Advice for generating an epub file for library service Overdrive

[Peter]

My local library (Mississauga, Ontario) would like to loan my e-book on their library service called Overdrive (I believe many libraries use it). I have been able to upload a PDF of my book The Halcyon Dislocation but many devices (e.g. my android phone or iPads) cannot access Overdrive through PDFs. When I convert my nicely formatted PDF to ePub using Calibre, the conversion works, but is almost unreadable (one page per table of contents entry; interspersed header and footer text; paragraph formatting after every sentence).

My questions:
1. Should I have tried the conversion from a Word file (or perhaps rtf format file) instead of PDF?
2. Calibre has an ePub editing tool. Has anyone had any experience in using this to fix an ePub.
3. Any other remedies that I`m missing.

Any advice would be very much appreciated. --Peter

[Anita]

From what you have described this sounds like formatting errors when you created your manuscript. There are keyboard functions such as the use of the tab key to indent your paragraph that get dropped during the conversion process. Since they exist in the manuscript they exist in the PDF.

You can try with you doc. file, but will probably see the same results.

If you want to email me three or four pages of your manuscript that includes a chapter heading, I would be glad to take a look at it.

[Ken]

PDF is a fixed format, and trying a push-button conversion (like calibre) to an ePub, which is a reflowable format, will always produce a mess.

The best solution would be to use your original document and prepare an ePub file from that. I always upload ePub files to KDP, and I use Sigil (free software) to build them.

Did you format your Word document correctly, using styles for everything? If so, you *may* be able to get a decent ePub from Calibre, but I would recommend learning how to use Sigil as a better solution.

[Jane]

If you have Pages on your iPad and can import your original word document to Pages then You can check your document and make both ePub and PDF versions easily

[Cari]

I always use Draft2Digital - they distribute directly to OverDrive and other markets.

[Peter]

Cari wrote: "I always use Draft2Digital - they distribute directly to OverDrive and other markets."

Thanks Cari, I'm trying your suggestion.

[Peter]

Anita wrote: "From what you have described this sounds like formatting errors when you created your manuscript. There are keyboard functions such as the use of the tab key to indent your paragraph that get dropp..."

Thank you Anita for your kind offer. I'm trying Draft2Digital first. If I'm still stuck and if you are still open to it, I may take you up your kind offer of a quick look at my files.

[Peter]

Ken wrote: "PDF is a fixed format, and trying a push-button conversion (like calibre) to an ePub, which is a reflowable format, will always produce a mess.

The best solution would be to use your original docu..."

Ken, I think I have been disciplined in using styles rather than ad hoc formatting. I'm trying Draft2Digital to see if that solves my problem.

[Ken]

Peter wrote: "Ken, I think I have been disciplined in using styles rather than ad hoc formatting. I'm trying Draft2Digital to see if that solves my problem. ..."

D2D should work, if there are no problems with the Word file. If you run into issues, they do have customer service folks who can help.

[Peter]

Cari wrote: "I always use Draft2Digital - they distribute directly to OverDrive and other markets."

Hello Cari and Ken, thank you for suggesting Draft2Digital. I had had some initial problems with incorrect chapter numbers (too many), but a little bit of manipulation of my input file seemed to correct that. The library was able to buy the ePub from Overdrive and my book The Halcyon Dislocation in circulation.

Thanks so much everyone for your help. ~Peter