Quote:
Originally Posted by djulian
I appreciate the response--is there some benefit to creating an ePub first and converting to a Mobi rather than the other way around?
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There are a couple of advantages:
- ePub files are .zip archives and are pretty much compatible with .mobi source files because they're based on the same standard
- if you edit your ePub with Sigil, you can easily check the ePub for syntax errors, before you convert it to the mobi format and Sigil will fix some problems without you even knowing it.
- Kindlegen, the official Amazon Kindle compiler, accepts ePub files
There are only 2 disadvantages for .mobi authors that I could think of.
- Sigil does not create an inline TOC (an .html page with links to the chapters) because ePub readers don't use them. However, if you convert the ePub with calibre, it'll generate the inline TOC for you.
- Sigil requires at least some very basic HTML and CSS skills and knowledge about the general structure of ebooks
However, there are many ways to create a .mobi file and using an ePub as an intermediate step is only one of them. I'm sure that somewhere hidden in the depths of Calibre there's a setting that'll allow you to specify an .html file in your book as the target for the Start page.
Therefore it couldn't hurt to ask this question also in the Calibre forum.
Quote:
Originally Posted by djulian
Perhaps it's foolish to start w/ HTML?
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Actually, that's what many ebook designers do. They create .html files add them to a Sigil and then customize the book.