EPUB to .mobi loses blank lines

[Jim Aikin]

I have a novel (that is, I've written a novel) that needs blank lines in the middle of chapters (to set off short notes that the characters are writing to one another). Exporting the novel from Scrivener to EPUB retains the blank lines. I know this because I'm using Sigil to get rid of the table of contents. (Scrivener can't be prevented from creating the TOC.) Looking at the html in Sigil, I see the empty lines -- they're paragraphs with a single non-breaking space character.

However, when I use Calibre to convert the EPUB to .mobi and then load the .mobi into my Kindle app (in Windows 10) the blank line spaces are gone. I don't know if this is an issue with the Calibre conversion, or if the Kindle app is just ignoring the html that it thinks isn't important.

I can fix the problem in a messy way by inserting a single period in each of the "empty" paragraphs. This looks ugly, clumsy, and amateurish, but it's better than having the empty line spaces disappear.

Is there a better way? Have others encountered this problem when Calibre converts to .mobi? What else might I try in order to try to fix it? I'm not enough of an html wizard to try adding a .css stylesheet, and anyway I don't know that a stylesheet would do any good.

[kovidgoyal]

Convert to azw3 instead of mobi for higher fidelity.

[Jim Aikin]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Convert to azw3 instead of mobi for higher fidelity.

Yes, that does work better. Thanks! Two questions remain, though -- will Amazon KDP allow me to use an azw3 instead of mobi for my e-book upload, and will the azw3 be compatible with all Kindle devices?

I don't know a lot about this. I haven't tried uploading the azw3 to KDP yet, because I'm still tidying up a few loose ends. Maybe it will be super-easy, no problems at all. But I'd like to get it right.

[kovidgoyal]

No for KDP you should just upload EPUB.

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by Jim Aikin

Yes, that does work better. Thanks! Two questions remain, though -- will Amazon KDP allow me to use an azw3 instead of mobi for my e-book upload, and will the azw3 be compatible with all Kindle devices?

You cannot upload either MOBI or AZW3 to KDP for a reflowable book. MOBI was previously allowed, but is no longer for good reasons. AZW3 was never possible for KDP.

Your best choice is to upload an EPUB file. At a minimum you should see how it looks in Amazon's Kindle Previewer with Enhanced Typesetting. A more professional approach would be to also use Amazon's tools (not calibre) to produce a Master MOBI (MOBI7 + KF8) and see how that looks on various actual Kindle devices.

[Jim Aikin]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

No for KDP you should just upload EPUB.

I think you're almost certainly right ... but the Kindle app in my Windows PC won't load an EPUB file. This suggests that KDP may be doing some kind of conversion of their own, internally, after the upload.

Ah, well. I'll give it a try and see what happens. The nice part about KDP is, I can always upload a revised file if the first one isn't looking right.

Thanks for all your help -- and thanks for the great software!

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by Jim Aikin

I think you're almost certainly right ... but the Kindle app in my Windows PC won't load an EPUB file. This suggests that KDP may be doing some kind of conversion of their own, internally, after the upload.

Yes, Amazon converts the EPUB you upload to a variety of proprietary formats (MOBI, KF8, KFX, KCR, AZK) for delivery to their various apps and devices.

[Jim Aikin]

Originally Posted by jhowell

Yes, Amazon converts the EPUB you upload to a variety of proprietary formats (MOBI, KF8, KFX, KCR, AZK) for delivery to their various apps and devices.

Returning to my original question, then ... How do I insure that there will be blank lines between a few selected paragraphs in my file? This is essential -- I have to have it.

There are other situations where I can put three asterisks as separators between scenes. That works perfectly. But the blank lines I'm talking about are not scene separators. They're used to set off the text of a short note written from one character to another. This material simply can't be run in as a normal paragraph within the scene, not even if it's in italic. It's already in italic, and that's not sufficient by itself to create the sense that the text is part of a handwritten note.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Jim Aikin

when I use Calibre to convert the EPUB to .mobi

This is not the way to test for Kindle compatibility. Use the Amazon supplied tools.

[Quoth]

Use extra paragraph styles with top and/or bottom margins to have "blank lines". Never enter a blank line for an ebook or a paper book.

I do this:
Swap all tabs to something else. Tabs are for typewriters or perhaps programming indents (but some argue for spaces).
Swap all two spaces with one space till no more found (removes ALL more than 1 space)
Switch on Regular Expressions and search & replace each of these with nothing:
[ ]$ (Removes a trailing space)
^[ ] (Removes leading space)
^$ (Removes empty blank lines)

Tables are OK for paper and can be a problem for ebooks
Never any bullet symbols or numbers automatically on Lists. Explicitly type the required character.
Include and subset any fonts, but check a mobi with no fonts looks OK on a real Kindle.
Only upload epub
If using LIbreOffice, edit in odt and an extra Save As in Docx for Calibre.
Always make docx-> epub2 in Calibre, then remove docx, check ebub in Calibre Editor (Book Check & Epub Check).
Check entire TOC and all in text links works using Calibre Viewer.
Make other formats from epub2