Quote:
Originally Posted by intrstngtimes
Oh, to clarify, I did not use Sigil - I turned my book into an html document (as per the method Guido Henkel describes) and then used Calibre to convert it into an epub.
It was the Calibre-produced epub that I uploaded to Amazon, only to encounter all the woes specified above.
And while doing even more research about this issue, I discovered this from Aaron Shepard: |
It doesn't matter if you used Calibre, Sigil, or any other method of creating an ePUB. When you load an ePUB to the KDP, it tends to have these issues surrounding the SRL. The "old" method of using "start" doesn't work (reliably) and is outdated in terms of the HTML standards.
Amazon made a change to how they processed and set the SRL (Start Reading Location) several years ago. I don't remember which year it was now--perhaps notjohn shall--but I had a bit battle with Amazon when it changed. I think it was the winter of 2012-13. I specifically remember that this was January--after the big fall-Winter push. We had a client with a prologue in which he gave clues to an actual (real-life) treasure hunt. Long and short of it, the SRL we'd set (using the text guide item) worked perfectly fine in the built mobi, but was altered after loading to the KDP. But on sale--nope, it opened at Ch. 1, completely passing-by the prologue and the oh-so-valuable treasure hunt clue. Our client was, suffice to say, beside himself.
Spoiler:
n.b.: Amazon refused to play ball on it, at that time; we ended up moving he prologue AFTER the TOC, which incensed the client, but at least the SRL was in the right place.
Can't win 'em all.
Amazon advised that due to the rather large number of problems that htey had with Word-file uploaders not being able to figure out how to set the "start" location bookmark, they'd changed everything so that now they, Amazon, would set (and possibly override) the SRL in the PW (Publishing Workflow) which--
pay attention--occurs AFTER you've pushed the "save and publish" button. Not during the pre-upload on sections 1 & 2.
This means that you cannot assume that the SRL that you see, at Step 7, is the RIGHT SRL that will display after the book goes on sale.
When Amazon made the change, they determined that
ALL books would start at the first full text page after the TOC--period. There is no really good, reliable method, for a DIYer to override the SRL that is displayed at Step 7, or subsequently.
I can say, however, that if you want the book to have a LITB of Chapter 1, you stand a very good chance of it doing just that. If you put the book up for sale, and the 'for-sale' copy has a SRL other than that, email Amazon at the KDP, and they'll re-set it for you.
I hope that this assuages your concerns.
Hitch