Free and bargain romance ebooks + Discussion January 2014

[sqdancer]

Originally Posted by Blossom

On Sale @ Amazon $0.99

Sandra Marton Classic Box Set
Note: These are old Harlequin Presents back titles.
You get 5 of them for under a buck! What a deal! I wouldn't call these novels though they are category romance length and HP's are pretty short compare to other HQ imprints.

For anyone who might have been considering getting it at Kobo, it's one of those ones without a download option (i.e. only the kepub format).

[NixLapi]

Rock star (rocker chick this time) freebie:

See You at the Show by Michelle Betham
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005KLVNWS

[Jane A]

Originally Posted by Blossom

If you want to see what they look like Open Library has a ton of these type scans.

I have downloaded some in pdf, is that what you're talking about?

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by Jane A

I have downloaded some in pdf, is that what you're talking about?

Yes the pdf are examples of what those scanning services do. The epub are the scanning service idea of OCR which is really bad.

[Blossom]

New batch of Wild Rose Press!


Get 'em here!

[Difflugia]

Originally Posted by Blossom

So you remember that horrible Bobbi Smith topaz book Forbidden Fires I bought for 99 cents? After working on it all yesterday I now have a good readable copy and learned alot in the process.

First off it was a PITA to do but I feel like I've conquered the format now.

I first had to extract the SVG images, then use Notepad+ batch replace to remove the scripts from each page. I use this post as a guide only doing the first 3 steps. I use Acrobat 8 to merge the pdfs files then crop them. I then ran it through OCR software. I use Able2Extract (which isn't free but cheaper than ABBYY) I find it does a much better job interpreting letters and less weird characters than ABBYY but it takes about an hour to convert but it really worth it not having to fix every page for OCR errors and yet still have my italics.

Once that was done I ran the html file through PSPad cleaning up the styles using Tidy and then open it in Word and fixed the formatting and broken sentences using my macros and regex expressions. I then put the finish html file in Calibre and converted it to mobi and epub.

Now I got the method down I can do this in probably 3 hours if I don't run into problems.

So that's one topaz book down and several more to go!

I started with the same tutorial and ended up using Inkscape instead of Prince. I didn't bother mentioning it in that thread because it was old and I didn't think anyone else was still tinkering with Topaz files.

Anyway, if you remove everything from each page except the part that starts with <svg id="svgimg"... and ends with </svg> then Inkscape will convert it to a PDF that uses the glyphs, so it's almost an order of magnitude smaller than the one created by Prince. Inkscape is also scriptable, so most of the process can run unattended. It takes about an hour to run a 200-page book.

The only problem is that Inkscape calculates the page size from the dimensions of the SVG image and I haven't figured out how to tell it otherwise. The PDF looks fine on the screen, but it reports its size as being 60 by 90 inches.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by Difflugia

I started with the same tutorial and ended up using Inkscape instead of Prince. I didn't bother mentioning it in that thread because it was old and I didn't think anyone else was still tinkering with Topaz files.

Anyway, if you remove everything from each page except the part that starts with <svg id="svgimg"... and ends with </svg> then Inkscape will convert it to a PDF that uses the glyphs, so it's almost an order of magnitude smaller than the one created by Prince. Inkscape is also scriptable, so most of the process can run unattended. It takes about an hour to run a 200-page book.

The only problem is that Inkscape calculates the page size from the dimensions of the SVG image and I haven't figured out how to tell it otherwise. The PDF looks fine on the screen, but it reports its size as being 60 by 90 inches.

I use Prince but do have Inkscape however it just easy for me to let Prince do it then use crop pages in Acrobat 8 Pro to get rid of the white margins. You also want to clear the comments from the pdf if you do use Prince and I also run the optimizer to get rid of all hidden stuff that isn't needed which helps the OCR process. It takes 10 minutes using Prince on a 500 page book which saves alot of time and about 10-15 minutes Acrobat to get the final pdf. I use Prince 8 as 9 is too buggy and I don't like it.

So for me to summarize it's like this.

1. Extract Topaz to SVG images
2. Open xml files in Notepad++ and change the background to white, remove navigation script and border using batch find and replace.
3. Use Prince to convert xml files to PDFs
4. Use Acrobat Pro to merge PDFs to a single PDF
5. Use Crop Pages to get a nice even white smaller margins
6. Remove all comments
7. Remove all links
8. Run PDF Optimizer and Save final PDF
9. Run through OCR program (Able2Extract Pro)
10. Open PSPAD and run through tidy upgrading CSS which removes the absolute location tags from the span and div tags to it's own style tag area I then delete that and the script.
11. Copy the inline style sheet to a external one and link it in the html.
12. Remove all font-family, font-size and color references from style sheet,
13. Open HTML in Word 2003 and fix formatting, broken sentences, chapter headers and Save.
14. Run through Calibre and convert to epub and mobi.

It takes about 3 hours for me to do all this. The most timing consuming is the OCR and then editing it in Word. I decided to forget fixing the hyphenation and just remove it so if a few words are run together I can live with that.

[Blue2u]

For those who don't venture too far from here, it sounds like there's been some problems with the latest ADE update. There's a brief post in the Kobo deals thread and a rather long thread in the news forum if you'd like to read more about it.

Remember I'm tech-challenged so I'm basically just not downloading the next update if I get prompted to do so.

[Difflugia]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I use Prince but do have Inkscape however it just easy for me to let Prince do it then use crop pages in Acrobat 8 Pro to get rid of the white margins. You also want to clear the comments from the pdf if you do use Prince and I also run the optimizer to get rid of all hidden stuff that isn't needed which helps the OCR process. It takes 10 minutes using Prince on a 500 page book which saves alot of time and about 10-15 minutes Acrobat to get the final pdf. I use Prince 8 as 9 is too buggy and I don't like it.

So for me to summarize it's like this.

1. Extract Topaz to SVG images
2. Open xml files in Notepad++ and change the background to white, remove navigation script and border using batch find and replace.
3. Use Prince to convert xml files to PDFs
4. Use Acrobat Pro to merge PDFs to a single PDF
5. Use Crop Pages to get a nice even white smaller margins
6. Remove all comments
7. Remove all links
8. Run PDF Optimizer and Save final PDF
9. Run through OCR program (Able2Extract Pro)
10. Open PSPAD and run through tidy upgrading CSS which removes the absolute location tags from the span and div tags to it's own style tag area I then delete that and the script.
11. Copy the inline style sheet to a external one and link it in the html.
12. Remove all font-family, font-size and color references from style sheet,
13. Open HTML in Word 2003 and fix formatting, broken sentences, chapter headers and Save.
14. Run through Calibre and convert to epub and mobi.

It takes about 3 hours for me to do all this. The most timing consuming is the OCR and then editing it in Word. I decided to forget fixing the hyphenation and just remove it so if a few words are run together I can live with that.

Thanks for the details! I hadn't seen Able2Extract before. It's a little pricey, but if it works that well, it's probably worth it. I've downloaded the free trial to give it a shot.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by Difflugia

Thanks for the details! I hadn't seen Able2Extract before. It's a little pricey, but if it works that well, it's probably worth it. I've downloaded the free trial to give it a shot.

It isn't cheap but it is cheaper than the ABBYY FineReader Pro which I find does a poor job when it comes to detecting words from a topaz pdf. In the past I would spend hours doing a spell check fixing OCR errors with the Able2Extract I might spend 30 minutes tops and find 75% less OCR errors. You can open up K4PC next to you and search the words which is really helpful if you find a word that makes you scratch your head.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by Blue2u

For those who don't venture too far from here, it sounds like there's been some problems with the latest ADE update. There's a brief post in the Kobo deals thread and a rather long thread in the news forum if you'd like to read more about it.

Remember I'm tech-challenged so I'm basically just not downloading the next update if I get prompted to do so.

I am still using ADE 1.7 as 2.0 has issues with library books. I only use it anyway for transferring books so it's not a big issue to me.

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I am still using ADE 1.7 as 2.0 has issues with library books. I only use it anyway for transferring books so it's not a big issue to me.

Same here, and no notification yet.

[apesmom]

Red Stone Security Series Box Set: Volume 1 by Katie Reus is on sale for $0.99 this week.

I think several people picked up Volume 2 when it was on sale a month or so ago.

No One to Trust

Computer security specialist Elizabeth Martinez has never been able to turn her back on her brother Benny. When his risky lifestyle finally lands him in harm's way, Elizabeth finds herself dragged into the dangerous underworld with him and into the cross hairs of one of Miami's death-dealing drug lords. Only after her ex-boyfriend saves her does she realize she might have no choice but to depend on the one man she has tried so desperately to forget.

Former Marine Porter Caldwell never should have let Elizabeth walk away from him all those months ago. She means more to him than anything and now that she's in danger and turned to him for help, he won't make that mistake again. When a local gang targets her and she's nearly killed in a drive by shooting, Porter vows to do whatever it takes to keep her alive. Even if it means turning his back on all that he's sworn to uphold.

Danger Next Door

After an explosion leaves detective Grant Caldwell scarred he quits his job and tries to hide from his well-meaning family while he heals. When Belle Manikas, a beautiful new neighbor, moves in next door with problems of her own he finds himself drawn to her even while he tells himself she's nothing but trouble. Even though he knows he'd never have a chance with a woman like her--not with his disfigurement--he can't stay away.

Thanks to severe health problems as a child Belle grew up sheltered and smothered by her loving, if overbearing, family. Now that she's finally out on her own she plans to wring everything she can out of life. When she sets her sights on her brooding neighbor nothing can stop her from getting him into bed--until a madman fixates on her. With Grant now working for Red Stone Security, he sees it as his duty to protect her at all costs. Unfortunately a violent criminal is stalking Belle and will stop at nothing until he's destroyed her.

Fatal Deception

Mara Caldwell is a woman with a dark past. She made a clean break from her old life, never imagining her secrets could come back to haunt her. When an old enemy surfaces and threatens the world she's created for herself Mara is prepared to give up everything, including the husband she loves if it will keep him safe.

Harrison knew his wife had secrets when he married her, but when he discovers the truth, it's far worse than he imagined. He's determined to protect her from a deadly enemy who wants to destroy her, but her lack of faith in him infuriates and wounds him. They must work together to keep her safe, but the man they're up against seeks to destroy everything they've built together. Including their lives.

Box Set Collection: 117,000 words

[library addict]

Originally Posted by Terisa de morgan

Same here, and no notification yet.

Me as well.

[hannahi]

I just ran into the first ebook purchase from Kobo without the button to download the Epub. I understand this is because it's a Houghton Mifflin Harcourt book and all their titles are like that

I hope I can find a way to transfer to Calibre so I can convert to a format that my Kindle will read. Any ideas on how to do this? So far I've found the folder with all my Kobo books on my PC, I renamed each file to .epub and opened with Calibre, however it only shows the title and author, no other metadata or book contents load. (This happened with the Captain Underpants titles I bought for my 7 yo but it was nbd to read those on my phone or tablet since they're not text-heavy and have a lot of illustrations).