I'm Confused

I'm on a mailing list for self-publishers.  These are mostly small publishers getting books printed by real printers, not CreateSpace.  They do a lot of talking about what software to use.  To boil it down 1) if you want to pay for a program, use InDesign (Alert Alert Alert--this is an Adobe product, Adobe doesn't believe in helping you, that's why it took me 4 months to learn Photoshop to the minimal degree I have achieved).  2) if you want freeware use LaTex or something.  Both will drive you nuts.  You will need to take a course in how to use them but you will eventually wind up with a book with a perfect lay-out.  I don't read these posts anymore.

Every week or so someone who has done absolutely no research will ask how to format an ebook and who should they hire to do this.  Worse, they ask who the good ebook publishers are.   Answer--YOU ARE.  Learn how.  They never go to Amazon or Nook or even Smashwords to read the faq on how to do this.

I am so confused by this, I don't know what to make of it.  It's true I stopped uploading to Smashwords because my files kept getting kicked back to me due to formatting.  I've never had a problem with Kindle or Nook.  It's not that hard to do.  I assume most people use Word.  As the industry standard for just about everything, Word is prepared to do what they want.  Open Office is less prepared but perfectly capable.  Here's a suggestion I learned after much agitation--write the thing in Word, format it in Word, submit it in Word.  End of most of the problems.

Some of my books were written in Word Perfect and converted into Open Office.  This will always create a hassle.  Suggestion--strip all the formatting first and reformat.  How do you strip all the formatting?  Well Word will do that for you (theoretically) but copy the thing to Notepad, save as txt, open it in the word processing program and you're good to go.

You can find all this info by Googling it.  I don't understand why people don't start at the beginning and work through the process in a logical fashion.  I don't understand all the problems with inserting images into a digital book.  Almost all my books have illustrations/photos.  I don't think they look great on a B&W reader but I'm planning ahead for when people have color readers.  I try to choose images that will look relatively good in B&W.  I don't understand why people don't simply download a sample of a book like theirs and see how it was done.

I understand how this is very exciting.  You are going to publish your book and for some reason, you are so excited you can't think straight.  Slow down.  Do some research and attempt to do everything for yourself.  Teach yourself how to write.  Read John Gardner's book on writing.  Teach yourself how to edit.  Teach yourself how to step back from the project.  Learn basic cover design.  This is your book.  Enjoy the process fully.  I always wanted to make movies.  And I mean make them from start to finish.  Now I get to make books.  I love it. 

Or are we at a place where ewriters need to pay eeditors and edesigners?  Isn't that what we just left but instead of them paying you, you have to pay them?

No I haven't finished Burning Daylight yet but it is on the reformatted pass so I'm getting there.

from the NYT so they don't get mad at me