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Category: E-Sentral

Creating an EPUB via Scrivener

One of the downsides of publishing on E-Sentral and Google Play is the fact that you have to create and upload your own epub file. Other platforms, including Amazon and Smashwords, allow you to upload a Word file (.doc or .docx) and does the conversion for you.

What’s an epub?

EPUB is an e-book file format which is used on most platforms, including smartphones, tablets, computers and e-readers. It’s HTML based so even if you don’t have a specific e-reader on your computer, you should be able to open it in most browsers.

How do I create an epub?

We don’t know the specifics of how exactly you’d code an epub, but here’s the easy version using Scrivener.

Organise your chapters into folders.

Create Folders

Organising your chapters into folders will tell Scrivener where your actual chapter breaks are. In the screenshot, you’ll see that sometimes we put in several text files into the same folder. These are in-chapter breaks.

Update your front matter files.

This includes adding your cover picture (which can be done by dragging the picture file into the folder, creating a title page (as above) and a copyright page (per below).

 

Add your back matter.

add back matter

We usually add this to the end of the Manuscript itself, as there aren’t any pre-formatted folders for Back Matter. Back matter, as said previously, would include information about your other works or how to contact you via email or social media.

 

Compile your file.

Under “File”, you’ll find the compile function. There are several steps to this:

a) Select e-book format (with or without parts). This will tell Scrivener that you want to create an epub.

b) Select the cover file you previously added to the front matter folder.

c) Update your metadata.

d) Click compile!

 

Check your final files.

Now that everything is done, open your brand-new epub file to test that everything looks like it’s supposed to. You can also run it through this checker to make sure there are no errors.

And you have an epub file to upload to E-Sentral and Google Play!

 


 

If you have problems creating an epub file, or you don’t own a copy of Scrivener, check out our publishing hub. We’ll be able to create an epub file for you for as low as RM120.

Applying for an ISBN from PNM

Applying for an ISBN from PNM

Getting an ISBN from Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia (PNM) is really easy—and it’s free! Whilst many ebook distributors/aggregators provide free ISBNs and/or have their own tracking system (eg: ASIN on Amazon and GGKey on Google Play), E-Sentral does not. They require you to apply for one from PNM, as we mentioned in our post on publishing on E-Sentral.

 

What’s an ISBN?

ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number and is a unique number associated with your book. An ISBN is assigned to each edition (except reprintings) of a book, which means that your e-book, paperback and hardcover would all need a different ISBN. If you want a quick reference, pick up the nearest book, turn to the back and look at the barcode. There will be a 13-digit number (or 10, if the book is super old)—that’s the ISBN!

 

Why do I need one?

The quick and easy answer is that it’s the simplest way to track and catalogue your books. For print, it’s how the cashier can ring up your sale quickly, by scanning the barcode. Like we mentioned earlier, some online retailers have their own tracking system and do not require an ISBN, but you can also link an ISBN to books sold on those platforms if you wish to. They (meaning Amazon and Google Play) can get away with is mainly because they’re big enough.

If you’re going through a distributor or aggregator such as Smashwords or D2D, you will need an ISBN because it’s a requirement to distribute to sales channels such as Kobo, Apple, and Overdrive.

 

Do I need a different ISBN for each of my different ebook formats?

According to best practices, each sellable format of your book should have a unique ISBN. Which means that your ISBN on E-Sentral should be different from the one on Smashwords (but this would be the same for all platforms that Smashwords distributes to since they only distribute the epub version).

Confused?

Don’t worry. Just take it that each place you upload to BY YOURSELF probably needs a different ISBN. If you’re not the one uploading it personally, then the distributor or aggregator you use will kau tim that for you.

In actual practice, we apply for ONE ISBN for print (used for both IngramSpark and Amazon POD) and ONE eISBN for ebook (used on our website, Draft2Digital, and Smashwords). If you want to do this, keep this important factor in mind: all the details for your print book MUST be the same. Same size, same cover, same paper settings, same type of printing and binding.

 

Okay, so how do I get an ISBN from PNM?

Here’s the updated process for applying for an ISBN that we have been sitting on for like, what, two years now! All you need is the internet! And screenshots, urgh screenshots.

Registering an Account

First of all, register for an account at Depositori. You’ll have to activate the account (by clicking the link they send you) and then log in again. Alternatively, if you have an account with e-sentral, you can just click on “Enroll” from the publisher panel.

Depository shortcut on the bottom of the e-sentral publisher panel

Next, fill up your Maklumat Penerbit. This is the same as the earlier Borang 1 (see below); so basically questions about YOU, whether you’re applying as an individual (you’ll need your IC) or as a company (you’ll need your company forms). We don’t have any screenshots for this because we used the e-sentral shortcut and linked our fancy new online account to our pre-existing account.

Their guide says they take about 2 working days to approve this. However, we think* that you’re supposed to start applying for the first ISBN at the same time that you apply to be a publisher. At least, that’s how it worked for the paper version, and it didn’t seem like they changed that process for the online version.

*at any rate, our memory is super spotty on this, so if you find out otherwise, let us know so we can update this!

 

Applying for an ISBN

Here we are at the meat of the thing!

Here’s how you do the thing, with screenshots from when we published The Tale of the Hostage Prince! (Which shows you we’ve been sitting on this post for months). There are 4 pages in total.

TIP: You can’t actually save progress, so you need to prepare everything beforehand unless you like filling up the same form multiple times.

On your very colourful dashboard, click Perkhidmatan Mohon ISBN/e-ISBN.

depositori dashboard

Page 1

The first page is information about the book. It’s pretty much the same info you’d fill on Amazon or Google play or wherever else you sell your ebook, like:

  • Language
  • Title and subtitle, if any. If there’s a series title, you put it here too.
  • Who’s who: Besides putting the author’s name, you can add in the illustrator, editor, or whoever worked on the book.

Page 1 (first half)

  • Book details: Price, length, number of pages, format, expected publishing date, expected print run. You can change the expected publishing date later on, so that’s not a big deal – but remember that you have to submit your book within 30 days of that date. Tick if it’s fiction, and tick if you have an index.
  • If you want to have the Cataloging in Publication data (CIP/PDP), which is that thing on the copyright page saying what categories the book belongs to, you can select to apply for it here too. You’ll usually get your ISBN first, and then the CIP/PDP a few days later. This isn’t compulsory. We did it for syok purposes for the print book but didn’t bother for the ebook.
  • Synopsis: We use the back cover description here. Even if your book is in Mandarin or Tamil (or other languages), you need to have your synopsis translated to English or Malay.

Page 1 (second half)

  • The earlier screenshot is for print, so here’s an excerpt of what changes if you select digital (instead of physical) for ebook. They’ll ask you for the Platform digital, or where you’re going to sell the book. Here you can put your website or Amazon or Google Play, wherever you plan to sell the ebook. It doesn’t need to be the exact link.

Page 1 - ebook version

Page 2

Page 2 print

Page 2 is the annoying page with all the documents you need to provide. They’re the same for print & ebook, whether you want the PDP or not, so we’ll just show you the ebook version we used. The additional item that the ebook version asks for is your current draft of the book. This doesn’t need to be the final final ebook (because you need to upload that again later anyway) so even if you’re still tweaking stuff, you can do ahead and upload whatever you have.

Page 2 ebook

Okay, so the stuff we uploaded:

  1. Cover page Cpver
  2. Title page (mukasurat judul)title page
  3. Copyright page (hakcipta)copyright
  4. Synopsis/prefacesynopsis
  5. Table of Contentstoc

 

If you can prepare all this before you start the process of applying for the ISBN, that really really helps reduce stress levels.

Page 3

Okay, the hard part is done. Page 3 is mainly confirming that everything you uploaded is correct. If it’s not, you can hit the back button and correct stuff.

Page 3 (first half) Page 3 (second half)

AAANNNND

Page 4

is a lie because as you can see in Page 3, even though it says Langkah 3/4, the button actually says “Selesai.” And also we don’t have a screenshot, so it’s probably the “we’ll approve it in x days” page. Or maybe it takes you to the status page. Hmmm.

Anyway, we got the ISBN within like a day, and the PDP in maybe 3 days or so, even despite the notice that it may be slower than usual. The only downside of this system is that they don’t actually email you the stuff. You have to log in and check the status by yourself.

But the Status Permohonan page is pretty comprehensive, so it’s not a big deal.

Approval Dashboard

Several notes on this page:

  • Remember when you used to have to send in TWO CDs for ebooks? HAHAHA no. Now, you just click Muat Naik. Finish. Thank you.
  • If you need to delay or change your publishing date, for whatever reason, this is where you do it. Just click Kemaskini Tarikh and put in the new one. There’s probably a limit to how many times you can change it, or how long you can delay it, but if you hit any snags, just write in to them and they’ll help you fix it.
  • If you need to fix any information after you’ve submitted stuff (other than the date), the only way to do it is via e-mail. There’s no “fix” button. Depending on the situation, they’ll probably cancel your application so that you can reapply.
  • You still need to send them your 5 physical print copies.

And that’s our 2022 update!

If you want to check out the old paper version, it’s down below after the break.

 

 

Read more

Publishing on E-Sentral: A Step-by-Step Guide

Publishing on E-SentralNow that you know how to publish on Amazon, it’s time to learn how to publish on E-Sentral.

In our last post, we talked briefly about self-publishing strategies between KU (Amazon-exclusive) and Wide (primarily for the International market)—so what better way to put that into practice than to figure out how E-Sentral, the biggest e-book retailer in Malaysia, works?

We figured this also would be the best time to walk you through how to publish on E-Sentral since we’re in the midst of uploading A Still, Small Voice.

 

What is E-sentral?

E-Sentral is the largest e-book repository in Southeast Asia, founded by our very own Malaysians in 2011! Granted, the main market seems to be Malay and Indonesian books, including school books. Still, it doesn’t hurt to test it out since even the big international e-book distributors/aggregators tout that “we distribute to E-Sentral!” (Be proud of Malaysia, kan?)

It has 3 main bases: Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. The platform itself offers a “studio” for you to craft your ebooks, but since we’re already using Scrivener to create our epubs, we didn’t take up the extra option.

Several things to note about publishing on E-Sentral before we walk you through the (very) simple steps:

  1. It doesn’t have great category options for fiction, unlike Amazon or Smashwords.
  2. It only sells books in epub format—no PDF, no html—and uses DRM so it can only be read on their dedicated e-reader (which you can download for free). This basically means you’re publishing into a closed market. That’s alright since they don’t require exclusive rights.
  3. It only accepts payment via debit or credit card—and only Malaysian cards at that, at least on the Malaysian portal. We’re assuming the Singaporean and Indonesian portals will accept credit cards from their respective countries.
  4. It has its own e-library system, similar to Overdrive.

What you need to publish on E-Sentral:

  1. Epub file
  2. Cover file
  3. ISBN

How to publish on E-Sentral

Publishing on E-Sentral is actually really, really easy. You probably don’t even need this step-by-step guide, but it’s here just in case you want to have a look before deciding if you’d like to create a publisher account. They’ve also just upgraded their interface so everything looks pretty snazzy right now!

Basic book details

Basic Book Details

1. Fill in the title of your book.

2. Fill in your author name.

3. Fill in your selling price in RM. The system will use this price to set prices in other currencies. If you don’t like the price they’ve converted it to (or you want to price differently in different markets) you can manually change it. You’ll note here that most of the currencies offered are for Southeast Asian countries. (Currency not shown in print screen: Vietnam Dong.)

4. Enter your e-ISBN. Unlike other publishing platforms, E-Sentral does not offer free ISBNs. Instead, you have to obtain your own ISBN from Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia.

5. Fill in your book synopsis/blurb.

6. Stare at the categories and laugh. Pick what best fits your book. As mentioned earlier, there aren’t many categories for fiction, unless you’re writing in “major” categories like Romance or Chick-Lit… or maybe Children.

7. Next you can choose a release date. If you don’t choose one, it will release once it’s been processed.

8. We don’t really know why they have “Language” and “Content type”, which seem to refer to the same thing, but as you can tell, E-Sentral does BM and Mandarin, which aren’t always options in, say, Amazon. We’re also not sure why “Music” is a content type, but ok.

9. The “Tag” option works, as far as we can tell, like what Amazon’s “keyword” section. Enter in all the words you’d like related to your book here. In this case, we figured it’s a great place to note that A Still, Small Voice is a short story, fairy tale, and fantasy.

10. Imprint is the “who’s publishing this” section, so we put Teaspoon Publishing in this space. If you don’t have a publishing house or if you’re self-publishing it under your own name, you can leave it blank.

Library Purchase Programme

You’ll actually need to sign an extra agreement to participate in this programme, so don’t worry if it doesn’t appear on your upload page! It’s not set to appear unless you’ve already subscribed to the library programme. This works something like Overdrive, where if you subscribe to it, the library can purchase a copy of your book to lend to their patrons. As you can see, you can set a special price for libraries, whether higher or lower than your normal selling price.

Uploading your books

The final step is to upload your epub file and your cover file. It’s a drag and drop function, so that’s fairly easy.

Several things to note about uploading:

  1. Although the upload e-book box says it accepts files up to 100 MB, it often hangs if the file is more than 2MB. So try to get the smallest sized file possible!
  2. If this doesn’t work, try using the bulk upload option.
  3. All the other platforms I’ve seen will provide an automatic preview file (usually 10% – 20% of the ebook). E-Sentral doesn’t. If you want to provide a preview (or Look Inside as Amazon puts it), you’ll have to create a separate epub with the exact amount of content that you want your potential readers to see.

Once you click submit, it will tell you that your submission has been uploaded, or it will give you a warning if there’s anything missing or wrong.

If you’re the kin cheong type, you can check on the status under the “submission status” tab.

That’s basically it!

We’re pretty sure you have two questions now:

  1. How do I create an epub?
  2. How do I get an e-ISBN?

We’ll cover that soon!