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Old 10-06-2010, 03:23 AM   #1
jgray
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Wired is totally clueless about ebooks
I just read the following article at Wired that supposedly tells you how to create an ebook.

http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Roll_You...tories+2%29%29

One thing they got right--they do recommend using epub. It was obvious even to Wired that everyone but Amazon supports it, as they state in the article.

As for their recommended tools and workflow, if it wasn't so sad, I'd laugh. Using Microsoft Word, start by creating a PDF. Then feed that PDF into Calibre to generate an epub. If you have to use MS Word, at least save to HTML and then use Tidy to strip out all the junk that MS puts in. Why anyone would think that using a PDF as an intermediate step in ebook creation is a good idea, I simply cannot fathom.

I can think of several alternate workflows that make much more sense. And as for software, there are several other programs (free and paid) that would do a better job of creating an epub.

I not only blame Wired for not reviewing this article before publishing it, but the author needs to get some real world experience and along the way, buy a clue.

Joe
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Old 10-06-2010, 04:01 AM   #2
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To be fair, it's a wiki, so that page most likely wasn't written by anybody officially associated with Wired. Wiki articles aren't reviewed as such -- somebody creates a page, somebody else edits it, maybe there might even be an edit war...

Quote:
Welcome to the Wired How-To Wiki, a collaborative site dedicated to the burgeoning DIY culture. ... Anyone can contribute new items or edit an existing item which means that the articles are only as good as you make them.
That said, I don't really care enough to register an account just to edit that page.

(Also, jumping off the ebook topic for a bit, how is this How-To Wiki any different from already established sites such as WikiHow, eHow, or even Everything2? What's the point?)
Last edited by viviena; 10-06-2010 at 04:03 AM.
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Old 10-06-2010, 04:03 AM   #3
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Sadly this sort of misinformation is going to keep on propagating. You can try stop it where you can but it's about as effective as holding your hand up to stop a tidal-wave.

We use LyX here, export to HTML, import to Calibre, nice and easy hew:

Paul.
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Old 10-06-2010, 04:35 AM   #4
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Page is now fixed. I modified the "Starting from Word" to save as filtered HTML, convert using Calibre, and edit/cleanup using Sigil.

Since this is a wiki, any registered Wired user can modify it and it's free to create an account. Better to fix misinformation than complain about it
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Old 10-06-2010, 07:52 AM   #5
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There are still people reading this idiotic website?
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Old 10-06-2010, 07:56 AM   #6
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Originally Posted by toddos View Post
Page is now fixed. I modified the "Starting from Word" to save as filtered HTML, convert using Calibre, and edit/cleanup using Sigil.

Since this is a wiki, any registered Wired user can modify it and it's free to create an account. Better to fix misinformation than complain about it
If you use Sigil anyway, why first convert using Calibre? You can import the html into Sigil. Or are the results less good then?
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Old 10-06-2010, 08:38 AM   #7
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Originally Posted by viviena View Post
To be fair, it's a wiki, so that page most likely wasn't written by anybody officially associated with Wired. ...
Someone has to take responsibility. If Wired hosts, then they are in charge.

##

I wonder if Ken Follett struggled with html, css, and epubs? - Fabe
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Old 10-06-2010, 09:12 AM   #8
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Someone has to take responsibility. If Wired hosts, then they are in charge.
So MobileRead are responsible for any incorrect advice posted here?
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Old 10-06-2010, 10:16 AM   #9
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The best way to create an e-book? Send my Word file and a $60 check to a professional.
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Old 10-06-2010, 11:04 AM   #10
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The best way to create an e-book? Send my Word file and a $60 check to a professional.
L.J.
Thanks for the laugh. Know your limitations.

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Old 10-06-2010, 11:48 AM   #11
Steven Lyle Jordan
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If you use Sigil anyway, why first convert using Calibre? You can import the html into Sigil. Or are the results less good then?
The results are perfect then... that's the way I do it, and I have no problems. ePubs are compliant and pretty.

If you convert your Word file by pasting the content into an HTML editor like Dreamweaver, it removes most of the extraneous Word code in the process. No offense to Calibre, but you don't need it and Sigil, too.
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Old 10-06-2010, 11:57 AM   #12
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The results are perfect then... that's the way I do it, and I have no problems. ePubs are compliant and pretty.

If you convert your Word file by pasting the content into an HTML editor like Dreamweaver, it removes most of the extraneous Word code in the process. No offense to Calibre, but you don't need it and Sigil, too.
Not so with me. I can't get all the diacritics to show, even though I followed all the instructions given here and elsewhere on how to embed fonts into epub and I used Sigil. Guess our language is too complicated for that.
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Old 10-06-2010, 12:03 PM   #13
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Originally Posted by L.J. Sellers View Post
The best way to create an e-book? Send my Word file and a $60 check to a professional.
L.J.
For a lot of folks, that will be the best approach. You want to spend your time writing, and it makes more sense to pay a specialist than to come up the learning curve on the various technologies and do it yourself. You could do it yourself, but the time is better spent getting the new book out the door.
______
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Old 10-06-2010, 04:44 PM   #14
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(Also, jumping off the ebook topic for a bit, how is this How-To Wiki any different from already established sites such as WikiHow, eHow, or even Everything2? What's the point?)
Because the other wiki sites don't generate ad revenue for Wired, so they started their own that does.
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