USER GUIDE TO ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING WITH E-Z-BOOK SOFTWARE Shareware v.5.0 by Rexxcom Systems The Displayware People 30-day Trial Copy Rexxcom Systems CompuServe ID: 72656,2764 The Displayware People GEnie address: C.WIEDEMANN P.O. Box 111 The Internet: Schooleys Mtn., NJ 07870 72656.2764@compuserve.com 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 3 Full Color Graphics 4 Single and Double Hot Keys 4 Music 5 A Cover for Your E-Book 5 Changing Text Fonts 5 Problems? 5 Multiple Chapter Files 6 Memory 6 Getting Paid for E-books 6 Encrypting Your Chapters 7 Sample Encrypted Chapter 7 Registering with Softlock 7 Other Marketing Methods 8 Your Rights to Use Program 8 Use with Windows (Tm) 8 Disclaimer 8 The DET Code 8 Registration Form 9, 10 -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. +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- - -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ | 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 NEW.DET. Make a copy of CH-1.DEB named NEW.DEB. Edit | | BOOK.BAT so NEW appears after TITLE. Then type GO and press Enter to dis- | | play 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 how to do this. E. Save your file with the extension DET. You might call it NEW.DET. It is important that each DET file (other than hypertext) have a name no longer than five characters, or the automatic bookmark will not work right. F. Every DET needs a similarly named DEB to set the overall color scheme. If you gave your DET file the name NEW.DET, make a corresponding DEB by copying CH-1.DEB. Do this by typing COPY CH-1.DEB NEW.DEB (Enter). Important: A DEB is NOT a copy of a DET file or a text file. G. Edit the batch file BOOK.BAT, which is included. (A batch file is a text file having the extension BAT.) Put NEW in the position shown here: @echo off COVER call font.bat ezb5 HINTS TITLE NEW CH-1 CH-2 SOFT CH-3 CH-4 DOC REGIS ega vga -1- The above 6-line file, saved as BOOK.BAT will display your chapter when the word GO is typed and the "Enter" key is pressed. If NEW is your first chapter, and you want another chapter which the reader accesses with the right arrow key, you might name it NEW2 (denoting NEW2.DEB and NEW2.DET) and it would appear on the same line of GO.BAT, making the line look like this: ezb5 HINTS TITLE NEW NEW2 (etc.) H. Run BOOK.BAT, by typing GO (Enter). 'GO' runs GO.BAT which is needed to lead into BOOK.BAT. Later when a password is used GO.BAT will be automatically changed to include the password. PAGE NUMBERS If the first No. of CH-1.DET is changed 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. Colorizing words and sentences is done with ease. After typing your text add two-letter codes (abbreviations of colors) with each code in square brackets. If you type [GN] at the start of a word, the word will appear in green; if you use [BK,YW] the word will appear in black text against a yellow background. When you register E-Z-Book you will receive full instructions, a list of two- letter color codes, and everything needed to make colored pages and covers. THE AUTOFONT TITLER The 1995 version of Rexxcom's AutoFont Titler program easily makes colored headings and titles in jumbo fonts. The jumbo display fonts used on the sample e-book covers were made with the Titler. To make jumbo titles and headings you simply type your words and immediately they appear in jumbo letters. Full 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. When the number 6 is pressed, the HQ module HQDECO.COM changes the lettering style to Art Deco. Other numbers and letters change the style to Old English, Italic, etc. In BOOK.BAT the line which reads "call font.bat" loads whichever lettering style (font) has been selected. We decided to start with HQSW2.COM, the medium font, and to do this we included a file named TWO.FNT. This little file changes its name whenever you select a different style. When you make your own e-book, this file must have the name of the hot-key whose lettering you want to use. If you want to use Art Deco, the file must be named SIX.FNT. Old English requires W.FNT, etc. (If you are a programmer, you may wonder why we use this method. It is designed for use with file encryption.) Always include EGA.COM and VGA.COM at the end of BOOK.BAT. This assures that any computer system will be properly reset after your e-book has been viewed. Study the files ZERO.BAT through NINE.BAT, plus J, K, L, G, H, V, W, and Y.BAT, the batch files for font-style hot keys. The next page lists the 18 HQ modules and hot keys: -2- Hot Key HQ Module Name of Font ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1 HQSW.COM Small standard 2 HQSW2.COM Medium standard 3 HQSW3.COM Large standard 4 HQROMAN.COM Nu Roman 5 HQROMAN2.COM Tall Roman 6 HQDECO.COM Art Deco 7 HQSLENDR.COM Slender 8 HQLILJIM.COM Li'l Jim 9 HQTHIX.COM Thix 0 HQITALIC.COM Italics G HQLEWIS.COM Lewis H HQSCRIPT.COM Script J HQJIM.COM Big Jim K HQLOTHIX.COM Lo Thix L HQCOUR.COM Courier V HQCHUNKY.COM Chunky W HQENGL.COM Old English Y HQMEDI.COM Medieval HYPERTEXT LINKING Setting up a hot key which lets the reader jump to a page or more of special information is easy. The sample e-book uses 'D' as the hot key for the first example of hypertext linking. To set this up we simply made a pair of files named HYPER1.DEB and HYPER1.DET (contains the text), and then we wrote a batch file named D.BAT. It is on your disk, and it looks like this: @echo off ezb5 hyper1 del *.ezb font That's all we need to make our special text appear in a flash whenever the reader presses "D" while reading the e-book. You, the writer, give these files the names A.BAT to Y.BAT, ZERO.BAT to NINE.BAT, and many more with double-key files (see "Single and Double Hot Keys," page 4). Each hypertext BAT (batch file) must contain a command for the font style which you want to use for the hypertext. 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. Example: If we wanted this first hypertext to appear in the Art Deco style we would have included a line saying "hqdeco" under "@echo off". UNDERLINING, STARS, AND FACES When typing your text, the tilde symbol (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) on the line beneath the words to be underlined. No words may appear directly beneath the underlined words. -3- 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 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 our graphics file SHUTTLE.EXE. 3. After the graphic has been seen and any key is pressed, the batch file then re-loads the font style in use by the e-book. This is done by including the word "font" (see A.BAT below). 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 font All you have to know to use this feature is how to write the 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. You may make them, buy them, or download them free from online services. More info on this when you register. A.BAT and B.BAT use graphics programs named SHUTTLE.EXE and CLOWN.EXE. We started with graphics files called PCX files. We converted them to stand-alone files with a program you will get when you register. 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 keys which each use the letter "Z" as its first character. If you use two-character batch files for your own e-book, include the program Z.EXE with the rest of your e-book files. If you do not need more than 36 hot keys you may omit Z.EXE from your e-book files. 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. The hot key "M" causes the file M.BAT to run. Here is M.BAT: @echo off hqchunky helena font -4- The program HELENA.EXE is one of many such music programs available from various sources. A COVER FOR YOUR E-BOOK Our main cover was made with the Paintbrush program which comes with MicroSoft Windows(Tm). The photographic cover showing the train was made similarly. The other covers were made with DEB/DET cover files which you get when you register, plus the AutoFont Titler which you should order when you register. 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 X.BAT when not viewing the book. At the DOS prompt type TYPE X.BAT (Enter) to see how to use "dummy files" in place of real DEB and DET files to force E-Z-Book to re-start with a new font style. We have included BLANK.DEB and BLANK.DET to use as dummy files. PROBLEMS? 1. The top line of EVERY text file must contain a DET code. This rule applies to all chapter files and hypertext files. Nothing else should be on line 1. 2. The correct DEB/DET pair of files must be present. You make the DET with a word processor or text editor. To make the corresponding DEB, copy one of our DEB's which produces the background color you want, and give it the same "first name" as its companion DET file. A DEB is NOT a copy of a DET! It has to be a copy of one of our existing DEB's. 3. The text must be formatted with a line length equal to the 2nd number of the DET code.. If you use a greater line length, words near the right margin will be lost. 4. If you have a text file which is only one screen-page in length, the first number of its DET code should be 25, so no page number will appear at the bottom. If your last line of text is line 25 of the file, follow it with a blank line 26 having one or more "spaces" in it, or else line 25 will be invisible. 5. The video monitor must be EGA, VGA, Super VGA or Multi-Sync. With the old fashioned CGA monitors the display will blink. There is no way around this. If you are going to include slide-quality graphics, the monitor MUST be VGA or better. 6. All files listed in your batch file must be present, including EZB5.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. 7. The computer must be fully IBM compatible and using MS-DOS or PC-DOS. 8. Feel free to ask us questions by e-mail or snail-mail. -5- MULTIPLE CHAPTER FILES If you use the chaptering method used in the sample e-book, and if your chapters are named, say, NEW1.DET, NEW2.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 call font.bat ezb5 COVER TITLE NEW1 NEW2 NEW3 NEW4 ega vga In the above batch file, cover, title page and chapters all appear on the same line following ezb5, 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 expanded user guide which you will receive with when you register. MEMORY If you use SoftLock (see next section) to encrypt part of your electronic book, your readers must put your e-book onto their computer's hard drive. The reason for this is the fact that the SoftLock program will not unlock 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. 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. 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 -6- 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 you 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". Encrypt links E-Z-Book with the SoftLock program (which you get free) to make chapter- encryption quick and easy. SAMPLE ENCRYPTED CHAPTER When you view the sample e-book, you will come to the page headed "Sample En- crypted 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 should perform the steps needed to decrypt or unlock it. You will learn exactly what your reader customers must do to unlock the encrypted part of your electronic book. Also, there is important information in Chapter 3. 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. After this, 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. (From outside USA/Canada a regular phone number is called.) YOUR RIGHTS TO COPY AND USE THIS PROGRAM The compressed file containing EZB5.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-zine, 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 commercial license for use of the program in publishing an e-book. -7- OTHER METHODS OF MARKETING E-BOOKS Instead of the encrypted-chapter method, the "demo method" may be used to pub- lish and and market electronic books. With this method you upload a "demo" or partial e-book to CompuServe, GEnie, America Online, the Internet, etc., including an order form. Readers mail payments to you, and you mail disks. Just as our E-Z-Book programs are available to be phone-ordered from SoftLock Services, you may do the same with your e-books. Call SoftLock Services at 1-800-763-8562 or send them e-mail. Their Internet address for e-mail is slpasswords@softlock.com. USING E-Z-BOOK WITH WINDOWS (Tm) An electronic book using E-Z-Book may be accessed and read from within Micro- soft Windows (Tm). A problem arises with encrypted chapters because SoftLock is disabled when Windows is running. If no chapters are encrypted the e-book may be displayed in Windows as follows. Click on "File" and then click on "Run." Next type the directory and the word "go" and press the "Enter" key. If the e-book is in a directory named BOOK, type: \BOOK\GO (Enter). When you register you will receive information about OS/2 and Windows 95 as well. DISCLAIMER The enclosed programs, files, information, and directions 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 per- formance of these materials rests with the user. The graphics and music pro- grams are not Rexxcom Systems programs; they are supplied at no charge as a convenience. Use of the software implies acceptance of this disclaimer. THE DET CODE Here is the meaning of each number in the 7-digit DET code: 1 - No. of lines per page 2 - Width (line length expressed in No. of characters) 3 - Line on which first text appears (usually 1) 4 - Column (left margin) 5 - Text Colors (you get a chart with registration) 6 - High Intensity background (1 = "on") 7 - Not used For example, the DET code for CH-1.DET which contains the text of Chapter 1 of our sample e-book, is: 24, 78, 1, 2, 240, 1, 0. This means each page has 24 lines, each line contains room for 78 characters, the top text of each page may appear on line 1, the left margin begins at column 2, the overall text color is black on bright white, and high-intensity mode is in operation. -8- 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 over 32 DEB/DET sets for covers & newsletters Included: SOFTLOCK & ENCRYPT programs & 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 Included: 23 Text Fonts (HQ modules) including fancy fonts Registration includes a license to distribute E-Z-Book software with an unlimited No. of NON-commercial publications for 5 years ________ 1st COMMERCIAL LICENSE (additional fee) 20.00 ________ Each COMMERCIAL license permits distribution of E-Z-Book software with 1 COMMERCIAL publication for a period of 5 years ________ Additional Commercial Licences (each) 10.00 ________ Licences for each additional e-book published by same registered user ________ AUTOFONT TITLER (Additional fee) 29.95 ________ Titler makes colored titles & headings in jumbo & text-size fonts IF TOTAL EXCEEDS $50 SUBTRACT 10% VOLUME DISCOUNT ________ 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 All software is on 3.5" disks. Payment must accompany order. Orders from non-US locations must include a check drawn on a bank which has US offices. Send cash by registered mail. Prices are subject to change without notice. PHONE ORDERS 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 by phone call 1-800-763-8562. Outside US and Canada call 716-238- 3444. You will be asked for Product No., SoftLockID*, credit card No., name and address. The SuperPak is already marked down $10.00 for the SPECIAL DISCOUNT. *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. For products 30042 through 30049 you will be issued password which is for your records only. All prices include shipping and handling. All software ordered by telephone is on 3.5" diskettes. Internet address for e-mail orders: slpasswords@softlock.com (include name, address, credit card number, expiration date, SoftLockID and product number from list below). Caution: e-mail may be subject to interception. Product Product SoftLock Price Number Name ID w/shipping ------ ------------------------------------- ----------- --------- 30041 E-Z-Book Password Demo (YOUR SoftLockID) $ 3.00 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 (Titler & Comm. License not included) 30044 AutoFont Titler Software Only 66283761 $33.95 30045 Program Combo: Registration + E-Z-Book 66283761 $53.90 + Titler (Includes Non-commercial license) 30046 Commercial License (Available for regis- 66283761 $20.00 tered owners of E-Z-Book) 30047 2 Commercial Licenses (for registrees) 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. All prices are subject to change without notice.