Sending out a review copy of Kindle Comic Format

[Oxford-eBooks]

An interesting one.
A client asked for an eBook to be produced of their graphic-heavy book and so the logical solution was to use the Kindle Creator Tool to make a comic format edition. There were assorted requests from the client that ruled out making it as an ePub at the time which I needn't go into.

All done, looks fine, the KPF opens and validates nicely in Kindle Previewer.
But then they ask to send out review copies. I suggested that they try using the old send to Kindle email trick but there seems to be a file size restriction and probably doesn't work with KPF files.

Other than building an optimised ePub does anyone know how to send review copies of Kindle Comic Format out for review? They don't want to 'gift' it to reviewers.

Additionally, given that the guidelines say that the cover is attached at point of sale, the KPF wont have a cover. (Though happy to make a special review copy with cover embedded).

Thanks in advance,

[jhowell]

Your description of the book as graphics heavy is unclear. If it is composed completely of pages of images then the comic format is appropriate, but if it is a mix of text and images then that format has some significant limitations. There is no ability to adjust the size of text, highlight or do dictionary lookups. Print replica format solves some of that. However reflowable format is almost always the best choice for books that are a mix of text and graphics.

If you do decide to stick to a fixed layout then I suggest using PDF as the format of choice for review copies. Otherwise use EPUB.

[Oxford-eBooks]

Thanks. Yes, I agree with all that. Looks like PDF is going to be the best answer in this situation. The client is intersted in sending direct to the reviewers Kindle/app to take advantage of the security offered.
However, with the 50mb limit on Kindle email it'll need to be degraded somewhat.

I didn't get into the whole format decision thing as that was a long conversation with the client and you're right about the options. They didn't like the fact that reflow would move things about and text would be orphaned from images and all kinds of other reasons, so comic format it was. With the obvious caveat that it would be Kindle exclusive.

I dont get a lot of call for comic style projects, I do reflow all day every day, even fancy schmancy hand-coded jobs, so was hoping there might be some Kindle magic for sharing the comic format. Shame.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by Oxford-eBooks

Thanks. Yes, I agree with all that. Looks like PDF is going to be the best answer in this situation. The client is intersted in sending direct to the reviewers Kindle/app to take advantage of the security offered.

The security is an illusion, and purely a consumer obstacle.

[Oxford-eBooks]

Originally Posted by Quoth

The security is an illusion, and purely a consumer obstacle.

Yes, indeed. As you well know, there's NO 100% watertight way of sharing work. It's what we have and at least dissuades the casual sharer from passing it on "just betwen you and me" to a friend and onwards. I'd certainly not in all good concience suggest that anyone just sends a digital copy of a new book out to all and sundry.

[Quoth]

Some would add a subtle per person change (or watermark of some sort) and then when it's pirated they know which reviewer did it (or other person with access to their files etc).

[Oxford-eBooks]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Some would add a subtle per person change (or watermark of some sort) and then when it's pirated they know which reviewer did it (or other person with access to their files etc).

Yes, that's a good trick and I did mention that as an option. Kind of depends on how many they want to end out though.
Actually, the next iteration of my ePub tool adds some steganography to the XHTML to help trace.

... though that's all I'm gonna say about THAT!

[JSWolf]

If this eBook is made into PDF, it won't be good for reading. Most won't want to read it on the computer and if they have an eInk Kindle, it will be a very poor reading experience. IT needs to be in a relowable format for the device that's being used. And the graphics should not be reduced in any way. Otherwise the reviewers cannot accurately see the graphics as they should be and any comments on the graphics won't be valid.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by Oxford-eBooks

... though that's all I'm gonna say about THAT!

Though it's sort of bolting stable door after horse is gone, but the person can be blocked in future and other publishers warned.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

If this eBook is made into PDF, it won't be good for reading. Most won't want to read it on the computer and if they have an eInk Kindle, it will be a very poor reading experience. IT needs to be in a relowable format for the device that's being used. And the graphics should not be reduced in any way. Otherwise the reviewers cannot accurately see the graphics as they should be and any comments on the graphics won't be valid.

If it's a colour graphic novel or comic of some kind or very image heavy book then even color eink is poor and even if mono, a big tablet is often the only answer, so other than paper, sometimes PDF is the best electronic solution. Even a 14.25″ tablet is as cheap as 8″ and larger mono eink. No need for laptop or desktop now.

Many illustrated books are better as PDF than messed up reflowable or limited compatibility so called fixed-layout ebooks (abominations) that only sensibly work with the retailers app on a big tablet.

I hate PDF except to deliver for POD publisher upload, but sometimes it's the only sane solution if it's not on paper.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Quoth

If it's a colour graphic novel or comic of some kind or very image heavy book then even color eink is poor and even if mono, a big tablet is often the only answer, so other than paper, sometimes PDF is the best electronic solution. Even a 14.25″ tablet is as cheap as 8″ and larger mono eink. No need for laptop or desktop now.

Many illustrated books are better as PDF than messed up reflowable or limited compatibility so called fixed-layout ebooks (abominations) that only sensibly work with the retailers app on a big tablet.

I hate PDF except to deliver for POD publisher upload, but sometimes it's the only sane solution if it's not on paper.

Thing is, we don't know if this book needs advanced formatting like some children's books.

[Oxford-eBooks]

Don't worry about the format and layout guys, I was really only looking to see if thee was any way that I missed to send KCC format by Kindle email. Appreciate the concern though.

I'm with Quoth on the whle PDF thing as "fixed format" is just asking for things to bite you in the butt, and loads of extra work.
The pages are about 30% text in largeish print, the illustrtions are largely scratchy-type line drawings in mono with some colour splashes here and there, so compress fairly well and look just fine in KCC.
Anything other than a virbatim page replication (ie snapshot JPG from the PDF as KCC does) would mess up the layout and cause endless to and fro with the customer... who only wanted to pay the cost of a "standard project".
I think I managed to achieve a balance between what the client wanted and whatr they could have technically and for the money.
I see the book's up on Amazon now and selling, so job done.
They've not come back with any comments after the advice on how to send review copies, so hoping no news is good news.

Cheers M'Dudes!

[DNSB]

A good customer is one whose cheque clears.

[Oxford-eBooks]

Originally Posted by DNSB

A good customer is one whose cheque clears.

A better one is one who uses BACS.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by Oxford-eBooks

A better one is one who uses BACS.

IBAN.

No-one in Ireland takes cheques. My current bank can't and two previous banks stopped taking cheques years ago. I might have last used a cheque book 20 years go. The bank probably stopped issuing them over a decade ago.