How to Create a Hyperlinked Table of Contents for Smashwords

How to Create a Hyperlinked Table of Contents for Smashwords

If you have multiple stories or chapters in your ebook, you’ll probably need a hyperlinked table of contents if your book formatting is to be approved for premium distribution to lucrative online sales outlets such as Apple, Sony, and Kobo on Smashwords.

What is a “hyperlinked table of contents”? It’s a table of contents near the beginning of your ebook where a reader can point to and click on a chapter name or story title and immediately be taken to that place in the book.

I admit that I was intimidated by the words “hyperlinked table of contents” at first, especially by the word “hyperlinked.” It sounded like I’d have to create some kind of computer code—something I don’t know how to do.

However, I found that creating a hyperlinked table of contents isn’t all that hard.

An expanded version of this blog entry is now available as an ebook on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, etc. under the title
"Basic Formatting & How to Create a Hyperlinked Table of Contents for Smashwords." I hope you will buy it and find it helpful!

My Questions for Barnes & Noble

1. There's a rumor going around that Barnes and Noble won't include a self-published eBook priced at under $3 on its Nook top 100 bestseller list, even if the book's sales merit this inclusion. (Here's an Internet article about this situation [dated June 10]

http://ebmv.blogspot.com/2011/06/nook-bestseller-list-has-some-new-rules.html.)

Is this true?

2. I checked, and 20 of the top 100 Amazon Kindle books are 99¢, but 0 of the Nook top 100 books are priced at under $3.

Can you explain this disparity?

3. One person on Twitter said he'd read that B&N has "criteria" for inclusion, and that 99¢ self-published books don't meet this criteria. (He didn't say where he'd read this.)

Is this true?

4. Amazon apparently doesn't have this criteria and  thinks these books do merit inclusion.

Do you have any idea why B&N and Amazon might have such different policies about inclusion on the top 100 lists of eBooks?

5. If true, doesn't this all mean that B&N is lying to consumers about which books are its bestsellers?

6. If true, doesn't this all also mean that B&N is unfairly discriminating against 99¢ self-published books, especially because some buyers will purchase a bestseller over a non-bestseller?

7. Also, if true, why should any writer, such as myself, with a 99¢ self-published book offer those books as Nook editions?

8. Finally, if true, please give a good reason why indie authors and their supporters should not boycott both Nook and B&N?

Interview with Erotic Horror Writer Christian Jensen

Yesterday, I interviewed Christian Jensen, erotic horror writer and author of The Bitch (Book One of Witches House: The Chronicles of Rosario). (You can buy his eBook here for 99¢.) Here's the interview:

Tamworth Grice: How did you happen to become a writer?

Christian Jensen: I got a copy of Pet Sematary when I was a kid and absolutely fell in love with it, and ever since then I wanted to be a writer. I was 8.

Tamworth Grice: And how long have you been writing?

Christian Jensen: I've been writing for damn near 30 years, and I honestly wouldn't know what to do if I had to stop. I've had every job imaginable; I am a chef, a master mechanic, an all-around handyman. I can fix anything and if i taste it I can cook it. I am also a tattoo artist. I love dogs, and I have a Great Dane, a Lab mix, and a Jack Russel mix. I really do love all animals. Especially the delicious ones like cows and pigs and lobsters.

Tamworth Grice: (laughs) How did you choose erotic horror as your genre?

Christian Jensen: I really am a horror writer at heart. Everything I write ends up tinged with it. I just kind of progressed towards erotic horror, and it made a lot of sense for me. I found myself writing these elaborate sex scenes and then editing them because they were too graphic. I hate editing scenes out, especially if I think they flow with the story well.

Tamworth Grice: So you probably don’t like censorship.

Christian Jensen: I hate censorship, especially self-censorship. I don't do it well, either. So I started leaving the sex scenes in and I realized it was still a horror novel or short story, but it had this tint of erotica to it that I really liked. So one day I woke up and realized I was an erotic horror author.

Tamworth Grice: But now you're working on something for the YA market, is that right?

Christian Jensen: Yes. I am currently writing the sequel to my first (unpublished) young adult book. It's a lot of fun to write because I get to think like a twelve year old, which honestly isn't a stretch for me. I am also working on another erotic horror novel that may or may not be about vampires. Additionally I am cranking out short stories for a collection I will publish next month. I am also finishing up the edits on the third erotic horror novel in the Witches House series, plus the prequel to that series, and a collection of erotic scenes.

Tamworth Grice: Wow! That’s a lot!

Christian Jensen: I like to stay busy. This is why I write between 5,000 and 10,000 words a day.

Tamworth Grice: Like a lot of us, you chose to go with self-publishing your books as eBooks. How did that come about?

Christian Jensen: I know a lot of very successful published authors. I have heard about the stigma toward self-publishing for years, but I have noticed a shift in the wind. I spoke with Brian Keene about it, and his advice was to make sure a book is edited professionally and has a professional looking cover. Brian admits that if he was just starting out he would most likely go the self publishing route.

Tamworth Grice: Did any other authors offer you advice about ePublishing?

Christian Jensen: Jonathan Maberry told me that there are a lot of people making good livings off their eBooks, especially short story collections. Once I saw that the stigma had lessened (it's not gone by any means—just not as severe) I thought I would try it.

Tamworth Grice: And you wrote The Bitch as a book to self-publish, right?

Christian Jensen: That’s right. I wrote The Bitch specifically for self publishing on Kindle. I was very happy with the experience and followed it up with a second part in the series, and the third will be out soon. I will have at least seven books up on Kindle and Nook by July.

Tamworth Grice: So tell us more about The Bitch.

Christian Jensen: The Bitch is actually a book that I wrote because I loved the main character, Rosario, so much. She first appears in Witches House (soon to be published) as a secondary character, but I thought she was too big for such a small role and came up with a series of books just for her.

Tamworth Grice: What’s the title character’s relationship with Rosario?

Christian Jensen: The Bitch is one of Rosario's lovers, a gorgeous werewolf who is hunting her mother’s killer. When the huntress becomes the hunted, Rosario has to fight to save her lover from the man who killed her mother, and from herself. There is a big secret that may just undo everything Rosario has been struggling to protect. Between the action and sex scenes there aren't many wasted words. I really hope everyone falls in love with Rosario as they read about her in the same way I did while writing her.

Tamworth Grice: Based on my reading, I’m sure they will. Thanks so much, Christian.

Christian Jensen: You’re welcome. And thanks so much for this. It’s very exciting being interviewed.

Christian Jensen

List of Some Famous Authors Who Have Self-Published

Some famous authors who self-published at some point in their careers are:

William Blake

Edgar Rice Burroughs

Stephen Crane

e. e. cummings

W. E. B. DuBois

Alexander Dumas

Zane Grey

James Joyce

Rudyard Kipling

D. H. Lawrence

Anais Nin

Thomas Paine

Edgar Allan Poe

Ezra Pound

Carl Sandburg

George Bernard Shaw

Upton Sinclair

Gertrude Stein

Henry David Thoreau

Mark Twain

Walt Whitman

Virginia Woolf

(From a longer list found at http://www.groundbreaking.com/SPAuthorsList.htm)

Reading List for Promoting Your Indie Book, Music, or Film

Want more information about promoting your book, music, or film--or yourself!--through social networking media such as Twitter, Facebook, or Blogger?

Here's a reading list from Tim Grahl of Out:think Group (who says, "Feel free to republish this list anywhere as long as you link back to http://outthinkgroup.com/ for attribution").

1. Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us by Seth Godin

The guide to building a tribe and the first place to start. Your mission as an author is to gather a group of fans and influencers around yourself and lead the way to a bigger idea. Tribes explains why this is so important and why you are the person to do it.

2. Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath & Dan Heath

If I asked you what your book is about, what would you say? How long would it take you to say it? Would I be interested when you were done? Made to Stick teaches you how to pull the big ideas out of your book and present them in a way that resonates with people and "sticks."

3. All Marketers are Liars: The Underground Classic That Explains How Marketing Really Works--and Why Authenticity Is the Best Marketing of All by Seth Godin

Stories are the back bone of any marketing effort. Stories make your ideas clear and help them spread. All Marketers are Liars explains how you can best use stories to grow your tribe.

4. Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation by Sally Hogshead

What are the 7 triggers for fascination? Which ones can you use to grow your tribe? Fascinate walks you through each one, helps you identify yours and teaches you how to leverage them to fascinate your fans.

5. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini

Why do people do what they do? What drives people's actions and decisions? Influence will walk you through how people make decisions and teach you how to craft your message in the most persuasive way. This is a fascinating book that everyone trying to sell anything (especially a book!) should read.

6. Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip Heath & Dan Heath

This amazing follow up to Made to Stick teaches you the framework for catalyzing change in your tribe. Merely crafting your idea to stick is not enough, you have to then figure out how to get people to follow you and make a difference. Switch teaches you how.

7. The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use Social Media, Blogs, News Releases, Online Video, and Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers Directly by David Meerman Scott

Media has changed and the power is now in your hands. That's great but now what? The New Rules of Marketing and PR walks you through how to leverage the online tools to maximize your marketing and spread your message.

8. Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers Into Friends And Friends Into Customers by Seth Godin

How do you build a fan base that will buy your book (and anything else you sell)? Traditional forms of advertisement and marketing don't work like they used to. The future is found in Permission Marketing.

9. The Referral Engine: Teaching Your Business to Market Itself by John Jantsch

While this book is written for businesses, it is a gold mine of information for the author. You want people to spread the word and tell their friends to buy your book. The Referral Engine offers a systematic way to do this.

10. Web Copy That Sells: The Revolutionary Formula for Creating Killer Copy That Grabs Their Attention and Compels Them to Buy by Maria Velosa

Writing a book and writing web copy are two very different things. You want to move people to buy your book and Web Copy That Sells offers a step-by-step plan on how to do this. Skip this title at your own peril.

11. Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business (New Rules Social Media Series) by Ann Handley & C.C. Chapman

This is the newest book on the list and the title I've been waiting for. One of the hardest things to figure out is how to come up with content for your platform and use it effectively. Content Rules is the definitive guide on this subject. It will walk you through how to come up with content, how to leverage it to grow your tribe and "reimagine" it for multiple uses.

Let's Work Together, Part One

This is a very long blog entry, in six parts, about how indie writers, musicians, and film people need to work together and support each other.

Part One: Going to Daddy

Poets and novelists. Rappers and hiphop artists. Indie filmmakers and screenwriters.

We’re each in our own separate box.

We might not think we have much in common, but really we do.

Because of the way the Internet has facilitated communication and made it easy to promote directly to an audience, we all have a chance to succeed. A better chance than ever before.

Let's talk about the book industry.

As I see it, under the old publishing system, unless you were wealthy, you couldn’t afford to publish a book yourself. And if you did publish it, you would probably never earn back your publishing costs. The people who would make money on the book were the printers and the distributors, while you would go into the red and probably have a roomful of unsold books to use as kindling after you’d spent thousands on self-publishing and couldn’t afford to pay your heating bill.

If you didn’t self-publish, you were trapped in a system that was offensively paternalistic.

You had to grovel and beg “Daddy,” an agent, to represent you. You had to grovel and beg another Daddy, the publisher, to publish you. You had to grovel and beg yet another Daddy, a bookseller, to stock you.

Becoming a successful author was all about grovelling to and begging from a number of Daddies—who were often rude and dismissive and self-absorbed—and heaven help you if you got out of line.

If you misbehaved, your career—assuming you even got to have one—would quickly be over.

Coming tomorrow: “Part Two: Disrespect and Downright Theft” about the corruption of the book industry.