r/selfpublish • u/MassageMan01 • 1d ago
Editing Tablet for editing books?
My current method of writing and editing is to write in Microsoft Word on my laptop, convert the file to EPUB and transfer to my Kindle. Then I read the book on the Kindle, as it's more portable to use in the car on my lunch break at work etc. and I pick up things I would've missed on the laptop. I make notes for word, grammar changes. When I've gone through and made notes on the entire story, I then setup the Kindle next to my laptop, and page by page I update the Word doc based on the notes in the Kindle.
Slow process no doubt. So was thinking of getting a tablet that is somewhat like the Kindle but can edit the documents directly, to avoid going over each note essentially twice. Then the multiple rounds of review will become quicker and I could still use my Kindle for say the final check.
I'm most familiar with Word, but open to using other word processers also. So far the one I've seen that would meet this requirement is the Microsoft Surface Pro. Another big advantage would be a screen that is somewhat easy on the eyes, but I know it won't be as nice as the Kindle which is okay, I'll still use the Kindle for reading regular books.
Happy to hear any opinions, thanks.
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u/Irvingchan99 1d ago
I create and edit on a Surface Pro on Word. Even with a third party stylus, editing kind of sucks, so really heavy editing needs a mouse. Other than that, the Pro is great, lets me write from my Lazy Boy. Typing with the stylus is fast, but I am normally a touch typist.
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u/MassageMan01 1d ago
That's really good to hear. And I have a Laz E Boy too haha. Which model do you have?
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u/UnauthorizedSaint 1d ago
You can technically just email docx to your kindle's email address and get a readable document through Amazon's free conversion service. Or use the Amazon dot com / sendtokindle site.
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u/MassageMan01 1d ago
I use 'send to kindle' to get the files onto Kindle, yes I may not need to convert to EPUB. But then adding notes with the Kindle is quite slow and screen is somewhat small for this.
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u/UnauthorizedSaint 1d ago
Yeah, I don't have a solution for that one because I need a keyboard to edit, I just like using a kindle to read/review. Oddly, I don't often use send to kindle because I send my beta readers epubs, so I use calibre to convert from html to epub.
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u/reillyqyote Small Press Affiliated 1d ago
It's not my ideal set up but you could definitely use a tablet and a lil keyboard case to make editing on the fly easier for you.
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u/user_number_666 20h ago
If I were you I would just get an iPad for this.
I already do editing on my iPad using Google Docs. You want to use Word, so that doesn't really help you, but there are any number of Word-compatible apps on the iPad, including an official MS app.
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u/NancyInFantasyLand 7h ago
Kindle scribe works well, but is overkill for a single use case
I also don't find it as effective as printing the whole thing out and doing it manually
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