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Using Blurb PDF file for Amazon KDP paperback?


EMP360

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Greetings!

 

Maybe someone else has had luck with this and can clue me in on a solution: I absolutely love the ability of Storyist to be able to export a PDF in a trade paperback friendly 6x9 format for publication through Blurb. However, I don't use Blurb because I prefer to use Amazon's KDP paperback option. However, when I attempt to upload the PDF to Amazon, it always spends about 15 minutes "processing" the file before it finally just says there was an error with the file. At which point I end up having to copy and paste my book into word, re-formatting everything, and creating a PDF from word. Is there something I'm missing or that i need to tweak in order to get the Blurb PDF file compatible with KDP paperback guidelines? On paper, it's theoretically the right size and bleed and everything, so you'd think it would work. But I've tried it on three books and none have worked. Thoughts?

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Hi EMP360,

 

Welcome to the forums. What error messages are you seeing?

 

If you use the Blurb template, Storyist will make sure the PDF has the correct number of pages for the Blurb presses by adding blank pages if necessary. Could KDP be complaining that the PDF has the wrong number of pages for their signatures?

 

If so, you could use Preview to add or remove blank pages to match the KDP specs. You could also use the general template instead.

 

See the tutorial titled Customizing Your Book Design for information (and sample files) about adding your own design elements.

 

-Steve

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Steve,

 

Thanks for the reply. I already had the thought about adding or removing blank pages to match spec and that didn't work for me. And I've tried the general template as well. I'm currently trying another one (in modern format) just so I can tell you the exact messages. First, I get:

"Manuscript Blurb Trade Book (Modern).pdf uploaded successfully
Processing your file..."
But then after a considerable amount of time processing (much longer than if I produce a PDF in Word to the same specs) that message turns to:
"Error processing interior
There was a problem processing your interior. Please check your file and try again."
I've tried it as all Classic, Modern, and PDF edition all with the same results.
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Correct on that. And I've had success using PDFs that I've created to spec from both Word and Pages, but not the PDFs created when exporting from Storyist using the Blurb or PDF edition files. Which stumps me, because theoretically I'm guessing the specs should be bang on unless I'm missing something. Let me know if you're able to replicate my results or notice any settings I need to tinker with, because it would be extremely convenient if I could just use Storyist for all my needs--it's so much easier and more intuitive than Word and Pages. Love it!

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It looks like the beta KDP previewer can't handle the bookmarks (digital table of contents). Pages and Word don't generate bookmarks for chapters ( :P ), so it isn't an issue with PDFs created by these apps.

 

I just posted a beta of Storyist for Mac 3.5.2 gives you the option to strip bookmarks on export. It should be available shortly.

 

-Steve

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