First Line Indent on iPhone Kindle, not Kindle Fire

[theducks]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Why is it publishers are giving the job of making eBooks to people who have no clue? This does explain a lot about why we have poor formatting and many errors.

[DiapDealer]

I'm done helping these people (who don't have a clue what they're doing) rip off "clients."

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I'm done helping these people (who don't have a clue what they're doing) rip off "clients."

Well, our Sigil-created ePUBs make perfectly good MOBI's all day long that work across devices, including the iPhone, sans issues. This is not a Sigil issue, it's a CSS and device-knowledge issue.

Also, your client should be informed that block paragraphs with white space between are directly contrary to Amazon's formatting guidelines (as well as Nook's, FWIW). Most e-readers (humans) loathe wasting that much precious screen space.

Diap--

Hitch

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Well, our Sigil-created ePUBs make perfectly good MOBI's all day long that work across devices, including the iPhone, sans issues. This is not a Sigil issue, it's a CSS and device-knowledge issue.

Also, your client should be informed that block paragraphs with white space between are directly contrary to Amazon's formatting guidelines (as well as Nook's, FWIW). Most e-readers (humans) loathe wasting that much precious screen space.

Diap--

Hitch

I've converted some ePub to Mobi and they've turned out just fine. So as long as it is a well made ePub, it will convert well. The OP is making a mess and cheating both the client and potential customers with shoddy work around because he doesn't know how to do it correctly.

[msmith65]

Originally Posted by Hitch

... Also, your client should be informed that block paragraphs with white space between are directly contrary to Amazon's formatting guidelines (as well as Nook's, FWIW). Most e-readers (humans) loathe wasting that much precious screen space.

Diap--

Hitch

This is precisely the answer I needed at the top of the thread. Thank you.

I do understand the need by some more-advanced students to make themselves feel superior to newbies by criticizing them. That's a basic human weakness, amplified by our classroom model of education. I try hard to resist that temptation in my own field because, in the end, it doesn't really make me feel better, and it can hurt others' feelings.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by msmith65

I do understand the need by some more-advanced students to make themselves feel superior to newbies by criticizing them.

Stop trying to make this something it's not. It's not about superiority at all. It's about "newbies" using the help from this forum to trick "clients" into thinking they have the requisite knowledge/skills to do a proper job creating their ebooks for them. Plain and simple... "newbies" shouldn't have "clients."

[JSWolf]

Sure, it's OK to come to MR and ask for some help. But if you are getting paid to make eBooks, tell us up front that you are getting paid and you have no idea what you are doing. What we can then do is point you to some resources so you can go learn what to do and then come back and ask for help. What you are doing now is basically asking us to do your work for you.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Stop trying to make this something it's not. It's not about superiority at all. It's about "newbies" using the help from this forum to trick "clients" into thinking they have the requisite knowledge/skills to do a proper job creating their ebooks for them. Plain and simple... "newbies" shouldn't have "clients."

to both points.

I might help a friend format a book... But I would never charge (more than a cup-a joe while I work(and learn) )

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by msmith65

This is precisely the answer I needed at the top of the thread. Thank you.

I do understand the need by some more-advanced students to make themselves feel superior to newbies by criticizing them. That's a basic human weakness, amplified by our classroom model of education. I try hard to resist that temptation in my own field because, in the end, it doesn't really make me feel better, and it can hurt others' feelings.

Superiority? No offense, but not 3 days ago you didn't know how to make a simple horizontal line in HTML, and you're charging a client to make that book?

I'm sorry, but what you're doing contributes to the large number of bad experiences that authors have with so-called "conversion experts," which in turn, reflects on companies like mine, which actually do employ "experts." You've not known how to do some exceedingly fundamental things--like a simple horizontal line--yet you are charging someone money as a purported professional. In my company, people have to know what they're doing before they get paid--they don't learn on the client's dime. If they don't know what they need to, I pay them to learn, before they ever work on a client book.

I get at least 3 books a week from clients who've been burned being someone's PAID guinea pig. What you're doing is wrong, period. If you want to be a paid converter, go convert about 50 Project Guttenberg books, contribute them to MR, and then you'll know what you're doing. Charging some poor schmuck who doesn't know any better to learn on his nickel is not very ethical. I, for one, won't assist you further in what you're doing. I don't mind helping a fellow professional, or kicking around solutions--but I'm not "an advanced student," I do this for a living. And I didn't charge until I'd done dozens of books--nor would I ever have done so.

Diap and Wolfie are right--you're asking US to do your work for you, so you can CHARGE someone. Sorry, but I'm done playing.

Hitch
(Who DOES know how to make ebooks that work)

[Toxaris]

Hear hear!

[Jabby]

I hope that you pros stick to your guns. A am a large buyer of ebooks and far too many of them are so shoddily put together as to destroy any literary value.

When my mother died and I was going through her papers I discovered she was a prolific writer. So, I decided to get into the ebup making business so I could give copies of her work to the rest of the family.

It is pretty clear that I'm no pro, but I know that I could do a better job than many that I've seen—and I would never consider selling my service at my skill level.

Now is a good time to thank so many of you for my continuing education. I am very grateful.

Help stamp out ebook shysters!

Regards - John

[ghostyjack]

Good God! Is this bloke getting paid for this?

I'm an amateur and although I've produced several books here - and many more for myself - I'd never charge someone in a professional capacity for this if I didn't have enough base knowledge to begin with (something I've never done by the way).

I consider myself to be "still learning", I haven't got to grips with SVG yet and manually building an OPF still worries me (that's what Sigil's for). Until I'm comfortable doing this, then I can't even consider asking money from anyone.

It's people like you that give us amateurs a bad name, as I can't consider you a professional.

[JSWolf]

I've done a search for msmith65 and it seems he's involved in a number of threads asking for help.

Please don't give msmith65 any help in any thread since he's clearly misrepresented himself until now. Given the code he posted in the first message in this thread, it's very clear that he doesn't know what he is doing and he's asking us at MR to do his work for him.

[Perkin]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I've done a search for msmith65 and it seems he's involved in a number of threads asking for help.

Please don't give msmith65 any help in any thread since he's clearly misrepresented himself until now. Given the code he posted in the first message in this thread, it's very clear that he doesn't know what he is doing and he's asking us at MR to do his work for him.

Considering it's for a mobi file, strictly speaking it shouldn't even be in the Sigil forum anyway.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Perkin

Considering it's for a mobi file, strictly speaking it shouldn't even be in the Sigil forum anyway.

He is using Sigil to generate an ePub that gets converted to Mobi. He's doing this as pat of his job. He's using MR to help him do his job. He's posting samples of poor code wanting us to clean it up for him so it works. He's getting paid for this. Is he then going to pay us for helping him? Nope. Also, he never said in most of the threads that this was for a client. He's taken advantage of us. I will not be helping him ever again. I just hope nobody else on MR will help him.

Sure, it's OK to come to MR and ask for some help. But tell us up front that it's work related. But don't come here clueless and expect us to do the work.