Kindle formatting problems

Jules · 06-13-2008, 10:58 AM

Following a set of instructions, I have created a word document of a book that I want to submit to kindle. The formatting of the book looks great in the word document, but when we submitted it to Kindle, the formatting got screwed up. All the text is now justified left, there are weird page breaks etc. Anyone know how to keep the book from adjusting it's layout when it is submitted to kindle?

Nate the great · 06-13-2008, 11:11 AM

What exactly do you mean by "submit"? Do you mean you are going to sell an ebook in the Kindle Store? If so, then you should consider getting one of Mobipocket's ebook creation tools. Create the file in html, and then make the ebook yourself.

FYI The Kindle is just another Mobi device, after all.

Jules · 06-13-2008, 11:20 AM

Ok. I found a "help document" online called the Guide to Publishing with Amazon's Digital Text Platform and MS Word. In this document it says to upload the word document to DTP and they convert it to html. So, I took the original pdf file of the book, coverted it to a word document, and fixed they layout etc. Then, someone else published it with DTP. But when we went to preview it, like I said before, the formatting/layout was all screwed up.

daffy4u · 06-13-2008, 11:36 AM

MS Word is an html editor. You just have to save the file with a .html extension.

That said, as pointed out above it would be easier to import the word doc into MobiCreator and convert it into a PRC file.

As for issues on the layout changes, maybe someone will come along and chime in. I'm still working on converting a dictionary with not much success (taking a break for a few days from that project).

Jules · 06-13-2008, 11:38 AM

I found the mobi creator software and that sounds super easy. My one question on that is that once I've created my ebook, how would I sell it on Amazon?

daffy4u · 06-13-2008, 11:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jules

I found the mobi creator software and that sounds super easy. My one question on that is that once I've created my ebook, how would I sell it on Amazon?

http://forums.digitaltextplatform.co...3&categoryID=7

JSWolf · 06-13-2008, 01:19 PM

The problem is that PDF can sometimes give you one hell of a poor conversion when trying to convert to something else. It's just nasty at times. So the onyl way to sort it out is to convert the PDF and then sit there and compare the conversion with the original PDF and fix anything you find wrong. You are best off to convert the PDF to HTML. Then compare that and fix any errors. Next once that is done, fix up the HTML so you can convert that to Mobi with Mobipocket Creator.

06-13-2008, 10:58 AM	#1
Jules Enthusiast Posts: 29 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Cape Cod, Massachusetts Device: Kindle	Kindle formatting problems Following a set of instructions, I have created a word document of a book that I want to submit to kindle. The formatting of the book looks great in the word document, but when we submitted it to Kindle, the formatting got screwed up. All the text is now justified left, there are weird page breaks etc. Anyone know how to keep the book from adjusting it's layout when it is submitted to kindle?

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06-13-2008, 11:11 AM	#2
Nate the great Sir Penguin of Edinburgh Posts: 12,375 Karma: 23555235 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: DC Metro area Device: Shake a stick plus 1	What exactly do you mean by "submit"? Do you mean you are going to sell an ebook in the Kindle Store? If so, then you should consider getting one of Mobipocket's ebook creation tools. Create the file in html, and then make the ebook yourself. FYI The Kindle is just another Mobi device, after all.

06-13-2008, 11:20 AM	#3
Jules Enthusiast Posts: 29 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Cape Cod, Massachusetts Device: Kindle	Ok. I found a "help document" online called the Guide to Publishing with Amazon's Digital Text Platform and MS Word. In this document it says to upload the word document to DTP and they convert it to html. So, I took the original pdf file of the book, coverted it to a word document, and fixed they layout etc. Then, someone else published it with DTP. But when we went to preview it, like I said before, the formatting/layout was all screwed up.

06-13-2008, 11:36 AM	#4
daffy4u I'm Super Kindle-icious Posts: 6,734 Karma: 2434103 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Long Drive, Calinadia Candafornia Device: KDXG, KT, Oasis	MS Word is an html editor. You just have to save the file with a .html extension. That said, as pointed out above it would be easier to import the word doc into MobiCreator and convert it into a PRC file. As for issues on the layout changes, maybe someone will come along and chime in. I'm still working on converting a dictionary with not much success (taking a break for a few days from that project).

06-13-2008, 11:38 AM	#5
Jules Enthusiast Posts: 29 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Cape Cod, Massachusetts Device: Kindle	I found the mobi creator software and that sounds super easy. My one question on that is that once I've created my ebook, how would I sell it on Amazon?

06-13-2008, 01:19 PM	#7
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 80,727 Karma: 150249619 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	The problem is that PDF can sometimes give you one hell of a poor conversion when trying to convert to something else. It's just nasty at times. So the onyl way to sort it out is to convert the PDF and then sit there and compare the conversion with the original PDF and fix anything you find wrong. You are best off to convert the PDF to HTML. Then compare that and fix any errors. Next once that is done, fix up the HTML so you can convert that to Mobi with Mobipocket Creator.