As some people may have noticed, I've created a fair few "omnibus" editions of various authors for the Sony Reader, in the "Book Uploads" forum section because personally I like to have all the books in a series in one handy volume, rather than having to remember which order I should read things in.

I was wondering, though, whether perhaps it's only me that likes this, and people might prefer a series to be uploaded as a set of single books.

Which do you prefer? All the books in a series as a single volume, or to have them as separate books?

Could you spare a moment and answer this poll to let me know? I'll abide, in the future, by whatever the majority decision is.

Thanks!

If the Omnibus is a series & they are in correct order then it makes sense. However many publishers create an Omnibus of two or more old books by a famous author, apparently just to "suck us in" to think it is a new book. That type I do not like.

Either way is fine from my perspective -- the omnibus file is easier to manage, but the individual volumes take up less space if I don't want to load the whole thing.

BTW, I almost selected the fourth option just to be contrary. :tongue3:

Hmm... I'm thinking about creating some really cool feature for Feedbooks in the future: the ability to create lists, like on Amazon, but with another feature too, the ability to turn these lists into a single e-book file.

This way people could create omnibus, reading list etc... Or download a single book if they don't need an omnibus edition.

... I almost selected the fourth option just to be contrary. :tongue3:NatCh, you are always contrary, that's what we love about you. :D

If possible I would rather have the omnibus editions.

There are times; however, when the single volumes are the way to go. An example of this is the Arsene Luprin series where I have found less than one-half of the twenty volumes published by Maurice LeBlanc. Since I was missing so many volumes (as is Project Gutenberg) and I did not know the exact sequence of the books when I started, it made no sense to put them in a single volume.

Others, like the H. Rider Haggard Anthologies make perfect sense. Dickens would be far too large if packed into a single volume. We have to remember that some people are still downloading via modems and dial-up connections.

Omnibus editions like the Sherlock Holmes collection could be offered either in published sequence (I have one hardbound set that way) or in the order they are believed to have happened (I have another in that order.) When I did straight through reading in the latter I was sometimes bothered by the unevenness of the writing as Doyle's writing style evolved over the years and when they are put back-to-back it can be a bit jarring.

I prefer single volumes, but with the title having a number in front so you can tell what the order is on the Reader.

NatCh, you are always contrary, that's what we love about you. :DOne does try, RWood, one does try. :grin2:

But you've created a problem for me, Harry!! :rolleyes5 :

I have 217 listings on my Reader, but I now have no idea how many separate novels and short story collections are on this device!!!!

240? 256?

Yes, Harry - YOU ARE TO BLAME!!!!!!! :rolleyes5

I am for An omnibus edition :)

What I would like, rather than an omnibus edition, for those times when I want to have a lot of books on the reader but not use a memory card, would be single books.

To solve the issue of the correct reading order, I suggest that when people create their lrf files to put the series number into the title.

So that books in a series be named for the series, as follows, for the Richard Hannay series by John Buchan:

Hannay 1 -- The Thirty Nine Steps
Hannay 2 -- Greenmantle
Hannay 3 -- Mr. Standfast
Hannay 4 -- Three Hostages
Hannay 5 -- Island of Sheep

That way they will list alphabetically right next to each other and it will be obvious what sequence to read them in.

For those who want to be able to find the correct sequence but also to look up the books by title, you could simply reverse the sequence in my proposed titles:

The Thirty Nine Steps -- Hannay 1

And then the titles could be searched, and if the books are listed by author the sequence could be learned easily.

But one thing that the omnibus editions don't allow for is the removing of books already read, thus wasting available storage space, so if there's an omnibus edition of 4 or 5 large books and you're reading the final book, you're still stuck carrying around the first 3 or 4 needlessly.

I also like omnibus editions... Find myself making quite a few trilogy books... I asked this before and got the answer that the number of pages (several thousand) in the reader didn't make much difference in page turning speed...

Thank you very much everyone who's responded. A clear (5:1) majority in favour of omnibuses, so that's what I'll stick with for series!

omnibus, fewer books to lose

I am currently reading your omnibus edition of Sherlock Holmes and I am enjoying it immensely. :book2:

It's my first read on the Reader, by the way. :p

The cons of an Omnibus is that it takes longer to prepare. So you have to wait longer for the books to be ready whereas if I do them separately, I can upload as they are ready. I would have to say though if they are not in order then no to an omnibus. Like say we have book 1,2,4,5 without 3, don't do it. It's ok though if we have 1,2,3,4 and not 5 since they are all in order.

The pros are all in one so you have it right there in one file.

Hmm... I'm thinking about creating some really cool feature for Feedbooks in the future: the ability to create lists, like on Amazon, but with another feature too, the ability to turn these lists into a single e-book file.

This way people could create omnibus, reading list etc... Or download a single book if they don't need an omnibus edition.

Great idea! Feedbooks looks good. I like the filters.

But one thing that the omnibus editions don't allow for is the removing of books already read, thus wasting available storage space, so if there's an omnibus edition of 4 or 5 large books and you're reading the final book, you're still stuck carrying around the first 3 or 4 needlessly.

I actually took my SD card out of my Reader because, though I carry about 20 books at any one time, I am not filling up the Reader's memory. Some day I hope to create a vast library to carry on a 2G SD card when I travel. But I won't insert it until I need it.

I would have to say though if they are not in order then no to an omnibus. Like say we have book 1,2,4,5 without 3, don't do it. It's ok though if we have 1,2,3,4 and not 5 since they are all in order.


I see nothing wrong with releasing an omnibus and noting that it is missing a book. That's what I did with the "Charlie Chan Omnibus" which was initially missing book 5 out of the 6-book series. When book 5 was released later, I added it into the omnibus and re-issued it. It doesn't really matter in a series like this, because the books, although forming a series, are completely "independent" as far as their stories go. It obviously would be a lot more important in a series where the story is on-going from one book to the next.

It's all down to personal choice, of course, at the end of the day.

Yes I agree. It is down to personal choice. And if I was to do an Omnibus, I'd want to do it in order. Of course, if I had 6 books with #5 missing, I could release 1-4 and 6 and if 5 was later obtained, it could be released as a seperate book by the whomever it was who obtained it. I would not have to be the one to get it to add it in.

wow.... omnibus.. haven't heard that term in like 2 decades...

but if you can drop them as chapters in the toc, i don't see any problems with it (I don't know how many levels of chapters LRF can have)

I don't know how many levels of chapters LRF can have

As many as you want - they are just "hyperlinks" within the file.

The way that I generally arrange my "omnibus" books is to have a "Book Index" at the start, with each book's name being a link to the "Title Page" of that book; the book then has its own contents page with links to its chapters.

That's all set up by hand.

As many as you want - they are just "hyperlinks" within the file.

The way that I generally arrange my "omnibus" books is to have a "Book Index" at the start, with each book's name being a link to the "Title Page" of that book; the book then has its own contents page with links to its chapters.

That's all set up by hand.

i mean the levels of toc. I know the toc can get very long, but I don't know how LRF supports multivels and how much. (i know there is a "level"-attribute in lrs)

With this I mean something like this:

Collection
---Book 1
---------chapter1
---------chapter2
---------chapter3
---Book 2
---------chapter1
---------chapter2
---------chapter3

I think we're talking somewhat at cross-purposes. The "Table of Contents" menu item on the Reader simply displays a linear list. That's not what I'm talking about - I'm meaning links WITHIN the book itself. Download one of my books and you'll see what I mean.

wow.... omnibus.. haven't heard that term in like 2 decades.... The U.S. Congress loves to use the term -- they evidently think it means "as much garbage as can be crammed into a single package which is nominally about something the people actually want to have happen so that they won't squawk too much about all the other rubbish that we've crammed in because this way, at least they're getting one good thing in all the crap." :tired:

I love the omnibuses. Especially on writers I've never heard of. If I read the first one and don't like his writing style I can dump them all at once. If I like the writer. I've got more all ready to go!

You can put a TOC anywhere in a file you want to. I'm currently creating a fully linked Bible. Its taking me a lomg time to say the least. So far I have the New Testament done. With the books on the first page linked. Go say, Ephesians and find the seperate chapters linked there. (I'm not OCD enough to link each verse but I was tempted to...)

I'm working on O.T. now.

i mean the levels of toc. I know the toc can get very long, but I don't know how LRF supports multivels and how much. (i know there is a "level"-attribute in lrs)

With this I mean something like this:

Collection
---Book 1
---------chapter1
---------chapter2
---------chapter3
---Book 2
---------chapter1
---------chapter2
---------chapter3
Actually like this...

Book 1
Book 2
Book 3

Whatever is in between...

Book 1 ToC
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4

The actual book...

Book 2 ToC
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4

The actual book....

Book 3 Toc
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4

The actual book...

So the book titles link to each Toc for that book.

Thanks Jon - a much better explanation than mine!

I think the problem is that we've been talking about different things. The real "TOC" - the thing that the Reader displays on its "Table of Contents" menu item - is just a linear list. What we've been discussing isn't that, but using hyperlinks within the doc to create something like LOOKS like a "traditional" TOC in a paper book. We call it a TOC, but it's not one as far as the Reader is concerned - it's just a bunch of hyperlinks.

In the Reader's ToC you have ...
Book1
Book2
Book3
Which then links to the Toc in the book for the specific book's ToC.

I love the omnibus editions... as long as someone else does not post each of the separate books later on.

I love the omnibus editions... as long as someone else does not post each of the separate books later on.

Why does it matter if they do?

If you prefer the omnibus edition, but someone else prefers a separate file, why does it matter to you if someone posts a file separately? You've already got the omnibus - just ignore the later file.

Why does it matter if they do?

If you prefer the omnibus edition, but someone else prefers a separate file, why does it matter to you if someone posts a file separately? You've already got the omnibus - just ignore the later file.

Because keeping track of over 3000 volumes gets tedious and being a book hound I have the tendency to download EVERYTHING!

I end up with mulitple copies of the same work....
In the omnibus
As a separate lrf file
and sometimes as an illustrated version

Sounds as though you need to find a better way of organising your books :grin:.

As some people may have noticed, I've created a fair few "omnibus" editions of various authors for the Sony Reader, in the "Book Uploads" forum section because personally I like to have all the books in a series in one handy volume, rather than having to remember which order I should read things in.

I was wondering, though, whether perhaps it's only me that likes this, and people might prefer a series to be uploaded as a set of single books.

Which do you prefer? All the books in a series as a single volume, or to have them as separate books?

Could you spare a moment and answer this poll to let me know? I'll abide, in the future, by whatever the majority decision is.

Thanks!

My preference is for a strange mix of both -- My naming convention is [seriesname seriesnumber] Bookname, simply because I typically list my books by title and browse by series.

Maybe I missed something.
But _what is_ a "omnibus edition"?

An "omnibus" edition is a book which includes either all the books of a particular series or all the books by a particular author, or at least a large number of either. This way the proper sequence can be maintained without extra lists or research, but omnibus editions are much larger than individual book files.

There are good points and bad points about them -- one good point is that you can be sure to have a complete series, but one bad point is that such omnibus files are very large so you can't have as many varied books on the reader at once.

Another good point is that you can easily read the entire series without having to change files. But another bad point is that it makes it more difficult to read your way through several different series in a more gradual manner.

Another good point is that you always have the next book in the series ready to read. But another bad point is that you can't delete the already-read books in the series once you've read them.

They're not for everybody, but for those who like them, they're terrific.

Ah... ok.
Thanks for the clarification.

Sound's like a typical american thing to me^^

Ah... ok.
Thanks for the clarification.

Sound's like a typical american thing to me^^

I really don't think so. I'm the one who's created them all and I promise you that I'm not the least bit American :grin:.

What I wanted to say:

I don't know anyone who would buy one of these "omnibus editions". ^^

All this "having the comfort that the proper sequence can be maintained without extra lists or research and that you can easily read the entire series without having to change files" sounds so typical american to me and everyone I showed the pro and con arguments just rolled their eyes and said something like "oh my god ... how irrelevant".

I don't know anyone caring about such things^^
We're more pragmatic in Germany I think. :D
Want a book - buy it - read it.
Want all books of a series - just buy all those books and read them^^

Don't get me wrong - I don't intend to offend anyone!
I just don't think this marketing model would work here.

I just don't think this marketing model would work here.

I think you misunderstand. It's not a "marketing model"; people don't (generally at least) sell books in this way.

This is just a way that I like to create "series" books for the Sony Reader, because (unlike printed books) there's no particular limit on the maximum size of a book on the Reader, and I personally find it convenient to have all the books in a series in one file.

It's just a personal preference.

So you found a way to crack the drm and just merge some books into one?

All this "having the comfort that the proper sequence can be maintained without extra lists or research and that you can easily read the entire series without having to change files" sounds so typical american...."Heh. The first such book I ever recall encountering (in print, by the way) was The Complete Works of Shakespeare, the second (also in print), was The Complete Sherlock Holmes. I suppose it's always possible that they were printed by a U.S. company (it was ~25 years ago, so I can't really check). :grin:

I don't know anyone caring about such things^^
We're more pragmatic in Germany I think. :D
Want a book - buy it - read it.
Want all books of a series - just buy all those books and read them^^

Don't get me wrong - I don't intend to offend anyone!
I just don't think this marketing model would work here.Being a "American" who's German on my mother's side and half German, half British on my father's (hey, it's all Germanic! ;)), I can say that I'm not the least bit offended by other cultures not 'getting' the omnibus thing, nor that you've mentioned it. :grin3:

So you found a way to crack the drm and just merge some books into one?You could say that: we just use non-DRMed books (mostly Project Gutenberg (http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/) texts -- all Public Domain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_domain)) to make these things, much simpler that way, not to mention legal. :wink2:

So you found a way to crack the drm and just merge some books into one?

No, we're talking about the public domain books in the "Book Uploads" forum. They are books that we have created manually from Project Gutenberg sources.

Ahh... ok

..missed that point

No problem :).

Besides I do buy omnibus editions.
For example:
Anne Rice, Vampire Chronicles books 1-3 (http://www.amazon.com/VAMPIRE-CHRONICLES-BOOKS-1-3-I-III/dp/0739437372/ref=pd_ecc_rvi_1/103-0019738-5080657?ie=UTF8&qid=1180088939&sr=1-9)

The Sword of Shannara Trilogy [Rough Cut binding] (Hardcover) (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0345453751/202-5337660-5776618)

The Heritage of Shannara (Hardcover) (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345465547/002-9685864-9299268)

Much cheaper, more free space on shelves, beauteful editions :)