eBook common sense 101

jonathan2 · 06-20-2011, 11:54 AM

Hi there fellas, I'm new here.

And I joined this forum because I'm just about to finish my eBook I've been working on for quite some time and I thought I get some input from you.

What font and size makes the most sense and is the best in terms of the reading experience? At the moment I'm thinking Calibri size 13 or 14 at 1.5 spacing.

I've been writing the eBook in Word 2010 - but what would be the ideal format to release the eBook in - PDF? ePub seems to be a bit of a hassle to convert to from Word.

Thanks

susan_cassidy · 06-20-2011, 11:59 AM

You should not set the font size specifically, as ereaders allow the user to select the font size. Some ereaders also allow you to set line spacing. I think you may be over-formatting.

Edited to add: PDF is the worst format for ebooks, as it is inflexible. Use ePub and/or Mobi, and that will cover just about all ereaders.

cfrizz · 06-20-2011, 12:05 PM

Use epub, save the word doc as a RTF That will make conversion easy. The size sounds pretty good to me, but then I prefer text on the larger size.

DiapDealer · 06-20-2011, 12:15 PM

Letting the user pick their own font and font-size makes the most sense to me. You worry about everything else.

PDF will get you a lot less love than ePub will.

pdurrant · 06-20-2011, 12:18 PM

You need to generate ePub. And then convert (or let Amazon convert) to Kindle.

fjtorres · 06-20-2011, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonathan2

Hi there fellas, I'm new here.

And I joined this forum because I'm just about to finish my eBook I've been working on for quite some time and I thought I get some input from you.

What font and size makes the most sense and is the best in terms of the reading experience? At the moment I'm thinking Calibri size 13 or 14 at 1.5 spacing.

I've been writing the eBook in Word 2010 - but what would be the ideal format to release the eBook in - PDF? ePub seems to be a bit of a hassle to convert to from Word.

Thanks

What you are contemplating is not an ebook release.
PDF is an archival medium, an electronic paper format, a digital microfiche, and not an ebook format.
And going out of your way to hardwire the display is unnecessary and is not going to endear you to readers. ebook presentation formatting decisions properly belong to the end user. You worry about making sure you have something worthwhile to say and let the reader decide the font and size they like or need. (13 point calibri pdf isn't going to be very readable on a cellphone or even 6" eink readers. And you shut out readers who need large print.)

Creating an ebook from MS Word is quite easy and there are several paths. Mobipocket creator, Kindle create, mobiperl, and Calibre are all viable options that don't require in depth tech expertise.
So is using LibreOffice (free) to open the Word file and the odt2epub plug-in to save it as an epub and it takes but a few minutes. There is no need to hardwire anything that will only end up annoying the reader.

Also, consider that your distribution channels will dictate whether you even need to worry about ebook format; several channels do the end user format conversion on their system. Unless you intend to distribute from your own website worrying about ebook conversion may be redundant.

jonathan2 · 06-20-2011, 02:52 PM

Cheers for the replies, great answers - got me thinking.

PDF idea - scratched

Ahh, see I didn't know ePub allowed the font to be changed (but I realised that one could change size in digital editions after having a second look).

I'm going to distribute it from my website, so I want create the best reading experience possible.

Hellmark · 06-20-2011, 05:27 PM

I personally use OpenOffice (well, technically now LibreOffice, but it is the same thing, just a new name due to the Oracle buyout of Sun, and the people at Oracle being jerks.) for writing. It is free, and has the ePub export function. Usually there after I go through and make sure all is arranged well, in Sigil (another free app). Sigil is meant just for working with ePubs. You can work directly in it if you want as well, since it is a pretty decent word processor.

As far as PDF goes, it isn't a true ebook format, and people with eReaders will avoid them, but for people who are new to ebooks, or are in certain circumstances, they will still get PDF. I'd still have it as an option, but you'll probably find that there will be fewer downloads of PDF than Mobi or ePub.

I personally use Calibre (free ebook manager) to convert to different formats. You may want to use this to convert to mobi for the Kindle users.

JSWolf · 06-20-2011, 05:32 PM

Word is the worst thing you can do to an eBook. But because you've made the choice to infect your eBook with Word, you'll just have to deal and clean the infection that is Word when you do convert to ePub.

And yes, you do have to convert to ePub. Then from there, you take the ePub once cleaned up after being converted and you convert to Mobipocket. But you will have to clean up ALL the infection that is Word before you convert the ePub to Mobipocket.

This is not the ideal solution, but given that it's probably too late to do it any other way, you'll just have to spend a good amount of time cleaning up after Word.

JSWolf · 06-20-2011, 05:33 PM

eBook common sense 101:

Lesson 1. Never use Word.

jonathan2 · 06-20-2011, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

eBook common sense 101:

Lesson 1. Never use Word.

Hehe, gotcha! So what processor would you recommend - Open Office?

DiapDealer · 06-20-2011, 06:23 PM

Don't sweat the Word thing too much. That's just Jon's personal little crusade. He wants to be able to take apart everyone's epubs and have perfect code waiting for him.

As long as you save it (from word) as filtered html you should be alright. Word does have a tendency to add a lot of unnecessary crap to the HTML, but it's not hard to clean it up manually. If you're used to Word... use Word. No need to reinvent the wheel if you're not so inclined.

Hellmark · 06-20-2011, 06:27 PM

Word often can double or triple the size of an ebook. It adds a TON of stuff to the HTML that isn't needed.

When I used to do web design for my high school (about 10 years ago), we'd be given word documents all the time to put on the webpage, and we'd first export to HTML, then go through and clean the HTML up. For instance, Word would output HTML that would ordinarily be a 90kb. After going through and removing the junk that Word added, it would be 1 or 2 kb. It is still that way, despite all the improvements they've made.

I'd recommend LibreOffice (like I said, that's the new name for OpenOffice), or Sigil. Both are free, so go give them both a whirl and see which you prefer.

EowynCarter · 06-21-2011, 08:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonathan2

Hehe, gotcha! So what processor would you recommend - Open Office?

Open office do have to conversion to ePub, and some software like jutho can import .odt.

Word 2007 and 2010 are rather good, but i'm not sure about docx to ePub / mobi conversion. Is there some tools for that ?

Sigil is very good as ePub editor, but lack lot of stuff as word processor. (spellchecker for one).

VydorScope · 06-21-2011, 09:50 AM

Eh, I use Word 2011 and save as RTF, then let Calbri make ePub if I do the ePub myself. Otherwise I have Word 2011 save to .doc and send it to Lulu, Smashwords and Amazon and let them do the conversion. IME the .doc format is the most universally accepted one for having just one file to send to everyone to convert to what ever they do.

06-20-2011, 11:54 AM	#1
jonathan2 Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: none	eBook common sense 101 Hi there fellas, I'm new here. And I joined this forum because I'm just about to finish my eBook I've been working on for quite some time and I thought I get some input from you. What font and size makes the most sense and is the best in terms of the reading experience? At the moment I'm thinking Calibri size 13 or 14 at 1.5 spacing. I've been writing the eBook in Word 2010 - but what would be the ideal format to release the eBook in - PDF? ePub seems to be a bit of a hassle to convert to from Word. Thanks

06-20-2011, 02:52 PM	#7
jonathan2 Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: none	Cheers for the replies, great answers - got me thinking. PDF idea - scratched Ahh, see I didn't know ePub allowed the font to be changed (but I realised that one could change size in digital editions after having a second look). I'm going to distribute it from my website, so I want create the best reading experience possible. Last edited by jonathan2; 06-20-2011 at 03:06 PM.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
A Colossal Failure of Common Sense	randyflycaster	Reading Recommendations	0	03-29-2011 09:22 AM
Linux 101 Hacks - Download Free eBook	PaweL_L	Deals and Resources (No Self-Promotion or Affiliate Links)	0	02-13-2009 08:11 AM
The death of common sense.	radioflyertoo	Lounge	49	11-06-2008 06:54 AM
eBook Readers 101	Gideon	Deals and Resources (No Self-Promotion or Affiliate Links)	5	01-29-2008 06:18 AM

06-20-2011, 11:59 AM	#2
susan_cassidy Wizard Posts: 2,251 Karma: 3720310 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: USA Device: Kindle, iPad (not used much for reading)	You should not set the font size specifically, as ereaders allow the user to select the font size. Some ereaders also allow you to set line spacing. I think you may be over-formatting. Edited to add: PDF is the worst format for ebooks, as it is inflexible. Use ePub and/or Mobi, and that will cover just about all ereaders.

06-20-2011, 12:05 PM	#3
cfrizz Wizard Posts: 1,566 Karma: 36389706 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Quincy, MA Device: Samsung 54A, Kobo Libra H2O, Samsung S6 Lite	Use epub, save the word doc as a RTF That will make conversion easy. The size sounds pretty good to me, but then I prefer text on the larger size.

06-20-2011, 12:15 PM	#4
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,394 Karma: 203720150 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	Letting the user pick their own font and font-size makes the most sense to me. You worry about everything else. PDF will get you a lot less love than ePub will.

06-20-2011, 12:18 PM	#5
pdurrant The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠 Posts: 73,707 Karma: 315126578 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Norfolk, England Device: Kindle Oasis	You need to generate ePub. And then convert (or let Amazon convert) to Kindle.

06-20-2011, 05:27 PM	#8
Hellmark Wizard Posts: 2,592 Karma: 4290425 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Foristell, Missouri, USA Device: Nokia N800, PRS-505, Nook STR Glowlight, Kindle 3, Kobo Libra 2	I personally use OpenOffice (well, technically now LibreOffice, but it is the same thing, just a new name due to the Oracle buyout of Sun, and the people at Oracle being jerks.) for writing. It is free, and has the ePub export function. Usually there after I go through and make sure all is arranged well, in Sigil (another free app). Sigil is meant just for working with ePubs. You can work directly in it if you want as well, since it is a pretty decent word processor. As far as PDF goes, it isn't a true ebook format, and people with eReaders will avoid them, but for people who are new to ebooks, or are in certain circumstances, they will still get PDF. I'd still have it as an option, but you'll probably find that there will be fewer downloads of PDF than Mobi or ePub. I personally use Calibre (free ebook manager) to convert to different formats. You may want to use this to convert to mobi for the Kindle users.

06-20-2011, 05:32 PM	#9
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,249 Karma: 145488788 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Word is the worst thing you can do to an eBook. But because you've made the choice to infect your eBook with Word, you'll just have to deal and clean the infection that is Word when you do convert to ePub. And yes, you do have to convert to ePub. Then from there, you take the ePub once cleaned up after being converted and you convert to Mobipocket. But you will have to clean up ALL the infection that is Word before you convert the ePub to Mobipocket. This is not the ideal solution, but given that it's probably too late to do it any other way, you'll just have to spend a good amount of time cleaning up after Word.

06-20-2011, 05:33 PM	#10
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,249 Karma: 145488788 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	eBook common sense 101: Lesson 1. Never use Word.

06-20-2011, 06:23 PM	#12
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,394 Karma: 203720150 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	Don't sweat the Word thing too much. That's just Jon's personal little crusade. He wants to be able to take apart everyone's epubs and have perfect code waiting for him. As long as you save it (from word) as filtered html you should be alright. Word does have a tendency to add a lot of unnecessary crap to the HTML, but it's not hard to clean it up manually. If you're used to Word... use Word. No need to reinvent the wheel if you're not so inclined.

06-20-2011, 06:27 PM	#13
Hellmark Wizard Posts: 2,592 Karma: 4290425 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Foristell, Missouri, USA Device: Nokia N800, PRS-505, Nook STR Glowlight, Kindle 3, Kobo Libra 2	Word often can double or triple the size of an ebook. It adds a TON of stuff to the HTML that isn't needed. When I used to do web design for my high school (about 10 years ago), we'd be given word documents all the time to put on the webpage, and we'd first export to HTML, then go through and clean the HTML up. For instance, Word would output HTML that would ordinarily be a 90kb. After going through and removing the junk that Word added, it would be 1 or 2 kb. It is still that way, despite all the improvements they've made. I'd recommend LibreOffice (like I said, that's the new name for OpenOffice), or Sigil. Both are free, so go give them both a whirl and see which you prefer.

06-21-2011, 09:50 AM	#15
VydorScope Wizard Posts: 3,418 Karma: 35207650 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: iPad	Eh, I use Word 2011 and save as RTF, then let Calbri make ePub if I do the ePub myself. Otherwise I have Word 2011 save to .doc and send it to Lulu, Smashwords and Amazon and let them do the conversion. IME the .doc format is the most universally accepted one for having just one file to send to everyone to convert to what ever they do.

Advert

Advert