problems with kindle equivalent of epub3

anacreon · 08-02-2016, 01:36 PM

I wanted to buy Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick's "The Weather in Proust" and didn't dare buy it from Kobo as an epub3 (I never bought one and was afraid to have problems with it), so I bought it from Amazon. When I opened it in the Kindle for PC app, it told me I had bought a "manuel scolaire numérique" and offered to explain the features, but I skipped it since I only do that to get the file on my PC.
The file extension was .azw, and as imported in Calibre it is a HTLMZ file. I converted it to epub. Whatever the format, it is a disaster of a book: all the poems, index etc. are images in a .svg format (never heard of it) and when I try to read it on my kobo (glo HD, F/W 3.15) as a kepub, they are images wider than the device screen (much smaller format in the calibre reader).
Is there anything I can do to make it readable, or should I ask for a refund?

EDIT: furthermore, even when trying to read it on the Kindle app, the notes are not linked.

Cinisajoy · 08-02-2016, 02:33 PM

Return it and find a different copy.

JSWolf · 08-02-2016, 02:36 PM

You can buy the ePub 3 from Kobo and it will work fine on your Kobo. You don't need to buy from Amazon. Besides, there's a very good chance the Amazon version came from that ePub 3.

anacreon · 08-02-2016, 03:01 PM

Thank you. I returned the Kindle .azw and bought the Kobo epub3, which is fine. How could Amazon take a perfectly ordinary book with TOC, text, a few pictures, notes and index and make such a hash of it?! I often buy kindle versions, either because they don't exist elsewhere or because of a significant price difference, and I never saw anything like it - and I do often buy poetry.

wallcraft · 08-02-2016, 03:31 PM

The Kindle version must have been in the TOPAZ format, which is often terrible. They start as scans of the paper book and are usually .tpz or .azw1. They used to be a few percent of Amazon's ebooks in the early days, but I don't come across TOPAZ ebooks very often now.

If it had started from the ePub3 version it would have been an .azw3 and would probably have been fine. Unfortunately, you can't really tell the format before buying, but at least Amazon lets you return ebooks.

These formats are described on the wiki if you are interested.

Cinisajoy · 08-02-2016, 03:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anacreon

Thank you. I returned the Kindle .azw and bought the Kobo epub3, which is fine. How could Amazon take a perfectly ordinary book with TOC, text, a few pictures, notes and index and make such a hash of it?! I often buy kindle versions, either because they don't exist elsewhere or because of a significant price difference, and I never saw anything like it - and I do often buy poetry.

Because Amazon does not check to make sure what the PUBLISHER uploaded is formatted properly. Did you report the book?
It sounds like whoever uploaded it, just scanned it, OCRed it, probably just uploaded the pdf or did a free conversion to epub or word and didn't bother to make sure it rendered good.

Yes, you can upload any of those three formats to Amazon.
Off to grab a sample of that book to see what it looks like on a Kindle.

Cinisajoy · 08-02-2016, 03:48 PM

Cancel that thought. The sample ends at the table of contents. I did look at the publisher. That is one of the known publishers that books don't always render properly.

anacreon · 08-03-2016, 03:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Because Amazon does not check to make sure what the PUBLISHER uploaded is formatted properly. Did you report the book?
It sounds like whoever uploaded it, just scanned it, OCRed it, probably just uploaded the pdf or did a free conversion to epub or word and didn't bother to make sure it rendered good.

I can't blame the publisher, since I've been reading the book as bought from kobo and it works fine.
I did explain the problem to the amazon employee I had to chat with to get a refund - hopefully he reported it.

Cinisajoy · 08-03-2016, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anacreon

I can't blame the publisher, since I've been reading the book as bought from kobo and it works fine.
I did explain the problem to the amazon employee I had to chat with to get a refund - hopefully he reported it.

Maybe he did but I highly doubt it. As soon as he said bye to you, a new problem popped up.
They really don't have the time.

It is a known problem with that publisher and Amazon uploads.

Are you sure the same publisher put it at both places?
It could be the uploaders are different. Matter of fact, I know they are.
IIRC: Kobo has a system to make sure the books will read correctly. I know Amazon doesn't.

Anyway glad you have a readable copy.

08-02-2016, 01:36 PM	#1
anacreon Guru Posts: 976 Karma: 3475832 Join Date: May 2012 Location: France Device: Elipsa, Sage, Libra 2	problems with kindle equivalent of epub3 I wanted to buy Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick's "The Weather in Proust" and didn't dare buy it from Kobo as an epub3 (I never bought one and was afraid to have problems with it), so I bought it from Amazon. When I opened it in the Kindle for PC app, it told me I had bought a "manuel scolaire numérique" and offered to explain the features, but I skipped it since I only do that to get the file on my PC. The file extension was .azw, and as imported in Calibre it is a HTLMZ file. I converted it to epub. Whatever the format, it is a disaster of a book: all the poems, index etc. are images in a .svg format (never heard of it) and when I try to read it on my kobo (glo HD, F/W 3.15) as a kepub, they are images wider than the device screen (much smaller format in the calibre reader). Is there anything I can do to make it readable, or should I ask for a refund? EDIT: furthermore, even when trying to read it on the Kindle app, the notes are not linked. Last edited by anacreon; 08-02-2016 at 02:14 PM.

08-02-2016, 03:01 PM	#4
anacreon Guru Posts: 976 Karma: 3475832 Join Date: May 2012 Location: France Device: Elipsa, Sage, Libra 2	Done and Done Thank you. I returned the Kindle .azw and bought the Kobo epub3, which is fine. How could Amazon take a perfectly ordinary book with TOC, text, a few pictures, notes and index and make such a hash of it?! I often buy kindle versions, either because they don't exist elsewhere or because of a significant price difference, and I never saw anything like it - and I do often buy poetry.

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08-02-2016, 02:33 PM	#2
Cinisajoy Just a Yellow Smiley. Posts: 19,161 Karma: 83862859 Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Texas Device: K4, K5, fire, kobo, galaxy	Return it and find a different copy.

08-02-2016, 02:36 PM	#3
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,763 Karma: 145864619 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	You can buy the ePub 3 from Kobo and it will work fine on your Kobo. You don't need to buy from Amazon. Besides, there's a very good chance the Amazon version came from that ePub 3.

08-02-2016, 03:31 PM	#5
wallcraft reader Posts: 6,977 Karma: 5183568 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Mississippi, USA Device: Kindle 3, Kobo Glo HD	The Kindle version must have been in the TOPAZ format, which is often terrible. They start as scans of the paper book and are usually .tpz or .azw1. They used to be a few percent of Amazon's ebooks in the early days, but I don't come across TOPAZ ebooks very often now. If it had started from the ePub3 version it would have been an .azw3 and would probably have been fine. Unfortunately, you can't really tell the format before buying, but at least Amazon lets you return ebooks. These formats are described on the wiki if you are interested.

08-02-2016, 03:48 PM	#7
Cinisajoy Just a Yellow Smiley. Posts: 19,161 Karma: 83862859 Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Texas Device: K4, K5, fire, kobo, galaxy	Cancel that thought. The sample ends at the table of contents. I did look at the publisher. That is one of the known publishers that books don't always render properly.

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