Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexBell
Thanks, Hitch. You're completely right, and you've me realise that I'm tying myself in knots trying to do stuff that's not my responsibility.
I'll stop fussing now.
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You are most welcome, Alex. Believe me, I know those knots very, very well, and you have to learn when to start untying them, or you'll drive yourself bats. Poets, generally, are the worst, but non-fiction titles (many DIY or self-help books) can be egregious, and some authors of scholarly works can also make you utterly daft.
I cannot tell you, when I started out, or even, hell, the first year or two, what I'd go through when a publisher was unhappy with the then-available hanging indents (or faux bulleted lists, numbered lists with the same neg hanging indent) in MOBI. You'd
laugh. I used to drive myself INSANE (and then my guys insane) trying to make them happy, because they wanted them to line up every time, every font, every then-possible device....I probably greyed half the grey on my head trying to make them happy. Or tables. Or faux columns. But it's like boxing: you gotta know when to throw in the towel. I will say that I have become MUCH smarter about client prep upfront (managing expectations) and about declining work that I know will never, ever, make the client happy in the final product. You will develop a 6th sense about it, as you do more books...I can't define it, but it's a Spidey-sense about what books' authors or publishers will never be happy with an ebook-version.
Remember: YOUR job is to create the best ebook possible. It's not to travel back in time and reinvent HTML and CSS and the limitations of devices. {smile}
Rigorous exercise helps. Seriously.
Hitch