch a shell for the website’s development-home directory
    • ./hugo new content/publication/PUBDIR/index.md Insert the publication’s PUBDIR (as determined above)
    • Create (additional new directory) content/publications/PUBDIR/images/:
      • Move the featured (720x) and thumbnail (72x) images to that directory
    • For the free-download editions, create (additional new directory) content/publications/PUBDIR/downloads/:
      • Move download edition files (text, PDF, E-book, etc.) to that directory
    • Edit the just created content/publications/PUBDIR/index.md
    • Fill-in the frontmatter
      • Set featuredImage: images/NAME_OF_720x_IMAGE.webp
      • See Front matter for additional details
    • Fill-in the content (after the frontmatter):
      • For commercial ($) publication:
        • Back-cover blurb (in Markdown) - end it with {{< clearfix >}} to force subsequent text after the image instead of to its right.
        • Link(s) to commercial seller, paperback and Kindle editions
      • For free-download publications
        • Back-cover blurb (in Markdown) - as above, end it with {{< clearfix >}} to force subsequent text after the image instead of to its right.
        • Download buttons for:
          • Plain text (*.txt)
          • PDF (*.pdf)
          • Kindle (ebook) format (*.epub)
    • Test the result locally
      • In a shell:
        • make server
        • In a browser, surf to localhost:1313 and:
          • Verify the new work is listed on the website’s opening page
          • Click-through and verify all aspects of the new publication’s page
          • Download each format and verify correctness
          • Click the “Categories” link and verify the new work is listed
          • Similarly, verify the work’s “Tags” (if any)
          • Verify the linkage to the external (commercial) seller’s page for this publication
          • Download all free-download formats and verify they work
            IMPORTANT: A copyright notice must be visible in each of these
    • Backup the development system
  • Go live:
    • In a shell:
      • make deploy
    • In a browser, surf to EDSkinner.net
      • Verify the added page(s) and their operation including downloads,
      • Verify the home page is 100% functional, and
      • Spot-check other pages are desired.

History

EDSkinner.net began in 2023. Fiction and non-fiction publications are included as well as (blog) posts and supplemental materials from flat5.net (2004-present).

Comments submitted on individual pages are subject to approval. General suggestions may be sent via the Contact page.

© Copyright 2024 by E D Skinner, All rights reserved