A request from an avid reader

[Rellwood]

Dear Author,

I know that Amazon has been paying you per page read, however it is more than frustrating to open a book and see that it has been formatted so that there is line spacing of 150 to 200% in addition to extra spacing between paragraphs.

I cannot read and get into a book if I have to keep "turning the page" every other paragraph.


Thanks!

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Rellwood

Dear Author,

I know that Amazon has been paying you per page read, however it is more than frustrating to open a book and see that it has been formatted so that there is line spacing of 150 to 200% in addition to extra spacing between paragraphs.

I cannot read and get into a book if I have to keep "turning the page" every other paragraph.


Thanks!

Hi.
Please do us all a favor. Everytime you run across this problem, go to the book page on Amazon, scroll down to the report box. Report there.

Sorry but most authors especially those that format like that, do not come to Mobileread.

Make sure Amazon knows.
Only authors enrolled in Kindle Select get paid by the page. Oh and it isn't your page, it is a specific character count.

Is it all Amazon books? If so, check your settings on your device, they might have changed.
If not, just report the books.

[crich70]

I agree. I've seen some badly formatted books at Amazon and the best thing is to send feedback to Amazon. Sometimes a book gets mangled during upload.

[Lemurion]

Speaking only for myself, I tend to keep a tight spacing between lnes, and I never insert extra space between paragraphs unless I'm changing scenes. What drives me nuts is extra space between indented paragraphs; either indent or add a line, never both.

[gmw]

Rellwood, I promise never to commit this faux pas - at least not intentionally

Lemurion, I definitely agree. Indent with no paragraph spacing is my choice. As long as the HTML/CSS is done properly, users/ereaders can easily adapt the source to their own preferences.

[Lemurion]

Originally Posted by gmw

Rellwood, I promise never to commit this faux pas - at least not intentionally

Lemurion, I definitely agree. Indent with no paragraph spacing is my choice. As long as the HTML/CSS is done properly, users/ereaders can easily adapt the source to their own preferences.

I start each scene/chapter with a block paragraph because it has to have space before it, and then indent each subsequent one.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by Lemurion

I start each scene/chapter with a block paragraph because it has to have space before it, and then indent each subsequent one.

Indeed. I had not done that in my currently published novels, and no one has ever commented on the it, but I have been trying to do the right thing since then.

[Lemurion]

I find it makes the book look much more polished and professional.

[Cinisajoy]

I think the OP is looking at mostly KU non-fiction. I have seen books like he is talking about. I usually don't get very far in them because they are either c&p books, or just ran through word spell check only and Google translate.

So I do hope the OP starts using the report button over at Amazon. The scamlets need to go away.

[Rellwood]

@all,

Thank you for not trolling me for my comment. I appreciate it since it was made in good faith. @Cinisajoy, I am mostly seeing this on the KU books, but it also does occur on some of the more expensive books as well. I can't think of them off the top of my head, but it happens more often than not that I download a book open it to find that the spacing and the line height is atrocious. I agree with the consensus that an indented paragraph with no extra spacing be used.

I didn't realize that this could be a problem attributed to by Amazon, I figured that they would accept whatever book and formatting is given an just send it like that.

I will go to the books page from now on and make a note about it. I know some authors that I know before buying that this is going to happen because all of their previous books have that formatting. Since KU pays the author by page, it only made sense for me to believe that no one would want their books to look this way (line-height: %200) with the additional space between indented paragraphs. Personally, I liked justify for a time, but now I like going back to the left (ragged right side?) because it looks like a paper book (which like you all, I grew up reading).

Regarding the readers being able to process the books to a desired setting, this is not true of Kindles. They do not allow for formatting beyond a three set of line spacing and margin spacing. I have since purchased a KOBO because it allows for more customization. However, I am stuck with Amazon since I have long since drank their Kool-Aide and now I am 10 years into them. Amazon does have a lot of great books, but I have also been going to the publishing websites and independent sellers (Smashwords) as well.
Thanks for your suggestions!

[avantman42]

Originally Posted by Rellwood

However, I am stuck with Amazon since I have long since drank their Kool-Aide and now I am 10 years into them.

You might want to look at Calibre (http://calibre-ebook.com/). It will organise your ebook collection, and convert your Amazon ebooks (if they don't have DRM) to ePub for your Kobo. If the Amazon books have DRM, there is a Calibre plugin available to remove it.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Lemurion

Speaking only for myself, I tend to keep a tight spacing between lnes, and I never insert extra space between paragraphs unless I'm changing scenes. What drives me nuts is extra space between indented paragraphs; either indent or add a line, never both.

Hmmm. I respectfully disagree. I think myself that a spacing of around 0.2 - 0.3em between indented paragraphs makes the page look a lot better. I generally use a spacing of 0.2em and an indent of 1.5em.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Hmmm. I respectfully disagree. I think myself that a spacing of around 0.2 - 0.3em between indented paragraphs makes the page look a lot better. I generally use a spacing of 0.2em and an indent of 1.5em.

Probably everyone has a different opinion about what looks best. No space between paragraphs and an indent of 1em here. I edit all my purchased books in Calibre so that they look that way. To my mind, it's pretty pointless to report the badly formatted books, there are too many and you can wait forever for them to be fixed. Much faster to fix them yourself.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

To my mind, it's pretty pointless to report the badly formatted books, there are too many and you can wait forever for them to be fixed. Much faster to fix them yourself.

True, and of course the line between "badly formatted" and "not in accordance with my personal preferences" can be a hazy one.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by HarryT

True, and of course the line between "badly formatted" and "not in accordance with my personal preferences" can be a hazy one.

Exactly. One man's bread is another man's poison.