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gmw · 01-15-2014, 02:48 AM

Up to now I've been creating a nice clean epub and then using kindlegen to create a mobi file. The only reason I've been doing this is to check that it comes out okay in the Kindle Previewer. My assumption has been that my distributor (or Amazon) will be using a similar conversion tool when they get my epub, so it seemed like a good thing to check. The result, in Kindle Previewer, has always looked very good, so I didn't worry any more about it.

But now I'm thinking of rearranging my distribution options and may want to produce a mobi file that readers will actually use, so I've been looking at mobi files in more detail.

One thing that I've noticed is that kindlegen creates a file around three times larger than the epub. I recently read in the MR Wiki that this is because the mobi file actually does contain three copies of the book. This may be fine for sending to Amazon, who will send whichever bit of the file is appropriate for the device at the other end, but if I want a mobi to put on Smashwords (for example) then do I really need a three-in-one file? (And there's a note in the Calibre conversion that suggests some devices might have trouble with such files.)

I've tried following instructions on the wiki to use Mobipocket Creator v4.2 (I get the impression it's now long out of date) to create a PRC file - and it produces a file slightly smaller than my original epub. Great, but along the way it seems to be getting unicode characters corrupted and distorting some of the styles.

I've tried using Calibre to do the conversion (I've read both recommendations and denigrations of this option). It also produces a smaller file (if you don't ask it to install "both" formats), but it distorts the layout of the front matter (something that kindlegen never did).

So who should I believe? Since kindlegen gives me a good, albeit very big, result, should I be happy with that? Or should I keep playing with my epub in the hope of producing some variation that Calibre (for example) can convert consistently? Do Kindle users downloading from sources like Smashwords care if the mobi file is three times larger than the epub?

These are all questions I don't know how to answer, and I'm sort of hoping the good folks here may be able to offer some suggestions.

01-15-2014, 02:48 AM	#1
gmw cacoethes scribendi Posts: 5,809 Karma: 137770742 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Aura One & H2Ov2, Sony PRS-650	Creating a mobi from an epub Up to now I've been creating a nice clean epub and then using kindlegen to create a mobi file. The only reason I've been doing this is to check that it comes out okay in the Kindle Previewer. My assumption has been that my distributor (or Amazon) will be using a similar conversion tool when they get my epub, so it seemed like a good thing to check. The result, in Kindle Previewer, has always looked very good, so I didn't worry any more about it. But now I'm thinking of rearranging my distribution options and may want to produce a mobi file that readers will actually use, so I've been looking at mobi files in more detail. One thing that I've noticed is that kindlegen creates a file around three times larger than the epub. I recently read in the MR Wiki that this is because the mobi file actually does contain three copies of the book. This may be fine for sending to Amazon, who will send whichever bit of the file is appropriate for the device at the other end, but if I want a mobi to put on Smashwords (for example) then do I really need a three-in-one file? (And there's a note in the Calibre conversion that suggests some devices might have trouble with such files.) I've tried following instructions on the wiki to use Mobipocket Creator v4.2 (I get the impression it's now long out of date) to create a PRC file - and it produces a file slightly smaller than my original epub. Great, but along the way it seems to be getting unicode characters corrupted and distorting some of the styles. I've tried using Calibre to do the conversion (I've read both recommendations and denigrations of this option). It also produces a smaller file (if you don't ask it to install "both" formats), but it distorts the layout of the front matter (something that kindlegen never did). So who should I believe? Since kindlegen gives me a good, albeit very big, result, should I be happy with that? Or should I keep playing with my epub in the hope of producing some variation that Calibre (for example) can convert consistently? Do Kindle users downloading from sources like Smashwords care if the mobi file is three times larger than the epub? These are all questions I don't know how to answer, and I'm sort of hoping the good folks here may be able to offer some suggestions.