# finished writing now the big problem format issues



## Gnarl (Nov 28, 2014)

Alright so I finished writing the new novel, Teesha of the Ninth Realm. It cam out just under 80 thousand words long. I added some art works and ran the spell check and the grammer thing. I read through it once and then filed the copywright on it. Now in a couple of days it will be ready to publish. So here is the issue, every time I put a book on Kindle the format changer they have has done some funky stuff to the file. I wanted to know if anyone has ever put one on there in a format other than the standard .doc and what luck you may have had?


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## Conker (Nov 28, 2014)

You only gave it one readthrough? Man, I'm on my fourth yet and still not sure if that's enough.

Also, grammar*

Also, if you save the document as an xml file, the converter programs won't putz about with formatting errors, or at least not as many. I save the document that way and then run em through calibre I believe. I also have some programs that mimic nooks/kindles so I can flip through the book to see if there are any formatting issues before I stick em on the webpages.


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## Gnarl (Nov 28, 2014)

Not what your thinking I am afraid. I will read it two or three more times yet and then at least twice aloud. Then I let someone else read it before it goes to a publishing site.

I tried to get that one program from Kindle but I have not idea how to use it.  xml you say, I have not tried that yet. What programs do you have that mimic  Nooks/Kindle? 

Are they any good? I have found a couple of places I still have to figure out why it threw in a half empty page when I added the illustrations. 

And yes I know, my fingers do not spell very well when I type too fast.


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## Conker (Nov 28, 2014)

The Nook one is called "Nook for PC" and the Kindle one is called "Kindle for PC" 

I downloaded both so long ago that I don't know what hte original names are, i'm afraid. But hopefully that helps.

The program I use to convert is called "Calibre." Let's you create a fairly extensive file with lots of metadata. Throw in an xml doc and then add the photo and other information. Should let you make epub files pretty easily.


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## SkyeLansing (Nov 29, 2014)

Have you looked into Scrivener?

If not, look into Scrivener. There is a free 30 day trial where you can try it out and it is able to format into both epub and mobi formats (though it will require the free download tool from amazon to format into mobi). Scrivener is, frankly, amazing IMO so you should at least check it out.


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## Gnarl (Nov 30, 2014)

SkyeLansing said:


> Have you looked into Scrivener?
> 
> If not, look into Scrivener. There is a free 30 day trial where you can try it out and it is able to format into both epub and mobi formats (though it will require the free download tool from amazon to format into mobi). Scrivener is, frankly, amazing IMO so you should at least check it out.



I might give it a try as well. I will look up what it costs and requires for the computer... 



Conker said:


> The Nook one is called "Nook for PC" and the Kindle one is called "Kindle for PC"
> 
> I downloaded both so long ago that I don't know what hte original names are, i'm afraid. But hopefully that helps.
> 
> The program I use to convert is called "Calibre." Let's you create a fairly extensive file with lots of metadata. Throw in an xml doc and then add the photo and other information. Should let you make epub files pretty easily.



So the Calibre didn't work, I was wondering if it could be because I am using windows 8.1 and writing in the Word 2013 office?


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## Conker (Nov 30, 2014)

Gnarl said:


> So the Calibre didn't work, I was wondering if it could be because I am using windows 8.1 and writing in the Word 2013 office?


Define "Didn't work"

I haven't needed to use the program in some time, but I wouldn't imagine Word 2013 would be a problem. Not sure about Windows 8.1 though.


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## SkyeLansing (Nov 30, 2014)

Gnarl said:


> I might give it a try as well. I will look up what it costs and requires for the computer...



It isn't so bad. As I said there is a 30 day free trial and unlike many free trials this one appeared to be full featured to me. I was impressed enough with Scrivener to actually buy the whole Windows suite after playing around with it for just two or three days.

When I got it the Windows version was 40$ and the iOS version was 45$. The features aren't 100% the same between them sadly, but that is something the devs are apparently working toward (I personally think the iOS version is slightly more capable currently).


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## Gnarl (Dec 1, 2014)

Alright my age is showing here, What is iOS?


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## SkyeLansing (Dec 1, 2014)

iOS is simply the operating system Apple puts onto it's computers. If you are using a Mac then you are using iOS and should get the iOS version.

Unfortunately you can only run the iOS version if you are running the iOS operating system. If you are on Windows then you should buy the Windows version. They are not cross compatible because the operating systems handle things differently, so unfortunately you MUST get the one that is for your particular operating system.

EDIT:

If you are not sure if you are running windows or iOS then you can just download the trial version for the OS you _think_ you have. If you got the right one then it will install just fine. If you picked the wrong one nothing bad will happen, it will just give you an error when you try to run the installer. Running the wrong installer will not harm your computer, it simply will not work.

Second Edit:
Friend just pointed out to me I have no clue what I am talking about. Specifically iOS is the mobile version of Apple's OS. Their computer version is OSX. So pretty much anywhere I just said iOS, mentally replace that with OSX. Sorry for the confusion.


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## Gnarl (Dec 1, 2014)

I want to thank you guys for all the info! It is the first one that I was able to put on there without all the issues. I looked much better. Now if it just sells as well as the rest!


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## Alexiohudson (Dec 18, 2014)

Why not you simply just wrote onto a Blog or any other article writing site. I am sure you'll definitely figure out for how to write and submit more properly onto those blogs and article distribution sites


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## Conker (Dec 18, 2014)

Alexiohudson said:


> Why not you simply just wrote onto a Blog or any other article writing site. I am sure you'll definitely figure out for how to write and submit more properly onto those blogs and article distribution sites


Because you can't charge people to read a blog. The whole point of creating an ebook is to sell it on Amazon, Itunes, and Barnes and Noble's online store.


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## Gnarl (Dec 19, 2014)

OH crud! it did it to me again! I did the edit thing, I read it through several times, I had it all ready to go. then I uploaded it to Kindle and once uploaded I check to make sure it was alright (after their format changer). then when it went live it took out all of the page breaks, it put scentence breaks where there weren't any, and it mixed all the dialog into the body so that it was not on its own, like it should be. 
to boot it looks like it lost a few words.... WTF?? What happened to my left justify? 
I will take my current copy and try to delete and re-upload but I bet it will do the same thing again. I don't think it likes (") marks. 
The problem is Kindle makes you keep it there now for 90 days.....


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## SkyeLansing (Dec 19, 2014)

If you think you are having a problem with quotation marks then it may be smart quotes that are throwing it. My suggestion is to turn off smart quotes in that case.


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## Conker (Dec 19, 2014)

Gnarl said:


> OH crud! it did it to me again! I did the edit thing, I read it through several times, I had it all ready to go. then I uploaded it to Kindle and once uploaded I check to make sure it was alright (after their format changer). then when it went live it took out all of the page breaks, it put scentence breaks where there weren't any, and it mixed all the dialog into the body so that it was not on its own, like it should be.
> to boot it looks like it lost a few words.... WTF?? What happened to my left justify?
> I will take my current copy and try to delete and re-upload but I bet it will do the same thing again. I don't think it likes (") marks.
> The problem is Kindle makes you keep it there now for 90 days.....


That sucks. What did you wind up using to format it into an ebook?


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## Gnarl (Dec 19, 2014)

Well, I submitted it from the Word 2013 editor. I tried that Calibre edit thing and frankly it sorta scared me. It was filled with all this stuff I think they call "code". It might as well have been in Greek!


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## Maugryph (Dec 19, 2014)

Gnarl said:


> Well, I submitted it from the Word 2013 editor. I tried that Calibre edit thing and frankly it sorta scared me. It was filled with all this stuff I think they call "code". It might as well have been in Greek!



Once, I tried to convert some of my doc to pdfs with Calibre. It didn't end well.


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## Gnarl (Dec 19, 2014)

I am not that computer literate, so I usually only use programs where I can click the icon and start typing. Remember I am older than personal computers! 
I don't know a thing about code stuff. I can believe it didn't end well. my luck I would probably rewrite some program portion that would make my computer only show rabbits or something.


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## Maugryph (Dec 20, 2014)

Gnarl said:


> I am not that computer literate, so I usually only use programs where I can click the icon and start typing. Remember I am older than personal computers!
> I don't know a thing about code stuff. I can believe it didn't end well. my luck I would probably rewrite some program portion that would make my computer only show rabbits or something.



Its not you. Calibre has a ludicrous amount of options.


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## Conker (Dec 20, 2014)

Gnarl said:


> I am not that computer literate, so I usually only use programs where I can click the icon and start typing. Remember I am older than personal computers!
> I don't know a thing about code stuff. I can believe it didn't end well. my luck I would probably rewrite some program portion that would make my computer only show rabbits or something.


YOu might have to consider paying a service to format your books properly to avoid this in the future then. Or find better software than Calibre. I'm sure less confusing stuff exists (and Calibre IS confusing to use)


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## Maugryph (Dec 30, 2014)

Alexiohudson said:


> Why not you simply just wrote onto a Blog or any other article writing site. I am sure you'll definitely figure out for how to write and submit more properly onto those blogs and article distribution sites


How did a bot make it though the registration process?


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