Errors in Baen 's eBooks?

JSWolf · 07-05-2009, 05:01 PM

I'm just about finished with On Basilisk Station and I've found a number of errors. It seems there are a lot of missing section breaks. Is this sort of thing common for Baen's eBooks?

Ham88 · 07-05-2009, 05:22 PM

I noticed this also but at the time I assumed it was my jetbook, apparently not.

Nate the great · 07-05-2009, 05:29 PM

A lot of Baen books use blank space as a scene break. I don't like it either.

JSWolf · 07-05-2009, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nate the great

A lot of Baen books use blank space as a scene break. I don't like it either.

In On Basilisk Station, there is the blank space and the three asterisks both used. But there are a number of places where there is no section break and it's obvious there should be something there. I am going to take the book from the library (I hope tomorrow) and have a go and see how badly they missed the section breaks.

Why is it some books use blank space and non-blank space to denote section breaks in the same book? I did try the RTF and HTML and found some of the same missing section breaks. So it does seem consistent.

JSWolf · 07-05-2009, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ham88

I noticed this also but at the time I assumed it was my jetbook, apparently not.

Your Jetbook is fine, it's the book that's off.

slayda · 07-05-2009, 09:25 PM

May be a different problem but I've found that pbooks I've scanned seem to lose the "blank space" section breaks and it is difficult to go back & fix them without a complete proof read (and even then it is not easy). I much prefer the * * * as section break.

wayrad · 07-05-2009, 09:54 PM

When I was helping convert Mayer Brenner's Dance of Gods series to Palm DOC format, I noticed that the Word file for that also used both the blank space and the three asterisks in different places...it turned out it had been scanned from hard copy, in which the asterisks were used when the scene break came at the end of a page, with blank space being used elsewhere. Maybe this is something similar?

Andybaby · 07-05-2009, 10:21 PM

it has to do with the format. I found some formats did the section break, while most lost some of them.

I wish they all had the ***** breaks. line breaks arent as good.

HarryT · 07-06-2009, 02:50 AM

Some books use blanks and "* * *" for different purposes. Eg, LOTR uses a blank to mean "same scene, but we're skipping forward in time", and "* * *" to mean "change of scene".

DanielCoffey · 07-06-2009, 03:15 AM

There are may missing section breaks in the On Basilisk Station. I am reading it in .lrf format myself. Maybe notify them citing an example?

I have noticed that there are occasions where rtf2lrf misses section breaks but I cannot pin it down in a repeatable fashion. Using lrf2lrs and manually putting them back in with a double CR tab in the correct place) then lrs2lrf again sorts the problem for me but we shouldn't *have* to do it.

pdurrant · 07-06-2009, 03:58 AM

An email to Arnold Bailey who runs webscription.net should get things fixed up. But only if you're specific about faults. Referring to the HTML chapter by URL is a good way to specify where problems are in the text.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I'm just about finished with On Basilisk Station and I've found a number of errors. It seems there are a lot of missing section breaks. Is this sort of thing common for Baen's eBooks?

AlexBell · 07-06-2009, 04:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I'm just about finished with On Basilisk Station and I've found a number of errors. It seems there are a lot of missing section breaks. Is this sort of thing common for Baen's eBooks?

I have several other books from Baen, and haven't noticed any problems.

Regards, Alex

pdurrant · 07-06-2009, 05:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

It seems there are a lot of missing section breaks. Is this sort of thing common for Baen's eBooks?

I forgot to address this part of your question.

On some of the back catalogue it's quite common for there to be OCR typos when the books first go up. Luckily, people report these to Arnold and after a month or two the books are clean. Section breaks are obviously not as easily spotted as typos, so I'm not very surprised that they've persisted.

For new books, I find the quality is better than other publishers. And if there are systematic errors caused by some conversion SNAFU, Arnold fixes them quickly.

With webscription.net, concise and precise reports of problems with ebooks do result in the problems getting fixed.

JSWolf · 07-06-2009, 06:15 AM

Once I actually A/B the eBook vs the pBook, I'll keep a note of all the errors and then I can write them up to be fixed.

Dr. Drib · 07-06-2009, 08:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nate the great

A lot of Baen books use blank space as a scene break. I don't like it either.

....although, this may be the intent of the author. It just depends.

On the book(s) in question, I suppose one could check the printed copy with the ebook copy. Or better yet, ask the author.

Don

07-05-2009, 05:01 PM	#1
JSWolf Mobile Reader Geek Posts: 34,205 Karma: 13801264 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Sony Reader PRS-650, iPad	Errors in Baen 's eBooks? I'm just about finished with On Basilisk Station and I've found a number of errors. It seems there are a lot of missing section breaks. Is this sort of thing common for Baen's eBooks? __________________ Jon 2013 Reading List

07-05-2009, 05:29 PM	#3
Nate the great Sir Penguin of Edinburgh Posts: 10,024 Karma: 2422819 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: DC Metro area Device: Shake a stick plus 1	A lot of Baen books use blank space as a scene break. I don't like it either. __________________ The Digital Reader blog - www.the-digital-reader.com

07-05-2009, 09:25 PM	#6
slayda Retired & reading more! Posts: 2,700 Karma: 871861 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: North Alabama, USA Device: EZ Reader, Kindle 1, NookColor, iPad 4, iPhone 5	May be a different problem but I've found that pbooks I've scanned seem to lose the "blank space" section breaks and it is difficult to go back & fix them without a complete proof read (and even then it is not easy). I much prefer the * * * as section break. __________________ "People generally see what they look for and hear what they listen for" - Harper Lee

07-06-2009, 02:50 AM	#9
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 54,658 Karma: 26165759 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Touch, PW, Fire HD, iPad 3, iPhone 4, Samsung Tab 2 7 + More	Some books use blanks and "* * " for different purposes. Eg, LOTR uses a blank to mean "same scene, but we're skipping forward in time", and " * " to mean "change of scene". __________________ Harry Currently proofreading The Poison Belt*, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

07-06-2009, 06:15 AM	#14
JSWolf Mobile Reader Geek Posts: 34,205 Karma: 13801264 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Sony Reader PRS-650, iPad	Once I actually A/B the eBook vs the pBook, I'll keep a note of all the errors and then I can write them up to be fixed. __________________ Jon 2013 Reading List

07-05-2009, 05:22 PM	#2
Ham88 Zealot Posts: 134 Karma: 994 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Maine, United States Device: Ectaco Jetbook	I noticed this also but at the time I assumed it was my jetbook, apparently not.

07-05-2009, 09:54 PM	#7
wayrad Fanatic Posts: 541 Karma: 1017253 Join Date: May 2008 Location: USA Device: Droid Incredible, NookColor	When I was helping convert Mayer Brenner's Dance of Gods series to Palm DOC format, I noticed that the Word file for that also used both the blank space and the three asterisks in different places...it turned out it had been scanned from hard copy, in which the asterisks were used when the scene break came at the end of a page, with blank space being used elsewhere. Maybe this is something similar?

07-05-2009, 10:21 PM	#8
Andybaby Wizard Posts: 1,279 Karma: 2683 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: New York Device: PRS-700	it has to do with the format. I found some formats did the section break, while most lost some of them. I wish they all had the ***** breaks. line breaks arent as good.

07-06-2009, 03:15 AM	#10
DanielCoffey Connoisseur Posts: 66 Karma: 26 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Edinburgh, UK Device: Sony PRS-505	There are may missing section breaks in the On Basilisk Station. I am reading it in .lrf format myself. Maybe notify them citing an example? I have noticed that there are occasions where rtf2lrf misses section breaks but I cannot pin it down in a repeatable fashion. Using lrf2lrs and manually putting them back in with a double CR tab in the correct place) then lrs2lrf again sorts the problem for me but we shouldn't have to do it.

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