Visible Table of Contents

[arjaybe]

A question for those of you who are experienced with reading ebooks: do you prefer a visible table of contents (front or back,) or one that needs to be called up?

[gmw]

For me, starting a new novel tends to be something of a ritual, and the ritual hasn't really changed with the move to ebooks. I study the cover then then turn the pages one by one, reading most of the details on each page (okay, so I tend to just glance at any long-winded copyright statements). When I get to the table of contents, if any, I will read down it. When I finally get to first text, I generally pause and try to clear my mind (reading my description here, I'm starting to think it sounds like a meditation exercise ... and maybe it is) and then start. I will even do this with re-reads of favourite novels, it's all part of savouring the experience.

As a result, I like my ebooks to be laid out as if they are a printed book. If the chapters are just numbers, printed books generally don't have them listed at the front, so neither should ebooks. If there is any risk of chapter titles giving too much away, they shouldn't be listed. But if the chapter titles have been created with care and relevance then I like them to be visible as part of the flow of the book.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by arjaybe

A question for those of you who are experienced with reading ebooks: do you prefer a visible table of contents (front or back,) or one that needs to be called up?

With ePub 2 there is an NCX ToC that's called up. The internal ToC is just a waste of space as it's not as easy t get t as the NCX ToC.

I prefer to have no internal ToC and just the NCX ToC.

[Pulpmeister]

I prefer a visible table of contents, and on those e-books I have scanned and created, I always have one. However, I prefer to simplify a little. Many novels have many chapters, often as many as 60, which makes for a very large contents page. I prefer a contents page to be a single screen, so in those cases I use a grid of numbers alone: 01 02 03 04 etc, rather than Chapter 1 Chapter 2 etc. I'm quite happy to do without chapter titles on the contents page, just numbers, but like the titles in their place at the beginning of a chapter.

You may have noticed that Terry Pratchett seldom used chapters at all, only in the (as far as I can tell) Moist von Lipwig stories. This can be a problem if you like to leap back and forth from chapter to chapter, or to skip ahead.

With short story collections, I prefer the title/author in the normal fashion down the page, even if it runs to more than one screen. A typical author's collection might have between 15 and 25 stories, which is about one screen.

I'm not fussed about keeping the same "look" as the printed work. It's a different medium, so a simpler more spartan approach suits me. Sometimes it is necessary to alter a printed book to adapt it into ebook. My own book "Fast Tracks", which is an Atlas of Australia's motor racing circuits since 1901, had more than 90 single-page maps accompanied by single-page articles, all in alphabetical order. In the pbook the contents page was in two columns of smallish type. For the ebook, I redesigned the Contents table by grouping letters of the alphabet, so I finished up with about 12 chapters. Each chapter head was something like this:

H, K and L

Hume Weir Vic— Kilmore Vic— Lake Perkolilli WA— Lakeside Qld— Leyburn Qld— Lobethal SA— Longford Tas— Lowood Qld

Otherwise I would have had to link all ninety-odd articles, plus the intro and acknowledgements, to a very large Contents table.

As you can see, different strokes...

[arjaybe]

Thanks for the replies. Different strokes for sure. Pulpmeister, since you don't like titles in the TOC, do you use them primarily as links? JSWolf, that sounds as if you're adapted to the ebook style - get there through the controls. gmw, your description makes a lot of sense to me.-)

[Pulpmeister]

My preference is something like this:

in the TOC, say

Chapter 1

In the text, chapter number and heading say

1: The Darkness and the Deep

or

Chapter 1:
In which I discover gold, and Pirates Discover Me

I link from TOC number to the number of the chapter with heading.

(If I am dealing with a short story collection, I always prefer to number the stories in the TOC and the body of the book, so much easier typing just 01 instead of the full story title, or an abbreviation of it. Less chance of typo error and bollixing up the links.)

Mind you, I do things the hard way: I use my ancient copy of Dreamweaver and HTML, doing the links manually. I know there are better ways, I've tried them; but I've been using Dreamweaver for many years now and it so much easier to stick with what you know thoroughly.

[arjaybe]

I guess some of this might depend on whether or not the reader has a touch screen.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by arjaybe

Thanks for the replies. Different strokes for sure. Pulpmeister, since you don't like titles in the TOC, do you use them primarily as links? JSWolf, that sounds as if you're adapted to the ebook style - get there through the controls. gmw, your description makes a lot of sense to me.-)

The thing is, this is not a print book, it's an eBook. So yes, there should be a ToC. But, if it is ePub, there's no need for an internal ToC. I've seen many ePub that has both the NCX and internal ToC with the NCX having an entry to the internal ToC. That's just really stupid. I'm already at the NCX ToC so why should I then go to the internal ToC? Also, if you do the old create section/chapter headers as links to the ToC, then you've just botched things as it looks awful that way. If you are creating an ePub that also will get turned into a Kindle eBook, make a copy of the ePub, toss in the internal ToC and use that for Kindle and the other for selling.

[arjaybe]

Thanks, JSWolf. This is what I was hoping for, to learn some of the intricacies of it.

[Pulpmeister]

I'm not technically minded, and I don't use specialist ebook software. I create an ebook the only way that I know, from RTF to HTML, then by Calibre to whatever format I need. I did a few Edgar Wallaces that way for the Library here.

My layout in HTML is cover pic at the top, title, author, first pub date, any dedications or epigraphs, then a typed list of contents, then Chapter 1 begins. I don't bother with section breaks between chapters.

I hyperlink link the chapter numbers in my typed text table of contents to the chapters in the text. (This is tedious if there's 60 chapters, but my experience is on websites, rather than books, and it's the way websites work.)

Then Calibre generates the ebook with a ToC at the end. My books look clean and simple to me, because I understand them. (And I haven't a clue what an NCX is!)

Those of you who use specialist ebook software will no doubt be aghast, but to me it's dead easy and suits me.

If I was to try to make my own version of a book with no formal chapters, like say most Pratchetts, I would divide the text into 10 or 12 approximately equal sections, creating untitled and invisible pseudo chapters. I would have a Contents table that simply numbered 1 to 10 or whatever, just as an aid to flicking through, because I like that facility.

[mr ploppy]

The only things that would benefit from a visible TOC are short story collections and non-fiction. There was a craze for putting them at the beginning for Kindle Unlimited purposes, but that's pointless now.

[theducks]

IMHO a simple inline TOC is a waste of time and space. Simple, being it just says:Chapter 1

A more detailed TOC like Pulpmeister used in the second case can be more enlightening (and not possible with a typical NCX). I still move these to the end, I just make a entry in the NCX (which I remove, if it is a simple TOC)

IMHO (again ) The main use of the NCX is a way to Jumpto a given chapter/section.

BTW Sigil and Calibre Editors can both create an inline TOC from the NCX (toc) with a simple click

[arjaybe]

I'm still getting the hang of it. I run an ODT file through Calibre, and it makes an NCX TOC, right? Then I can tell Calibre to create an inline TOC if I want. (Just showing off that I learned what they're called.-) So far I haven't figured out how to tell the inline one where to go, though. My book has chapter titles, so it might look all right inline.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by arjaybe

I'm still getting the hang of it. I run an ODT file through Calibre, and it makes an NCX TOC, right? Then I can tell Calibre to create an inline TOC if I want. (Just showing off that I learned what they're called.-) So far I haven't figured out how to tell the inline one where to go, though. My book has chapter titles, so it might look all right inline.

You are missing a very important step. After you convert the ODT file to ePub, you MUST have a look at the code. You MUST have a look inside the ePub. You MUST clean up anything that needs to be cleaned up. You MUST make sure the code in your ePub is as clean as can be made. Only then can you go to the next step of converting the ePub into a Kindle eBook.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by arjaybe

I'm still getting the hang of it. I run an ODT file through Calibre, and it makes an NCX TOC, right? Then I can tell Calibre to create an inline TOC if I want. (Just showing off that I learned what they're called.-) So far I haven't figured out how to tell the inline one where to go, though. My book has chapter titles, so it might look all right inline.

In the Editor (book file list) , drag it to the end (it is a separate file if Calibre / Sigil generated it) : save