Adding Pictures

Adding pictures breaks up the monotony of an ebook, although they're not entirely necessary. It is nice to include a photo with your ebook cover when you market it, but it's not entirely necessary to add them within the ebook itself. Although they can be very helpful when it comes to certain things, like explaining how to do a particular operation on a computer. Just be sure that the pictures you use are either your own or are licensed to you for the proper usage. Otherwise, you can end up in legal trouble for infringing on someone else's copyright.

SCREEN SHOTS

If you're trying to depict how a certain operation is done on the personal computer, you're in luck! It's a very easy thing to take a screen shot off of any personal computer and embed the picture into your ebook. All you have to do is to hit the button at the same time as the button on your keyboard. The button is next to the space bar on the left and the button is on the top right hand side of your keyboard. Pressing the two together takes a picture of whatever is on your screen and saves it to memory.

You will then want to open any photo processing program or even Paintbrush and paste it into the front screen so that you can edit it there. The way to do that in Paintbrush is to simply choose to edit/paste the information into it after you've opened it. Then, you can crop it and resize it if you need to for use in your ebook. To paste it within your ebook, either copy and paste it or insert it via the word processing program after saving it onto your hard disk.

USING STOCK PHOTO BANKS

There are a number of great stock photo banks out there that allow anyone with a few bucks to download some great photos that they can use for free on their personal sites and for a few bucks in their commercial ventures. The terms of the usage will depend on the photo and the site itself. A few good choices to investigate are http://sxc.hu and Dreamstime.com. You sign up as a member and are able to browse photos by categories and by a number of different keywords. Next time you want a photo of a red sports car, it's as simple as logging in and seeing what's available. The selection is tremendous, and the prices are reasonable. You may be able to use a photo for free if you give credit to the site and photographer, but if you want it just as a photo, you will probably have to pay to use it. However, when you factor in the amount of time it will take you to get the perfect shot of just the right image, it is well worth any investment to get a license and just pay for the privilege of using the photos in your ebook.

For Those That Talk Better Than They Write

Some people can go on for hours talking about a subject that they are passionate about, but ask them to write about the same thing, and they freeze. If you're one of those people, don't fret. There are tools available to make it easier for you to take advantage of your immense oral knowledge in such a way that it even lessens the amount of time it takes to create an ebook. They may cost a bit more than just using a computer and keyboard, but it can be a Godsend for those who find themselves literally challenged.

OLD-FASHIONED AUDIO TAPES

You can go out and buy yourself an old-fashioned audio tape recorder. This might be helpful if you're doing interviews that are to be typed up later. However, it's not the most ideal tool for just putting down your own thoughts to later write out in format. It still will take time to transcribe that information to the keyboard. That will take more time than if you just started using software that allows you to record what you're saying and types it into your computer for you.

DRAGON NATURALLY SPEAKING

The software that is most used by people to create ebooks orally instead of manually is Dragon Naturally Speaking. The most current standard version is $99. It is a Nuance product that is available at http://www.nuance.com/naturallyspeaking.  You can probably get it for less if it's not a physical shipment and is downloaded off of the Internet. Some places offer it for $49.99, but it may be an earlier version. Decide what you need and then order it online.

WHY CHOOSE A VOICE RECOGNITION TOOL?

One reason: speed. The average person can only type 40 words a minute, but they can talk much faster, sometimes up to 120 words per minute. If you are a two-fingered typist, then you are going to be able to write much faster using voice recognition software than if you tried to write it from your head onto the keyboard. You also tend to make mistakes when you're typing, whereas the software will write what you speak, with fewer and fewer mistakes the more that you use it. Most of these won't be spelling mistakes, as it uses its own dictionary, but will be recognition errors. After you use the software for a while, it begins to recognize your words better, and you will have a very easy time writing an ebook just by talking through it.

When You Can't Fill In The Blanks