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This is a great discussion and thanks to all who have shared their time and expertise. I appreciate your point about the usefulness of learning at least the basics of HTML and I plan to do that. But for now, I've spent far too much time and effort to start over again with this novel. Using the original source Word manuscript formatted for submission to agents, I've got the .mobi and .epub conversions done and uploaded to KDP and PubIt with no major problems.
Early in the process I was advised not to use multiple hard returns to space chapter headings down from the top of the page or to add space between the heading and the main body text. This may be an issue only with Word, but that method can create unwanted gaps in the text. The solution is to use the Heading 1 style and specify the amount of space above and below the heading you want in the paragraph spacing section of the format menu. This works exactly as intended.
The impetus for starting this thread came from using the Calbre ebook viewer and noticing that while the .epub version includes the page breaks between the last page of a chapter and the first page of the next, the .mobi version does not. It shows the space above and below the chapter headings, but does not shift the chapter heading to a new page. I'm using Kindle for Mac and Adobe Digital Editions to preview the files before uploading to KDP and PubIt, and both versions do include the page breaks as I inserted them in the source Word document.
It occurred to me that without the page breaks, the spacing between chapters would be uniform throughout the ebook. This would avoid any mostly blank pages, and I wondered what forum members thought about using that as a formatting technique. Subsequent to starting this thread, a writer friend suggested that new-page chapter starts were important because they ease navigation using the table of contents and provide a definitive visual clue to the reader.
The issue Word's widow/orphan control, however, carries more than one implication. If I let Word decide whether to extend the text to the bottom of one page or leave the last line or two blank, it can create uneven page bottoms. The fact that font size can be changed on the e-reader trumps any efforts I might make to avoid mostly blank pages prior to chapter starts, but forcing the text to fill every page with the same number of lines is under my control if I turn the Word function off.
That said, it's important to note that viewing the files with Kindle for Mac and Adobe Digital Editions can artificially highlight both of these issues if I use full screen and/or multiple column options because it puts pages side-by-side rather than one at a time. With that in mind, I think it's best to use the page breaks and let the last pages of chapters do as they will.
I realize this is a Calibre forum, but in response to Ransom regarding print books, I've been told by more than one graphic designer that last pages of chapters with only a few words or even a line or two are considered "amateur." That's what I am, of course, but I'd rather not advertise it.
The solution is to manipulate the text on the previous page to eliminate the small amount of text that wraps to the mostly empty last page with small, unapparent changes in font size, leading, kerning, or margins. I've also found that any paragraphs in the previous chapter whose last lines contain only a word or two can usually be edited to eliminate the last line, and each one of those "pulls" a line off the last page of the chapter.
Thanks again to all who participated in this thread. I've learned a lot and really appreciate your time and expertise.
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