KF8 & KindleGen2 Released

Amazon today finally released to the public the long awaited and much anticipated tools to produce ebooks in the new KF8 format, including a new Kindle Previewer, an upgrade to KindleGen 2, and a plug-in for InDesign that allows for KF8 export (minus a few of the enhanced features, such as Text Pop Ups and Panel Views). Links to each of these are provided below, as well as the associated documentation.

In addition, Amazon sent out a new survey to self-published authors today, which seeks to gather data on what they are looking for in a self-publishing service, what their past experiences have been, if any, with their own or other services, and asks for ratings of Amazon's offerings in this area if any have been used. So collectively it appears as if Amazon are poising themselves to actively champion the self-publishing cause, via a new enhanced format, new devices on which to distribute them, the tools with which to create them, and information on how best to serve the needs of content creators. I have, of course, completed the survey, with ample notes and commentary.

With the new format specs and tools having just come out today, it will take me a few days to sort through it all and test it out. I have nearly completed an iBooks fixed layout edition of my opening sample chapter, which I plan to upload early next week for your perusal, and as soon as I work out how to create an accurate KF8 version I'll upload that as well. Meanwhile, here are the links Amazon provided today, should you wish to go cavorting through some ebook code yourself...

• Kindle Format 8 Home Page - now includes links to the Previewer, KindleGen, and Guidelines
• KindleGen2 - Comand-line application for creating KF8/Mobi ebooks from X/HTML and EPUB
• Kindle Previewer - Graphic interface for the viewing, converting, and validation of KF8 ebooks
• Kindle Previewer documentation (PDF) - just in case you want to read it first
• Kindle Publishing Guidelines (PDF) - newly revised to include the KF8 format, with complete instructions on how to self-publish on Amazon
• Kindle InDesign Plugin (Beta) - includes KF8 support, minus enhanced features mentioned above, but with updates to be forthcoming
• Kindle Plugin for Adobe InDesign documentation (PDF) - again, for perusing first to see if it's what you need
• Simplified Format Guide - A step-by-step online reference for building KF8 ebooks from Word documents (the link to an HTML-based version isn't currently working)

More info will be posted as I have it.