E-books: Applications and Services

Final E-book quality can depend on:

expectations
authoring tool used
input format used, e.g., not PDF
sophistication of export or conversion tool
manual adjustments in final version
...
8 Apps for Aspiring Novelists 11/8/2012
Why eBook Conversion Practices Are Failing Readers 3/29/2012
The difference between ebook conversion and ebook formatting cover; images; headers/footers; line/section/page breaks; spacing & characters; ... 10/20/2010

Below is a draft, incomplete, alphabetical table of selected E-book authoring & conversion applications, and web services.
If you have experience with, or review articles for these or others, let me know.

Name	Platform(s)	Costs	Source Formats	Dest. Formats	Features
application or publishing site	web-based Win: Windows Mac: Macintosh Lnx: Linux	license, royalties, fees	web: HTML, blog .doc: Word .odt: Open Office .pdf: Acrobat	.epub: ePub Mobi: Kindle
A	Platform(s)	Costs	Source Formats	Dest. Formats	Features
Adobe: see inDesign
Amazon: see Kindle Direct Publishing, KindleGen
Anthologize	WordPress	free	blog	ePub, PDF	plugin; not for wordpress.com How to Convert a Website into an Ebook Anthologize; Zinepal; 4/20/2011
Apple: see iBooks Author, iTunes, Pages
Atavist	?	free, pro	?	ePub, Mobi, web	beta The Atavist Matures as a Publisher and a Platform 5/21/2012 Long-Form Journalism Finds a Home 3/27/2011
B	Platform(s)	Costs	Source Formats	Dest. Formats	Features
Barnes & Noble: see PubIt!
BlogBooker	web	donation	WordPress, LiveJournal, Blogger (.xml)	.pdf
Blurb Bookify & BookSmart	web Win,Mac	?	?	.epub	Blurb, The Custom Book Printing Startup, Is Tossing Its Hat Into The E-Book Ring 5/2/2012 Digital book publisher Blurb embraces e-books, iOS devices (esp. photo books); 10/19/2011
BookBaby	web	$99+	Word, HTML	ePub, Mobi	publishing service
Bookmasters					service provider
Book Studio	web	free(eval); $	.doc, .html	.epub	publisher; Folium Partners, Ashland
C	Platform(s)	Costs	Source Formats	Dest. Formats	Features
Calibre	Win,Mac,Lnx	free	.doc, .html	.epub, Mobi	convert & update existing eBooks library management across multiple eReaders/eBookstores, ... FAQ, tutorials, videos, user manual; [slideshow] Converting WordPress Blog to Kindle Ebook technical; 1/31/2012; Blog to Ebook Conversion Program v1 uses Calibre; 5/25/2012 Review: Calibre 0.8.3 6/20/2011
Convert a Book	web		.pdf,.doc	.epub, Mobi	publisher?
E	Platform(s)	Costs	Source Formats	Dest. Formats	Features
eBook Architects					conversion, consulting
EpubCheck	web	free	.epub		format validator
ePub Bud	web	free	?	?
ePubConverter	web	free	.doc, .pdf	.epub	converter
F	Platform(s)	Costs	Source Formats	Dest. Formats	Features
Fast Pencil	web				publisher
Folium: see BookStudio
G	Platform(s)	Costs	Source Formats	Dest. Formats	Features
Google					Authors; Affiliates
H	Platform(s)	Costs	Source Formats	Dest. Formats	Features
HyperInk	web	?	blog	?	Next-Generation Publishing Platform Hyperink Wants To Transform Blogs Into Books 5/2/2012
I	Platform(s)	Costs	Source Formats	Dest. Formats	Features
iBooks Author	Mac	free	?	".epub"	Q&A: Selling Your Own iBooks iBooks Author; 12/25/2012 Hands on with iBooks Author 2.0 10/31/2012 Apple Releases iBooks 3.0 and iBooks Author 2.0 10/24/2012 Apple?s iBooks Author adds templates and fonts, as 2.5K US classrooms use iBooks in school 10/23/2012 iBooks textbooks for iPad (video intro, 8 min. streamed) "Life On Earth" by E.O. Wilson (free biology Textbook) ?Take Control of iBooks Author? Teaches Multi-Touch Book Creation 5/25/2012 iBooks Author fashions multimedia books for the iPad 2/3/2012 Apple Clarifies iBooks Author Licensing Situation in New Software Update 2/3/2012 Inside Apple's efforts to expand iPad content with iBooks Author 1/23/2012 Sench Embeds Interactive CSS3 Animations in iBooks Author 1/23/2012 Examining iBooks Author from the Publisher Perspective 1/22/2012 iBooks Textbooks: Not Exactly Innovation in Education 1/22/2012 Why iBooks Author is a Big Deal 1/21/2012 Holding out for an ePub hero new authoring tool? 1/21/2012 Apple's textbook plan feels like a blast from the past 1/20/2012 Apple Goes Back to School with iBooks 2, iBooks Author, and iTunes U 1/19/2012 Apple Introduces Tools to (Someday) Supplant Print Textbooks 1/19/2012 Publishing with iBooks Author nn Introduction to Creating Ebooks for the iPad; free
inDesign	Win,Mac	$		.epub	Adobe: authoring application Digital Publishing Suite Mag+ plugin, templates InDesign CS6 overhauls digital publishing workflow to offer versatile new options and format capabilities 5/16/2012
iTunes			.epub	Apple iTunes Store	Author's FAQ; iTunes application form Apple-approved aggregators; Affiliates iBooks Now Opens ePub Files Directly (via email, Safari); 4/7/2011 How To Publish An Apple iBook 8/10/2010 Convert Any Text File to ePub for the iPad 4/15/2010
K	Platform(s)	Costs	Source Formats	Dest. Formats	Features
KindleConverter	web	free	.doc,.pdf	Mobi	converter
Kindle Direct Publishing	Win,Mac		.doc, .pdf, ...	Mobi	Amazon: publisher; KDP resources Kindle Self-Publishing Guide Getting Started; Prepare Your Book; Publish Your Book; Merchandising Your Book; Manage Your Sales; FAQ CreateSpace print on-demand publishing (POD) Are There Any Legal Issues If Amazon Accidentally Gives Away Thousands Of Your Ebooks For Free? (price matching error); 11/8/2011 How to Publish Your Own Amazon Kindle Ebook (What You Need; Professional Consulting or DIY?; Editing and Formatting; Creating Front and Back Matter; Ebook Availability; Kindle Direct Publishing: Step by Step); 8/8/2011
KindleGen	Win,Mac,Lnx	free	.html,.epub	Mobi	Amazon: converter
Kobo	web				publisher; Affiliates Kobo launches e-book self-publishing platform, ?Writing Life? 6/5/2012
L	Platform(s)	Costs	Source Formats	Dest. Formats	Features
LibreOffice	Win,Mac,Lnx	free			desktop office suite; see also OpenOffice use Writer2ePub extension to convert to ePub
Lulu					publisher; stores: iBookstore, Barnes&Noble, Lulu eBook Creator Guide How to Make an eBook Anyone Can Read with ePub 12/6/2011
M	Platform(s)	Costs	Source Formats	Dest. Formats	Features
Microsoft Office	Win,Mac	$		.doc	desktop office suite; does not create .epub directly -- use a converter app (.doc input) or online publisher. you might also consider using a more "author friendly" writing app, e.g., Scrivener -- or a free office suite, e.g., LibreOffice, OpenOffice -- with ePub export
O	Platform(s)	Costs	Source Formats	Dest. Formats	Features
online Kindle Converter	web	free	epub, pdf, html, docx	Mobi
OpenOffice	Win,Mac,Lnx	free			desktop office suite; see also LibreOffice, NeoOffice (Mac-optimized version) use Writer2ePub extension to convert to ePub
P	Platform(s)	Costs	Source Formats	Dest. Formats	Features
Pages	Mac, iPad	$$		.epub	Apple: authoring application How 'Take Control' Makes ePubs in Pages 8/30/2011 Apple accepts Javascript in ePub ebooks in iBookstore 6/17/2011; demo iWork 9.0.4 Gives Pages ePub Support 8/27/2010 Creating ePub files with Pages 8/26/2010
Pandamian	web	free?	?	?	beta
PdfMasher	Win,Mac,Lnx	free?	.pdf	.epub, Mobi	text-only -- no styles, no images PdfMasher Turns PDFs into Ereader-Friendly HTML the Right Way 7/12/2011
PubIt	web	free	Word,PDF,HTML	.epub*	Barnes&Noble Getting Started, FAQs; Affiliates
Publish Green	web	$399+	Word,.pdf,inDesign	.epub, Mobi	publisher
R	Platform(s)	Costs	Source Formats	Dest. Formats	Features
ReadList	web	free?	web site	ePub, Mobi	Readlists Creates Ebooks from URLs turn a set of articles into an Ebook and send it directly to Kindle, iPhone, iPad, or over email; 5/22/2012
S	Platform(s)	Costs	Source Formats	Dest. Formats	Features
Scrivener	Win,Mac				authoring application; workspace for chapters, maps; templates for character sketches review 2/4/2011
Sigil	Win,Mac,Lnx	free	.epub, .html	.epub	multi-platform WYSIWYG ebook editor tutorial; documentation; [slideshow]
SmashWords	web	%	Word	ePub, Mobi	publisher: "world's largest indie ebook distributor" stores: Kobo, Nook, Sony, iBookstore, Diesel SmashWords FAQ Convert MS Word docs to e-books for free Smashwords transforms Word's DOC files into the EPUB, MOBI, and other e-book formats, but only if you shun text boxes, tables, and other common formatting elements in the file, as the handy Smashwords guide explains; 7/3/2012 E-publisher Smashwords offers wide distribution and sweet deals to authors. One plot twist: Amazon 6/25/2012 Apple's Biggest (Unknown) Supplier of E-Books Smashwords; 6/7/2012 The Seven Secrets of Ebook Publishing Success (presentation); 5/14/2011
Storyist	Mac,iPad	$		.epub	desktop application
W	Platform(s)	Costs	Source Formats	Dest. Formats	Features
Writer2ePub	Win,Mac,Linx	free	.odt	.epub	extension to convert LibreOffice & OpenOffice documents to ePub discussion
Z	Platform(s)	Costs	Source Formats	Dest. Formats	Features
ZinePal	web	free, pro	blog, feed, web	.pdf, ePub, Mobi	How to Convert a Website into an Ebook Anthologize; Zinepal; 4/20/2011
1-9	Platform(s)	Costs	Source Formats	Dest. Formats	Features
2EPUB	web	free	.doc,.html,.odt	.epub, mobi	converter

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