10-09-2020, 02:03 PM | #1 | |
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Amazon October 2020 File Ingestion Requirement
Starting on October 27 Amazon is introducing stricter requirements for published Kindle books to support Enhanced Typesetting.
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10-10-2020, 09:23 AM | #2 |
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Ohhhh, great.
You know, you can always tell when ideas like this are derived by people who don't actually do the damn work, don't know how some files simply won't work. I mean...fine. Sacrifice accessibility, by using images of tables, rather than real tables? Sure. Freaking perfect. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr....gru mble grumble grumble.... Hitch |
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10-10-2020, 11:36 AM | #3 |
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That seems like it'd be an issue with the Americans with Disabilities Act in the US and potentially any similar laws that exist in other jurisdictions.
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10-12-2020, 01:25 AM | #4 |
Witchman
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This is a very interesting change. I read this change as saying "As long as you follow the Enhanced Typsetting standard you'll be fine. But if you deviate from that standard then your ebook will fail when you test it on KP3 and will also fail if you upload to Amazon". The one saving grace from his change is that you can now test your ebook in KP3 and if it fails then you will explicitly be told why it failed in the KP3 log. That's not so bad for techy folks who work with epubs and html. But how are the Word uploaders going to cope with these techy error descriptions?
I hate to say it, but there could also be another good reason why Amazon is now forcing indie authors to follow the Enhanced Typsetting standard. Whenever you create an ebook using Kindle Create you will get a KPF file that will ALWAYS pass the Enhanced Typsetting standard without fail whenever you test or upload. So is Amazon KDP, indirectly and sneakily, now trying to force indie authors to create ebooks using Kindle Create with their new ET policy? Just a thought. Personally, I would always prefer as many upload formatting options as possible. Last edited by slowsmile; 10-12-2020 at 01:35 AM. |
10-12-2020, 08:17 AM | #5 | |||
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Messages like that one also state "You currently have the option to upload this book without making the correction (more details here ( https://www.amazon.com/en_US/guidance/layoutfeatures/gracefull_period_warning )). Please note Enhanced Typesetting will not be enabled without making the correction." The "gracefull_period" (SP) is what will end later this month. However there appear to be some loopholes. One of the most common error messages produced by the Kindle Previewer is "Kindle conversion has encountered an internal error while enabling Enhanced Typesetting on this book. We apologize for the inconvenience caused. Amazon is actively working to provide books that are free of internal errors. For now, we recommend to upload this book without Enhanced Typesetting." I assume that means the book will still be allowed to be published even though it will not support Enhanced Typesetting. Another example is "Pseudo selector counter type is not supported in Enhanced Typesetting. Unfortunately, Kindle does not currently support this markup. Amazon is actively working on this error. For now, we recommend to upload this book without Enhanced Typesetting enabled." That message also appears to explicitly give the publisher a pass on that problem. In the end I think that this change will provide lots of new business for professional e-book formatters like Hitch. Quote:
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10-12-2020, 09:48 AM | #6 | |||||||
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Hitch |
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10-12-2020, 10:01 AM | #7 |
the rook, bossing Never.
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I'm not switching to Kindle Create.
I upload the SAME epub2 I use everywhere, so far all the KFX versions have supported the so called Enhanced Typesetting. AFIAK, a azw/KF8 or a mobi/KF7 doesn't support it and actually isn't it fictitious, simply different client side rendering of KFX? Seeing as the SAME epub2 file is used BY Amazon to create the azw/KF8, mobi/KF7 and the Enhanced Typesetting KFX? Are they going to force major publishers to ALSO use Kindle Create? I can't imagine it. Or am I totally misunderstanding something? |
10-12-2020, 10:16 AM | #8 | ||
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AMEN BROTHER.
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It's a right pain in the ass. And if they try to Apple us, I'm really going to lose my s**t. Hitch |
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10-12-2020, 10:43 AM | #9 | ||
Witchman
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@jphowell...
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Last edited by slowsmile; 10-12-2020 at 11:05 AM. |
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10-12-2020, 11:08 AM | #10 | ||
the rook, bossing Never.
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And Amazon told me that epub2 was the best format to upload. The Docx isn't as good. All our epub2 ebooks have the so called Enhanced Typesetting, if you download a KFX version, which is just client side rendering that could be added to azw/FK8 rendering on any Kindle that supports KFX. It's quite a subtle rendering difference to KF8/Azw and nothing to do with internals, the same things they don't like for KFX/Enhanced Typesetting are bad without it. This too is fantasy: Quote:
Depending on font size and judgement/experience and print quality a paper edition of a book may want different fonts to an ebook. Also you may want to swap some spaces for half spaces. Perhaps between digits and units or at en dashs, though some style guides don't space en dashes used for asides. Likely you also want to change various spacings of different paragraph styles.You may also want different front and rear matter. A paper book also needs a different cover design. Images will be higher resolution and an absolute size for paper, but a percent of screen width for ebooks. Tables may be done differently. You can use real small caps, if you think you must (not assured on ebooks). You have true WYSIWYG of a PDF proof and absolute fixed layout on paper. Not on real ebooks. It seems like a bonkers idea to me, but then I what do I know? (P.S. Doing DTP for paper since 1986 and electronic documents since 1979, multimedia since 1994 and real ebooks before the Kindle existed. I'd admit sometimes I'm inept and clueless). |
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10-12-2020, 02:32 PM | #11 | |||
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Yes, it will be interesting to see how many self-publishers are affected by this change.
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I have not seen any indication that any publisher will be forced to use KC. For reflowable books KC is intended to aid novice publishers in getting simple books published. It largely fails at that mission in my opinion. Quote:
The fact that Amazon has aggressively locked down KFX DRM while at the same time allowing the long-broken DRM of MOBI/KF8 to continue unchanged makes me suspect that their long-term goal is to move to KFX only, at least for newly published books. This month's change is a step in that direction. Their desire to avoid obsoleting older Kindle devices is currently holding them back, but as those slowly go out of service Amazon may be able to justify it, especially if they offer a generous trade-in allowance. Last edited by jhowell; 10-12-2020 at 02:40 PM. |
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10-12-2020, 05:17 PM | #12 |
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How far back does KFX support go on Kindles and/or (Kindle) Fire Tablets?
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10-12-2020, 06:07 PM | #13 |
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10-12-2020, 06:53 PM | #14 |
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Is there anything in the current version of KFX that can display on current firmware but not on older firmware that supports KFX (but will never be updated)?
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10-12-2020, 07:40 PM | #15 | |
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I don't know about Fire tablets. Firmware 5.12.2 was released about a year ago (September 2019). Not much has changed in the KFX renderer since then. Possibly support for some features used in Japanese language books. |
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