GUIDE TO ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING USING E-Z-BOOK SOFTWARE by Rexxcom Systems The Displayware People 30-day Trial Copy Copyright (C) 1995 Rexxcom Systems, Schooleys Mtn., NJ, USA CONTENTS Instructions "In a Nutshell" 1 Detailed Instructions 1 Page Numbers 2 Adding Colors 2 The Autofont Titler 2 Fancy Text Fonts 2 Hypertext Linking 3 Underlining, Stars, Faces 4 Full Color Graphics 4 Music 5 A Cover for Your E-Book 5 Changing Text Fonts 6 Problems? 6 Multiple Chapter Files 6 Memory 7 Getting Paid for E-books 7 Encrypting Your Chapters 8 Sample Encrypted Chapter 8 Registering with Softlock 8 Your Rights to Use Program 9 Disclaimer 9 Rexxcom Systems Addresses 9 -i- You have the 30-day trial copy of E-Z-Book. The directions you will receive with your registered copy will contain much more information. IMPORTANT: Review the sample electronic book to familiarize yourself with all features. Then follow these steps to create your first electronic book: +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- - -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ | INSTRUCTIONS "IN A NUTSHELL" | | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | | Use a word processor to type your text. Set the line length at 78 and put | | this "DET code" on the top line: 24, 78, 1, 2, 240, 1, 0. Save the text as | | an ASCII file named MYBOOK.DET. Make a copy of EBOOK.DEB named MYBOOK.DEB. | | Edit BOOK.BAT so MYBOOK appears after TITLE. Then type GO and press Enter. | | to display your E-Z-Book publication. Basically that's all there is to it! | +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- - -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS A. Using your favorite word processor or text editor, start a new text file and on the first line type the following numbers, comma separated and spaced as shown here: 24, 78, 1, 2, 240, 1, 0 This is the important DET code. It may appear anywhere on line 1, but custom- arily it begins at the left margin. Do not change it except as explained below under "Page Numbers." Do not type anything else on line 1. Begin your text on the next line. B. Follow the directions of your word processor or text editor and set your line length to 78. This is the same as a "word wrap" of 79, a term used by some text editors. If you do not use the proper line length, you will either lose some letters, or you will leave a wide space to the right of your paragraphs. C. As an alternative to typing your text, you may import (load in) an existing text file beneath the DET code line. D. Save your file with an ASCII save (DOS text save). Do not save with the regular default save of a word processing program, since it will mess up your file. See your word processing manual if you are not sure. E. In saving your file, give it the file extension DET. This is essential. You might call it MYBOOK.DET. F. Make a copy of EBOOK.DEB by typing COPY EBOOK.DEB MYBOOK.DEB (Enter). Reason: Every DET needs a corresponding DEB to set the overall color scheme. G. Edit the batch file BOOK.BAT, which is included. (A batch file is a text file having the extension BAT.) Put MYBOOK in the position shown here: @echo off showmark hqsw2 ezb HINTS COVER1 TITLE MYBOOK EBOOK EBOOK2 SOFTLOCK EBOOK3 DOC REGISTER makemark ega vga -1- The above 7-line file, saved as BOOK.BAT will display your book when the word GO is typed and the "Enter" key is pressed. The first line (@echo off) is used because without it, the word "showmark" would appear briefly on the screen. "Showmark" and "makemark" are the two little programs which create the reader's bookmark, and they must be included in the batch file at the locations shown. The line ezb (etc.) MYBOOK will cause the E-Z-Book program to display your DEB/DET pair of files. If MYBOOK is your first chapter, and you want another chapter which the reader accesses with the right arrow key, you might name it MYBOOK2 (denoting MYBOOK2.DEB and MYBOOK2.DET) and it would appear on the same line of GO.BAT, making the line look like this: ezb HINTS COVER1 TITLE MYBOOK MYBOOK2 (etc.) H. Run BOOK.BAT, by typing GO (Enter) [believe it or not]! 'GO' runs GO.BAT which is needed to lead into BOOK.BAT, because later when a password is used GO.BAT will be automatically changed to include the password. PAGE NUMBERS As you know from viewing the sample e-book, some files display page numbers at the bottom of the screen, but others, such as the index, do not. If the first number in the DET code of EBOOK.DET or DOC.DET is changed from 24 to 25, page numbers will not be displayed. If the first No. of the code of INDEX.DET is changed to 24, page numbers will be displayed. Be very careful in changing this code. You must not alter anything except the first number, or you may ruin your display; the program reads the DET code to set up the display parameters. ADDING COLORS When you register E-Z-Book you will receive full instructions and everything you need to set the colors of your covers and pages, and add colors to your text. A program you will enjoy using is our Autofont Titler, described in the next paragraph. Order this program when you register E-Z-Book. THE AUTOFONT TITLER With 1995 version of Rexxcom's AutoFont program you will make colored headings and titles without worrying about color codes. AutoFont, version 8.5, makes colored titles and headings with automatic coloring and centering. The jumbo display fonts used on the sample e-book covers in this package were made with the AutoFont titler, as were the text-size chapter and section headings. With AutoFont you type your title or heading, and in an instant it appears in jumbo display fonts or in colored text-size fonts. The arrow symbol used at the bottom of the cover and title page and at the end of each chapter, is easily typed and colorized. Directions accompany the AutoFont titler. FANCY TEXT FONTS Art Deco, Chunky, Old English and our other special fonts appear when their hot-keys are pressed. Each font is contained in an HQ modules, a small program whose name begins with the letters HQ. On the next page is SIX.BAT which operates when the number 6 is pressed. The HQ modules with this trial copy are invisibly coded to distinguish them from the HQ modules you will receive when you become a registered user. -2- @echo off hqdeco In the above batch file, the module HQDECO.COM is loaded, changing the text font to Art Deco. In other batch files, HQENGL.COM loads the Old English font HQCHUNKY loads Chunky, HQROMAN loads Nu Roman, HQROMAN2 loads Tall Roman, HQMEDI loads Medieval, etc. In BOOK.BAT (which runs from GO.BAT) HQSW2.COM is loaded to produce the default font of the sample e-book. BOOK.BAT ends with "ega" and "vga" to run EGA.COM and VGA.COM, programs which reset the video mode to the computer's font. Always include both EGA.COM and VGA.COM in that order, at the end of BOOK.BAT. This assures that any computer system, whether EGA, VGA, or SVGA will be properly reset after your e-book has been viewed. Study the batch files ZERO.BAT through NINE.BAT, plus H, V, W and Y.BAT. These are the little batch files for font-style hot keys. Each is similar to SIX.BAT shown above. Here is a list of HQ modules included in this package: HQCHUNKY.COM ... Chunky font HQDECO.COM ..... Art Deco font HQENGL.COM ..... Old English or German Gothic font HQMEDI.COM ..... Medieval font HQROMAN.COM .... Nu Roman font HQROMAN2.COM ... Tall Roman font HQSLENDR.COM ... Slender font HQJIM.COM ...... Slim Jim font HQTHIX.COM ..... Thix font HQITALIC.COM ... Italics font HQSW.COM ....... Small standard font HQSW2.COM ...... Medium standard font HQSW3.COM ...... Large standard font HYPERTEXT LINKING Setting up a hot key which lets the reader jump to a page or more of special information is simplicity itself. The sample e-book uses the letter D as the hot key for the first example of hypertext linking. All we had to do to set this up was to prepare a pair of files which we named HYPER1.DEB and HYPER1.DET. With our text in HYPER1.DET, we simply wrote a tiny batch file named D.BAT. It is on your disk, and it looks like this: @echo off HQSW2 ezb hyper1 That's all we need to make our special text appear in a flash whenever the reader presses "D" while reading the e-book. E-Z-Book knows how to access up to 71 different hypertext files. You, the writer, give these files the names A.BAT to Z.BAT, ZERO.BAT to NINE.BAT, and many more with double-key files (see "Single and Double Hot Keys," page 5). As may be seen in the sample e-book, we used numbered files (ONE.BAT, etc.) to change text fonts; we used A.BAT, B.BAT and C.BAT for graphics, and we used other letters for text files. Note that each hypertext BAT (batch file) should contain a command for the font style which you want to use for the text. If this is omitted, the hypertext will appear in the font style which was in effect before the hot key was pressed. It is OK to do this if it is the effect you want. -3- UNDERLINING, STARS, AND FACES When typing your text, the tilde symbol (typed with the key to the left of the "1" key in the top row) will make a 5-pointed star when one of the HQ modules is loaded. The smiling face is made by typing the less-than and greater-than symbols. Underlining is accomplished by using the underline symbol (shifted hyphen). You may have noticed the computer's underline symbol was never really useful for underlining. Rexxcom's new HQ modules make underlining work! If you do not have an HQ module loaded the line is broken and too low. The underlining is done on the line beneath the words to be underlined. No words may appear directly beneath the underlined words, or there will be no space available for the underline character. FULL COLOR GRAPHICS The graphics in our sample e-book are displayed through the following steps which occur almost instantaneously: 1. Pressing the hot key activates a tiny batch file which we made in a text editor or word processor. The hot key "A" causes the file A.BAT to run. 2. The batch file runs a graphics program. In the case of the Space Shuttle we named the file SHUTTLE.EXE. 3. After the graphic has been seen and any key is pressed, the batch file then re-loads the font program which we are using as our default text font. Since we decided to use the medium size font, its program HQSW2.COM is run. 4. At that moment E-Z-Book automatically re-displays the page you were reading when you pressed the hot key. Here is what A.BAT looks like: @echo off shuttle hqsw2 All you have to know to use this feature is how to write the little batch file (and now you know!), how to name it (name it A.BAT if you want its hot key to be "A"), and where to get graphics programs. A.BAT and B.BAT use graphics programs named SHUTTLE.EXE and CLOWN.EXE. We converted these to stand-alone EXE files from files named SHUTTLE.PCX and CLOWN.PCX with the use of a conversion program which has the odd name EXE.EXE, It is included with the registered copy of E-Z-Book. EXE.EXE may be used with .GIF and .PCX files, both of which are widely available from many sources such as CompuServe, GEnie, America Online, the Internet, and software catalogs. If you want to make your own graphics files from photographs, there are companies which will scan the photographs and make .GIF or .PCX files, which you may easily convert to EXE files with EXE.EXE. The hot key "C" provides "picture stacking" of three graphics programs including TUT.EXE converted from TUT.PCX. (Conversion programs are included with registered E-Z-Book.) -4- Here is what C.BAT looks like: @echo off shuttle clown tut hqsw2 That little file is all it takes for E-Z-Book to know it is supposed to show three pictures in succession when "C" is typed. It is easy to see there is nothing at all difficult or complicated about setting up a hot key to display full colored graphics for your e-book. SINGLE AND DOUBLE HOT KEYS E-Z-Book has 71 hot keys available to display graphics, hypertext, etc. There are 36 single-character hot keys which use all letters and all single digit numbers. You may make batch files A.BAT through Z.BAT and 0.BAT through 9.BAT. Study the batch files to see how they are set up to (a.) change fonts, (b.) display graphics, (c.) display hypertext, (d.) play music. In addition to the single character hot key batch files, there are many two-character hot key batch files. Each of them uses the letter "Z" as its first character. Thus you may make batch files named ZA.BAT through ZZ.BAT, plus Z0.BAT through Z9.BAT. If you tried the hot key combination "ZA" you saw an example in action. If you use two-character batch files for your own e-book, you must include the program Z.EXE with the rest of your e-book files. Z.EXE is the program which makes the two character option possible. If you have no need for this many hot keys you may omit Z.EXE from your e-book files. (If you use 2-character hot keys, the single character hot key 'Z' is not available.) MUSIC The music which plays when the hot keys "M" and "N" are typed is the product of small programs which produce musical notes. These programs are accessed with the use of batch files, the same way the graphics files are accessed. Pressing the hot key activates a batch file which we made in a word processor. The hot key "M" causes the file M.BAT to run. Here is M.BAT: @echo off hqchunky helena hqsw2 We chose the Chunky font style for the title box which appears on the screen while the Helena Polka is playing. The program HELENA.EXE is one of many such music programs available from various sources. Here is N.BAT: @echo off clavier2 hqsw2 CLAVIER2.EXE is a music program we modified to produce the title screen which appears as the music plays. If you are interested in including music programs in your e-book, we encourage you to obtain them from various sources such as CompuServe, America Online, The Internet, GEnie, various bulletin board services and software catalogs. Rexxcom does not supply music programs. -5- A COVER FOR YOUR E-BOOK You may easily create a nice cover for your e-book. More than 12 pairs of DEB/DET cover modules are included with the registered copy of E-Z-Book. Until you receive these, you may work with the covers in the sample e-book. These are named COVER1.DEB and COVER1.DET, etc. Simply use the DET for your title, deleting the existing title and adding your own. Make sure not to change the size of the DET. It must contain exactly 26 lines, and line 26 must be blank. Use a text editor or word processor which has a block-move ("cut and paste") feature to move a title made with the AutoFont titler into the DET of your choice to make your cover. Better yet, get your registered copy of E-Z-Book and save yourself some work. (Did you see the cover samples which are displayed with hot key 'F' followed by using the right arrow key?) CHANGING TEXT FONTS If you like the effect of having a "fancy" text font on your cover or title page, and a regular font in the body of your e-book, use the hot-key "X" while viewing the sample e-book, or run CHANGE.BAT when not viewing the book. This will show you how to use "dummy files" in place of real DEB and DET files to force E-Z-Book to terminate and immediately re-start with a new font style. We have included BLANK.DEB and BLANK.DET to use as dummy files. The following batch file will cause the cover to be displayed in the Medieval font, the title page in Chunky, and the body of the e-book in Nu Roman. When this method is used, pressing the left arrow key will not move the reader back to the cover or title page while the book is being read. @echo off showmark hqmedi xl2001 cover1 blank hqchunky xl2001 title blank hqroman xl2001 ebook ebook2 makemark ega vga PROBLEMS? If it does not work 100% go over this check list: 1. The top line must contain the proper DET code and nothing else. 2. The correct DEB/DET pair of files must be present. 3. The text must be formatted with a line length of 78. If you use a greater line length, words near the right margin will be lost. (When you obtain your registered copy you will find some DET codes which require different line lengths) 4. The video monitor must be EGA, VGA, Super VGA or Multi-Sync. Sorry, but with a CGA monitor the display will blink. There is no way around this. -6- 5. All files listed in your batch file must be present, including EZB.EXE EGA.COM, VGA.COM, plus the correct DEB/DET files, and the font style you want your e-book to appear in, such as HQSW.COM, HQSW2.COM or HQSW3.COM. 6. The computer must be fully IBM compatible and using MS-DOS or PC-DOS. MULTIPLE CHAPTER FILES If you use the chaptering method used in the sample e-book, and if your chapters are named, say, MYBOOK1.DET, MYBOOK2.DET, etc., (each having its own corresponding DEB file of course), then your main batch file (BOOK.BAT) will look something like this: @echo off showmark hqpro2 ezb COVER TITLE MYBOOK1 MYBOOK2 MYBOOK3 MYBOOK4 makemark ega vga In this batch file, the cover, title page and chapters all appear on the same line following E-Z-BOOK, and this will make them accessible, from one to another, with the right and left arrow keys. (It does not matter whether you use upper or lowercase lettering, but lowercase is often used in batch files.) There is additional information on this subject in the user guide which you will receive with when you register. MEMORY If you use SoftLock (see next section) to encrypt/encode part of your elec- tronic book, your readers must put all your e-book files on their computer's hard drive. The reason for this is the fact that the SoftLock program will not unlock or de-code files on a floppy disk. If you are not going to use SoftLock, you may want to distribute your e-book on floppy disks, in non- compressed form, to be read right from the floppy. It is unlikely you will do this, because to make a profit you will need to use SoftLock. But if you do distribute a book to be read directly from the floppy, there are memory considerations which are covered in the registered user guide. GETTING PAID FOR YOUR E-BOOK OK, you wrote an electronic book, you followed our directions to set it up for on-screen display with E-Z-Book, you used the file compressing program (which you will receive when you register) to put everything into one compressed file, and now you want to upload it to America Online, GEnie, CompuServe, the Internet and more. This makes it available to millions of potential readers, and if it is accompanied by a good description this is an excellent marketing move. You have become an author-publisher. But wait ... you don't want to publish it free ... you want each reader to pay you for his or her copy. What do you do about this essential part of the publishing process? The answer is easy. You use SoftLock Services. -7- SOFTLOCK is a program which encrypts the text of one or more chapters of your electronic book so no one can read the entire book until they enter a password to unlock it. This program is sent to you free of charge when you register E-Z-BOOK. Most writers publish their books with up to half the book in un-encrypted, readable form, to give readers a chance to "get into" the book. If the reader likes the readable chapters, he or she follows instructions to call SoftLock's 800 number for a password. When they call, your customers use the buttons on their touch-tone phone to enter a product number which identi- fies your e-book, plus credit card information. They receive a password which unlocks the encrypted chapters. After entering their password one time only, whenever they type GO (Enter) the entire book is displayed for their enjoyment. The important part of this, for you, is the fact that SoftLock Services sends checks in the mail! The amount you receive is the price of your e-book (established by you, the author/publisher), minus $1.50 processing charge and 20% commission. Let's say you price your e-book at $5.95. In that case SoftLock keeps a commission of $1.19, plus the processing fee of $1.50, and you receive $3.26. That happens to be an excellent deal. For a writer to receive that much on the sale of a paper book, a publishing house would have to pay a royalty of 15% on a book priced at $21.70. The registered copy of E-Z-BOOK includes the SoftLock and Encrypt programs, easy-to-follow directions, and everything you need to put together an e-book which is easy to publish and ready to produce a steady stream of income. ENCRYPTING YOUR CHAPTERS When you register E-Z-Book you will receive our program ENCRYPT.EXE, along with SOFTLOCK.EXE and a related program SLCOPY.EXE. ENCRYPT links E-Z-Book with SoftLock to make encryption of chapters quick and easy. In order to encrypt (encode) one or more chapters of your e-book, it is only necessary to encrypt each chapter's text file, called the DET file. After your e-book is ready for publication, decide how many chapters you will leave in readable form, and how many you will encrypt. Then run ENCRYPT.EXE by typing the word ENCRYPT and pressing the Enter key. You will be prompted for a password. If you have received a password from SoftLock Enterprises enter that password. If you have not yet received your password, you may still practice encrypting by using the practice password IGORBROM. Once your password is typed, you will be prompted for the name of a DET file to be encrypted. That's all there is to it. The ENCRYPT program will access SOFTLOCK.EXE and SLCOPY.EXE "behind the scenes" and the next time you look at your DET file you will see it "in code." At the same time, a non-encrypted backup copy will be saved for you with the file extension BAK. It really is as easy as that. SAMPLE ENCRYPTED CHAPTER When you view the sample e-book, you will come to the page headed "Sample Encrypted Chapter Coming Up." Read this carefully, and be sure to print it out and add it to your printed copy of this user guide. While it will not show up in readable form until you obtain a password, Chapter 3 has useful information , and you, the author-publisher should run through the simple steps needed to un-encrypt or unlock it. In this way you will learn exactly what your reader customers must do to unlock the encrypted portions of your electronic book. Moreover, there is important information in Chapter 3. -8- REGISTERING YOUR E-BOOK WITH SOFTLOCK SERVICES The registered copy of E-Z-Book contains easy directions for calling SoftLock Services to register your electronic book and obtain a 'product number' for it. Once this is done, your readers simply call SoftLock's 800 number to pay by credit card (you receive checks from SoftLock) and to receive their unique 'unlocking' password. YOUR RIGHTS TO COPY AND USE THIS PROGRAM The compressed file containing EZB.EXE and related programs and files may be copied and distributed freely, posted on BBSs, listed in shareware catalogs and on CD ROM disks, as long as all files are included. You may use the programs and their accompanying files to publish a non-commercial e-book, e-magazine or e-newsletter on a trial basis for 30 days. After that time, discontinue use until you are a registered user. See the registration form for information on obtaining a license for use of the program. DISCLAIMER The enclosed programs, files, information, directions, and telephone numbers are provided "as is" with no warranties whatsoever either expressed or implied, including without limitation, warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose or a particular hardware system. The entire risk as to the quality and performance of the software and information rests with the user. The graphics and music programs are not Rexxcom Systems programs; they are supplied at no charge as a convenience. As with all programs and files supplied by Rexxcom Systems, the entire risk as to the quality and performance of included software and information rests with the user. Use of the software implies acceptance of this disclaimer. Rexxcom Systems The Displayware People P.O. Box 111 Schooleys Mtn., NJ 07870 CompuServe ID: 72656,2764 GEnie address: C.WIEDEMANN The Internet: 72656.2764@compuserve.com -9- E-Z-BOOK REGISTRATION FORM Please register me as a user of E-Z-Book software and send: Quantity Software Fee Subtotal ________ REGISTERED E-Z-BOOK SOFTWARE PACKAGE $19.95 ________ Includes over 10 DEB/DET sets for colored pages Plus more than 12 DEB/DET sets for e-book covers Plus more than 20 DEB/DET sets for newsletters Included: SOFTLOCK program & easy directions Included: ENCRYPT program & easy directions Included: LHA file compression program Included: EXE.EXE + GIFEXE graphics file makers Included: PICEM graphics file viewer Included: ZEE.EXE graphics file viewer Included: Programs which add text to graphics Registration includes a license to distribute E-Z-Book software with NON-COMMERCIAL electronic publication(s) for 5 years ________ 1st COMMERCIAL LICENSE (additional fee) 20.00 ________ Commercial license permits distribution of E-Z-Book software with 1 COMMERCIAL publication for a period of 2 years ________ Additional Commercial Licences (each) 10.00 ________ For each additional e-book published by same registered user ________ AUTOFONT TITLER (Additional fee) 29.95 ________ Makes colored titles & headings in jumbo & text-size fonts IF TOTAL EXCEEDS $50 SUBTRACT 10% VOLUME DISCOUNT ________ ________ Check here if you use 3.5" disks (no extra charge) Subtotal ________ Sales Tax (NJ Adresses) ________ Shipping & Handling ________ ($4 U.S. and Canada, $10 elsewhere) Total Enclosed ________ Name: ______________________________________ Street Address: ______________________________________ City, State, Zip: ______________________________________ Country: ____________ Phone: _________________ Mail to: Rexxcom Systems P.O. Box 111 Schooleys Mtn., NJ O787O Payment must accompany order. Orders to non-US locations must include a check drawn on a bank which has US offices. Send cash by registered mail. PHONE ORDERS (USA & Canada only) (Phone order system will be in effect by May 1, 1995) Rexxcom Systems has made an arrangement with SoftLock Services to accept tele- phone orders for E-Z-Book software and related products. When you order by phone, your order is shipped as soon as possible. To order any of these products just call 1-800 SoftLock (1-800-763-8562). You will be asked for a Product Number, a SoftLockID*, a credit card number, and shipping information. Be sure to have this information at hand when you call. The SuperPak is already marked down $10.00 for the SPECIAL DISCOUNT since the total product price is over $50.00. *When ordering the password to unlock Ch.III of the sample e-book, you need SOFTLOCK.EXE plus YOUR OWN SoftLockID No. (To find your number press the hot key `P' while viewing the sample e-book.) You will receive SOFTLOCK.EXE FREE with registered E-Z-Book software. For all other products enter 66283761 when asked for SoftLockID. Prices include shipping and handling. All software ordered by telephone is on 3.5" diskettes. All orders are shipped as quickly as possible. Product Product SoftLock Price Number Name ID w/shipping ------ ------------------------------------- ----------- --------- 30041 E-Z-Book Password Demo (YOUR SoftLockID) $ 1.50 30042 Super-Pak: Registration + E-Z-Book Package 66283761 $63.90 + AutoFont Titler + Commercial License (Price Includes $10.00 discount) 30043 Registration + E-Z-Book Package Only 66283761 $23.95 30044 AutoFont Titler Software Only 66283761 $33.95 30045 Program Combo: E-Z-Book + Titler 66283761 $53.90 (Includes Non-commercial license only) 30046 Commercial License (for registered users 66283761 $20.00 who did not purchase one previously) 30047 2 Commercial Licenses (registered users) 66283761 $30.00 30048 1 Additional Commercial License if you 66283761 $10.00 have one or more from previous orders 30049 2 Additional Commercial Licenses 66283761 $20.00 Note: You are dialing an automatic system and only one numbered product may be ordered with each phone call. If you wish to order more than one product you may call right back to order the next item. For each call, select one of the numbered products shown above.