We have tried making our own e-book, although I would rather call it an e-write. I've always thought of the e-book as a format for novels, but now we've had the chance to try out the e-book format for a shorter text - which might also be suitable for other bloggers, entrepreneurs and thinkers. We've tried the Booqla service and thought we'd tell you how it works.
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ShareWhen can you use Booqla?
Booqla is a tool for creating and publishing e-books. It is perhaps primarily intended for "real" books such as novels and non-fiction, but it is also possible to use Booqla for shorter texts, such as a travel guide to a city or a book of tips or practical advice. The finished e-book can then be used to disseminate information, which readers can use on their phones or tablets.
We have tried to make a small informative e-book that we hope our readers with motorhomes will find useful. We'll be featuring it here on the blog soon - so let's see what you think!
How do you make your own e-book?
If you want to create an e-book with Booqla, start by registering at Booqla.com. You then add the author and possibly the publisher (could be you), import your Word document, upload a cover page, edit and preview.
Once you are satisfied with the book, it is time to save and download. You only pay when you download, so you can do the whole book and make sure you are happy before you decide to finalise and pay for the product. On the website there is a manual and a instructional film which shows step by step how everything works.
Our experience with Booqla
It was easy to register on the website and it is also easy to upload your Word document. If you have any questions, there is good information in both the manual and the instructional film. The text is nicely laid out in the e-book, it is easy to edit and you can also add images.
What we missed was that there was no function for making bulleted lists. We solved this quite nicely anyway, but if the service is going to be suitable not only for novels and non-fiction books but also for practical manuals and travel guides, we would definitely like to see a possibility to make nice lists! Have you ever made an e-book or do you see any context where you would like to make one?
Read more: Reading tips: 12 books
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Jennifer - Globetrotter & Dreamer says:
I have actually made an e-book for the company I worked for in India 🙂 Thought it was very smart and have actually thought that IF I would like to write a book soon, it might be a good idea as a start!
15 October 2015 - 14:36
Steve says:
What a great idea, now even more people can take part in and learn from your travels.
15 October 2015 - 17:21
BP says:
Great! I really look forward to that book!!!
Jar has even taken a course on e-book production directly from a book laid out in Indesign. Noticed that a "nice" layout in a printed book does not do justice to an e-book, or rather that you can't convert a layout from Indesign straight to an e-book.
I thought that regular novels, or as you say short texts with occasional pictures, are probably best for e-books.
A bulleted list should definitely be included, especially if you are producing non-fiction books with Booqla.
15 October 2015 - 17:36
admin says:
Jennifer, it's great that you've tried your hand at writing an e-book! I wonder what kind of book you would like to write then...? 😉
Steve, we'll see, but we hope it can be useful, it's a first attempt 😉.
BP, oh you can do this kind of thing, it makes me nervous 😉 There was not much layout to do in this programme and it may be related to what you describe (plus I think it is displayed differently on the pages depending on which reader you have) so probably a simple layout works best. But as I said, we missed the bulleted list anyway, it's a very simple thing that fits in a regular text, we focused on practical facts (which will largely only be interesting for those who have a motorhome) but you will all see the "book" soon of course 😉.
15 October 2015 - 18:25
Elisabeth says:
How exciting to have an e-book! We look forward to it!
15 October 2015 - 18:29
Marie says:
Oh, so exciting! We are looking forward to it, even without a motorhome!
15 October 2015 - 20:39
znogge says:
So exciting to immortalise in that way!
15 October 2015 - 21:32
Henny says:
So interesting, definitely something I will look into. I have published three books before, but what you describe sounds both exciting and quite simple.
Thanks for the tip, you really have a wide range of posts, I must say 🙂 .
15 October 2015 - 21:54
Ditte says:
What fun! I'm looking forward to reading the book you've done and are planning to do even though I don't have a motorhome.
I haven't thought about making an e-book at all. But perhaps a guide to Beijing could be a possibility in the future.
But on the other hand, that city is changing faster than you can keep up with.
Good tips anyway, and I will look into them more.
15 October 2015 - 23:30
Anki says:
Exciting! Can't wait to see the results!
Thanks for the tip 🙂
16 October 2015 - 6:52
admin says:
Elisabeth, this is a relatively short and mainly practical thing we tried to do - a first test. We'll get back to you!
Marie, it's a handy little thing for motorhome drivers, but it was fun to try out the e-book format. I'll be back!
Znogge, it was exciting and fun to test! Maybe more and more applications will be found in the future.
Henny, now I remember reading something about books on the website! How exciting! What have you written? What we have written now is not a "book" in that sense. We had to test and we only had a few weeks to get something together 😉 .
Ditte, a Beijing guide sounds interesting! At the same time, it's tricky as you say, because a city changes quickly. Maybe you can add more general tips on how to get around and experience Beijing? We had a few weeks to come up with something we could test, so the content is not exactly a "book" but hopefully something practical and useful for people with motorhomes.
Anki, it's really a first test! Maybe others will come up with more uses!
16 October 2015 - 7:28
solan says:
Instead of albums, Lasse makes photo books from, for example, our motorhome trips. He makes them on Apple in Iphoto, very expensive but with good quality. Ready-made pages, there are more alternative layouts, just add the pictures. 100 pages cost about 1,200 SEK. Format 22×28 cm. Really looking forward to your book, guaranteed to be good ....
16 October 2015 - 11:08
admin says:
Solan, I have colleagues who have made such books, can be super nice! E-books are probably better suited for more text and less pictures - and when you want to be able to spread so others can read on tablets/mobiles etc.
16 October 2015 - 11:58
Elisabeth says:
I read your travel stories on an almost daily basis and find it great fun to follow your motorhome adventures. I, who have never been attracted to the camping life, dream a little secretly about eventually getting a motorhome. What freedom to whizz through Europe as you do! Inspiring!
I'm taking the e-book tip to heart - I've come across an exchange of letters between my grandmother and her siblings from the thirties and forties, and here with you was the answer to how to document it and preserve it for posterity. Exciting reading, those letters, I can promise!
16 October 2015 - 16:47
admin says:
Elisabeth, how nice to read that you are following our journey! 🙂 Motorhome has really meant freedom for us! Before that, we had not been attracted by camping life, but travelling and freedom attracts! Great fun also to read about the correspondence you have come across - so exciting! Yes, why not? Maybe an e-book could work?
16 October 2015 - 20:50
Inga M says:
That was a good tip on the e-book. It will be exciting to read yours. Will it be free and will you sell it? I have long thought that it would be fun to write some kind of book that can be published online. It will happen sometime when I become a full-time retiree. I have a lot of pictures and text from my life as a teacher. It would be fun to write that book that I myself would have wanted to have in my hand when I started working.
17 October 2015 - 4:44
admin says:
No M, we got an offer to test the service and only had a few weeks to produce a text, so it's just a short practical thing that can be used for people with motorhomes. Not a 'book' in that sense. But now that we've figured out how to do it, there may be more uses in the future. Anyway, it will be free 😉 .
17 October 2015 - 8:26