The Beekeeper's Apprentice Free on April 1

[sirbruce]

Originally Posted by vickivanv

My email feedback suggests that straight html and mobi formats are currently the friendliest formats for the most devices. Would y'all agree? Is one better than the other, if you had to pick? I'm hearing that PDFs are very unworkable for many of your devices--and that preprint PDFs cause additional difficulties for some because of the printers' marks on the pages. Is that right? Y'all let me know if I'm missing anything.

The other issue is that I'd rather just download one big file from the website, rather than wait on an email that splits the file into multiple parts. PDF is a fine option (more options are always good!) but MOBI and HTML are probably a priority.

[Ea]

The main problem with PDF is that it's a set page size and font size - and font type. One VERY nice thing about ebooks is that you can change such things to fit your specific needs. That is not really possible with PDF - even if said PDF was rendered for a specific screen size.
As others have said, a nice, clean DRM free Mobipocket file would be a good idea - it can at least be converted, if you can't use it straight away.

I'd say the most usable formats are: prc (mobipocket) and epub, and then lit and lrf would be VERY nice to have, too. Not everyone is proficient at converting (or just don't want to mess with it).

May I say that I really appreciate you trying to get the first books out in a digital format - I've been missing them.

[vickivanv]

Thanks for the kind welcome!

cbell, it's good to see another Russellphile here in the forum--like you, I want all the books in eform. The first four are coming to the kindle store in a few weeks, last I heard. And the newest, The Language of Bees, is supposed to be in the kindle store the same day as the print version debuts on April 28. That will leave only #5, O Jerusalem unkindled for some strange reason. I'll send Bantam a reminder that OJER is feeling lonely and wants to join its siblings in the kindle store.

I'll also send inquiries regarding the availability in other formats. One issue that mixes things up a bit is that the first four books are with a different publisher than the rest of the series, so that can result in inconsistent availability--Ea (yay--another Russellphile!), this is why you haven't been able to find the first four. But I'll see what I can find out about which books will be available in what formats and when.

Thanks for the heads-up about Calibre, Rahulm. I have a couple of things I'd like to try that on. I realize not everyone wants to convert, though.

Dreams, some of the email feedback has mentioned epub as a good ebook format, and lrf as well. I'll check on those also.

Sir Bruce, I hear you about the multiple files--I don't even like my audible books being busted into 2-3 files. I'm not sure why it shook out that way for this giveaway. I actually downloaded a trial version of a program that could have concatenated the files, but I ended up saying what the hay, I'll just pop from file to file.

Oh, I do have a question re: staying signed in. The forum default seems to sign me out after about 20 minutes or so. Is it possible to extend that? I may be missing something on my user cp.

[Ea]

Thanks for the answers, vivkivanv. One thing though, I hope the books will also be available in other places than the Kindle store.

[Ea]

Originally Posted by vickivanv

...
Oh, I do have a question re: staying signed in. The forum default seems to sign me out after about 20 minutes or so. Is it possible to extend that? I may be missing something on my user cp.

Have you tried ticking 'Remember me' when you log in?

[cbell]

Hi vickivanv, please keep in mind that most of the world can't purchase kindle ebooks from Amazon.

I hope there'll be bookstores where non-Americans can purchase these wonderful books in a good ebook format.

You're on a big learning curve and you'll find many friendly, experienced people here willing to help you. Just ask

I'm a Russell and Holmes-phile, but I also have several other books that Laurie has written, not about Mary. She's one of my favourite authors. I read Beekeeper a few years ago and absolutely loved it.

[vickivanv]

I've checked ye olde remember me box. Perhaps that'll do the trick--thanks!

I"ll be checking on the non-kindle ebook formats, too. I'd just mentioned that as one bit of ebook news I actually had heard re: the first four Russells.

cbell, I love all of Laurie's books, too! The Martinellis are fabulous too and so different from the Russells, it's hard to believe the same person wrote them. I took A Grave Talent with me to the gym after I'd stormed through all the Russells and literally thought I'd picked up the wrong book on the way out of the house, the voice was so different. I turned to look at the cover several times to make sure I had the right book. And I love the standalones, too. Folly is a particularly wonderful book, I think. I'd love people everywhere to be able to enjoy all of the LRK books.

[columbus]

Hi vickivanv, Don't let the publisher shoot themselves in the foot by restricting sales / format to the Kindle store. Not every body can or wants to buy from there!

It seems to me that there are far more people with other devices now. Just look to the left of each post & see for yourself.

IMHO, Minimum should be a DRM free portable format i.e mobi & epub plus possibly LIT & LRF .

PDF is a waste of time

[gwynevans]

Hi Vickivanv, welcome aboard!

> Thanks for the heads-up about Calibre, Rahulm. I have a couple of things I'd like to try that on. I realize not everyone wants to convert, though.

While Calibre and "Mobipocket Reader" (in my experience, this is slightly better) both have a decent go at converting PDF to HTML, the results are at best 'ok' rather than 'good'. It's prone to missing identifying headings and especially to inserting line-breaks where there should be paragraphs.

> mentioned epub as a good ebook format, and lrf as well.

ePub is an up & coming 'standard' format, which is currently supported by the Sony 505 & 700 readers plus others (JetBook?), with more readers having announced support for it while LRF is the original Sony format and the only reflowable one supported by the Sony 500. EPub seems to be one of the main formats of choice for many of the European publishers (along with Mobi).

[kacir]

Originally Posted by vickivanv

Hi, y'all! *waves* I help Laurie King with her online outreach, and we had several emails pointing to this thread. I hope y'all don't mind my peeping in. This is a terrific community!

I am very happy that you came, and you want to listen.
One of those emails was from myself ;-)

Originally Posted by vickivanv

I've made notes of all the comments and concerns here and those that have come through email. One thing I want to make sure I have straight are the formatting issues. My email feedback suggests that straight html and mobi formats are currently the friendliest formats for the most devices. Would y'all agree? Is one better than the other, if you had to pick? I'm hearing that PDFs are very unworkable for many of your devices--and that preprint PDFs cause additional difficulties for some because of the printers' marks on the pages. Is that right? Y'all let me know if I'm missing anything.

THE best solution would be asking us to help you to convert the book to formats perfect for individual devices.
Straight html (not the abomination produced by MS Word) is the best input for various conversion tools. Very few devices can read html directly.
Also rtf file, preferably with absolute minimum of formatting, is also great.

Some authors and/or publishers are afraid somebody would come and copy/paste text from un-encrypted source such as txt file or html file. That means they will insist on pdf file.
pdf files can be read on most of e-ink devices.
BUT!
You have to format pdf file for 6 inch screen.
Just create pdf file with page size 90x115 mm, with relatively small margins and font that is well readable when you print it out (as a test) on paper in 1:1 scale.

[kacir]

Originally Posted by dreams

I have a Sony 505 and don't do conversions. Epub is a format that is read by the Sony along with lrf.

rtf, txt and even [well formated] pdf files are also read by the Sony.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Hi vickivanv !! thanks so much for stopping by to let us know what's going on ! we're always really happy to talk to writers, publishers, and everyone involved in the book-creating process, particularly when they are so ebook-friendly like yourself !

it's great to hear that you are pushing for ebooks of the whole series and that the publisher is interested in doing that. i've not read these books yet but i love mysteries (including sherlock holmes, of course) and all i've heard about laurie king has made me really look forward to diving in ! but i've been putting it off because i didn't want to start a series if i couldn't get all the books, so i thought i would wait a bit... i'm really happy to see i won't have to wait too long. (that is, if these books will be available outside of the kindle store ; i can't shop there, as i don't have a kindle / live in the US).

a lot of people have replied to your questions and given you some info but i'll add my voice as well.

with regard to your format questions, i would strongly encourage you to make an epub first (this can be made from a clean (x)html file) ; epub is the new industry standard format being adopted by more and more publishers (as gwynevans mentioned) so it's a good idea to learn about that format now. one of the advantages of starting with epub is that it can be read natively by more and more devices, but can also be easily converted to other popular formats such as mobipocket, so you can easily make everyone happy : if you offer drm-free epub and mobipocket, you should make pretty much everybody happy, since those 2 formats together cover almost all devices, and can be converted for the few devices they aren't supported by. take a look in our epub forum to learn about this format, and don't hesitate to ask questions ! we've got lots of friendly experts around here who will be happy to help.

if you (or the publisher) are feeling a bit intimidated by the various formats, then i agree with kacir and others that the best idea is to make a good clean html file ; this can easily be converted to any format. personally, i don't like pdf files, even formatted for a 6" screen, because they don't give nice results when you change the font size and so they're not as comfortable to read for me.

and, lastly, kacir's suggestion is very good : please do ask for help with creating ebooks here. in fact, the friendly and expert members i mentioned earlier could probably be bribed with the offer of a free ebook to create the various formats for you.

[astra]

Originally Posted by kacir

rtf, txt and even [well formated] pdf files are also read by the Sony.

Examples of well formatted PDF?
PDF is a cul-de-sac. Please, don't confuse people. TXT? No italics, no bolds?


Before introduction of PDF-reflow feature, you could to a certain degree create a redable PDF, but after reflow feature has been installed? no way to enjoy even pdf files created for 6" screens because the moment you hit zoom button (in order to remove margins and make the text bigger, i.e. you go from small to medium), it reflows your nicely created pdf to a piece of rubbish.

Reading book in TXT format is very similar to:

You go restaurant, they put a nice, shiny plate in front of you. You place an order. They cook a meal of your choice and bring it to you.....
.....
in a plastic bag.....

Sure, you can eat it. Open the bag, transfer the content on your plate and eat the mess...that is why you went to a restaurant in the first place, right? to have a decent and nicely presented meal?

[Ea]

Originally Posted by kacir

...
BUT!
You have to format pdf file for 6 inch screen.
Just create pdf file with page size 90x115 mm, with relatively small margins and font that is well readable when you print it out (as a test) on paper in 1:1 scale.

Do you think we could all agree on a "well readable" font size and font type?

[kacir]

Originally Posted by Ea

Do you think we could all agree on a "well readable" font size and font type?

This was a suggestion what to do as a last resort when the publisher insists on
using PDF.
Such a PDF would be at least useable. Unlike the document we got complete with crop marks.