E-Book formatting - CrimeSpace2024-03-29T00:08:38Zhttp://crimespace.ning.com/forum/topics/e-book-formatting?commentId=537324%3AComment%3A330457&feed=yes&xn_auth=noI'm relieved to hear the Peng…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-02-06:537324:Comment:3304232012-02-06T14:44:54.864ZI. J. Parkerhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Ingpark
<p>I'm relieved to hear the Penguin versions are ok. I will say I wasn't asked to proof them. Perhaps they were a tad embarrassed since my contractual share is 15 % of the 70 %.</p>
<p>I'm relieved to hear the Penguin versions are ok. I will say I wasn't asked to proof them. Perhaps they were a tad embarrassed since my contractual share is 15 % of the 70 %.</p> Thanks, I.J. My fifteen minut…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-02-05:537324:Comment:3305502012-02-05T23:09:05.074ZKaren Dionnehttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/KarenDionne
<p>Thanks, I.J. My fifteen minutes. :)</p>
<p>I'm with Penguin too, and after I found out about how common errors in e-books were, I bought a copy of my latest, and am happy to say it looked fine. I think with commercially produced e-versions, the problem comes in because authors never proof their e-versions, and depending on how they're produced (copyedited file, or original word file), no matter how meticulous the author is at the page proof stage, it might not matter.</p>
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<p>I do…</p>
<p>Thanks, I.J. My fifteen minutes. :)</p>
<p>I'm with Penguin too, and after I found out about how common errors in e-books were, I bought a copy of my latest, and am happy to say it looked fine. I think with commercially produced e-versions, the problem comes in because authors never proof their e-versions, and depending on how they're produced (copyedited file, or original word file), no matter how meticulous the author is at the page proof stage, it might not matter.</p>
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<p>I do think publishers were caught short on this issue, and like to think that in time, their process will catch up.</p> I'm trying to contain expense…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-02-05:537324:Comment:3304582012-02-05T22:13:16.934ZI. J. Parkerhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Ingpark
<p>I'm trying to contain expenses until I start making enough money to pay for copy-editing. However, I do have two readers who read for me before the final version.</p>
<p>I'm trying to contain expenses until I start making enough money to pay for copy-editing. However, I do have two readers who read for me before the final version.</p> It's just very hard to proof…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-02-05:537324:Comment:3304572012-02-05T22:08:56.645ZCharles Kellyhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/pulpnoir
<p>It's just very hard to proof and proof and proof your own books and still stay alert for errors. That's why it's always good to get other people involved. At least, as the author, you have a passionate interest in getting everything right. That helps a lot.</p>
<p>It's just very hard to proof and proof and proof your own books and still stay alert for errors. That's why it's always good to get other people involved. At least, as the author, you have a passionate interest in getting everything right. That helps a lot.</p> Good for you. Congrats! Tha…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-02-05:537324:Comment:3304532012-02-05T18:11:23.721ZI. J. Parkerhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Ingpark
<p>Good for you. Congrats! That was very interesting.</p>
<p>I have not had complaints from readers on the e-books put out by my publisher, so trust they're ok. The proofing process for Penguin and my other publishers was extremely detailed and carefuil, and I have always made sure the best possible copy went to print. The final proofing happens to the printed pages. There was generally little left to change by that time. My guess about the typos in trad-pubbed novels is that authors didn't…</p>
<p>Good for you. Congrats! That was very interesting.</p>
<p>I have not had complaints from readers on the e-books put out by my publisher, so trust they're ok. The proofing process for Penguin and my other publishers was extremely detailed and carefuil, and I have always made sure the best possible copy went to print. The final proofing happens to the printed pages. There was generally little left to change by that time. My guess about the typos in trad-pubbed novels is that authors didn't follow through on the tedious checking process.</p>
<p>To my embarrassment, I have to admit that I got one complaint on the latest (self-pubbed) Akitada novel. The error/oversight was mine. It was a typo I didn't catch. My shortcoming is that I still revise when I'm proof-reading. That causes new typos to slip in. I wasn't allowed to do that on the final versions from the printer. I shall change my ways in the future.</p>
<p>As for formatting problems: yes, I've seen those from some formatters. I do not see them in any of the books that have been done by 52 Novels. Kudos to them.</p> I wrote a blog post a couple…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-02-05:537324:Comment:3304502012-02-05T15:31:52.573ZKaren Dionnehttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/KarenDionne
<p>I wrote a blog post a couple of months ago over on the Huffington Post on this topic based on comments from a book typesetter about why so many traditionally published books are riddled with errors. </p>
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<p><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/karen-dionne/e-stands-for-errors_b_1023072.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">"E" Stand for "Errors"</a></p>
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<p>The topic really hit a nerve! 254 comments, hundreds of "likes" and Tweets and Facebook shares. The Huffington Post…</p>
<p>I wrote a blog post a couple of months ago over on the Huffington Post on this topic based on comments from a book typesetter about why so many traditionally published books are riddled with errors. </p>
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<p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/karen-dionne/e-stands-for-errors_b_1023072.html" target="_blank">"E" Stand for "Errors"</a></p>
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<p>The topic really hit a nerve! 254 comments, hundreds of "likes" and Tweets and Facebook shares. The Huffington Post featured my post at the top of the blog rail, in the Books Slider all weekend, and by the next Monday, on the main page, holy cow! As a result, I was contacted by a Calgary, Alberta radio show and <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.cbc.ca/eyeopener/episode/2011/10/25/e-book-typos/" target="_blank">interviewed on their morning show</a> the next day. (I had less than a day to become an errors-in-e-books "expert" - scary!) Obviously, the issue of errors in e-books is a hot topic!</p> Ah, two of my novels were sca…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-02-05:537324:Comment:3303942012-02-05T14:42:59.368ZI. J. Parkerhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Ingpark
<p>Ah, two of my novels were scanned in by someone. That was last summer. I don't recall how thorough my proofing was. Alas, one thinks that scanning is foolproof. Formatting from Word seems to have different problems.</p>
<p>Thanks. Not sure I have the time to proofread two old novels again at the moment.</p>
<p>Ah, two of my novels were scanned in by someone. That was last summer. I don't recall how thorough my proofing was. Alas, one thinks that scanning is foolproof. Formatting from Word seems to have different problems.</p>
<p>Thanks. Not sure I have the time to proofread two old novels again at the moment.</p> Thanks. I'm sure you're righ…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-02-05:537324:Comment:3303932012-02-05T14:40:03.994ZI. J. Parkerhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Ingpark
<p>Thanks. I'm sure you're right, but for me the money is well spent. Formatting is not expensive. Other services are.</p>
<p>Thanks. I'm sure you're right, but for me the money is well spent. Formatting is not expensive. Other services are.</p> A few years ago, there was a…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-02-05:537324:Comment:3303862012-02-05T02:10:23.544ZPepper Smithhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Reefrunner
<p>A few years ago, there was a woman on a discussion board who worked for a company that did formatting. She complained that a lot of publishers were suddenly wanting to convert their books to e-format and couldn't see the point of it, since obviously no one would ever want to read them that way.</p>
<p>I've read a number of ebooks that had formatting problems in them, everything from words that didn't scan in properly, to entire missing endings of chapters. One was a new book, but others…</p>
<p>A few years ago, there was a woman on a discussion board who worked for a company that did formatting. She complained that a lot of publishers were suddenly wanting to convert their books to e-format and couldn't see the point of it, since obviously no one would ever want to read them that way.</p>
<p>I've read a number of ebooks that had formatting problems in them, everything from words that didn't scan in properly, to entire missing endings of chapters. One was a new book, but others were ones I'd read years ago in paper and probably wouldn't have noticed the missing bits except I remembered them being there. For older books, the scanning process, if done by someone who didn't know the material and didn't particularly care (see above paragraph), could easily result in missing bits. You'd think someone would at least give the files a quick glance to be sure everything's there, but like everything else, they probably just don't have the people available to put the time into it, not with getting new books ready to get out the door at the same time.</p> Yes! ;) tag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-02-05:537324:Comment:3303152012-02-05T01:51:44.841ZJ W Nelsonhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JWNelson
<p>Yes! ;) </p>
<p>Yes! ;) </p>