Desperate help!

[TheEdlets]

Hi everyone,

I have an opportunity to intern for a blogger who needs his 'best of' book formatting.

Started on Scrivener through his recommendation but it's clear that Scriv won't be good enough as he wants it to look pro. (Can't even change the colour of the contents on Scriv)

The book is split into 4 years and each year has around 35 articles in - each about 1 - 2 pages...

So I get Sigil today and wow the learning curve seems big, especially for someone not that tech savvy.

I'm basically after some advice. Time is of the essence (I'm basically on a 'chance') and need to try and format this book ASAP.

Which resources should I look to online and which general route should I take?

If anyone's a pro and can get me on the right track over skype for $/per hour I'd also listen.

Thanks!

Ed Rostron

[eschwartz]

A basic knowledge of HTML is incredibly valuable. Check out the http://w3schools.com tutorials and reference guide.

Also, Pablo's Quick and Dirty EPub Tutorial.

[BetterRed]

@TheEdlets - If you are proficient with a word processor and have access to it and you can wrangle the blogposts into it, then that may be a better place to start (given you've tried Scrivener it should be possible).

Scrivener is a primarily a writer's tool, your task would appear to be that of book builder.

There are browser extensions that will help create ebooks from webpages - this describes one of them ==>> Build your own multi-article EPUB with GrabMyBooks

I suggest this thread be moved to the Workshop forum.

BR

[Tex2002ans]

Originally Posted by TheEdlets

I have an opportunity to intern for a blogger who needs his 'best of' book formatting.

So I get Sigil today and wow the learning curve seems big, especially for someone not that tech savvy.

I'm basically after some advice. Time is of the essence (I'm basically on a 'chance') and need to try and format this book ASAP.

Not to pry, but I wonder how this fell into your lap if you don't know much about ebook formatting? :P

Originally Posted by TheEdlets

The book is split into 4 years and each year has around 35 articles in - each about 1 - 2 pages...

I assume this is HTML articles from a website? I would recommend stripping the code down to its bare bones (basic <h1-6>, <p>, <blockquote>, [...]).

You also have to keep in mind that much of the "fancy" CSS (if any) may not work in ebooks and needs to degrade gracefully.

Originally Posted by TheEdlets

(Can't even change the colour of the contents on Scriv)

Color has to be tackled carefully, because many of the ebooks would be read on e-ink (which is only grayscale).

You have to be very careful when doing things like colored boxes.

Originally Posted by TheEdlets

Which resources should I look to online and which general route should I take?

I agree with eschwartz, those are good places to start (you should at least have a basic grasp of HTML/CSS).

Depending on the specifics of the project, people may use different tools in their workflow.

For any sort of HTML -> EPUB conversions, I always strip everything down to the bare bones tags. Depending on the quality of the input, I either do that manually using basic Regex, or if the code is particularly spaghetti, a Calibre EPUB -> EPUB convert.

If these are blog posts, there are bound to be many typos and formatting inconsistencies (the writers typically don't have the keenest eye for these sorts of things, or are doing everything via Visual Editors... which make it very easy for hideous code to get introduced).

Once you get a clean base, then you work your way up from there (fix punctuation, look for typos, properly mark headings/blockquotes, fix code, reintroduce basic CSS).

[TheEdlets]

Thanks for the replies! All very helpful

@tex2002ans I applied as a ghost writer, wasn't a match but he liked my enthusiasm and needed someone to do this.

The big question lads

How long would it take to learn HTML and how would you go about this?

I've told him I've taken Scriv as far as it can go and I'm willing to learn HTML if he wants me to, just need some assistance with how to go about it!

Cheers

[Notjohn]

Here's a different thought: you could paste these blog posts into Word and clean them up there, using a simple Normal style (say 12 point Times New Roman, single spaced, no indents in paragraph, no space between paragraphs, justified text). Save as a *.doc file (I've never really gotten into *.docx) and run it through Word2CleanHtml.com online. (Or use Toxaris's plug-in.)

Then open the html in Sigil and find a basic style sheet somewhere. (Mine is on my blog at http://notjohnkdp.blogspot.com/ and you're welcome to borrow or adapt it.) Then tweak it to your heart's content, frequently using the Flight Crew validator (now a plug-in).

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

I suggest this thread be moved to the Workshop forum.

Since this has definitely moved into the realm of general html/css advice and/or epub construction, I'm inclined to agree.

If any Sigil-specific topics arise from the conversation, the OP is welcome (and encouraged) to start a new Sigil thread.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by TheEdlets

Thanks for the replies! All very helpful

@tex2002ans I applied as a ghost writer, wasn't a match but he liked my enthusiasm and needed someone to do this.

The big question lads

How long would it take to learn HTML and how would you go about this?

I've told him I've taken Scriv as far as it can go and I'm willing to learn HTML if he wants me to, just need some assistance with how to go about it!

Cheers

Not to sound overly arch, but perhaps you should tell him that despite the public perception that any moron can make an ebook, without knowing anything whatsoever about HTML, XHTML,and CSS--it's actually NOT true. Moreover, (having had an approach about this very type of work more than once), cleaning up blog posts is usually harder than is making a book from Word, because the blogging platform(s) out there make liberal use of cruft coding and tags.

If you are a quick study, you can probably get through the w3schools HTML course in a day or less. Ditto the CSS course. Learning, however, to actually deploy both, and--bigger issue--learning what does, and does not, work in eBooks will take quite a while longer. Learning the peculiarities of what works in, for example, Kindle, but doesn't work somewhere else, and vice-versa--that will take some time.

Offered FWIW.

Hitch