Free ebooks from Vonda N. McIntyre

[vondanmcintyre]

Wallcraft -- Table of Contents up and running at the Dreamsnake html page. Please let me know if you have any problems with it. Again, apologies for the delay.

CheriePie -- thanks very much for the feedback. It actually wouldn't be that hard to have more than one CSS so folks could have a choice in layout... must think upon the subject.

Best,

Vonda

[sirbruce]

I'm tempted to say you want one or the other, but not both:

1. Indent, no lines between paragraphs.

2. No indent, one line between paragraphs.

I've read ebooks with either way, and even ebooks with both indents and lines. The main purposes of either is to distinguish one paragraph from the next, so it doesn't become on big wall of text. But since real estate is also an issue, I think indent and no line between paragraphs is probably preferable. But it does not bother me either way.

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by vondanmcintyre

I apologize for not including a ToC in the html version. This last week has been kind of complicated and I just didn't get the ToC finished last night when the Dreamsnake page went live. I'll go and do that immediately and let you know when it's finished.

My point about the TOC was actually the opposite - it is now usual in ebooks to have the TOC outside the reading stream and Calibre will build such a TOC for you from the class=chapter headings. It is ok to have an internal TOC as well, although in a ebook it will typically be after a title page with the ebook name on it. The TOC you added to the HTML looks good, and for on-line reading it does not have to be below the title.

Originally Posted by vondanmcintyre

I wonder if Calibre takes account of typography such as 12 point type on a 15 point line? The text in the central thumbnail looks kind of squished together, while the text in the third thumbnail loses the spacing between paragraphs. Neither conversion uses the same font that the CSS specifies (Book Antiqua or Palatino). That's probably system-dependent. I though most systems had Book Antiqua.

What ebooks normally care about is the relative size of fonts (e.g. headings vs standard), since Readers always allow resizing the base font. A MOBI usually lets the reader set the actual font, but ePub and LRF typically set it in the document - but it has to be a font that the device (in this case probably a Sony PRS-505) has installed. If not, the closest (or a default) is used.

Originally Posted by vondanmcintyre

I'm under the impression that most folks who read from the computer screen or a mobile device prefer left-justified paragraphs, no paragraph indentation (for the first line), and a blank space between paragraphs?

For MOBI it is recommended not to include the justification, because the user can set this. I agree with CheriePie that a small line indent and little or no extra space is normal for paragraphs. See for example, A Comparison of format limitations based on The Hobbit - in this case the 1st paragraph is not indented. An alternative is to add a small image, as you do here.

[vondanmcintyre]

Oh, gosh, absolutely! If I did both I would be severely chastised by John D. Berry, Ron Drummond, and Olav M. Kvern, each of whom is The Man in different subsets of typesetting and book design. Indent and blank line would be Really Bad Typesetting.

I wonder if anyone has done a study of whether it's easier to read from a screen if text is typeset in a typically bookish way, or if it's easier with a blank line between paragraphs? Or does it depend on the person, the system? An awful lot of sites use the blank line, but does anybody know if it's a conscious choice or if it just grew that way, like Topsy?

Best,

Vonda

Originally Posted by sirbruce

I'm tempted to say you want one or the other, but not both:

...

[vondanmcintyre]

Wallcraft -- I think I see what you mean about Tables of Contents, and I'm sure it will become clearer when I have a chance to explore Calibre.

Thanks for the information on fonts and ebooks -- I hadn't quite realized that they were as system-dependent as, say, doc or html. I wonder if there's a chart of common fonts for ebook readers, like the Mac & Windows font comparison?

Left-justification (flush left) is usually the default, yes? If you're cautioning me against right-justification, I hear you. I've never seen anything on line with right justification (a flush right paragraph margin, is what I mean) that looked any better than awful.

Thanks for the link to the Hobbit comparison -- I've bookmarked it. I suspect it's one of those articles where the more experience you have, the more useful it is, so it should be revisited.

Best,

Vonda

[DixieGal]

Originally Posted by CheriePie

I'm a Kindle user and I'd feel comfortable saying that I believe the majority of people reading on e-reading devices prefer a small first line indent and very little to no space between paragraphs.

In these cases it's all about screen real estate, so the more of a page you can fit on the screen, the better. Especially when you've got two characters having an ongoing conversation, all those extra blanks on the page seem kind of wasted space.

//

No no no! More space gives more area for contrast between letters and background, which makes for easier reading for folks with bad eyes.

[sirbruce]

Originally Posted by DixieGal

//

No no no! More space gives more area for contrast between letters and background, which makes for easier reading for folks with bad eyes.

But if you had poor eyesight that would effect lines within a paragraph, not simply between them. That's what larger font sizes are for. There's no need to add extra space between paragraphs for the visually challenged.

[sirbruce]

Originally Posted by vondanmcintyre

Oh, gosh, absolutely! If I did both I would be severely chastised by John D. Berry, Ron Drummond, and Olav M. Kvern, each of whom is The Man in different subsets of typesetting and book design. Indent and blank line would be Really Bad Typesetting.

Nevertheless, I've seen it done, and I really didn't mind as a reader, so I don't think this is make-or-break for an ebook. People seem to get primarily upset if the space between paragraphs is excessive (see the thread about Jim Butcher's latest), or if there's no TOC, or if there are numerous typos.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by vondanmcintyre

Oh, gosh, absolutely! If I did both I would be severely chastised by John D. Berry, Ron Drummond, and Olav M. Kvern, each of whom is The Man in different subsets of typesetting and book design. Indent and blank line would be Really Bad Typesetting.

I wonder if anyone has done a study of whether it's easier to read from a screen if text is typeset in a typically bookish way, or if it's easier with a blank line between paragraphs? Or does it depend on the person, the system? An awful lot of sites use the blank line, but does anybody know if it's a conscious choice or if it just grew that way, like Topsy?

Best,

Vonda

Well to me, I find that if a book is made using no indent and line spaces between each paragraph, it can cause the eye to skip a beat when reading. Especially when you have a lot of small paragraphs or single line conversation. Also, given the way it is done in most paper books, we have been trained to see spaces between paragraphs to mean a section change in the book.

With the indent (2.5em is good) and no paragraph spacing except for section changes means it reads better. Also looks better too. And takes less page turns. And if someone needs/wants a large font, then the line spaces are huge and look not just bad, but awful.


But if you have

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DixieGal

//

No no no! More space gives more area for contrast between letters and background, which makes for easier reading for folks with bad eyes.

My wife prefers a larger font when she reads using her reader and she likes it with an indent and no extra line spaces. The line spaces do tend to throw off the eye when reading.

[JSWolf]

And when converting to LRF, please please do not use a header. That looks awful and gives us less space per page. And the header only tells us the name of the book and the author which we already know.

[vondanmcintyre]

Yikes, this is obviously a very personal and also quite important question.

I really appreciate the feedback.

I have no idea how I'll solve the two-format question, but I'm absolutely listening.

Best,

Vonda

[JSWolf]

At The Book View Cafe, is there any way to see how much something is going to cost without having to register first? I would rather register only if I am going to be making a purchase. Because I can make any purchase, I do want to know how much I'm going to be spending.

[sirbruce]

Vonda,

Let me just add that it's refreshing to see an established author actually tackling the issue of ebooks seriously and personally. Until more publishers get a clue, I hope more authors follow suit. The industry is changing!

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by sirbruce

Vonda,

Let me just add that it's refreshing to see an established author actually tackling the issue of ebooks seriously and personally. Until more publishers get a clue, I hope more authors follow suit. The industry is changing!

I totally agree. I also thought it was a wonderful solution when Jeffrey A. Carver (aka Starrigger) came here and asked for help. The level of support he got was truly something nice and it worked out well for everyone.

So if you need any help, don't hesitate to ask.