Publishing an ebook has different rules from a printed book especially when it comes to the nuances associated with digital content. Ebooks in many ways share the same characteristics as web pages (which is literally true for those who write ebooks using Docbook or via XHTML directly). When self-publishing for the first time, it's good to take note of the following points:
1. As per Chicago, you aren't required to identify the recto and verso pages of a book since the eventual output would be as EPUB or PDF. For a more traditional feel, you can simulate the recto and verso by placing the folio (or drop folio), running headers, or running footers flush right or flush left as outlined in Chicago. As the writer and publisher, take advantage of these small embellishments before sending that book to Amazon Publishing.
2.Since your final output is either EPUB or PDF (or both), there's hardly any limitations to pages and illustrations so in most cases you only adjust gutter, margins, and bleeds because of aesthetic reasons or for commercial printing. Even the page size, whether you use Legal or A4, is largely irrelevant because of the nature of digital publishing - hardware and software renders the page for you. However, it's important to follow online guides for best practices when producing documents for iPads, iPods, and Android devices (a good guide for the iPad can be found at the Adobe web site). Take note though that you can't really create a perfect EPUB file - each device and software will display EPUB differently. GoodReader, Stanza, BlueReader, and iBooks will all display your output with marked differences. Even if you can't test your ebook in all platforms, you should at least try it on your own device. It's important to test it on currently popular hardware such as Kindle, Kindle Fire, or ASUS Transformer, all of which are excellent ereaders and serve as an alternative to the iPad.
3. EPUB and PDF are so well designed that a few additional pages (or even a hundred extra pages) will hardly put a dent in the file size. That said, don't get tempted and go berserk with unnecessary Front Matter. Chicago lists Book half title, Series title, frontispiece, Epigraph, Dedication, Foreword, Preface and several other items that can be placed on the Front Matter. If you're self-publishing your ebook, pretend you have a publisher that is telling you to put only what's important - that dedication for your cat Crowley can be placed on the next edition when you've become the next J.K. Rowling.
4. One of the strengths of EPUB and PDF is that it is extremely easy to navigate around the document/book. When self-publishing, keep this in mind as there are several ways to incorporate navigation controls in EPUB and PDF apart from a table of contents in the Front Matter. Software such as Sigil creates an EPUB navigation table for you. Using markup language such as XHTML or XML gives you plenty of power for linking text, but if you prefer a WYSIWYG approach,there are commercial applications such as Adobe InDesign, Adobe Acrobat, and Corel WordPerfect that make creating navigation controls quick and easy.
5. Typography and fonts are important. Smashing Magazine has tons of advice for typography, white space, and fonts. Chicago will give you structure but presentation and readability can make or break your next Great American novel. If you're writing using XHTML, you don't have the luxury of using the full power of CSS in ebooks, but you do have to consider line height, font-size, and text positioning. Currently, fonts in ebooks is almost a non-issue, however, as not all applications really support embedded fonts. Apple's iBooks, for instance, doesn't display fonts packaged in an EPUB file, while some readers do. There are hacks to the Sony Reader series where you can add fonts, but don't expect readers to know how to do this. So use CSS that is only relevant or if you're using InDesign, use the Paragraph options judiciously.
6. Forget about expensive commercial software such as Adobe InDesign if you're a writer not a coder/tech. There's a huge number of free and open source software for creating EPUB and PDF which doesn't involve learning code or even configuring settings. Consider LyX, an open source LaTeX word processor that can export to PDF, HTML, and other formats. The aforementioned Sigil, on the other hand, is an exceptionally easy and efficient EPUB editor (and WYSIWYG to boot). Those accustomed to coding can get to work with just any text editor and use XSLT and CSS to format HTML, XML, and DocBook. Contrary to popular belief, you don't have to go out of the box and learn web technologies just to self-publish. Microsoft Word is surprisingly well-accepted in the industry especially now that it can export to PDF. Hate Microsoft Office? LibreOffice and OpenOffice can both support PDF and EPUB (and most Linux software as well). For the lucky Mac users out there, iBooks Author and Pages produce content and documents that are optimized for iOS. Finally, PDF/EPUB converters such as Calibre can get you up and running without much effort if you're more focused on writing than the technicalities of desktop publishing - just write using any format and convert it to EPUB.
Although there are considerations to digital publishing such as copyright and distribution that deserve some attention, putting the words into digital format doesn't need to be difficult. The wealth of applications and technologies, free and commercial, should make short work out of creating a PDF or EPUB in no time. Just don't forget to pick up a style guide like The Chicago Manual of Style before writing the next erotica and publishing the next Fifty Shades of Grey.
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