What is the general quality of free ebooks? - Page 3

A_J_Lath · 06-15-2010, 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

If you mean formatting the mobi file and such. I can send you the one I'm messing with for my Kindle (which will have things like the chapter marks for the K's progress bar) once I get it done (just PM me your email).

Thanks - however, given that Calibre appears to do a fairly nice job of converting an epub to a .mobi, I guess it would be possible to just submit the Calibre generated .mobi, wouldn't it? (I haven't yet looked into a standalone submission to amazon, so I'm not sure how to go about it yet.)

Anyways, I've had a reply from Smashwords asking me to detail the problem, and I have sent a reply. They seem to be taking it seriously, that's for sure.

@Dixiegal: Yeah, I get your point - the most important thing is getting a decent story out there. However, it's still no excuse to offer a slack-looking ebook to a paying customer - I think they have a right to a reasonably well-formatted ebook; it certainly won't do Smashwords any favours with regards to the .mobi format if it all looks a bit slapdash.

AnemicOak · 06-15-2010, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by A_J_Lath

Thanks - however, given that Calibre appears to do a fairly nice job of converting an epub to a .mobi, I guess it would be possible to just submit the Calibre generated .mobi, wouldn't it? (I haven't yet looked into a standalone submission to amazon, so I'm not sure how to go about it yet.)

Yes, a Calibre mobi should work OK except it'll have the copyright info specific to Smashwords unless you edit it out of the ePub.

Another thing I ran across and I'm not sure if it's by design or if it's Smashwords. Your book has no em dashes instead it has a regular dash/hyphen with a space on either side of it. Ultimately not a super huge deal I suppose. I'm probably a lot pickier than most people.

I know plenty of people who are fine with reading plain txt files.

A_J_Lath · 06-15-2010, 05:23 PM

^^Of course - the copyright info! Thanks for reminding me!

The hyphen thing - a matter of taste. I've always preferred a single hyphen rather than two side by side (I guess that's what you're referring to, isn't it?)

Anyways, that's all from me today. Been busy, busy, busy and had a pretty heavy-duty speed-work session with my jogging club, so I'm beat. Once again, thanks for all your help!

AnemicOak · 06-15-2010, 05:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by A_J_Lath

^^Of course - the copyright info! Thanks for reminding me!

The hyphen thing - a matter of taste. I've always preferred a single hyphen rather than two side by side (I guess that's what you're referring to, isn't it?)

No, I mean an em dash (basically a long dash) which is used to show a break in thought or a shift of tone...
http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/dashes.asp

Jellby · 06-16-2010, 04:54 AM

You could use either an em-dash with no spaces around, or an en-dash with spaces around (I've seen both styles in printed books), but not a hyphen. That's, of course, if you want to use proper typography, with curled quotes and all, and not a typewriter style

A_J_Lath · 06-16-2010, 06:32 AM

Lol - never even heard of an em-dash before. But I know what you mean - seen 'em. But an extra 1-2mm on a hyphen is far too finicky, as far as I'm concerned. Sorry guys - my hyphens stay as they are!

Anyways - it looks like I'll be uploading a standalone Kindle version (available through Amazon) sometime soon. After looking into it, the process seems pretty straightforward through Amazon's DTP, and I'll be virtually guaranteed a decent .mobi version. The only annoyance is that I apparently can't run any free promotions! So it looks as if I'll have to run a limited offer of 99 cents for a while - however, I'm planning on having the period run quite a bit longer than the Smashwords one, which should sweeten the deal, I hope.

mr ploppy · 06-16-2010, 07:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Your book has no em dashes instead it has a regular dash/hyphen with a space on either side of it.

One of the reasons I go for the RTF from Smashwords is so that I can do a search and replace for hyphens, single and double quotes so that they can be changed to what they should be.

neilmarr · 06-16-2010, 12:35 PM

***The hyphen thing - a matter of taste. I've always preferred a single hyphen rather than two side by side***

A double hyphen, AJ, is merely print code for an en dash. It should not remain at publication and is just sloppy. Neil

A_J_Lath · 06-16-2010, 04:04 PM

^^I've actually seen the double hyphen in some print books, believe it or not!

Jellby · 06-17-2010, 04:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by A_J_Lath

^^I've actually seen the double hyphen in some print books, believe it or not!

And I've seen printed books that are just a printout of the Project Gutenberg text

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Quality of Library Ebooks	aquina	News	10	06-30-2009 10:33 AM
Best quality ebooks?	SpiderMatt	Amazon Kindle	9	12-08-2008 09:47 AM
Document quality of ebooks	sriram	News	8	09-07-2008 11:22 AM
General Question About Ebooks from Baen	MerLock	Introduce Yourself	2	04-14-2008 02:30 AM

06-15-2010, 05:23 PM	#33
A_J_Lath Zealot Posts: 134 Karma: 200000 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: UK Device: Computer	^^Of course - the copyright info! Thanks for reminding me! The hyphen thing - a matter of taste. I've always preferred a single hyphen rather than two side by side (I guess that's what you're referring to, isn't it?) Anyways, that's all from me today. Been busy, busy, busy and had a pretty heavy-duty speed-work session with my jogging club, so I'm beat. Once again, thanks for all your help!

06-16-2010, 04:54 AM	#35
Jellby frumious Bandersnatch Posts: 7,516 Karma: 18512745 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Spaniard in Sweden Device: Cybook Orizon, Kobo Aura	You could use either an em-dash with no spaces around, or an en-dash with spaces around (I've seen both styles in printed books), but not a hyphen. That's, of course, if you want to use proper typography, with curled quotes and all, and not a typewriter style

06-16-2010, 06:32 AM	#36
A_J_Lath Zealot Posts: 134 Karma: 200000 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: UK Device: Computer	Lol - never even heard of an em-dash before. But I know what you mean - seen 'em. But an extra 1-2mm on a hyphen is far too finicky, as far as I'm concerned. Sorry guys - my hyphens stay as they are! Anyways - it looks like I'll be uploading a standalone Kindle version (available through Amazon) sometime soon. After looking into it, the process seems pretty straightforward through Amazon's DTP, and I'll be virtually guaranteed a decent .mobi version. The only annoyance is that I apparently can't run any free promotions! So it looks as if I'll have to run a limited offer of 99 cents for a while - however, I'm planning on having the period run quite a bit longer than the Smashwords one, which should sweeten the deal, I hope.

06-16-2010, 12:35 PM	#38
neilmarr neilmarr Posts: 7,216 Karma: 6000059 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Monaco-Menton, France Device: sony	*The hyphen thing - a matter of taste. I've always preferred a single hyphen rather than two side by side* A double hyphen, AJ, is merely print code for an en dash. It should not remain at publication and is just sloppy. Neil

06-16-2010, 04:04 PM	#39
A_J_Lath Zealot Posts: 134 Karma: 200000 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: UK Device: Computer	^^I've actually seen the double hyphen in some print books, believe it or not!