formatting nightmare

[familyeditor]

We decided to make a book from my husband's short stories.  I posted it for Kindle first.  I learned a lot about formatting and it took me quite a while to tweak it just right but I got it.  I thought I would need a few minor changes--such as section breaks--and I would be able to post it as a Nook book.  I have worked off and on for the past five days and there are still two places where the text breaks for no reason.

One is a picture at the start of a story.  If I put the picture in (sized properly--all my other pictures work) it shows up in the reader (I downloaded the nook reader on my computer) all by itself and once you are on that page, the only way to go back is to drag the progress bar back.  Clicking the arrows will not work.

The other problem is about five pages into another short story the text breaks and picks up on the next page.  This is distracting because there is a break in the story just two lines after that and doesn't make for smooth reading.

I have tried removing formatting.  I have tried removing entire sections and replacing them from the original file.  I even downloaded an add on for word called crosseyes that shows all the formatting in the document line by line.  There is nothing there to cause a break.  I don't know what else to do, but I want this book to appear professional!  I am not experienced at all with HTML or any other way of creating and epub.  Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks. 

[sayndee]

Not all ereaders are the same size, so a page is going to break in different places on different readers. Word works really well (97-2003). Tabs no more than .25. No double spacing, unless it is a break in the story such as a new chapter, etc. More than one can cause an entire page to be blank on an ereader. What you get on your computer, may vary from a Nook, which is a lot smaller than your computer screen. Readers want the story to flow without a bunch of huge blank gaps. Don't think in terms of a paperback or physical book.

Hope this helps.

[familyeditor]

Thank you, that actually did solve the second problem.  I still don't understand why it happened, as the rest of the document was formatted exactly the same way, but when I reformatted the entire doc in single space the break in text went away.  As for the other problem, I am just going to remove that picture and publish the book without it.  Thanks again!!

[familyeditor]

Actually, upon closer inspection, what shrinking to single space did was shrink the extra space so that it was no longer so distracting.  It was still there, but no so much of a problem now.

[Mrs-Smith · Accepted solution]

Elaine is correct, using a Word 97-03 doc seems to play nicer with pubit's uploading software. Also, the nook and kindle for pc are poor substitutions for the real reader. If you have access to them, I would suggest sideloading them and checking them that way. There really is no better way to check your formatting than on the actual reader. Things that can be misplaced on the pc version might only be slightly out of place on the reader, resulting in you changing it making the misplaced item that much further out of place. Or things might look like they're perfect on the pc, are actually spaced incorrectly on the reader. But if its formatted after previewing on the reader, your doc will be perfect wherever it's viewed.

Melissa

Guardians of Man Series

[tobiash]

It'sthe same with me. I've been wrestling with Apple trying to get something up on ibooks. That's the most frustrating self publisher out there. I've successfully uploaded my books to Amazon, B&N, Smashwords but Apple is by far the pickiest. In the long run it will be better to crack the code but for now it's frustrating.

Stay with it.

Harris

[Fletcher777]

HI my name is fletcher and I have a children's book looking very good in Microsoft Word starter 2010 version in rich text format but when it gets converted to epub everything is out of wack.  I am very poor with html's and I did make it single spaced and thought the margins were 30 pixels top and sides and bottom.

The title page and contents are breaking all over the place --- so the preview on the nook is quite poor to make it for sale on the barnes and noble site...

You mentioned Word 97-03 is that Word 1997 - 2003 versions?  also margins on word are in inches or partical inches not pixels....

thx much fletcher

[Fletcher777]

HI my name is fletcher --- any formatting tips --- my children's book text is in rich text format with Word starter 2010 --- seems to be single spaced and the margins are in inches not pixels but I reduced the margins to be .15 of an inch because that's closest to 30 pixels...

The title and the contents are breaking everywhere -- is it the font size? 

thx, fletcher

[sayndee]

Sayndee here, I have Word 2010 -- But I save everything in 1997-2003! You CAN do your tabs in inches. I do it all the time. Refer to my above post for your specifics. 

[Mrs-Smith]

I also have Word 2010, and like Sayndee, I also save my work as a 97-2003 document. Inside word 2010 you click on File in the upper left hand corner then choose Options. From there click on Advanced. Scrolling down to the bottom you'll see Display. There you can change how it saves/shows measurements. You can choose between inches, centimeters, millimeters, points and picas.

Maybe after you set it to inches you'll be able to better see how your breaks are happening...if not, you know where to find us

Hope this helps some

Melissa

[Fletcher777]

Thanks Melissa -- Many of my issues have vanished --- with Elaine's help and yours -- but I have noticed that when I preview my book text on the nook preview there appears to be a space between every sentence or so --- is that just how the Nook works.  I applied all of Elaine's tips about spacing and natural tabs and the no spaces between paragraghs -- single space --- I use Normal now and "0" for before and after ------------- the preview spaces are there and I read about a new paragraph will create a natural space on the nook -- but after every sentence?

thx, Fletcher

[Mrs-Smith]

Fletcher--

Do you have access to an actual Nook? If you do, use it to check your book. The Nook previewer on pubit is just that, a previewer, not an actual view of your book. It will look different when on the actual reader. If you dont have access to a nook, then I wouldnt worry too much about those spaces you see online because chances are you're over correcting for something that is probably nothing and making your end file messier than it really needs to be.

[Fletcher777]

Thanks -- I will get access to the Nook -- appreciate the help....

Fletcher

[billybo]

Why can't anyone just put the Margins they are using for a MicroSoft Word document, that actually works?

Post it for everyone.  Why is this so hard to find out?