Publishing to Amazon: Questions About Conversion

[Y060N]

I've read through the forum quite a lot and definitely learned a lot in the process. I have some questions that I am not totally sure about, though.

I wrote my e-book (it's an e-cookbook) in Sigil and did the TOC in there as well. Then I turned it over to calibre to embed the font family, cover, and some extra metadata.

When I put my book into KindlePreviewer to convert it into a mobi, it spits out a book that's double the size. No problem, the source is in there. I used KindleStrip to strip the source out and there we go - I'm just below the cap.

Now, my questions?

When I convert over from epub to .mobi, some problems occur. I read on an old thread that the page numbers don't convert over from epub to mobi - instead they're called sections. Is there any way to fix these "sections" so that they properly display as page numbers?

When I convert over, another problem happens. As I read through the book to do a final proofread, I notice that the images are switched around. Some images for for the recipes are getting switched around. For example if I had Thai Peanut Chicken, it might be showing Raspberry Cheesecake instead. Normally it is offset by 1 image forward.

The last thing is the cover. When I do a final copy in Calibre, should I be attaching a cover? I'm still pretty unclear about it. From what I read, Amazon will attach the cover for you and that can result in 2 covers - but I have not uploaded to KDP yet and am still unsure if I need to do it. If I don't, a screenshot of the table of contents gets inserted as the cover in Calibre.

I really appreciate all the helpful people here, and I really appreciate any replies in advanced. I wanted to try to get all of my questions in 1 thread, so sorry for the long post.

[Doitsu]

Originally Posted by Y060N

When I convert over from epub to .mobi, some problems occur. I read on an old thread that the page numbers don't convert over from epub to mobi - instead they're called sections. Is there any way to fix these "sections" so that they properly display as page numbers?

You could theoretically define "real" page numbers in a page map, however, AFAIK, this feature is still not supported for self-published books. I.e., you'll have to change all references to specific page numbers in your book to references to chapter or section headings. (You could also hyperlink specific paragraphs (or other elements) by adding id attributes to them in Code View mode.)

Originally Posted by Y060N

When I convert over, another problem happens. As I read through the book to do a final proofread, I notice that the images are switched around.

Shouldn't happen unless you used the same images or image names in different chapters. Did you check the ePub with Sigil's FlightCrew validator and IDPF's ePubCheck online, prior to the conversion with Kindle Previewer/KindleGen?

Originally Posted by Y060N

The last thing is the cover. When I do a final copy in Calibre, should I be attaching a cover?

AFAIK, the best way to do this is to add an image to the ePub in Sigil, and to mark it as a cover image by right-clicking it and selecting Add Semantics > Cover Image. IIRC, you'll also need upload a high-res marketing cover image together with the book.

[Y060N]

First let me say thanks for your quick reply!

Originally Posted by Doitsu

You could theoretically define "real" page numbers in a page map, however, AFAIK, this feature is still not supported for self-published books. I.e., you'll have to change all references to specific page numbers in your book to references to chapter or section headings. (You could also hyperlink specific paragraphs (or other elements) by adding id attributes to them in Code View mode.)

I see. As long as it doesn't matter in the ebook then it doesn't matter so much to me. When I read my ebook through the kindle for PC I see there is a "skip to next section" and that's where things start messing up. If I just go page by page, I don't have a problem.

Originally Posted by Doitsu

Shouldn't happen unless you used the same images or image names in different chapters. Did you check the ePub with Sigil's FlightCrew validator and IDPF's ePubCheck online, prior to the conversion with Kindle Previewer/KindleGen?

I don't use different images in the book, they are all unique. I've checked my HTML validation with Sigil and there's no problems found. The online tool has a limit of 10 MB. My final size was 41.1MB with all the images as compressed as I could get them (It's around 440 images).

The only real problem starts happening if I start using the "skip to next section" in my ereader tools. If I don't use that, the images show up fine and in the correct order. I just don't want something happening where peoples are downloading the book and seeing incorrect images for the recipes - seems unprofessional.

Originally Posted by Doitsu

AFAIK, the best way to do this is to add an image to the ePub in Sigil, and to mark it as a cover image by right-clicking it and selecting Add Semantics > Cover Image. IIRC, you'll also need upload a high-res marketing cover image together with the book.

I see, I've gone ahead and done that. Hopefully that will solve the problem. As far as I read, Amazon will supposedly reject my book if there is a double cover anyway, is that correct?

----

The ebook is pretty much ready to go. If I upload the ePub to amazon, they strip the source out of it, correct? When I use KindleGen to convert to .mobi the book looks fine with no alterations so I was planning to just have amazon do it on their side.

[Doitsu]

Originally Posted by Y060N

The only real problem starts happening if I start using the "skip to next section" in my ereader tools. If I don't use that, the images show up fine and in the correct order.

Did you generate both NCX and HTML TOCs in Sigil? If you didn't, chances are that there's a problem with the "skip to next section" targets. BTW, "skip to next section" links are somewhat redundant in ebooks anyway, since the next section will be displayed automatically, if you arranged the chapters in the order in which they're meant to be read. If they're causing display issues, you might as well delete them.

Originally Posted by Y060N

As far as I read, Amazon will supposedly reject my book if there is a double cover anyway, is that correct?

They might reject it, but some books made it into the store with double covers anyway. If you semantically mark the cover image in Sigil and the cover shows up after you convert it with KindleGen, you shouldn't have any problems.

Originally Posted by Y060N

The ebook is pretty much ready to go. If I upload the ePub to amazon, they strip the source out of it, correct? When I use KindleGen to convert to .mobi the book looks fine with no alterations so I was planning to just have amazon do it on their side.

If you upload a .mobi book generated by KindleGen, KDP will add an ASIN and other information and automatically split it into books suitable for older and newer Kindles (without the source code), when people buy your book. If you upload an .epub book, KDP, will convert it with KindleGen first. Since your book is rather large, you'll have to upload it as an ePub anyway.

[Y060N]

Originally Posted by Doitsu

Did you generate both NCX and HTML TOCs in Sigil? If you didn't, chances are that there's a problem with the "skip to next section" targets. BTW, "skip to next section" links are somewhat redundant in ebooks anyway, since the next section will be displayed automatically, if you arranged the chapters in the order in which they're meant to be read. If they're causing display issues, you might as well delete them.

Yeah I did generate both. I think it might have been messing up because my TOC was pointing to my h1 headings. I edited the HTML so that it's pointing directly to just that page - meaning that the image will be included too. I went over it all through the kindle previewer and it looks good now.

Originally Posted by Doitsu

They might reject it, but some books made it into the store with double covers anyway. If you semantically mark the cover image in Sigil and the cover shows up after you convert it with KindleGen, you shouldn't have any problems.

When I convert it with KingleGen it shows the cover so hopefully I'll be alright. Thanks for letting me know

Originally Posted by Doitsu

If you upload a .mobi book generated by KindleGen, KDP will add an ASIN and other information and automatically split it into books suitable for older and newer Kindles (without the source code), when people buy your book. If you upload an .epub book, KDP, will convert it with KindleGen first. Since your book is rather large, you'll have to upload it as an ePub anyway.

I can strip down the .mobi conversion and then it will be under the 50MB cap, but I think I'll be better off going with the epub since they will have a copy of the source (just in case they start supporting it properly in the future). When I use Kindle Previewer and let it automatically convert everything it is all showing up good now.

Really appreciate your feedback on all of this - truly helped me out a lot. Seems like there's some conflicting information online so it's hard to go through myself.