Not impressed with Amazon Kindle Star Trek book! Are they all like this?!

bfollowell · 11-03-2010, 08:21 PM

I have a question for anyone that may be able to answer. Where the heck does Amazon get their Star Trek ebooks and are they actually proof-read or just typed in by low-paid monkeys and shoveled out the door?!

Let me elaborate.

I finally picked up the most recent Star Trek: Vanguard novel, Precipice, and am not the least bit impressed. I'll be honest; this is my first Amazon Kindle ebook purchase. I've been reading a ton of stuff I've purchased over the years in Microsoft Reader format and converted myself using Calbre and this is the first time I've actually gotten around to purchasing a real-live Amazon Kindle ebook.

First of all, there is no table of contents at all. Not a huge deal but just very strange. I thought that was supposed to be pretty much a standard thing with ebooks. The cover is all out of aspect, stretched, fat and ugly. At the end of the paper book, there's a page with large text stating The Saga of Star Trek Vanguard Will Continue. At the end of my ebook, there's also a page with large text. It states, and I quote "The Saga of STAR TRACK OF VANGUARD Will Continue". Who the heck puts these things together for them?! This looks awful and totally unprofessional. If I were Simon and Schuster or Amazon, I'd be totally ashamed to have my name attached to this mess. It really makes me wonder what I'm going to find inside once I actually start reading the book.

Is this common? Am I being too picky? Have any of the rest of you run into things like this before? How about anyone else that has Precipice on their Nook or Sony or some other reader? Did you have similar issues with this title?

Thanks.

- Byron Followell

ATDrake · 11-03-2010, 08:36 PM

Whenever you see bad formatting, it's almost always the publisher's fault. Amazon just serves the files that the publisher sends them.

The only time they get involved in the conversion is when the dreaded Topaz format is involved, and that's because the publisher pays them to do a cheapie scan job to hack up an image-based format which apparently costs less than making a "real" e-book. Also, both of Amazon's native formats and the tools they supply for conversion are kind of lacking, but that's only an excuse for occasional layout issues.

Chances are, if it's typo-riddled on Amazon, it's probably just as bad in ePub, too. B&N will at least let you download a sample if you're morbidly curious.

But considering the zillions of Star Trek books out there, I don't think all of them will be that bad. Diane Duane's Doctor's Orders (only $2.79 for Canadians!), which I got a Kindle sample of awhile ago, has a TOC, chapters starting on new pages, no really obvious typos in the text, and otherwise seems perfectly fine.

Maybe yours is just from a batch back when Simon & Schuster were being lazy with the e-book production and/or outsourced to a company with no standards. Or maybe they're secretly all riddled with typos lurking for the unwary buyer to spring after the sample text ends. Who knows?

If it's really bothersome, just contact Amazon Customer Service to tell them about it, and chances are they'll a) offer to send your complaint on to the publisher, b) maybe even offer to refund the book.

JeremyR · 11-03-2010, 08:38 PM

A lot of stuff on Amazon is badly formatted and has no TOC.

I think by and large publishers think they can get away with it, and indeed they do. Other than a few people grumbling on the forums, you hardly ever hear about it. Even articles critical of the kindle never mention this issue.

desertgrandma · 11-03-2010, 08:41 PM

You can return any book bought within 7 days for a refund by simply using the "contact us" button on your Kindle support page......be sure to state the reason why.

If enough people do this, they'll pull it and have it reformatted....

daffy4u · 11-03-2010, 08:50 PM

It's not just as problem for Amazon as you ca see from a few recent threads.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=105001
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...bad+formatting
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...bad+formatting

bfollowell · 11-03-2010, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

You can return any book bought within 7 days for a refund by simply using the "contact us" button on your Kindle support page......be sure to state the reason why.

If enough people do this, they'll pull it and have it reformatted....

Thanks for the support guys. desertgrandma, when you say from your Kindle support page, do you mean on the Kindle itself or the Kindle section of the website? I don't have my Kindle yet. My wife, er Santa, is supposed to be bringing it, I hope. I've been reading on K4PC and my wife's Kindle but I purchased this one under my account which has no Kindle associated with it yet.

Thanks.

- Byron

bfollowell · 11-03-2010, 09:19 PM

Well, even though, like someone on here mentioned, this file probably came like this from the publisher, Amazon made it right. I just called their customer service department and they apologized and offered to refund my money or I could keep the ebook and they'd give me a credit towards future ebook purchases. I decided to take them up on the credit. There's a reason I've been doing business with this company for over thirteen years. As upset as I am about the horrible formatting of this particular title, I really can't fault Amazon for it and have nothing but praise for the way they handled it.

Kudos to Amazon. A loudly blown blowing a raspberry to Simon and Schuster or whoever hacked this book together for them.

- Byron

desertgrandma · 11-03-2010, 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bfollowell

Thanks for the support guys. desertgrandma, when you say from your Kindle support page, do you mean on the Kindle itself or the Kindle section of the website? I don't have my Kindle yet. My wife, er Santa, is supposed to be bringing it, I hope. I've been reading on K4PC and my wife's Kindle but I purchased this one under my account which has no Kindle associated with it yet.

Thanks.

- Byron

Amazon Kindle Support Page

For the future:
Use the "contact us" button on the right. Sign into your account, choose the "call me" option, and someone will call you back immediately.

this page also has tons of useful information and FAQ's....

shanghaichica · 11-03-2010, 09:41 PM

I've bought 2 star trek books from fictionwise that I read on my iphone and they were of a good standard. Although I didnt buy them from amazon i'd imagine it's publisher dependant rather than store dependant so I think they can't all be bad.

xnowimcoolx · 11-05-2010, 10:22 PM

bad formatting and typos are the bane of the Amazon bookstore!! I return books that have too many typos or experience destroying formatting issues.

Amazon is very good about returning e-books.

HarryT · 11-06-2010, 04:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bfollowell

Well, even though, like someone on here mentioned, this file probably came like this from the publisher,

There's no "probably" about it. It IS the publisher who formats books. Amazon have nothing to do with the process.

11-03-2010, 08:21 PM	#1
bfollowell Fanatic Posts: 541 Karma: 1152752 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Evansville, IN, USA Device: Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook & Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5	Not impressed with Amazon Kindle Star Trek book! Are they all like this?! I have a question for anyone that may be able to answer. Where the heck does Amazon get their Star Trek ebooks and are they actually proof-read or just typed in by low-paid monkeys and shoveled out the door?! Let me elaborate. I finally picked up the most recent Star Trek: Vanguard novel, Precipice, and am not the least bit impressed. I'll be honest; this is my first Amazon Kindle ebook purchase. I've been reading a ton of stuff I've purchased over the years in Microsoft Reader format and converted myself using Calbre and this is the first time I've actually gotten around to purchasing a real-live Amazon Kindle ebook. First of all, there is no table of contents at all. Not a huge deal but just very strange. I thought that was supposed to be pretty much a standard thing with ebooks. The cover is all out of aspect, stretched, fat and ugly. At the end of the paper book, there's a page with large text stating The Saga of Star Trek Vanguard Will Continue. At the end of my ebook, there's also a page with large text. It states, and I quote "The Saga of STAR TRACK OF VANGUARD Will Continue". Who the heck puts these things together for them?! This looks awful and totally unprofessional. If I were Simon and Schuster or Amazon, I'd be totally ashamed to have my name attached to this mess. It really makes me wonder what I'm going to find inside once I actually start reading the book. Is this common? Am I being too picky? Have any of the rest of you run into things like this before? How about anyone else that has Precipice on their Nook or Sony or some other reader? Did you have similar issues with this title? Thanks. - Byron Followell

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11-03-2010, 08:36 PM	#2
ATDrake Wizzard Posts: 11,517 Karma: 33048258 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Roundworld Device: Kindle 2 International, Sony PRS-T1, BlackBerry PlayBook, Acer Iconia	Whenever you see bad formatting, it's almost always the publisher's fault. Amazon just serves the files that the publisher sends them. The only time they get involved in the conversion is when the dreaded Topaz format is involved, and that's because the publisher pays them to do a cheapie scan job to hack up an image-based format which apparently costs less than making a "real" e-book. Also, both of Amazon's native formats and the tools they supply for conversion are kind of lacking, but that's only an excuse for occasional layout issues. Chances are, if it's typo-riddled on Amazon, it's probably just as bad in ePub, too. B&N will at least let you download a sample if you're morbidly curious. But considering the zillions of Star Trek books out there, I don't think all of them will be that bad. Diane Duane's Doctor's Orders (only $2.79 for Canadians!), which I got a Kindle sample of awhile ago, has a TOC, chapters starting on new pages, no really obvious typos in the text, and otherwise seems perfectly fine. Maybe yours is just from a batch back when Simon & Schuster were being lazy with the e-book production and/or outsourced to a company with no standards. Or maybe they're secretly all riddled with typos lurking for the unwary buyer to spring after the sample text ends. Who knows? If it's really bothersome, just contact Amazon Customer Service to tell them about it, and chances are they'll a) offer to send your complaint on to the publisher, b) maybe even offer to refund the book.

11-03-2010, 08:38 PM	#3
JeremyR Guru Posts: 973 Karma: 2458402 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: St. Louis Device: Kindle Keyboard, Nook HD+	A lot of stuff on Amazon is badly formatted and has no TOC. I think by and large publishers think they can get away with it, and indeed they do. Other than a few people grumbling on the forums, you hardly ever hear about it. Even articles critical of the kindle never mention this issue.

11-03-2010, 08:41 PM	#4
desertgrandma Enjoying the show.... Posts: 14,270 Karma: 10462843 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Arizona Device: A K1, Kindle Paperwhite, an Ipod, IPad2, Iphone, an Ipad Mini & macAir	You can return any book bought within 7 days for a refund by simply using the "contact us" button on your Kindle support page......be sure to state the reason why. If enough people do this, they'll pull it and have it reformatted....

11-03-2010, 08:50 PM	#5
daffy4u I'm Super Kindle-icious Posts: 6,734 Karma: 2434103 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Long Drive, Calinadia Candafornia Device: KDXG, KT, Oasis	It's not just as problem for Amazon as you ca see from a few recent threads. https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=105001 https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...bad+formatting https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...bad+formatting

11-03-2010, 09:19 PM	#7
bfollowell Fanatic Posts: 541 Karma: 1152752 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Evansville, IN, USA Device: Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook & Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5	Well, even though, like someone on here mentioned, this file probably came like this from the publisher, Amazon made it right. I just called their customer service department and they apologized and offered to refund my money or I could keep the ebook and they'd give me a credit towards future ebook purchases. I decided to take them up on the credit. There's a reason I've been doing business with this company for over thirteen years. As upset as I am about the horrible formatting of this particular title, I really can't fault Amazon for it and have nothing but praise for the way they handled it. Kudos to Amazon. A loudly blown blowing a raspberry to Simon and Schuster or whoever hacked this book together for them. - Byron

11-03-2010, 09:41 PM	#9
shanghaichica Guru Posts: 991 Karma: 5782970 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: Scribe,Kindle Oasis 3, iPad Pro 11,15 Pro Max,iPad mini 7,colorsoft	I've bought 2 star trek books from fictionwise that I read on my iphone and they were of a good standard. Although I didnt buy them from amazon i'd imagine it's publisher dependant rather than store dependant so I think they can't all be bad.

11-05-2010, 10:22 PM	#10
xnowimcoolx Connoisseur Posts: 61 Karma: 3100 Join Date: May 2010 Device: Kindle 2	bad formatting and typos are the bane of the Amazon bookstore!! I return books that have too many typos or experience destroying formatting issues. Amazon is very good about returning e-books.

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