Quote:
Originally Posted by Micah
When we "set" margins, we don't actually futz with the publisher's CSS, we just "inset" the whole page. The "smallest" margins are only a few pixels inset. So it is likey the formatting of the books. We might need to be a bit more "aggressive" when a user turns off "Use Publisher Formatting" which currently would maybe be better labled "Over-write specific, standard CSS selectors and hope the publisher did not get fancy with CSS selector names"
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As a book publisher who has done a lot of research into ePub formatting, I know that there are a lot of poorly formatted ePubs out there--including many from the Big Five publishers (who are rushing to get their backlist into ebook format). Ebook formatting is often in the hands of traditional-book designers, who don't fully understand HTML and CSS.
I read ebooks on multiple devices and platforms. One thing I've found is that the more settings I'm able to override, the better my reading experience is. No publisher can guess what type size will be comfortable for me on my iPhone, for example, and should not try to specify one. Same with margins. I'm currently trying to read a HarperCollins ebook using Bluefire on an iPhone, and at a small type size and "no" margin, I'm still getting wide margins--and only averaging 4 words per line, which is too few for sustained reading.