If you want to get your manuscript out to a wider audience it has never been easier to do. The most simple way is to post it here on Blogger. Sign up for a free blog, copy and paste your manuscript into the compose frame, hit publish, and you are on the Internet. Blogs are not really designed for presenting novel length posts, but it can be done.

With very little knowledge of HTML you can create your own web page. Many free services have site builders that will also let you copy and past into a compose frame, no code required. If your service does require you to upload HTML files, that is not a problem either. MSWord, or Open Office - which is what I use - makes it as simple as a click to create HTML documents. All you have to do is save your manuscript as a .html file.

You can also easily publish an eBook online. The free MobiPocket tool will convert the HTML file into an eBook with digital rights management built right it. You can upload the file to their website and start selling your book online. But you may want to have a little more control over the formatting. That takes only the most basic knowledge of code, little more than paragraph, header and link tags.

In the MobiPocket creator, if you simple break your manuscript into a file for each chapter, then convert these to HTML files. The creator will recognize each file as a separate chapter, and even create a table of contents for you all linked up and ready to go. There is, of course, much more you can do with web pages and eBooks if you learn a little code behind.

Over the next few weeks we will look at some really simple tags that can make your eBooks and web pages much more professional, and readable. You want your work to be as user friendly as possible. Even if the plot and characters are great, people will not read it unless it is presented well. It is bad enough reading long sections of text on a monitor, if the layout is confusing, inconsistent or hard to read, people will surf on to somewhere else.

I will be talking mostly about using the MobiPocket tools for creating eBooks, but these tips are based on basic HTML and can be applied to web pages as well, or one of the other eBook formats like the Kindle Reader from Amazon.com. There has never been so many ways you can present, and sell, your work online, and it is easier than ever.

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