Register Guidelines E-Books Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Go Back   MobileRead Forums > E-Book Readers > Amazon Kindle

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 09-21-2010, 08:16 PM   #1
Purge
Enthusiast
Purge began at the beginning.
 
Posts: 31
Karma: 10
Join Date: Jun 2009
Device: None
EBook Quality?

Hey there,

So my Kindle, ordered 1st Sept, shipped on Monday. Should have it before the end of the week! (Hurrah for BFPO shipping.)

I grabbed the 3G one because I travel a lot.

So my question now is - What's the quality of the ebooks from Amazon like? By which I mean the transcribing, the formatting, etc?

I'm more than happy to download books from other stores and rip the DRM off of them, like I plan to do with the books I bought for my Sony Reader. So will I get better formatted ebooks if I do it all myself, or are the ones from Amazon of a decent enough quality to justify the price?

Thanks guys.
Purge is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-21-2010, 08:43 PM   #2
desertgrandma
Enjoying the show....
desertgrandma ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.desertgrandma ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.desertgrandma ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.desertgrandma ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.desertgrandma ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.desertgrandma ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.desertgrandma ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.desertgrandma ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.desertgrandma ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.desertgrandma ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.desertgrandma ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
desertgrandma's Avatar
 
Posts: 14,270
Karma: 10462841
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Arizona
Device: A K1, Kindle Paperwhite, an Ipod, IPad2, Iphone, an Ipad Mini & macAir
It depends on each book, and who formatted it.

There doesn't seem to be any set of standards........I've gotten books that are perfect, some that aren't.

If you get a particularly bad one, use the kindle CS and let them know.....they'll refund your money and pull it from the shelves.
desertgrandma is offline   Reply With Quote
Advert
Old 09-22-2010, 02:46 AM   #3
xnowimcoolx
Connoisseur
xnowimcoolx could sell banana peel slippers to a Deveel.xnowimcoolx could sell banana peel slippers to a Deveel.xnowimcoolx could sell banana peel slippers to a Deveel.xnowimcoolx could sell banana peel slippers to a Deveel.xnowimcoolx could sell banana peel slippers to a Deveel.xnowimcoolx could sell banana peel slippers to a Deveel.xnowimcoolx could sell banana peel slippers to a Deveel.xnowimcoolx could sell banana peel slippers to a Deveel.xnowimcoolx could sell banana peel slippers to a Deveel.xnowimcoolx could sell banana peel slippers to a Deveel.xnowimcoolx could sell banana peel slippers to a Deveel.
 
Posts: 61
Karma: 3100
Join Date: May 2010
Device: Kindle 2
Completely depends. I've only had one book that was awful quality (i actually just bought it last week). It was so bad (typos EVERYWHERE) I complained to Amazon and they told me if I wanted a refund they would refund me.

I need the text for school so I might wait till I finish reading it for my class and if there is no update get a refund.

Knowing that Amazon is willing to refund poorly formated/copied books makes it easier for me to buy more even if I had one bad experience!
xnowimcoolx is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-22-2010, 03:31 AM   #4
TheKindleWorm
Guru
TheKindleWorm can program the VCR without an owner's manual.TheKindleWorm can program the VCR without an owner's manual.TheKindleWorm can program the VCR without an owner's manual.TheKindleWorm can program the VCR without an owner's manual.TheKindleWorm can program the VCR without an owner's manual.TheKindleWorm can program the VCR without an owner's manual.TheKindleWorm can program the VCR without an owner's manual.TheKindleWorm can program the VCR without an owner's manual.TheKindleWorm can program the VCR without an owner's manual.TheKindleWorm can program the VCR without an owner's manual.TheKindleWorm can program the VCR without an owner's manual.
 
TheKindleWorm's Avatar
 
Posts: 860
Karma: 177868
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: East Anglia UK
Device: Kindle 3G, iPhone 3G, iPod 4G, PB 360, Sony 600 sold, Kindle 2i sold
The quality of each book is not down to Amazon but the publisher - so no matter where you purchase the ebook, it should be the same in terms of quality. Most books I've purchased have been fine, there has been the odd typo but nothing to really spoil a book. It's nice to know that Amazon will refund if you complain though - not sure what the policy is with other companies who sell ebooks.
TheKindleWorm is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-22-2010, 09:18 AM   #5
shanghaichica
Guru
shanghaichica ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.shanghaichica ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.shanghaichica ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.shanghaichica ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.shanghaichica ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.shanghaichica ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.shanghaichica ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.shanghaichica ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.shanghaichica ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.shanghaichica ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.shanghaichica ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
shanghaichica's Avatar
 
Posts: 987
Karma: 5782970
Join Date: Jul 2010
Device: Scribe,Kindle Oasis 3, iPad Pro 11, iPhone 13 Pro Max,iPad mini 6, PW5
It depends. As others have said every book is different. Some are perfect others are terrible, with bad page structure/paragraph formation, numerous typos, poor word spacing. The only thing we can do is complain to amazon or whatever site we bought the book from and hopefully they will issue a refund. I've never bought a book which was un-readable.
shanghaichica is offline   Reply With Quote
Advert
Old 09-22-2010, 11:42 AM   #6
foreverjuly
Crank Up The Awesome!
foreverjuly ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.foreverjuly ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.foreverjuly ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.foreverjuly ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.foreverjuly ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.foreverjuly ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.foreverjuly ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.foreverjuly ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.foreverjuly ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.foreverjuly ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.foreverjuly ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
foreverjuly's Avatar
 
Posts: 315
Karma: 708054
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Japan
Device: Kindle, Nook, iPhone
The best way to tell whether or not an ebook is formatted correctly is to check the sample. That'll give you a good indicator if paragraphs are aligned the way they should, not to mention you'll be able to tell if there are numerous writing errors. There's really no way to tell how it is without checking for yourself. Some major publishers do a slapdash job of it and it looks terrible, while some construct great files.

As far as indie authors like myself go, I think most writers would have a hard time figuring it all out themselves. I entrusted the quality of the formatting to a professional. The last thing I want is for anything to get in the way of the story I have to tell.

Last edited by foreverjuly; 09-22-2010 at 11:45 AM.
foreverjuly is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-22-2010, 11:53 AM   #7
DiapDealer
Grand Sorcerer
DiapDealer ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DiapDealer ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DiapDealer ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DiapDealer ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DiapDealer ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DiapDealer ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DiapDealer ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DiapDealer ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DiapDealer ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DiapDealer ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DiapDealer ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
DiapDealer's Avatar
 
Posts: 27,465
Karma: 192992430
Join Date: Jan 2010
Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD
I've seen anything from fantastic to downright horrible.
DiapDealer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-22-2010, 11:54 AM   #8
MrPLD
Author's pet-geek
MrPLD ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.MrPLD ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.MrPLD ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.MrPLD ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.MrPLD ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.MrPLD ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.MrPLD ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.MrPLD ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.MrPLD ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.MrPLD ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.MrPLD ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
MrPLD's Avatar
 
Posts: 933
Karma: 1040670
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: North Queensland, Australia
Device: Kindle 3 Wifi, Onyx Boox M96
There's two 'quality' factors to look out for (well, three I suppose); but the one I struggle with the most is the quality of the rendering of the ebook on the actual device in terms of layout/typesetting.

I spent a considerable amount of effort in getting manuscripts "right" for print production, alas when you convert to ePub you lose a lot of the beauty and then you also have to deal with the way the device itself renders the eBook.

There have been reports of less than stellar conversions (including spelling mistakes) which I suspect might be due to the physical book having being scanned and converted, as opposed to creating the eBook from an electronic manuscript.

Unfortunately of course, if the original manuscript was bad to start with then there's no saving it

Paul.
MrPLD is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-22-2010, 12:15 PM   #9
JMikeD
Evangelist
JMikeD is as sexy as a twisted cruller doughtnut.JMikeD is as sexy as a twisted cruller doughtnut.JMikeD is as sexy as a twisted cruller doughtnut.JMikeD is as sexy as a twisted cruller doughtnut.JMikeD is as sexy as a twisted cruller doughtnut.JMikeD is as sexy as a twisted cruller doughtnut.JMikeD is as sexy as a twisted cruller doughtnut.JMikeD is as sexy as a twisted cruller doughtnut.JMikeD is as sexy as a twisted cruller doughtnut.JMikeD is as sexy as a twisted cruller doughtnut.JMikeD is as sexy as a twisted cruller doughtnut.
 
JMikeD's Avatar
 
Posts: 473
Karma: 15000
Join Date: Jul 2008
Device: Various and sundry
I find the general level of quality in ebooks to be disappointing. Many don't seem to have been proof-read. A simple spell-check would have caught many of the mistakes. I've even found books where the strike-throughs from the word processor have been left in the text.

Most problems do seem to be a result of errors in the OCR process, though. The problems do seem to be independent of the place purchased, which makes sense. Some formatting problems such as margins and the like may be attributed to conversion software.

Last edited by JMikeD; 09-22-2010 at 12:51 PM.
JMikeD is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-22-2010, 12:25 PM   #10
MrPLD
Author's pet-geek
MrPLD ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.MrPLD ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.MrPLD ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.MrPLD ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.MrPLD ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.MrPLD ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.MrPLD ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.MrPLD ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.MrPLD ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.MrPLD ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.MrPLD ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
MrPLD's Avatar
 
Posts: 933
Karma: 1040670
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: North Queensland, Australia
Device: Kindle 3 Wifi, Onyx Boox M96
JMikeD,

I think another reason why the quality could be so bad at times is that of course eBooks offer a very low-bar entry into the world of publishing, so no doubt there will be a lot of books that were written without the involvement of editors etc.

Paul.
MrPLD is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-22-2010, 12:57 PM   #11
JMikeD
Evangelist
JMikeD is as sexy as a twisted cruller doughtnut.JMikeD is as sexy as a twisted cruller doughtnut.JMikeD is as sexy as a twisted cruller doughtnut.JMikeD is as sexy as a twisted cruller doughtnut.JMikeD is as sexy as a twisted cruller doughtnut.JMikeD is as sexy as a twisted cruller doughtnut.JMikeD is as sexy as a twisted cruller doughtnut.JMikeD is as sexy as a twisted cruller doughtnut.JMikeD is as sexy as a twisted cruller doughtnut.JMikeD is as sexy as a twisted cruller doughtnut.JMikeD is as sexy as a twisted cruller doughtnut.
 
JMikeD's Avatar
 
Posts: 473
Karma: 15000
Join Date: Jul 2008
Device: Various and sundry
Agreed. Though I've seen some egregious errors from publishers such as MacMillan, HarperCollins, etc. It just seems as though they are not paying attention.

Mike
JMikeD is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-22-2010, 01:27 PM   #12
Sandra Edwards
Queen of Procrastination
Sandra Edwards once ate a cherry pie in a record 7 seconds.Sandra Edwards once ate a cherry pie in a record 7 seconds.Sandra Edwards once ate a cherry pie in a record 7 seconds.Sandra Edwards once ate a cherry pie in a record 7 seconds.Sandra Edwards once ate a cherry pie in a record 7 seconds.Sandra Edwards once ate a cherry pie in a record 7 seconds.Sandra Edwards once ate a cherry pie in a record 7 seconds.Sandra Edwards once ate a cherry pie in a record 7 seconds.Sandra Edwards once ate a cherry pie in a record 7 seconds.Sandra Edwards once ate a cherry pie in a record 7 seconds.Sandra Edwards once ate a cherry pie in a record 7 seconds.
 
Sandra Edwards's Avatar
 
Posts: 1,884
Karma: 1802
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Nevada
Device: K2, K3, Fire
some look great and others look horrible. But you can always get an idea about the quality before you click "buy" by just downloading a sample. If the formatting's bad in the sample...it's going to be bad throughout the book. Likewise with grammar. As for typos...well, I've never read a book (and I've read a lot) that didn't have typos.

Sandy
Sandra Edwards is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-22-2010, 01:30 PM   #13
whitearrow
Guru
whitearrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.whitearrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.whitearrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.whitearrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.whitearrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.whitearrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.whitearrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.whitearrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.whitearrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.whitearrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.whitearrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 808
Karma: 2260766
Join Date: Apr 2008
Device: Kindle Oasis 2
A key point for variation in quality when it comes to formatting, it seems to me, is recent vs. backlist titles. Recent titles, overall, tend to be better than backlist titles, which often seem to be hasty scan/OCR jobs with no proofreading.

Then again, last year's Harry Dresden book was a new release from a big publisher that had huge spaces between each paragraph and some horrible HTML underneath. I agree that the best way to know for sure is to check out a sample. Big, consistent formatting problems (like huge spaces between paragraphs) are usually apparent very quickly.
whitearrow is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-22-2010, 04:34 PM   #14
TomF
Kindle Enthusiast
TomF once ate a cherry pie in a record 7 seconds.TomF once ate a cherry pie in a record 7 seconds.TomF once ate a cherry pie in a record 7 seconds.TomF once ate a cherry pie in a record 7 seconds.TomF once ate a cherry pie in a record 7 seconds.TomF once ate a cherry pie in a record 7 seconds.TomF once ate a cherry pie in a record 7 seconds.TomF once ate a cherry pie in a record 7 seconds.TomF once ate a cherry pie in a record 7 seconds.TomF once ate a cherry pie in a record 7 seconds.TomF once ate a cherry pie in a record 7 seconds.
 
TomF's Avatar
 
Posts: 243
Karma: 1818
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: San Diego, CA
Device: Kindle 3G Graphite, Kindle Fire
After reading Carl Hiaasen's Skinny Dip, and because his Star Island is one of the best-selling Kindle books, I decided to go back and read some of his earlier stuff. I downloaded and read his Double Whammy sample from Amazon and ordered it by clicking on the "Buy this book now" link at the end of the sample. Even though the sample seemed OK, before I got 1/3 through the book I couldn't stand how poorly done this e-book was. There were misspellings, poor punctuation, bad spacing, and overall bad formatting. This book was originally published 22 years ago and was obviously a poor scan job with no additional editing. Then I discovered that I had paid $13.99 for this crappy presentation! I asked and got a refund from Amazon. The response from Penguin to my complaint about both the pricing and the formatting was a canned reply regarding the pricing with no mention of anything they would do to correct the formatting.
TomF is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Classic Quality of conversion to ebook?? lenrev Barnes & Noble NOOK 2 06-27-2010 10:37 AM
CES: jetbook-lite is sexiest ebook reader (high quality video by Hak5) Kris777 News 17 01-28-2010 10:25 AM
Quality Books ahi Reading Recommendations 28 08-27-2009 01:12 PM
Waterstones Ebook Quality Gomoto Deals and Resources (No Self-Promotion or Affiliate Links) 7 03-24-2009 08:26 AM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 05:54 AM.


MobileRead.com is a privately owned, operated and funded community.