Lots of questions there Hitch
.
First, yes I'm publishing my books, not aiming to become an expert. The luxury of total immersion isn't available.
I'm pleased with myself for making the effort rather than reaching for conversion programs, but yes the result is going to be patchy.
I worked to learn enough html to mark up a manuscript from scratch and pass checks. I learned enough css to get by but then made the mistake of inspecting the products of major publishers imagining they'd show the best approaches. Now, of course, I understand that they're likely to be poor examples, and definitely not right to borrow from.
As a general point, the typical author new to e-publishing has three choices: learn to do it from scratch (and carry a heavy cost in time and frustration), use conversion programs with all the negatives; or hire somebody to do it (and never understand what they're doing).
The terrific help that you guys give makes the first option just about bearable. Do I regret going at it this way? No, because I'm publishing a series so the investment will get spread over a number of books.
I'm involved in a lot of discussion with fellow authors atm about this very subject. I guess the only thing we all agree on is that writing the books comes first. That's where most of our limited time should go.
The biggest advance for me in this process, as it happens, is that I 've probably learned enough to hire somebody else and communicate sensibly.
Sorry about the dissertation, but I'm very grateful for the help and aware that we're all part of a true revolution here. Love it.