TRICKSTER by Steven Harper

[stevenharper]

Yeah, I wrote them out of order--long story. In order of publication, they are:

DREAMER, NIGHTMARE, TRICKSTER, OFFSPRING

In order of events, they are:

NIGHTMARE, DREAMER, TRICKSTER, OFFSPRING

I wrote them all to stand alone so people could read them however they found them--I =hate= finding a book that looks cool, only to discover it's the third one in a series and the first one is nowhere in sight. TRICKSTER and OFFSPRING are a little more intertwined, though.

Originally Posted by Elsi

Offspring worked. I would, however, love to read both of those other stories.

Well, I read them in publication order. The second book, Nightmare is the back-story of Kendi Weaver. If you chose to read them out of order, you could read them in order by Kendi's age -- Nightmare, Dreamers, Trickster, and then Offspring. Trickster *might* work for you without reading the earlier books, but I don't know that I'd recommend it.

[stevenharper]

I'm working on more formats. Mobi is up next, then probably Sony. There are so many, and each one has its own quirks. I wish there were one universal format, you know? Maybe one day there will be, and people will say, "Remember back when you had to choose your e-reader format?" Kind of like when you had to choose between VHS and Beta...

[FizzyWater]

Are you putting DRM on your books? (Forgive me if you answered this, I didn't notice it).

If not, why not just release it in RTF and let people convert it to the formats they're in need of...

[Elsi]

Originally Posted by stevenharper

I'm working on more formats. Mobi is up next, then probably Sony. There are so many, and each one has its own quirks. I wish there were one universal format, you know? Maybe one day there will be, and people will say, "Remember back when you had to choose your e-reader format?" Kind of like when you had to choose between VHS and Beta...

Steven, given that Sony has just announced that their bookstore will be converting to ePub, you might want to make that your next format after Mobipocket. (And, by the way, Mobipocket is practically identical to Kindle format.) ePub will reach a *large* community of readers who own a variety of devices.

[stevenharper]

Nope--no DRM.

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

Are you putting DRM on your books? (Forgive me if you answered this, I didn't notice it).

If not, why not just release it in RTF and let people convert it to the formats they're in need of...

[stevenharper]

Elsi: I hadn't heard that. ePub's on the list after Mobi, then.

My main problem with Mobi is that I can't figure out how to get a table of contents to work right. Oi!

Originally Posted by Elsi

Steven, given that Sony has just announced that their bookstore will be converting to ePub, you might want to make that your next format after Mobipocket. (And, by the way, Mobipocket is practically identical to Kindle format.) ePub will reach a *large* community of readers who own a variety of devices.

[Elsi]

Originally Posted by stevenharper

Elsi: I hadn't heard that. ePub's on the list after Mobi, then.

My main problem with Mobi is that I can't figure out how to get a table of contents to work right. Oi!

Ask for help. Some of the most experienced book makers in the world frequent this site.

Which software are you using to create your Mobipocket book? I use Mobipocket Creator, Publisher Edition. Currently have v4.2, but haven't looked lately to see if there's a newer one.

Our own Harry T has written a quick tutorial on how to use Mobipocket Creator. His hints/tips on creating the TOC may be very helpful.

[koland]

Originally Posted by stevenharper

Elsi: I hadn't heard that. ePub's on the list after Mobi, then.

My main problem with Mobi is that I can't figure out how to get a table of contents to work right. Oi!

Leave off your cover and TOC, set up a tag (or multiple ones, if more than one level) in the html for each TOC entry. then pull into mobipocket creator, use it to define the TOC and add the cover, as well as set up the metadata. click build and you should be pretty much done.

I'd try Calibre after that to convert mobi to epub and see how it looks ... might be good enough to call it done.

[stevenharper]

It works!

My main problem was that I didn't know what to enter into the chart on Mobi's TOC creator. I finally figured out that I can put "h1" into the first field of the chart and leave the rest blank, and it works. Hooray!

Now I just have to fix the HTML in the other three books so Mobi will work with them.

Originally Posted by koland

Leave off your cover and TOC, set up a tag (or multiple ones, if more than one level) in the html for each TOC entry. then pull into mobipocket creator, use it to define the TOC and add the cover, as well as set up the metadata. click build and you should be pretty much done.

I'd try Calibre after that to convert mobi to epub and see how it looks ... might be good enough to call it done.

[koland]

Originally Posted by stevenharper

It works!

My main problem was that I didn't know what to enter into the chart on Mobi's TOC creator. I finally figured out that I can put "h1" into the first field of the chart and leave the rest blank, and it works. Hooray!

Now I just have to fix the HTML in the other three books so Mobi will work with them.

Glad to hear you figured it out. I guess I should have added that when setting up the TOC, you use the tag name from the HTML as the info onthe TOC definition page. I find most books need only one level (some do need more, if they are in sections).