Managing my Cover Image

[RickAltman]

I am well on my way toward e-publishing my first book for Kindle. I have added my cover image and can verify that I did *something* right in that I see it to the right of the book listing in Calibre, as well as on the Kindle page that I reach by pressing the Right edge of the direction button.

I had thought, however, that the cover would/could be the very first thing that readers see as they begin paging through, but that did not happen. Is there a way to make that happen? Do I need to begin the listing of elements in my main .htm file with an IMG line? Thanks...



Rick A.
Pleasanton CA

[dwig]

Originally Posted by RickAltman

...
I had thought, however, that the cover would/could be the very first thing that readers see as they begin paging through...

No, in MOBI books, like paper books, when they are opened and you page though the book the cover is not what you see first. MOBIs follow the paradigm of the cover being on the outside and when you open them you see the inside.

The cover in a MOBI file is stored separately from the flow of the book itself. If you want the reader to display an image when the book is first opened, you need to place an image in the text flow of the book separate from the "cover".

Personally, I don't like having a second copy of the cover art. I prefer the book to open like a paper book, either to the title page, a frontis (artwork/illustration), or a combined as an illustrated title page.

[CursedRider]

However, what I discovered while editing my book in Sigil, before converting it to .Mobi with Calibre, is that if you right click the title page (cover) and Add Semantics -> text, then the first thing you see (on a Kindle4 at least) is a slightly smaller version of the cover (as in it doesn't stretch all the way, no matter the resolution). Interesting thing is that if you page back on the Kindle 4, there'll also be a full size (I use 675x900) cover. Apparently the software (Calibre) will duplicate the image.

I have also found that the Kindle will open as first page whatever page is first marked with the "text" semantics, even if it's all the way to the back of the book.