[raizscanlon]

I received a reply from KDP support - and it is as I thought. They casually "Add" a new "Start Reading Location" without telling us (the first Nav point after the TOC). Their reason is that this is "usually how it is done". Here is the reply (which is very polite!).

Hello Robert,

We appreciate your attention to our recent notification. Thank you for letting us know that you've republished a corrected file for your title "132+ Delicious Salads, Dressings And Dips".

I reviewed the latest file and confirmed that the issues are resolved. The revised file is in "Publishing" status, and should be updated on the website within 12 hours.

Further, with regard to the "Go to Beginning" and "Start Reading Location" of your titles, i.e. the page at which your book opens for customers, please note, when a Kindle book is opened on a device or a Kindle app, the book usually begins after the TOC, when the uploaded content is a MOBI/PRC or a NCX/OPF-enabled HTML. This is related to a code called the SRL (Start Reading Location). By default, when MOBI/PRC files are created, the SRL is usually placed where the content begins and not the cover image or the page after cover, and hence, the content opens accordingly.

This Start Reading Location is set at our end once your file is published to the Kindle Store; This is why it is different in the copy that you purchase or the sample that you download from the Store, than the MOBI file that you create or preview before publishing.

I replied with this:

Thank you very much for explaining that.

So what you are saying then is that if I code a "Start Reading Location" (which I have) that is BEFORE the TOC, then it will be overridden by the one that is added to the file once it is published by Amazon?

That is confusing!

When you say "By default, when MOBI/PRC files are created, the SRL is usually placed where the content begins and not the cover image or the page after cover ..." then this implies that while this may be "usual" behavior, it is not mandated.

Is there a way to override that? Or must we put up with the TOC always being the first thing in the book - which means, for example, in the "Look Inside" function, if we have a long TOC (such as we do in our recipe books) then it may put off the customer? This is why we shoes to have some introductory matter before the TOC.

Thanks anyway and we will reconsider now where we put that introductory matter!

So it seems we don't really have the level of granular control over "Start" unless it is after the TOC, which means me rethinking some of our layout tactics (shortening TOC and adding sub-TOC later in the book for example).

What is annoying is the hours of work I've put into it and the questions I've asked (and the confirmation from Amazon that my files worked as I say they should!) and only now do they explain that the Preview File created in the Bookshelf may still have changes made to its functionality. Maybe it took a while before it escalated to a Tier 2 support rep.

It might be a small point - avid readers will always skip back to the front of an ebook in my anecdotal experience - if the book is good - I still want control on that "Opening Page" post-purchase, it's an important first impression.