Amazon and DRM changes

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Many, many books use Vellum (mostly self-pubs). It's still better than those books where the author has obviously just typed the book in Word or some other word processor, knowing zilch about formatting. At least Vellum books have formatting.

I'd prefer a messy Word created ePub to Vellum any day.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Really? After editing the metadata in calibre, I run 3 saved searches in Sigil (called with a total lack of originality, HTML, CSS and Afters) and two Automate Lists, add my cover code and CSS stylesheet add-ins, remove any unused classes and then use DiapDealer's TagMechanic to remove unused divs and spans. Takes about 3 minutes from downloading the ePub to having a cleaned up copy ready to be read.

Whatever else you have to say about Vellum, it is very consistent which makes saving searches an easy choice.

Would you mind posting your searches? Thanks.

[Ma'am-I-Am]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Really? After editing the metadata in calibre, I run 3 saved searches in Sigil (called with a total lack of originality, HTML, CSS and Afters) and two Automate Lists, add my cover code and CSS stylesheet add-ins, remove any unused classes and then use DiapDealer's TagMechanic to remove unused divs and spans. Takes about 3 minutes from downloading the ePub to having a cleaned up copy ready to be read.

Whatever else you have to say about Vellum, it is very consistent which makes saving searches an easy choice.

May I ask why you do all that? Not criticizing, just curious because I'm a pretty basic user.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Ma'am-I-Am

May I ask why you do all that? Not criticizing, just curious because I'm a pretty basic user.

Because Vellum produces some not nice formatting and the code is a mess. So the code needs to be sorted so the formatting can be fixed.

[Sirtel]

Personally I don't sort or fix the code. I just fix the formatting, and only as far as it suits my preferences. So I have nothing against Vellum; I leave most of the code as is.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Ma'am-I-Am

May I ask why you do all that? Not criticizing, just curious because I'm a pretty basic user.

Most of us who edit their books do it because we want all our books to have unified formatting according to our personal preferences - the same font size, line height, margins and so on. So we won't have to fiddle with the settings on our ereaders every time we open a new book. Not to mention that some formatting can't be adjusted on a Kindle or a Kobo - spaces between paragraphs, for example (I hate it when there are spaces between ordinary pararaphs; some, on the contrary, prefer them).

And then there are folks who go even farther and want all the code in their ebooks to be simple and clean. I'm not one of them; I'm just satisfied with adjusting the formatting.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Most of us who edit their books do it because we want all our books to have unified formatting according to our personal preferences - the same font size, line height, margins and so on. So we won't have to fiddle with the settings on our ereaders every time we open a new book. Not to mention that some formatting can't be adjusted on a Kindle or a Kobo - spaces between paragraphs, for example (I hate it when there are spaces between ordinary pararaphs; some, on the contrary, prefer them).

And then there are folks who go even farther and want all the code in their ebooks to be simple and clean. I'm not one of them; I'm just satisfied with adjusting the formatting.

In most cases, it's rather easy to make the code clean while fixing the formatting. Vellum is an exception.

[DuskyRose]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

I haven't deleted anything either, even the ones I know I'm never going to read.

I've deleted a few. But I've also found some really good ones over the years that were free for a time, and before people got famous. I can always just move on if the book doesn't work out, and I'm having fun managing my library.

The really good ones have merged over time with memories of what I've paid for, so I don't remember titles, but if I grab up the first four or five in a long-running series I'm not going to complain about spending the time to sort and store those.

And I like giving new, good authors a hand up with a review if I do get surprised.

[DuskyRose]

Originally Posted by Desertway

Another Kindle gal who used to grab nearly every freebie around, but at some point realized it was a waste of time. They are still all there on my Oasis, "just in case". I have no idea what that case might be. Some dystopian catastrophe in which I can never obtain another book, but can still charge my Kindle?

Or, stuck in a nursing home or hospital. I'm saving for when my kids have to put me in a home and I'll only need a tablet of some kind with my books with me. I've had to get rid of so many in the past, I know that more will have to go when we finally retire and downsize.

I get twitchy without my library with me. We were military, and I spent 3 years in Japan, where my kids started school. I had to donate all my paperbacks because of weight restrictions before we went, paring them all down to one medium box. Didn't see that box for nine months, when we finally got settled and had our household items unpacked.

Guess what box was the ONLY box that had set a long time in some kind of puddle of water? For a long time? Yup, my box of books. All moldy.

The base had a PX book store (very little Scifi or Fantasy) and a B&N (very expensive, and the Scifi-Fant section had about four shelves.) and a lending library, that was mostly donated books people didn't want to pack up and ship home. I just started with "A" authors, and there was a reason no one had wanted those books.

Withdraw is an ugly business.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by DuskyRose

I've deleted a few. But I've also found some really good ones over the years that were free for a time, and before people got famous. I can always just move on if the book doesn't work out, and I'm having fun managing my library.

Oh, I enjoy managing my library too. Only most of it is paid for these days; I no longer search out free books. I might download one if I came across it and it looked interesting, but this doesn't happen often.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Ma'am-I-Am

May I ask why you do all that? Not criticizing, just curious because I'm a pretty basic user.

Much like Sirtel replied, I like a consistent look to my epubs. All body text is 1em, line spacing, paragraph and other spacing/margins are consistent, headers are 2 em from the top of the page with a 1.5em space below, etc. Basically as one friend of mine puts it, a very boring layout but eminently readable.

For the most part, it takes me little time to do the cleanup, it keeps my skills sharp for my sideline of ebook formatting and it makes reading the books more enjoyable when I do not have tweak font size, margins, line spacing, etc. to make the book rendering consistent with my wants.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Would you mind posting your searches? Thanks.

I could post the chunks from the various search.ini files though cleaning those up will be a pain and will take a while.

Though thinking about it, since this request has nothing to do with this forum, perhaps you should have posted it in the Sigil forum?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Much like Sirtel replied, I like a consistent look to my epubs. All body text is 1em, line spacing, paragraph and other spacing/margins are consistent, headers are 2 em from the top of the page with a 1.5em space below, etc. Basically as one friend of mine puts it, a very boring layout but eminently readable.

For the most part, it takes me little time to do the cleanup, it keeps my skills sharp for my sideline of ebook formatting and it makes reading the books more enjoyable when I do not have tweak font size, margins, line spacing, etc. to make the book rendering consistent with my wants.

My formatting is similar. I like thinks to be readable without all kinds of wasted space, differing font sizes, embedded fonts that I don't want/like, line space that's not my choice, L/R margins that are too large, Windows and Orphans get turned off, Regular chapter headers at 0.8em above and below. Simulated smallcaps at 0.8333em, proper offset text using 1em T/B an 1.5em L/R, and other assorted changes as needed.

[JSWolf]

Which eBook creation program puts IDs in every <p> for no reason at all?

[nabsltd]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Which eBook creation program puts IDs in every <p> for no reason at all?

Likely something custom from one of the big publishers. I've noticed it in books from Hachette imprints.