tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post7738134076655430405..comments2024-03-26T23:41:10.319+00:00Comments on Authors Electric: e-picture books by Sandra HornKatherine Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17196712319655603442noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-59261320414689354452013-08-21T12:39:09.863+01:002013-08-21T12:39:09.863+01:00Thank you, everyone - to Sue for tweaking and Call...Thank you, everyone - to Sue for tweaking and Cally for the info about sigil, which we (meaning him) are looking into. What is it with blokes called Niall/Neil? Sandra Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01761260568729338471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-38705845499625844902013-08-20T18:37:21.079+01:002013-08-20T18:37:21.079+01:00I can't do html. I use Sigil. It has a learnin...I can't do html. I use Sigil. It has a learning curve attached (of course) but it's a 'text editor' which basically just means its like notepad or word or whatever and it does all that html stuff for you. if/when you get 'errors' it can help to dare to do corrections to 'the code' but I managed to do this by checking on forums and cut/pasting answers NOT by learning HTML. I think it's definitely something you could do Bill. Sigil is free and its by far the most robust thing I've used (having tried all kinds of kindle things) and as such is EASIEST when you've learned how to do it. I would recommend it to anyone who is serious about trying to format (and with pics especially) You don't need to be a programmer. You just need to put aside a few hours to work it out. And read the manual!! And try it out on a project when you have a bit of time to play around with it. Using Sigil you can check yourself whether it's epub3 compatible which is what apple require. Smashwords, I have no comment on, I've never used them, precisely because I'd rather take the control and repsonsibility myself. Maybe we should set up some workshops for AE'ers on various 'skills',CallyPhillipshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15481379296340077102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-15213837172912414852013-08-20T17:00:22.731+01:002013-08-20T17:00:22.731+01:00Thanks Sandra, although when I saw the phrase '...Thanks Sandra, although when I saw the phrase 'formatting html' I did start to hyperventilate a little. <br />Dennis, so far I've got round the illustration thing by dropping the pictures into the text and then saving the whole thing as usual as a .doc and uploading it. It's not ideal, but has worked best so far as full page illustrations with a page break inserted immediately after it. madwippitthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02595748471651052552noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-68234568239040522802013-08-20T12:13:08.930+01:002013-08-20T12:13:08.930+01:00I think I may have been responsible for the 'H...I think I may have been responsible for the 'How?' question because I have a dozen or so children's stories written, a talented nephew to illustrate them but little idea of how to start. I am, however, curious about the whole process of formatting them for both print and ebook and suspect it would make an excellent displacement activity (and I'm always on the lookout for those). This post and the advice in the comments is all very encouraging but, unfortunately, also leaves me even more aware than before of my ignorance and fear of technology. But it does suggest that all is possible. Thanks, Sandra.Bill Kirtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16345949773423764808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-85615460462624775122013-08-20T11:50:24.123+01:002013-08-20T11:50:24.123+01:00Yes, Sandra, I have my very own cyber-freak who co...Yes, Sandra, I have my very own cyber-freak who converts the books to mobi, e-pub and other extra-galactical formats for mailing into space. Neil uses html - apparently once you set up a template for a book then it's just a case of cutting and pasting in the instructions. This fixes the illustrations in place for almost any format. You no longer have to upload from Word - smashwords for instance will take e-pub. Full instructions courtesy of Guido Henkel. http://guidohenkel.com/ Neil uses Sigil for conversion into e-pub but says that if you use that for the construction of your book from the beginning, it inserts pics and fixes them. Hope that's helpful!Kathleen Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07645566938871914385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-61086459716992064822013-08-20T10:35:46.298+01:002013-08-20T10:35:46.298+01:00Hi Sandra. You say that epub is not picture friend...Hi Sandra. You say that epub is not picture friendly. I have a feeling that if you use Sigil (which is the only way I think is sensible to format for epub - and btw means that in the click of a click you can also convert to kindle, pdf and whatever else nonsense you want) - Sigil as text editor you can drop pictures in easy as cut and paste. I have only done it with small images but I believe Kathleen Jones (well, Neil probably!) has done this for her biogs which have pictures. Don't know if they used Sigil or another means. But I do believe the workflow could be - do it in Sigil, then convert using one click Calibre to Kindle and pdf. How to SELL anything other than Kindle though, that's another question. But it SHOULD be technically possible now with enhanced ereader capability. For example my We Wove a Web in Childhood has links to the video for the whole play in it. I could have 'embeded video' (much like putting in pictures' easily enough, it's just it would have cost me money to 'store' the video anywhere else than YouTube AND if they were fully embedded the file size would be HUGE. I'm still experimenting o this though and I think you're right in the basic premise that pictures in ebooks is going to be much more common (and expected?) and so picture books will be bought more. I still can't get my head round who would let a child with sticky fingers of picture book reading age anywhere near an ipad or ereader. To me that's the main objection. But doubtless in the future... CallyPhillipshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15481379296340077102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-68646602569492628992013-08-20T10:22:05.487+01:002013-08-20T10:22:05.487+01:00Thank you, very useful info for others Sandra, I h...Thank you, very useful info for others Sandra, I had no idea that was possible. Dennis, can't you use the KDP formatting guide which includes illustrations? Luckily I've not faced this challenge yet... but if I wanted to epub Changing Age, Changing Minds, which I sent you, it would be a shame to lose the pics. Lydia Bennethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09328239009863878547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-20405439282062781472013-08-20T10:08:15.376+01:002013-08-20T10:08:15.376+01:00Very interesting and slightly daunting, Sandra. I...Very interesting and slightly daunting, Sandra. I want to publish three short novels which have b/w illustrations by the great Meg Rutherford interspersed in the text at fairly specific places. To publish text-only without them would defeat the whole purpose because they are so marvellous. As I read your blog, none of the techniques above will quite do it, so it looks like I'll just have to wait!Dennis Hamleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15781139870037634374noreply@blogger.com