A few questions about Kindle book formatting...

Hi Angela,

Thanks for mentioning it. I never heard of Scrivener before. I'll check it out, but I'm interested in seeing what Mobi Pocket Creator can do (especially since Amazon recommends it).

John

P.S. And try to stay away from those rusty butter knives!

Hi Marcia,

The HTML that Word produces -- even using the "filtered" option -- is quite "dirty." Word adds a lot of styles and other unnecessary "junk."

You're using an alternate method (and that's fine), but I like the control that HTML gives me. It's not a chore; it's easy.

Your article doesn't mention e-covers, OPF files, or NCX files -- and, in my rather limited experience, those seem to be the elements that confuse most beginning Kindle authors.

In addition, your article mentions setting specific point sizes in Word. But the Kindle displays HTML and doesn't allow font sizes to be "set" -- so, at some point, a conversion has to take place.

My point is that starting with HTML and letting a program like Mobi Pocket Creator handle the complexity of adding the cover, OPF, and NCX files seems to be the path that involves the least amount of "conversion" -- so my file has the best chance of looking EXACTLY as I intended.

Of course, I haven't actually done it, yet. So I may be naively mistaken. We'll see...

John

The real test is how well it works on the actual Kindle or the other e-readers once it is finally uploaded.

If anyone is wondering if their Word upload is fully working or not just check if it has a functional nav and menu controls.

For example: In the Kindle Previewer does the Cover (Ctrl+R), Table of Contents (Ctrl+T) and NCX View (Ctrl+N) all work without any of them popping up an error dialog? It's surprising just how many out there throw a Missing NCX file or Missing Table of Content.

Even Mobipocket isn't completely correct. The toc bug has been there for awhile and doesn't seem to an issue they are concerned about that much. That's why I do it my way.

The final say will always be in the finished product no matter what. If it is just okay will that be enough to stand out from the crowd? Will it leave your readers with a good impression?

Also, how easy is it to add extra premium features?

There are several fairly good tools available but for me each has pros and cons.

For me, I like to be sure I know what's going on and not to blindly rely on beta (er buggy) code unless it's mine ;-)

Couldn't let your comment go without offering my take

I do hope this comment applies to the op after I explain my reasoning.

As a marketing forum, we're all here to connect in some way to build relationships that hopefully lead to increased business. That's a given.

But the key or important part at least for me is to offer REAL value and not to just spam our offers.

For example, does my reply answer the question the op asked? Will it add something of value or JUST try to take over the conversation? If it does both then great but at least it adds value, right?

I think it's critical to give before getting anything.

So we can debate what tool to use to do a job and that's great. There are many tools that can do the job, just like there are many brands of cars that all allow you to drive. People just prefer one brand over another and everyone seems to be happy with that.

Each person has their preference and that makes things interesting.

But being successful in business isn't just about using a good tool. It's also vital that you use that tool in a way that gives you a significant advantage in the marketplace or you won't be around long.

So pick the best tool that gives you that advantage, add the best strategy you can find and build a great system out of it.

If a system comes along that has all these elements then awesome, use it or find something else that you prefer.

You don't need my WSO to make it work but it does make it easier and saves time but again, it's not a requirement. Many people think Word can't format properly for the Kindle or that you need other software to make it work and it's just not true. FYI, I did not even mention it in my post.