PRS-300 Confused about formats and ebooks

[easterncoyote]

I'm sorry if this topic has been explained before, which I think it must have been; if so, could someone please just direct me to the relevant thread(s)?

I was very happy to receive my new Sony 300 Reader 2 days ago, and I have been happily reading an ebook I purchased through the Sony Store (One Minute to Midnight). I decided to purchase another book through Short Covers (The Book of Negroes), and it does not seem to be formatted anywhere near as nicely as the first book. It looks more like I am reading a poem - the text only takes up about 2/3 of the width of the page, with lots of white space on the right hand margin. I presume this has something to do with the pdf format, but I thought it was supposed to be formatted for the Sony Reader?

I have also downloaded some free books from this site, as well as Gutenburg, and some of them look reasonably ok, but some of them are almost unreadable, due to the text being too bold, or the lines too close together.

Is it best to just buy books from the Sony Bookstore, to insure that they will look good on the Reader? Also, I don't understand why there would be several different versions of the same ebook at the store, all with different prices. I know that may sound naive, but when there is no actual book, just electronic words, why would I pay more for the same book? Thank you for any help.

[lilac_jive]

I'm with you, I prefer the way that Sony formats their books. PDF never looks that great on the Sony, and I don't know what formats are on Shortcovers.

I'm not sure what you mean by your last comment though, who is charging different prices for different formats?

[dreams]

I know how confusing it is.

I usually get books :

Sony store (lrx format-DRM)

from here in lrf or ePub format (non DRM)

feedbooks (non DRM) in ePub and a custom pdf I made (90 x 120 14 pt)

smashwords in Sony lrf or ePub

That is about the extent of what I normally do. Some MR authors have their own sites and I usually buy the lrf or ePub there also.

My order of preference is: lrx, lrf, feedbooks custom pdf, then ePub.

Many of the classic books are much better formatted by the members here on MR. (Some very dedicated members really take the time to make sure they are very nice.) Then try feedbooks. Gutenberg is where I go last to find a book because of the uncertain formatting.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by easterncoyote

I decided to purchase another book through Short Covers (The Book of Negroes), and it does not seem to be formatted anywhere near as nicely as the first book. It looks more like I am reading a poem - the text only takes up about 2/3 of the width of the page, with lots of white space on the right hand margin. I presume this has something to do with the pdf format, but I thought it was supposed to be formatted for the Sony Reader?

Just so you understand, what you bought from Shortcovers is and ePub, not a PDF.

The way the ePub displays has to due with how the Sony justifies the text. Some folks don't mind it or even prefer it, while a lot of people would prefer it to fully justify the text.


Some folks like the way books from Sony look others don't. I've never cared for the large margins they put on their books. I do like how their format looks, but only on books I've made myself so I can have smaller margins.

Is it best to just buy books from the Sony Bookstore, to insure that they will look good on the Reader? Also, I don't understand why there would be several different versions of the same ebook at the store, all with different prices. I know that may sound naive, but when there is no actual book, just electronic words, why would I pay more for the same book? Thank you for any help.

If it's a small difference it could be a difference in DRM costs being passed on or that the store had to go with a different distributor and it costs them more. If it's a huge difference, like $6 .vs $20, it's likely somewhere a price didn't get updated in a computer and it's an error.

[easterncoyote]

Originally Posted by lilac_jive

I'm with you, I prefer the way that Sony formats their books. PDF never looks that great on the Sony, and I don't know what formats are on Shortcovers.

I'm not sure what you mean by your last comment though, who is charging different prices for different formats?

Hi Lilac, thank you for your reply. I was just wondering why the Sony Store had, for example, different versions of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn at $.99, $1.99, $4.70, and $5.65. Is there some reason I would buy the $5.65 version over the $.99 one? Thank you.

[lilac_jive]

Originally Posted by easterncoyote

Hi Lilac, thank you for your reply. I was just wondering why the Sony Store had, for example, different versions of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn at $.99, $1.99, $4.70, and $5.65. Is there some reason I would buy the $5.65 version over the $.99 one? Thank you.

Oh, gotcha. That would be because they are public domain books, and quite a few epublishers will create the ebooks from Gutenberg and then sell them. You shouldn't actually buy any of them, since they are freely available. But if you truly prefer the way Sony formats them, go with the cheapest one Or you have the option of learning how to format the way you want to book with one of the ebook creator programs out there.

[easterncoyote]

Thank you to everyone for your helpful replies; much appreciated.

[BeccaAnn]

easterncoyote
Hi Lilac, thank you for your reply. I was just wondering why the Sony Store had, for example, different versions of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn at $.99, $1.99, $4.70, and $5.65. Is there some reason I would buy the $5.65 version over the $.99 one? Thank you.

Also, some of those editions will have extras to it, like essays by different people on the book or even the author.

[Quicksand]

Originally Posted by lilac_jive

... Or you have the option of learning how to format the way you want to book with one of the ebook creator programs out there.

Is it possible to reformat a book one buys from Sony with a different margin, for example? Or can you do that only with books that do not have DRM?

[Seventh Son]

Originally Posted by Quicksand

Is it possible to reformat a book one buys from Sony with a different margin, for example? Or can you do that only with books that do not have DRM?

If they are in lrx format (BBeB with DRM), you can't change them at this moment.

[quillaja]

if you want to read older books (like pre 1930) you should check for a free version first. gutenberg does have dubious formatting, but i've found the books on feedbooks to be very nice, generally. i've personally "published" some public domain books on feedbooks, and take great care to make it look nice.

[HarryT]

There are also a very large number of nicely-formatted books available for download here at MR, of course.

[Larken]

I'm looking at taking my existing collection of books and converting them to epub, but until then, I'm perfectly happy with taking a book in .txt format, loading it on and then switching to a medium font. Perfectly readable. The only thing I'm missing are the pretty pictures and hyperlinked chapters.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Larken

I'm looking at taking my existing collection of books and converting them to epub, but until then, I'm perfectly happy with taking a book in .txt format, loading it on and then switching to a medium font. Perfectly readable. The only thing I'm missing are the pretty pictures and hyperlinked chapters.

... and all the formatting, such as italics. In a lot of books, italics are used for emphasis and you miss a lot if they aren't present.

Eg, look at the following passage from Dickens' "David Copperfield":

'Well! I counsels him to speak to Em'ly. He's big enough, but he's bashfuller than a little un, and he don't like. So I speak. "What! Him!" says Em'ly. "Him that I've know'd so intimate so many years, and like so much. Oh, Uncle! I never can have him. He's such a good fellow!"

Take away the italics and you lose the whole "point" of the passage, don't you think?

[Larken]

Hmmm... I've never considered that. I've been converting to .pdb for a Palm so long that I can't say I've ever noticed. I haven't read a paper book in years for that to have actually caught my eye.