Quote:
Originally Posted by rickwilmath
Thanks for the help. Your ideas make sense to me and I would like to deal with the problems now rather than later.
Can you recommend publishing software that will do a good job of creating a .mobi ebook with flowable text?
I am new to ebooks but have some experience with html but not much.
|
Well...I mean, you're kind of asking for a unicorn. The only piece of software out there that's purpose-built is Jutoh, which is something like a word-processor that makes ebooks. It has a learning curve.
The other option is of course, InDesign. However, there's also a steep learning curve, and you'd end up where you are now--with an output ePUB that you can't really use, as-is. My firm uses INDD for our print books--and then we export the HTML/ePUBs (reflowable), strip out all the cruft, in HTML, and then recode them. I mean, the advantage of INDD is that we know all the content is there, and we can map them to our existing CSS, but that's about IT.
You can write in Word, export to HTML, and do the same thing.
One other possibility is AWP--Atlantis Word Processor. It's cheapish, too, aroun $45. You can do your book in that, and it will export a moderately decent reflowable ePUB for you.
The one other thing I wanted to say--make sure that you understand the realities of reflowable eBooks, before you get started. you said that you're doing a book on Landscape Design--and I'm a bit concerned that you might be wishing for print capabilities that won't be doable in ebooks. Do some research, before you start investing in software, etc.
One last option that I almost forgot about--there's an app called Kindle Create, put out by Amazon--you can put a Word file in there, and make a reflowable ebook. You can also put a PDF in there, and make a Print Replica ebook. It's very DIY, push-button-y kind of thing. I will warn you that you need to have a VERY clean, ready-to-go Word file, before you pour that into KC, from what the KC experts say. (We don't use that, as we code by hand, so...).
Hope that helps. The short of it is, there really isn't any "type here, output ebooks there" sort of thing, other than Jutoh. And if you need fixed-layout, Jutoh won't do it for you, either. Make SURE you've looked into what ebooks do/don't do, and decide which way you're going to go, before you make another pass at this.
Sorry for any typos. I started my office day today at 4:20am and now it's...12:40 a.m. Hell, at this point, I should just stay up, but I'm getting too old for that s**t. Anyway, tired hands and brain, so forgive the crap typing.
Hitch