making ebooks because i can.

About The.Converter

My name is Steven Saus. I am an independent and freelance author and publisher, as well as a member of SFWA and the HWA. I learned to create eBooks through converting my own works.

I learned a few things along the way - including how much automatic conversion can make your work look like that of an amateur. Now that I've learned how to create quality eBooks, I want to work with you so your work looks as good as possible.

Let me show you the difference that hand-creating an eBook has on quality. I'll tell you exactly what my conversions provide for you, explain how affordable they are (and my quality guarantee), and detail the simple steps to getting started working with me. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to e-mail me: steven@alliterationink.com.

Note: I provide other publishing services under the Pursued by Bears imprint.

Customer Testimonials

When I ventured into my first e-book conversion, I dreaded the learning curve. So I was delighted when I found that Steven Saus could handle it for me for a reasonable fee. He was prompt and professional and delivered a trouble-free e-book conversion. I am grateful.
— Alma Alexander, author of Shoes & Ships & Sealing Wax

I found Steven Saus on Wikipedia, under "E-book conversion" services. Call it good intuition or damn good luck but Steven replied swiftly to my request and offered the most equitable quote. He answered my novice technical questions with astute professionalism and in simple, easy to grasp terms. His turn-over time was superb and his eye for detail was excellent. I could not have found a better conversion consultant and someone who was genuinely interested in making my book look and feel as close to the real book as possible. Best of all, he was friendly, prompt, and a pleasure to work with. Steven has my highest recommendation!
— Wendy-O Matik (author), Oakland, CA

As an author lacking knowledge in converting rich media content into an epub arrangement; I needed to find an expert. Through a great deal of internet searching, I found Steven Saus. Steven did more than his required obligation. He dispatched visual epub and pdf examples engaging straightforward views. He conveyed to me the logic for which my book was not adaptable as an eBook since it is one written in epistolary and rich in pictures. Steven could have taken my money, and delivered an end result that didn't look very "pretty," but he doesn't roll that way. His honesty speaks highly of a person with character, and I would endorse his expertise to anyone. Thank you for the education.
— Renee Wendinger, author of Extra! Extra! The Orphan Trains and Newsboys of New York

The Hand-Created eBook Difference

Since 2007, digital publishing has become a serious force in the publishing world. In 2010, digital publishing growth has been reported as high as 300% (Random House), or sales over US$10m higher than 2009 (source). Digital publishing also allows content creators like yourself to easily and directly sell your work without involving any other retailers, necessitating that you possess the formats yourself.

While digital publishing makes it easier for your work to reach an audience, it also makes it vital that your work is of the highest quality. Readers routinely tell me that they are frustrated by badly formatted eBooks. To succeed in the world of digital publishing, it is vital that your eBooks are high-quality products.

Apex Publishing understood this. They realized that some of their eBooks had formatting problems, and asked me to help. Working together, we ensured those eBooks have the same high standards of their print runs. Apex Publishing graciously granted permission to show you the results below.


Before: Credits	After: Credits	Before: Body Text	After: Body Text

You can find another example directly contrasting machine conversion to hand-conversion with my further analysis of Jim Hines' First Novel Survey. Click to download the hand converted and the machine converted versions.

What I Can Provide For You

Conversion from standard word processing documents ¹
Conversion into the widely accepted ePub and Kindle formats ²
Fully standards compliant ePub and Kindle books, actually tested on a Kindle, nook, and Sony Reader.
Formatted paragraph indents and alignments like the print book
A working table of contents in the text of the eBook
A structural table of contents embedded in the structure of the file
Properly sized and formatted cover and frontispiece images
Optimized images to keep file sizes reasonable
Tables and charts embedded as images ³

Extra (and less common) features below can be added for minor fees.

Footnotes embedded as endnotes with bidirectional links
Obtaining public domain divider images
Divider images between sections of text
Linked index
Rush processing

Please note: I do not support Smashwords Word documents. The Smashwords conversion system does not consistently convert documents, making it impossible to create valid and attractive eBooks. I will, upon request, create a Word document for you to use with Smashwords, but do not offer any support or guarantee any results with Smashwords' uploading system.

Pricing

Pricing is handled through an estimate/quote system. Below are estimates for conversion work. These estimates may be revised in either direction once the actual job is received, depending on the complexity of the work. These prices are somewhat negotiable, depending on what you offer.

Standard rate: $2 / 1000 words, minimum $15
Cookbooks are billed at a different rate.
Conversion from PDF: +25% to total price
Reformatting of cover art and frontispiece: free
Divider image acquisition: $5 - $10
Placement of divider images: $5 - $20
Placement of inline images: $5 - $50
Footnotes / Sidebars: $0.50 each
"Touch-up" work: hourly rate of $30, billed in 15 minute increments.
Rush order: Varies

Exceptions

There are always exceptions to these standards, hence the estimate and quote system. If a book is extremely complex or requires a considerable amount of back-end work, the quoted price may be higher than the estimate. I am also a real person, not a large corporation, so my schedule will necessarily fluctuate. This will not impact most titles. Please note, I reserve the right to turn down any project that does not fit my content standards. Further, I will be honest about my abilities and the abilities of the format. ePub and Kindle formats, for example, are not well-suited to books that require exact image placement.

Payment Methods

I prefer PayPal or checks. Payments are due within 30 days of project completion; late fees begin accruing after 30 days of completion.

Guarantee and Warranty

There is a 100% warranty and guarantee for my eBook conversion work. If you find an error in your eBook, even years later, I will gladly fix it for you at no cost, even after publication.

The Process

The first step is to send me your files. If they are less than ten megabytes, send them directly to my contact e-mail below. Otherwise, upload them to a site like Dropbox or to your own online folder and send me the download link.
After I have gotten your files, I will send you a solid quote on the cost and turnaround time. You should receive this quote within 24 hours.
When you approve the quote, I will begin work on the file. When the conversion is finished, I will provide you with a secure download link or send them by e-mail (your preference).
You examine the eBook files and either approve them or send me corrections. When you are satisfied with the conversion, I will e-mail you an invoice.

Don't wait - turnaround times can be lengthy, so start the process today!

¹ Defined as anything Word or Open Office can handle. Preferred formats are DOC, DOCX, or RTF. Conversion from PDF is frequently possible, but may require significant extra work for me - and then extra cost for you. (I am currently charging a 25% surcharge; I have to take out all the extra carriage returns, and that means an extra pass proofreading the entire book.) At this time, I simply do not have the time to convert from print through scanning, OCR, and proofing the work. I would be lying to you if I told you otherwise. Back

² The Kindle format - also called mobi and AZW - is based on the Mobipocket standard. You can read more about it and other formats here. Back

³ Some eBook formats do not support text-based table layouts. eReader screen size can also mangle tables. Typically, tables are converted to (and priced as) inline images by taking screenshots of the table in your source file. This makes sure that your tables always look the way you intended. In some cases, tables cannot be converted into images - especially when they are large tables with many cells. In those cases, I recommend that you provide the tables as a separate PDF download on your site with a link in the eBook.Back