html or xhtml: does it matter?

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Actually, you should care about the aesthetics of the guts. The cleaner it is, the simpler the code and the easier to find any mistakes. Also, messy code can turn off some people from buying any more of your eBooks. I don't buy from Smashwords all that much because the code is mostly a Word > ePub conversion and the code can be a real mess.

You want code that's clean so it's easier for you to deal with. Take an average Word file (not one done with proper styles or cleaned using Toxaris' Word add-in), convert it to ePub using Calibre and just see how poor the guts can be and how much work you have to do to clean it up.

As the OP is using Sigil, apparently to good effect, I feel confident we are not talking about off-the-shelf word-to-epub conversions.

Being focused on the aesthetics of reading means focusing on clean and proper rendering and whatever code cleanup is necessary for that end.

The OP was referring to a disinterest in cleaning up file extensions (where several versions pass validation, but one is semantically correct) and other issues that do not further the goal of a pleasing-to-read ebook.

@DiapDealer

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

@DiapDealer

came across a new word today - dittography - I suffer suffer from it from time to time

[Notjohn]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

The rest don't even know the book has guts to give squats about.

I spend more time than I should on the KDP forums, and I can testify that the same is true of the vast majority of author-publishers.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Notjohn

I spend more time than I should on the KDP forums, and I can testify that the same is true of the vast majority of author-publishers.

Not knowing, not caring, not ever looking is a far cry from the author-publisher who's shown an interest in getting things "right," but doesn't really worry about non-functionality-affecting minutiae like internal file extensions and "perfectly clean" code.

I know how I want things to look under the hood of epubs I'm working on, but when it comes to epubs I'm reading: it's all about the render. Unless I come across something about the way it renders that puts me off my feed (more than trivially), I'm not even going to pop the hood and look at the code. So if someone wants to publish garbage code that manages to render reasonably well on the devices I use ... more power to them. They're not hurting me or their bottom line.

And if it doesn't render well?... then they're only contributing to their own demise. I can fix the garbage on my end (if the content seems worth it). Most others will either deal with the garbage formatting or not buy any more stuff from that author-publisher.

Either way... "clean" ebook code is only relevant to a tiny few (myself included). But it's pretty meaningless in the overall ebook-selling/reading game.

Get it structurally/functionally/visually "right" (or suffer the financial consequences); and let your own conscience dictate how picky you want to be about the rest.

EDIT: But if you DO decide to just "wing it" and let the code fall where it may ... don't then later change your mind and hand your mushtml to someone like Hitch and expect them to fix it for a nickel. By tomorrow morning.

[cybmole]

by tomorrow morning - that's double time rates: two nickels please.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Notjohn

I spend more time than I should on the KDP forums, and I can testify that the same is true of the vast majority of author-publishers.

IMHO
Authors should just worry about simply capturing the story.

Having a decent Copy Editor is a plus. (Homonyms are common in self pubs) Present a Clean story to those doing the formatting.

Clean Formatting is better left to those with experience with the intended outlets and devices. They know the Pitfalls and Gotcha's

(Go look at Hitch's sig..
Truth!
Be it books or Hardware repairs done by Amateurs that don't know when to seek help )

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by cybmole

by tomorrow morning - that's double time rates: two nickels please.

Duly noted.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Duly noted.

If the author/creator/would-be-bookmaker helps:

Double

Hitch

[Notjohn]

Originally Posted by Hitch

If the author/creator/would-be-bookmaker helps:

Double

Hitch

I once knew a grand old boat builder. I asked him one time (this was many years ago, when a greenback dollar was worth ten of today's prettified version) what it would cost to build a 30-foot sloop. He replied:

"Thirty thousand."

A pause.

"Thirty-five if the owner helps."

[murg]

Originally Posted by Notjohn

"Thirty-five if the owner helps."

That's a bargain...

[Gregg Bell]

Ha ha. What a scream this thread turned into! Hey, with your guy's coaching my code is clean! I know what it's like dealing with crappy code the few times I've written in LO without using styles. What a monstrosity that can be. But eschwartz has it right--it's just about the html or xhtml extensions in the Book Browser files. The rest is good. Ha ha.