Start mobi on Chapter One page

nadabutamor · 05-09-2018, 06:48 AM

Hi happy helpers!

I've been trying to have a mobi file open up and start on a specific page "Chapter One" of a book, but when I put in the Text guide code on the epub and convert it, the mobi file opens up in the middle of the copyright page.

This is the code I used on the epub.

Quote:

I then convert the epub to mobi using calibri.

The odd thing is that when I open the mobi file on Kindle on my iPhone and my laptop, it starts off on Chapter One, but when I open it up on my physical Kindle, it starts off in the middle of the copyright page.

At first, I thought it could be because my kindle is old, but I had two other people try it out on their own physical kindles (Kindle Paperwhite), and it's still the same issue.

Does anyone know the reasons and a solution to this?
I would really love the help!

jhowell · 05-09-2018, 09:29 AM

I have some comments that apply if you plan to publish this book on Amazon. (If you are not intending to do that then you can disregard the following.)

I strongly suggest that you use Kindle Previewer to convert your book instead of calibre. MOBI files created using calibre are sometimes rejected by Amazon and do not include the information needed to allow the Enhanced Typesetting features of the Kindle platform to be enabled for your book.

There isn't much point in worrying about the start position for your book. Amazon will override whatever you set as part of the publishing process anyway.

nadabutamor · 05-09-2018, 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhowell

I have some comments that apply if you plan to publish this book on Amazon. (If you are not intending to do that then you can disregard the following.)

I strongly suggest that you use Kindle Previewer to convert your book instead of calibre. MOBI files created using calibre are sometimes rejected by Amazon and do not include the information needed to allow the Enhanced Typesetting features of the Kindle platform to be enabled for your book.

There isn't much point in worrying about the start position for your book. Amazon will override whatever you set as part of the publishing process anyway.

Hey Jhowel! Thanks for replying to this. We do plan on publishing it on Amazon and we're looking into getting it all perfect before we do so. I know that Amazon overrides the formatting when we upload it though. It's sad. I just wish they would stick to epubs.

But do you by any chance know the reasons why the Beginning page issue happens on just the physical kindle?

I tried converting via Kindle Previewer but it's still the same and it makes the mobi file twice as huge (from 1.2MB (calibri converted mobi) to 6.6MB (Kindle Previewer mobi))

jhowell · 05-09-2018, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nadabutamor

But do you by any chance know the reasons why the Beginning page issue happens on just the physical kindle?

I don't know why.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nadabutamor

I tried converting via Kindle Previewer but it's still the same and it makes the mobi file twice as huge (from 1.2MB (calibri converted mobi) to 6.6MB (Kindle Previewer mobi))

The MOBI created by the Kindle Previewer contains copies of your book in three different formats: the original EPUB, old MOBI, and newer KF8.

The first is needed when publishing the book so that Amazon can derive KFX format for Enhanced Typesetting and the other two are needed for older and newer Kindle devices respectively.

When someone purchases the book only one of these formats will be delivered to them.

nadabutamor · 05-09-2018, 01:31 PM

Quote:

The MOBI created by the Kindle Previewer contains copies of your book in three different formats: the original EPUB, old MOBI, and newer KF8.

The first is needed when publishing the book so that Amazon can derive KFX format for Enhanced Typesetting and the other two are needed for older and newer Kindle devices respectively.

When someone purchases the book only one of these formats will be delivered to them.

Alright, so that makes sense about the conversion. But I heard that the higher the MB of the mobi's the more Amazon will charge. Do you know anything about that bit?

jhowell · 05-09-2018, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nadabutamor

But I heard that the higher the MB of the mobi's the more Amazon will charge. Do you know anything about that bit?

There is a 15 cent per MB delivery fee in the US for most books. That is based on the file size delivered to customers, not the total file size that has all of the formats included. During the publishing process Amazon will tell you the delivery file size.

nadabutamor · 05-10-2018, 05:58 AM

Alright. Thanks so much for all the info.

This is for a client and they're insisting on starting off the book on Chapter 1. I've resulted in the consensus that its InDesign that's causing the problems. So I'm trying out Vellum to see if it works.

Will keep you updated!

Hitch · 05-11-2018, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nadabutamor

Alright. Thanks so much for all the info.

This is for a client and they're insisting on starting off the book on Chapter 1. I've resulted in the consensus that its InDesign that's causing the problems. So I'm trying out Vellum to see if it works.

Will keep you updated!

No offense, but the idea that it's INDD causing it is...unwarranted. If you search the Amazon KDP forums, you'll see complaints about this very issue going back YEARS. This happens all the time, if you set the SRL in the ePUB/MOBI source file, and then run it through KG or KP, then upload it at the KDP. No big deal.

To fix it, take your ePUB, and unpack it. Reformat it into a source HTML zip for a MOBI. Feed that to KDP, and the SRL will be where it should be, at Ch. 1.

OR, for that matter, build your MOBI properly, using an Amazon tool, (KG/KP) and just upload the thing. When the book is on sale, the SRL will be set to Chapter One. The weirdo, middle-of-the-second-screen-of-the-TOC issue will be fixed in the PW (Publishing Workflow).

Honestly, I cannot BELIEVE that you'd redo the book in Vellum, of all things (want horror? Put the resulting Drop-cap special on a Paperwhite, and switch the Publisher fonts OFF), just over this. If you're talking about a client, that means you're a professional--so, you should know that Vellum is hardly the answer. Vellum is fine, for a DIY, easy, mindless, drag-drop tool for self-pubs, but it's not a commercial tool. As I said--view the resulting mobi in the PPW, and lose the Publisher fonts, to see what you are getting there.

Hitch

nadabutamor · 05-28-2018, 10:12 AM

Ahahahahhahahah! Thanks so much for your honest replies, you guys!

Just a quick update, I explained it to the client that we can only do so much with a mobi file since amazon always does what it does for kindle files.

Thanks again for the honest input!
I've learned so much already!

Notjohn · 05-29-2018, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhowell

. MOBI files created using calibre are sometimes rejected by Amazon

Still? I hadn't heard any complaints along this line in so long that I thought the problem was gone, or fixed.

I didn't know about Enhanced Typesetting issue. Thanks for that!

@OP: I no longer use a "text" semantic in my epubs, because if I do nothing, I find that the Look Inside sample usually opens at the beginning of the book, which is the way I intend them to be viewed by the shopper.

If I put the "text" at page one, chapter one, I find that that's where the book will usually open. But it will open there anyhow in the purchased book, because that's where Amazon sets the SRL.

(I say "usually" because I have never found anything to work 100 percent when it comes to Amazon and the SRL.)

jhowell · 05-29-2018, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Notjohn

Still? I hadn't heard any complaints along this line in so long that I thought the problem was gone, or fixed.

I haven't heard anything lately one way or the other.

nadabutamor · 06-01-2018, 07:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Notjohn

If I put the "text" at page one, chapter one, I find that that's where the book will usually open. But it will open there anyhow in the purchased book, because that's where Amazon sets the SRL.

(I say "usually" because I have never found anything to work 100 percent when it comes to Amazon and the SRL.)

Hmm that makes sense. That's why most indie authors never really think twice about that Chapter One thing. Most of them I guess need to accept that some of these things are out of our hands since Amazon can be unpredictable most of the times.

Notjohn · 06-02-2018, 11:37 AM

This became an issue when Amazon introduced Kindle Unlimited subscription service. Paying $2 a download quickly turned KU into a major loss center, so Amazon decided to pay by the page, but not for the title page, TOC, copyright page, dedication, epigram or any of that other window dressing that traditionally precedes page one, chapter one. In some books that might add up to as much as a nickel.

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05-09-2018, 09:29 AM	#2
jhowell Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,495 Karma: 84420419 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Tampa Bay, Florida Device: Kindles	I have some comments that apply if you plan to publish this book on Amazon. (If you are not intending to do that then you can disregard the following.) I strongly suggest that you use Kindle Previewer to convert your book instead of calibre. MOBI files created using calibre are sometimes rejected by Amazon and do not include the information needed to allow the Enhanced Typesetting features of the Kindle platform to be enabled for your book. There isn't much point in worrying about the start position for your book. Amazon will override whatever you set as part of the publishing process anyway.

05-10-2018, 05:58 AM	#7
nadabutamor Member Posts: 10 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2018 Device: iBooks and Kindle	Alright. Thanks so much for all the info. This is for a client and they're insisting on starting off the book on Chapter 1. I've resulted in the consensus that its InDesign that's causing the problems. So I'm trying out Vellum to see if it works. Will keep you updated!

05-28-2018, 10:12 AM	#9
nadabutamor Member Posts: 10 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2018 Device: iBooks and Kindle	Ahahahahhahahah! Thanks so much for your honest replies, you guys! Just a quick update, I explained it to the client that we can only do so much with a mobi file since amazon always does what it does for kindle files. Thanks again for the honest input! I've learned so much already!

06-02-2018, 11:37 AM	#13
Notjohn mostly an observer Posts: 1,515 Karma: 987654 Join Date: Dec 2012 Device: Kindle	This became an issue when Amazon introduced Kindle Unlimited subscription service. Paying $2 a download quickly turned KU into a major loss center, so Amazon decided to pay by the page, but not for the title page, TOC, copyright page, dedication, epigram or any of that other window dressing that traditionally precedes page one, chapter one. In some books that might add up to as much as a nickel.

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