K.M. Frontain's Blog, page 36
January 4, 2012
The technical stuff of headers
Darn it but I had to learn how to tweak css sheets.
First, I had to remove all formatting from Bound 1. After that, I had to find and replace the italics in appropriate places. Then I discovered that Lulu's converter objected if my doc used any font size but the default size for the chosen font. In my case, it's Garamond, which has default size 11. If I used size 12, my doc stayed size 12 in an e-reader. That's just stupid. The conversion engine should not be that stupid.
Then I discovered the headers, which create your title and chapter titles in a doc, refused to resize even if they were the default size for the font. I had to look up css and tweak the css sheet. All header font sizes were changed from 11pt to 1.5em. Don't ask me what the em means. All I know is that it allows some resizing. It's not perfect, but it's better than before.
And that's it. I only have Bound 1 fixed as an epub. The font resizes properly at last. Have to work on each one up the list now.
First, I had to remove all formatting from Bound 1. After that, I had to find and replace the italics in appropriate places. Then I discovered that Lulu's converter objected if my doc used any font size but the default size for the chosen font. In my case, it's Garamond, which has default size 11. If I used size 12, my doc stayed size 12 in an e-reader. That's just stupid. The conversion engine should not be that stupid.
Then I discovered the headers, which create your title and chapter titles in a doc, refused to resize even if they were the default size for the font. I had to look up css and tweak the css sheet. All header font sizes were changed from 11pt to 1.5em. Don't ask me what the em means. All I know is that it allows some resizing. It's not perfect, but it's better than before.
And that's it. I only have Bound 1 fixed as an epub. The font resizes properly at last. Have to work on each one up the list now.
And so, thanks to a Blackberry Playbook purchase, I have ...
And so, thanks to a Blackberry Playbook purchase, I have discovered that my ePUBs were not resizing font, but resizing empty line spaces. I just did a test on Lulu. I killed all formatting from Bound 1, redid the headers only, and uploaded this file to Lulu for conversion. It resizes font perfectly as an ePUB.
And you know what this means? It means re-doing every one of my ePUBs and reloading them onto Lulu. The Kindle books seem ok, but I may redo them as well to be positive.
Sorry for yet another delay readers waiting for Redemption 2 and 3. I have to get these other pubs fixed.
And you know what this means? It means re-doing every one of my ePUBs and reloading them onto Lulu. The Kindle books seem ok, but I may redo them as well to be positive.
Sorry for yet another delay readers waiting for Redemption 2 and 3. I have to get these other pubs fixed.
Need reader feedback on ePUB quality
Hi, if any readers out there can do this, please post a comment on the font quality of any ePUB versions of my novel you may have purchased. I discovered that my Lulu created ePUBs are glitchy on the Blackberry Playbook. The font size is acting fixed rather than able to become bigger or smaller. That's not what I was led to believe about how Lulu's converter did its work. I'm hoping the glitchiness is solely the fault of this app, but would like to know if it's a fault in other readers. I saw no sign of this glitch when using Kindle. Thanks in advance.
Update:
wl552 came to my rescue and tested an ePUB version. This is definitely an across platform problem with the fonts. I wouldn't have known except I finally have my own tablet and saw this today. Everything looked fine on Calibre. But it's definitely not on her tablet or mine. Instead of getting font resizing, we see line spaces between text get larger. Not good.
I'm working to find out why the ePUBs are doing this. Will post later.
Update:
wl552 came to my rescue and tested an ePUB version. This is definitely an across platform problem with the fonts. I wouldn't have known except I finally have my own tablet and saw this today. Everything looked fine on Calibre. But it's definitely not on her tablet or mine. Instead of getting font resizing, we see line spaces between text get larger. Not good.
I'm working to find out why the ePUBs are doing this. Will post later.
January 3, 2012
Note to self
Note to self: never never never never read sarcasm concerning popular published novels by currently famous authors. Ever. Ever ever. Never ever ever. Really.
Chicken-peck chromosome, humans must have it. See a sickly bird; peck it to death. See signs of discontent within the flock, choose a target, and peck it to death. Peck everything about it to death. It may have been the best egg layer in the coop. It may have had the most awesome fluffy feathers. It may have been able to find all the best spots for yummy tidbits. It spotted the fox better than the rest of the flock together, but it showed a sign of weakness when some envious bird wanted more attention. It must die. And all its friends too.
Ok, so maybe I exaggerate. Or maybe I don't. You think the internet can be viral? Well, word of mouth has always been that way. Disco example aside, there's plenty of history out there where a thing/person was popular and then was not. The results of the chicken-peck storm were never pretty, but I've always found myself backing off a little further from my own species every time.
Yeah, yeah. I'm pecking my own species. I've got the gene too.
Chicken-peck chromosome, humans must have it. See a sickly bird; peck it to death. See signs of discontent within the flock, choose a target, and peck it to death. Peck everything about it to death. It may have been the best egg layer in the coop. It may have had the most awesome fluffy feathers. It may have been able to find all the best spots for yummy tidbits. It spotted the fox better than the rest of the flock together, but it showed a sign of weakness when some envious bird wanted more attention. It must die. And all its friends too.
Ok, so maybe I exaggerate. Or maybe I don't. You think the internet can be viral? Well, word of mouth has always been that way. Disco example aside, there's plenty of history out there where a thing/person was popular and then was not. The results of the chicken-peck storm were never pretty, but I've always found myself backing off a little further from my own species every time.
Yeah, yeah. I'm pecking my own species. I've got the gene too.
December 29, 2011
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia hasn't met its donation needs this year. I love this site. I donate. Please, if you use Wikipedia, donate and keep it running. It's one of the best resources out there for knowledge.
December 28, 2011
After Christmas update
Not much to report. I'm still working on the Redemption 2 re-release edit for ePUB and Kindle. I have a busy house; guests of my kids are here and will likely be here for a week. Computer time is limited, but I have a Blackberry Playbook on the way. Once it arrives, I'll load up my stories and I'll be able to edit anywhere in the house, including in my bed when my back is too sore for working at the computer.
The editing app uses a touch screen, which means two finger input, but for editing, that's good enough. Won't be good enough for writing new material. I'll need computer time for that. But since I'm not planning new material until after I get Redemption 3 on line at last, writing new stuff won't occur for several months.
And that's about it for me, three days before 2011 ends. Hope the holiday season is going well for all of you.
The editing app uses a touch screen, which means two finger input, but for editing, that's good enough. Won't be good enough for writing new material. I'll need computer time for that. But since I'm not planning new material until after I get Redemption 3 on line at last, writing new stuff won't occur for several months.
And that's about it for me, three days before 2011 ends. Hope the holiday season is going well for all of you.
December 24, 2011
And I have an author profile on Goodreads now.
I never paid much attention to Goodreads until last week. Last week I Googled my author name to see if any of my new Kindle editions showed up. They don't. LOL. Yeah. Maybe someday.
In case any of you are wondering why I'm so miserable about not publishing Redemption 3 by Christmas, it's because I kinda broke as an author. On top of being physically in very bad shape, I couldn't read, write, or edit for several years. I only recently started reading for pleasure again. I am editing at a speed I can handle and my intention is to get that Redemption 3 up within another month. I've been delayed simply because I discovered Lulu now offers ePUB conversion, which led to getting new editions done and up on iTunes and then led to at last having Kindle versions for Amazon. It's all good in the long run.
Back to Goodreads. I noticed my friend Tressa had a profile and also discovered she had my Soulstone books marked as to be read. And that's when I noticed authors can have an author profile, because Tressa is listed as an author. And so I applied a day or so ago to be listed as an author and have been working on getting Goodreads covers up to date.
And next I'm going to work on Redemption 2 again, up until I'm hauled off to bake more Christmas stuff, do more cleaning before guests arrive and get carted off to work next door for the neighbour, who needs a pet sitter for her multiple pets.
Again, I'm really sorry, everyone waiting on my next releases and re-releases. I'll do my best to get them done as soon as possible.
In case any of you are wondering why I'm so miserable about not publishing Redemption 3 by Christmas, it's because I kinda broke as an author. On top of being physically in very bad shape, I couldn't read, write, or edit for several years. I only recently started reading for pleasure again. I am editing at a speed I can handle and my intention is to get that Redemption 3 up within another month. I've been delayed simply because I discovered Lulu now offers ePUB conversion, which led to getting new editions done and up on iTunes and then led to at last having Kindle versions for Amazon. It's all good in the long run.
Back to Goodreads. I noticed my friend Tressa had a profile and also discovered she had my Soulstone books marked as to be read. And that's when I noticed authors can have an author profile, because Tressa is listed as an author. And so I applied a day or so ago to be listed as an author and have been working on getting Goodreads covers up to date.
And next I'm going to work on Redemption 2 again, up until I'm hauled off to bake more Christmas stuff, do more cleaning before guests arrive and get carted off to work next door for the neighbour, who needs a pet sitter for her multiple pets.
Again, I'm really sorry, everyone waiting on my next releases and re-releases. I'll do my best to get them done as soon as possible.
December 20, 2011
Why I don't promote much
I don't really promote at all. I tried to promote, back when I first published on Lulu and while I was actively editing for Freya's Bower and Wild Child Publishing. Thing is, I saw this pattern I didn't like. All the Yahoo groups, the Facebook pages, Myspace blogs: they were frequented by other writers, not readers. Writers were inevitably promoting to writers, giving prizes to writers, hoping for purchases by other writers, getting pats on the back and commiseration from other writers.
I don't mind pats on the back and commiseration. We all need that, but I like to know that's the true intention of a forum. Unfortunately, that isn't how reader forums usually turn out.
The internet is truly not a friendly place for Indie book promotion. It's very hard to connect author to reader without getting accused of spam. Just look at the Kindle forums. It's the rule there that one must never self-promote. I've seen sarcastic posts following a self-promotion, telling the author he just guaranteed that his book would be ignored (interestingly, an author I recognized posted one of these nasty responses).
So yeah. I don't really promote much. I don't like nastiness. Authors are not my market, especially authors who need to make other writers feel small to boost their own self-importance, authors who tell new writers to quit because they'll never make it, because they're doing it wrong and will never learn to do it right. Yeah, I've lived through and seen it. Seen it recently. Got pissed and actually informed a forum mod that a frequent poster on Lulu was being negative and unkind to a young writer. Why do so many people need to feel important at the expense of someone's self-esteem. That's just low.
My market is readers. Not authors. Especially not authors with fixed ideas about how writing must be done, authors who have bought into the current fashion trends in writing. Yeah, trends in writing exist. In my field, trends are unfortunately touted as hard rules. Self-important writers often forget that writing is an art form. The only actual rules are grammar and spelling. Grammar and spelling are our paint and paintbrushes. Everything else is technique. After grammar and spelling, we have flow and clarity and style. There are no hard rules about flow and clarity and style. It's a big mistake to think there are. But as I said, some writers buy into "the rules". An Indie publisher should never market to anyone with a ruler. Rulers are for measuring and thwacking desks. What you want is a reader who doesn't see your technique, because a reader feels the flow and the clarity and the style. In the end, that's what really matters.
Now that I have my books in ePUB and Kindle format, I hope readers will stumble across my work more often. I've had purchases from readers in Italy and I think Switzerland. My horizon expanded simply because Lulu finally put up an ePUB converter. I'm very grateful for it.
For some time now, I've been thinking of leaving pretty much all the Yahoo groups I've been a part of. Disconnect, let them go. I don't read the digests anyhow. Why am I hanging on to them?
Time to let them go.
I don't mind pats on the back and commiseration. We all need that, but I like to know that's the true intention of a forum. Unfortunately, that isn't how reader forums usually turn out.
The internet is truly not a friendly place for Indie book promotion. It's very hard to connect author to reader without getting accused of spam. Just look at the Kindle forums. It's the rule there that one must never self-promote. I've seen sarcastic posts following a self-promotion, telling the author he just guaranteed that his book would be ignored (interestingly, an author I recognized posted one of these nasty responses).
So yeah. I don't really promote much. I don't like nastiness. Authors are not my market, especially authors who need to make other writers feel small to boost their own self-importance, authors who tell new writers to quit because they'll never make it, because they're doing it wrong and will never learn to do it right. Yeah, I've lived through and seen it. Seen it recently. Got pissed and actually informed a forum mod that a frequent poster on Lulu was being negative and unkind to a young writer. Why do so many people need to feel important at the expense of someone's self-esteem. That's just low.
My market is readers. Not authors. Especially not authors with fixed ideas about how writing must be done, authors who have bought into the current fashion trends in writing. Yeah, trends in writing exist. In my field, trends are unfortunately touted as hard rules. Self-important writers often forget that writing is an art form. The only actual rules are grammar and spelling. Grammar and spelling are our paint and paintbrushes. Everything else is technique. After grammar and spelling, we have flow and clarity and style. There are no hard rules about flow and clarity and style. It's a big mistake to think there are. But as I said, some writers buy into "the rules". An Indie publisher should never market to anyone with a ruler. Rulers are for measuring and thwacking desks. What you want is a reader who doesn't see your technique, because a reader feels the flow and the clarity and the style. In the end, that's what really matters.
Now that I have my books in ePUB and Kindle format, I hope readers will stumble across my work more often. I've had purchases from readers in Italy and I think Switzerland. My horizon expanded simply because Lulu finally put up an ePUB converter. I'm very grateful for it.
For some time now, I've been thinking of leaving pretty much all the Yahoo groups I've been a part of. Disconnect, let them go. I don't read the digests anyhow. Why am I hanging on to them?
Time to let them go.
December 19, 2011
Creeping along with Redemption 2 edit
I'm about half done the Redemption 2 edit, but I have brain fatigue. When that happens, I usually go do something that makes me feel Zen-ish
Yeah, I should go for a walk.
After I play Super Stardust.
Ok, so half way through the Redemption 2 edit. The umpteenth edit. Hopefully the last ever major edit of this novel. I once again found things in the story I added in and forgot about. They were good additions. Wish like hell I'd thought of them seven years ago. I'm slowing down the edit so I don't miss adding things I should add now. The more brain fatigue a person gets while editing, the more likely something gets missed. That's not good. So I really do have to walk away from the edit so I can focus again.
Off I go to check on the fruitcake I baked.
What? You don't like fruitcake? You're definitely not in my generation. No brandy for you. Keeping it all for myself and my fruitcake. Smells like candy in the house. Nummy fruitcake. :D
Yeah, I should go for a walk.
After I play Super Stardust.
Ok, so half way through the Redemption 2 edit. The umpteenth edit. Hopefully the last ever major edit of this novel. I once again found things in the story I added in and forgot about. They were good additions. Wish like hell I'd thought of them seven years ago. I'm slowing down the edit so I don't miss adding things I should add now. The more brain fatigue a person gets while editing, the more likely something gets missed. That's not good. So I really do have to walk away from the edit so I can focus again.
Off I go to check on the fruitcake I baked.
What? You don't like fruitcake? You're definitely not in my generation. No brandy for you. Keeping it all for myself and my fruitcake. Smells like candy in the house. Nummy fruitcake. :D
December 16, 2011
Alright, one more to republish
Once I get Redemption 2 done, I'll have caught up to all the previously published books in The Soulstone Chronicles, but now I will have ePUBs and Kindle books instead of unwieldy PDFs. Yay!
Then it's back to the least edited books waiting in queue. This of course means extra time on things other than word weeding. The plot needs to be re-checked for unnecessary deviations. I have to add where information is missing, change tell paragraphs to show paragraphs if at all possible. Doing that last may make the book bigger. Redemption 3 is already huge. An entire resolution of a story arc is packed into that last book. And all the necessary clues for the next arc must get the proper attention. Yes, don't worry. The next three books are written, but they do need major editing.
And here comes Christmas. The shopping is not done (car trouble and was too ill to shop--I still have a bad cough) and I have three house guests for the holidays. Friends of my kids---our house is a teenager magnet...well, young adult magnet more like. My kids aren't that young, some of them. But it's Christmas and they all like food and chocolate. Time to get the baking started. Wish like crazy an affordable "smart" dictation program existed for editing. Hands free editing that doesn't involve hiring a secretary.
Off I go to work again. Let's see how much I can edit before the house magnet brings in a distraction.
Then it's back to the least edited books waiting in queue. This of course means extra time on things other than word weeding. The plot needs to be re-checked for unnecessary deviations. I have to add where information is missing, change tell paragraphs to show paragraphs if at all possible. Doing that last may make the book bigger. Redemption 3 is already huge. An entire resolution of a story arc is packed into that last book. And all the necessary clues for the next arc must get the proper attention. Yes, don't worry. The next three books are written, but they do need major editing.
And here comes Christmas. The shopping is not done (car trouble and was too ill to shop--I still have a bad cough) and I have three house guests for the holidays. Friends of my kids---our house is a teenager magnet...well, young adult magnet more like. My kids aren't that young, some of them. But it's Christmas and they all like food and chocolate. Time to get the baking started. Wish like crazy an affordable "smart" dictation program existed for editing. Hands free editing that doesn't involve hiring a secretary.
Off I go to work again. Let's see how much I can edit before the house magnet brings in a distraction.
