[neilmarr]

If you snatch any paperback novel from your shelf, Byron, you will find that the first word of a chapter's opening paragraph is kept tight to left margin, all following paragraphs have the opening word consistently indented.

When a new section is introduced within a chapter (what you accurately call a scene break). An extra line space is made and the new section starts with first word of first chapter tight to left margin. This makes the change of scene simply but clearly obvious Occasionally, a publisher might also use a separating divice like the below (but centred). We've recently used, rather than asterisks, a lightning bolt in a book called 'Notes from the Lightning God', a tiny kangaroo in a novel set in the Australian outback, and a quill pen in an upcoming historical fiction about Shakespeare.

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Many publishing houses (like my own) follow this traditional print layout in ebook forms as well as in hardback and paperback.

Some, however, (especially self-publishing authors, I notice) opt for a different layout pattern in ebooks, which is a line break between each paragraph with the opening word of all paragraphs tight to left. Just like the presentation of this forum post, for instance.

This means that extra line space or a separation device must be used to define a news section/scene break. And I've noticed in several ebooks I've looked at that, without a separation device, the extra line breaks are easly lost and a chapter becomes a confusing mess.

Personally, I prefer traditional print layour in my ebook reading. After a lifetime of treebooks, there are some aspects of the old technology I like to keep in place. Although I'm happy not to have text fully justified, I much prefer standard layout of chapters and sections as has stood for a century or more after many previous centuries of experimentation to achieve the best form for attractive pages and clear reading.

Best wishes. Neil