Arc Manor/Phoenix Pick Free ebook - Page 2

gbm · 02-02-2021, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DNSB

Now to wait for the obligatory post from Jon complaining about the formatting and the CSS.

Well the stylesheet is 10k and uses Times New Roman font, you would think that designers would know by now that Times New Roman in contraindicated for use by monitors and ereaders.

It will take me may 10 minutes at the most to beat the stylesheet into order. No where as bad as a book done using Vellum,

bernie

DNSB · 02-02-2021, 07:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gbm

Well the stylesheet is 10k and uses Times New Roman font, you would think that designers would know by now that Times New Roman in contraindicated for use by monitors and ereaders.

It will take me may 10 minutes at the most to beat the stylesheet into order. No where as bad as a book done using Vellum,

bernie

Took about 5 minutes to do the basic cleanup (add body and p in the stylesheet, remove the font-family and justified). Makes it readable.

As for Vellum? I've done too many books for my wife so now 99% of the work is done by a set of saved searches plus running CSSUndefinedClasses and CSSRemoveUnusedSelectors. I'm not looking for perfect but definitely the final result is readable.

JSWolf · 02-02-2021, 07:39 PM

And the first page is blank with no cover.

And speaking of the code, look at this titlepage. All it does is display the titlepage. Given that in the OPF it says it was made with InDesign 11.3, how did this happen?

Code:

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
  <title>Soulmates-DIGITAL</title>
  <link href="../Styles/idGeneratedStyles.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"/>
</head>

<body id="Soulmates-DIGITAL" xml:lang="en-US">
  <div id="_idContainer000" class="Basic-Text-Frame">
    <h1 class="Basic-Paragraph ParaOverride-1" style="margin: 2em 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 3em; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.217; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;"><b>SOULMATES</b></h1>

    <p class="Basic-Paragraph ParaOverride-1" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 2.3em; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.217; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"><br/></p>

    <p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 1.167em; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;"></p>

    <p class="Basic-Paragraph ParaOverride-1" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 0.958em; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.217; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"></p>

    <p class="Basic-Paragraph ParaOverride-1"><!--StartFragment--><!--EndFragment--></p>

    <p class="Basic-Paragraph ParaOverride-1" style="margin: 0px 0px 3em; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 2.3em; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.217; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"><b>Mike Resnick &amp;<br/>Lezli Robyn</b></p>

    <p class="Basic-Paragraph ParaOverride-1"><span class="CharOverride-1"><img alt="000-Logo" src="../Images/000-Logo.jpg"/><br/></span></p>

    <p class="Basic-Paragraph ParaOverride-1"><span class="CharOverride-1"><br/></span></p>
  </div>

  <div id="_idContainer009" class="_idGenObjectStyleOverride-1"></div>
</body>
</html>

DNSB · 07-07-2021, 05:20 PM

The latest email I received from Phoenix Pick / Arc Manor has Carolyn Ives Gilman's Halfway Human as a freebie.

While I enjoyed the book 20 years ago and couldn't resist picking the free ebook, the epub version needs some TLC. The entire book is stuffed into one file with no attempt at pretty printing, no stylesheet so inline style all over the place and such oddments as using multiple spans within a single word to make the work italic. See the sample below as a fine example of ugly printing:

Spoiler:

Quote:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="no"?><!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8" /><meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /><meta name="generator" content="Aspose.Words for .NET 6.6.0.0" /><title>Halfway Human</title></head><body><div><img src="image.001.jpeg" width="444" height="665" alt="" style="border:none" /> HALFWAY HUMANCarolyn Ives Gilman*Phoenix PickAn Imprint of Arc Manor***********************************Want Free Ebooks?Sign up for our Monthly Free Ebook Coupon http://www.PPickings.com************************************Halfway Human copyright © 1998, 2010 Carolyn Ives Gilman. All rights reserved. This book may not be copied or reproduced, in whole or in part, by any means, electronic, mechanical or otherwise without written permission from the publisher except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. *

JSWolf · 07-07-2021, 05:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DNSB

The latest email I received from Phoenix Pick / Arc Manor has Carolyn Ives Gilman's Halfway Human as a freebie.

While I enjoyed the book 20 years ago and couldn't resist picking the free ebook, the epub version needs some TLC. The entire book is stuffed into one file with no attempt at pretty printing, no stylesheet so inline style all over the place and such oddments as using multiple spans within a single word to make the work italic. See the sample below as a fine example of ugly printing:

This looks like a job for Supercalibre. Up up and away!

JSWolf · 07-07-2021, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DNSB

The latest email I received from Phoenix Pick / Arc Manor has Carolyn Ives Gilman's Halfway Human as a freebie.

While I enjoyed the book 20 years ago and couldn't resist picking the free ebook, the epub version needs some TLC. The entire book is stuffed into one file with no attempt at pretty printing, no stylesheet so inline style all over the place and such oddments as using multiple spans within a single word to make the work italic. See the sample below as a fine example of ugly printing:

Phoenix Pick has the worst code I've ever seen. And you just proved it once more.

DNSB · 07-07-2021, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Phoenix Pick has the worst code I've ever seen. And you just proved it once more.

Actually, I've seen worse though few of those were as uglified.

Manabi · 07-07-2021, 11:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Phoenix Pick has the worst code I've ever seen. And you just proved it once more.

While I don't look at the code that often, what's stood out to me when I do is that even Calibre converting other book formats produces cleaner code than Phoenix Pick's ebooks. I've also had cleaner code using an extension to convert a short story on a web page into an epub. It's like they're trying to produce the worst-looking epub code they can.

gbm · 03-02-2022, 04:38 PM

This months free ebook from Arc Manor/Phoenix Pick is:

Podkayne of Mars by Robert A. Heinlein

Quote:

A tale beloved by many fans of Robert A. Heinlein, Podkayne of Mars tells the story of a young Marswoman and her inter-planetary adventures with her uncle and her genius brother.

Told largely through Podkayne’s diaries, the story details her travel to Earth with her two companions. Podkayne has very definite plans on what to do and how to do it, but not everything is as it seems. She is suddenly thrust into the middle of life and death situations when the liner they are travelling on makes a stop at Venus.

The original publisher of this book asked Heinlein to change the controversial ending, which Heinlein did extremely reluctantly. He felt the original ending much better suited the story line and was never satisfied with the modified ‘safer ‘ ending. This edition restores the book to how Heinlein originally wrote it. It also includes a letter to his agent, decrying the changes asked for by his original publisher.

Plus a number of Heinlein ebooks on sale for $2.99.

bernie

JSWolf · 03-02-2022, 06:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Manabi

While I don't look at the code that often, what's stood out to me when I do is that even Calibre converting other book formats produces cleaner code than Phoenix Pick's ebooks. I've also had cleaner code using an extension to convert a short story on a web page into an epub. It's like they're trying to produce the worst-looking epub code they can.

I've grabbed this month's freebie and had a look at the ePub code. The code is actually pretty good. It's so much better then I've ever seen from ARC Manor.

It's easy enough to deal with.

gbm · 05-17-2022, 03:44 PM

This months free ebook from Arc Manor/Phoenix Pick is:

Their Majesties’ Bucketeers by L. Neil Smith

Quote:

From multi-award winning author, L. Neil Smith:

Captain Agot Edmoot Mav, Extraordinary Inquirer for Their Majesties’ Bucketeers, must solve the unsolvable mystery of who has killed a famed, but controversial, scholar.

For the killing was done in a windowless room which was locked and the murder weapon itself is a mystery.

But Agot Edmoot Mav is nothing if not persistent, and as a loyal member of the Bucketeers, will not rest till the truth is revealed about this murder, most foul…and most alien

They are putting 11 L. Neil Smith ebooks on sale--half off regular price.

bernie

p.s.
no I have not checked the coding.

Terisa de morgan · 05-17-2022, 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gbm

This months free ebook from Arc Manor/Phoenix Pick is:

Their Majesties’ Bucketeers by L. Neil Smith

They are putting 11 L. Neil Smith ebooks on sale--half off regular price.

bernie

p.s.
no I have not checked the coding.

Thank you, sci-fi and mystery...

ApK · 05-17-2022, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gbm

This months free ebook from Arc Manor/Phoenix Pick is:

Podkayne of Mars by Robert A. Heinlein

bernie

I missed that in March. Any one know if there's still a way to get a free copy? I'd never heard of it, and the story of the two endings is interesting. I'd like to see them both.

Thanks!

Manabi · 05-18-2022, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ApK

I missed that in March. Any one know if there's still a way to get a free copy? I'd never heard of it, and the story of the two endings is interesting. I'd like to see them both.

Once the deal expires it's gone. The best you can do is hope they offer it for free again at some point in the future. That happens with some of their books. Or watch for a sale to pick it up cheap.

I ended up with the two-endings version from my library, they can be summed up as:

Spoiler:

I honestly didn't like the book either way, but I think Heinlein's ending makes more sense with what happens.

Manabi · 06-10-2022, 12:00 AM

This months free ebook from Arc Manor/Phoenix Pick is Farewell to Yesterday's Tomorrow by Alexei Panshin.

Quote:

A beautiful collection of stories from Hugo and Nebula winning author Alexei Panshin. He is the author of the iconic classic, Rite of Passage and (with his wife, Cory Panshin) of the landmark study of science fiction, The World Beyond the Hill which won a Hugo award.

The Sunday Oregonian, writing about the collection, state "A remarkable collection. On the surface, each story as a unit appears to be completely different, yet all of them are part of a whole, contributing to the development of a central theme–thoughtful and provocative and, best of all, beautifully written."

They also have four of his books on sale, including an option to buy all four for $6.99. (One of the books is a three novel omnibus as well, so it's six books worth of reading total.)

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