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Help!--Calibre EPUB conversion problem
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I've not seen that particular problem but I find Calibre to be a little unstable. Why don't you upload .doc files and let Amazon do the conversion?
I find Calibre a little erratic, too. I no longer trust it for public releases, but still use it to mock up ebooks for proof-reading. I upload *.html files to Amazon.
Steph wrote: "I find Calibre a little erratic, too. I no longer trust it for public releases, but still use it to mock up ebooks for proof-reading. I upload *.html files to Amazon."
I seem to remember that I couldn't make HTML and .doc files work, but maybe I'll try it. Someone else also suggested SIGIL.
EDIT: I use LibreOffice which saves in .odt, and which Amazon won't accept. I'm not sure I trust saving it in .doc. I did save it in .html, bypassed Calibre, and uploaded it directly to Amazon with no problems. It checked out fine in the online viewer; next test will be when it reaches the Look Inside viewer.
I seem to remember that I couldn't make HTML and .doc files work, but maybe I'll try it. Someone else also suggested SIGIL.
EDIT: I use LibreOffice which saves in .odt, and which Amazon won't accept. I'm not sure I trust saving it in .doc. I did save it in .html, bypassed Calibre, and uploaded it directly to Amazon with no problems. It checked out fine in the online viewer; next test will be when it reaches the Look Inside viewer.
I use Sigil for epub and Calibre for creating the mobi for Kindle.
Another option is Scrivener. It costs but the kindle files are pretty clean, and it is a great writing tool. Did have problems with getting the epub through pubcheck, but Calibre fixed those.
I use Kindlegen to covert from EPUB to MOBI.
I downloaded Calibre last night to convert my book to Epub and I had the same issue.My book is all jumbled and paragrpahs merge together and theres gaps and spaces and a whole bunch of issues.
Yeah, Calibre is no longer working as it should. I uploaded the HTML version to Amazon and it worked fine, problem solved--at least for Amazon. However, next month I'll be branching out to Smashwords, and they accept only Word docs or EPUB. I'll have to resolve the problem then. Will probably try SIGIL next.
I use Calibre and it works fine. However, it's been asking me to upgrade to the latest version for months and months now and I've been afraid to do so because it might 'fix' something that I don't want 'fixed.' I'm glad I've avoided the updates.
Mine was bugged, and I mean completely bugged. I returned to an earlier version and it works fine afterward. So yeah, I always declined the new versions now.
Do you have to do anything like format as you want it before conversion? Or does it convert based on however it's already set up? I converted mine and like I said it's a total mess. Words and sentences are scattered about and some run into each other on other pages when they shouldn't...just at a loss of how to fix the issue.
Calibre you should not have anything to do except using a file that Calibre can read and convert. With Sigil, that's a totally different story.
Ken wrote: "Yeah, Calibre is no longer working as it should. I uploaded the HTML version to Amazon and it worked fine, problem solved--at least for Amazon. However, next month I'll be branching out to Smashw..."Why not download and install the free Open Office, an Open Source editing application? I don't know what you used for your original copy, but some editors bloat the text with hidden code. Perhaps that happened with you thus creating the italics where you didn't want them. With Open Office you can clean up your formatting very easily. Personally I just downloaded and installed Adobe's free ebook application, though I still have to try it out in a live situation. I installed the Kindle ereader on my PC too. Certainly all of my suggestions are very hypothetical at this stage, but maybe someone else in here has given these applications a live test run and can help you out.
G.G. wrote: "Mine was bugged, and I mean completely bugged. I returned to an earlier version and it works fine afterward. So yeah, I always declined the new versions now."
Good idea. I tried to go back to an earlier version, but all it wanted to do was repair my current version. I'll have to completely uninstall and reload an earlier version. Which one do you use?
Justin wrote: "Do you have to do anything like format as you want it before conversion? Or does it convert based on however it's already set up? I converted mine and like I said it's a total mess. Words and sente..."
You have to be sure that your original is formatted correctly. If it isn't, Calibre's won't be either.
Janys, I couldn't get OpenOffice to format for some reason, so I use LibreOffice, which is similar, also free, and works fine. The doc is okay, nothing wrong with it. I've heard that Microsoft Word is the worst. Calibre has updated so many times, with so many patches to fix bugs, that it no longer works as it once did. I examined the HTML codes on the orig doc,and the EPUB codes on Calibre, and in the latter the italics came out of nowhere. They weren't in the HTML. Also, when I uploaded the HTML version of the original doc to Amazon, it formatted properly, no spurious italics. To submit to Smashwords I'll either have to go back to an earlier version of Calibre, or try SIGIL.
My newest problem? The HTML for my two books of short stories is fine, and uploaded correctly to Amazon, but there's something wrong with the HTML for my novel. It isn't centered, and I'm not sure why, because the code looks about the same. I'll work on it. Meanwhile, I'll leave the current version on Amazon; it was uploaded way back when Calibre still worked.
And to think, all I wanted to do was to make some minor changes to the front matter and add a bio at the end. Just three books. Little did I know how major that would be...
Good idea. I tried to go back to an earlier version, but all it wanted to do was repair my current version. I'll have to completely uninstall and reload an earlier version. Which one do you use?
Justin wrote: "Do you have to do anything like format as you want it before conversion? Or does it convert based on however it's already set up? I converted mine and like I said it's a total mess. Words and sente..."
You have to be sure that your original is formatted correctly. If it isn't, Calibre's won't be either.
Janys, I couldn't get OpenOffice to format for some reason, so I use LibreOffice, which is similar, also free, and works fine. The doc is okay, nothing wrong with it. I've heard that Microsoft Word is the worst. Calibre has updated so many times, with so many patches to fix bugs, that it no longer works as it once did. I examined the HTML codes on the orig doc,and the EPUB codes on Calibre, and in the latter the italics came out of nowhere. They weren't in the HTML. Also, when I uploaded the HTML version of the original doc to Amazon, it formatted properly, no spurious italics. To submit to Smashwords I'll either have to go back to an earlier version of Calibre, or try SIGIL.
My newest problem? The HTML for my two books of short stories is fine, and uploaded correctly to Amazon, but there's something wrong with the HTML for my novel. It isn't centered, and I'm not sure why, because the code looks about the same. I'll work on it. Meanwhile, I'll leave the current version on Amazon; it was uploaded way back when Calibre still worked.
And to think, all I wanted to do was to make some minor changes to the front matter and add a bio at the end. Just three books. Little did I know how major that would be...
Ken wrote: "G.G. wrote: "Mine was bugged, and I mean completely bugged. I returned to an earlier version and it works fine afterward. So yeah, I always declined the new versions now."Good idea. I tried to go..."
Did you try repair? I think that's what I might have done. I think it did i go back on its own.
Ken wrote: "G.G. wrote: "Mine was bugged, and I mean completely bugged. I returned to an earlier version and it works fine afterward. So yeah, I always declined the new versions now."Good idea. I tried to go..."
Ken
Yes - I have heard of LibreOffice, and as you say - that's a freebie too and just like Open Office.
I know a little about HTML if I can be of any help to you. Have you got a snippet of the placing code you could show me? You never know - something might hit me on the nose. When you say it isn't centred - could you define that a little better for me?
G.G. wrote: "Did you try repair? I think that's what I might have done. I think it did i go back on its own. ..."
I did the repair, but it didn't change a thing. I'm thinking of removing it and reloading an older version.
Janys wrote: "When you say it isn't centred - could you define that a little better for me?..."
The titles, copyright page, scene breaks (•••) were justified left instead of centered. In HTML they were centered. It would probably be a simple fix, but I didn't bother; I can do complicated, but simple usually leaves me befuddled and headachy. I just made a new document, new title page, copyright page, and then copied and pasted the rest of the book. Worked perfectly, and now things are centered properly. But I remember now why I didn't want to load HTML to Amazon; it doesn't seem to generate a goto menu, at least not in the Kindle previewer. I downloaded Sigil to convert it to an EPUB, but I'm having a hard time with it; the Kindle previewer won't load the EPUB.
I did the repair, but it didn't change a thing. I'm thinking of removing it and reloading an older version.
Janys wrote: "When you say it isn't centred - could you define that a little better for me?..."
The titles, copyright page, scene breaks (•••) were justified left instead of centered. In HTML they were centered. It would probably be a simple fix, but I didn't bother; I can do complicated, but simple usually leaves me befuddled and headachy. I just made a new document, new title page, copyright page, and then copied and pasted the rest of the book. Worked perfectly, and now things are centered properly. But I remember now why I didn't want to load HTML to Amazon; it doesn't seem to generate a goto menu, at least not in the Kindle previewer. I downloaded Sigil to convert it to an EPUB, but I'm having a hard time with it; the Kindle previewer won't load the EPUB.
Ken wrote: "This is a question for authors who use Calibre to convert their books to EPUB docs for uploading, mainly to Amazon..."A basic question: why are you sending an EPUB to Amazon in the first place? Every time you convert your source document to an e-book format, you run the risk of introducing errors, no matter what platform you use. Serial conversions from e-book format to another e-book format is like photocopying a photocopy -- it just gets worse with each generation.
Your best bet for getting a clean conversion is to start with an HTML file. Every word processor can produce a more-or-less clean HTML file; you can preview it in a regular browser to make sure it looks the way you want it to. Then convert that to the target e-book format.
Now that Amazon no longer accepts MOBI files produced by anything other than Kindlegen, there's no point in creating MOBI files on Calibre. Maybe they've fixed the problem since November, but back then they even re-converted Kindlegen files, and the online converter wasn't as good as Kindlegen, so it wiped out formatting I was otherwise able to produce using the 'Zon's offline tools.
Ken wrote: "G.G. wrote: "Did you try repair? I think that's what I might have done. I think it did i go back on its own. ..."I did the repair, but it didn't change a thing. I'm thinking of removing it and re..."
Well it's hard on you, but these problems you are coming up against are helpful to those just starting out. :(
Lance wrote: Now that Amazon no longer accepts MOBI files produced by anything other than Kindlegen, there's no point in creating MOBI files on Calibre."
The above novel was published on 30th April 2014 and went up on Amazon on 1st May after I had converted the Sigil epub to mobi via Calibre. It appears that Amazon does not know that Amazon is no longer accepting Calibre converted mobis.
Lance wrote: "Ken wrote: "This is a question for authors who use Calibre to convert their books to EPUB docs for uploading, mainly to Amazon..."
A basic question: why are you sending an EPUB to Amazon in the fi..."
As I said before, HTML loaded directly to Amazon won't create a goto menu--at least not in the Kindle Previewer and Kindle for PC. I think Amazon expects a goto menu, though some books I've read didn't have one.
I just uninstalled Caliber 1.38 and installed an older one, from the 9 series. Maybe that'll work. It once did.
A basic question: why are you sending an EPUB to Amazon in the fi..."
As I said before, HTML loaded directly to Amazon won't create a goto menu--at least not in the Kindle Previewer and Kindle for PC. I think Amazon expects a goto menu, though some books I've read didn't have one.
I just uninstalled Caliber 1.38 and installed an older one, from the 9 series. Maybe that'll work. It once did.
The older one was no better, but I noticed that if I make an HTML file from the original doc, and load that into Calibre, I get a different set of codes, and the ones I looked at appear correct. I've uploaded the resulting EPUB to Amazon; it'll take a few hours to see the result, but the online reader shows a goto menu now.
Ken wrote: "The older one was no better, but I noticed that if I make an HTML file from the original doc, and load that into Calibre, I get a different set of codes, and the ones I looked at appear correct. I..."Fingers crossed, Ken! :)
I've always had good luck with Calibre, but I'll download the latest version today and convert a file. I'll report back on epub, mobi, and pdf.
I'll have to take another look but I doubt I'll be able to fix mine. It's not important as the reason I need epub only I will be viewing anyway.
So far, no unusual issues. I added an rtf file and converted to mobi, epub, and pdf. However my memory was jogged, and I remember having problems when I added a docx file instead of a rtf. So if you tried converting a doc or docx file, I suggest saving the file as an rtf and see if you get better results. I'm using the latest version of calibre 1.38
My method seems to work. Convert the word doc to HTML and feed the HTML into Calibre. It apparently uses a coding system for HTML that's different from a word doc, and it looked good. I uploaded the resulting EPUB to Amazon, and the online reader indicated a goto menu was present. The Look Inside format is good, no spurious italics or anything else that looks amiss. It means an extra step, but I feel confident enough in this system to use it for all of my books. I just converted and input the second book that was affected, confirmed a goto menu, and I'm sure it will be okay when it appears. If not, I'll post the info here.
By the way, I'm never ever, EVER updating Calibre again; if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
By the way, I'm never ever, EVER updating Calibre again; if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Ken wrote: " if it ain't broke, don't fix it. ..."
hehe that's my motto too! :)
Ken wrote: "My method seems to work. Convert the word doc to HTML and feed the HTML into Calibre. It apparently uses a coding system for HTML that's different from a word doc, and it looked good. I uploaded..."Ken
Decided to download and install Calibre for myself to see how it all works. I shall take note of everyone's experiences in here - just in case! I had never heard of the application before so look forward to trying it out. Inevitably I have downloaded the most recent version even though I noticed it was possible to go for older versions. I suppose if someone has an HTML editor they can use the WYSIWYG for writing and then feed into Calibre if you feel that the best results can be obtained via that route. (Freebie HTML editor is the HTML KIT - http://www.htmlkit.com/)
A few extra steps are the least of our problems - it's the thorough editing before the publishing that is the biggest pain!
An update on my post ...
Just threw a 'book' together taking posts from my blog. Looked at it prior to editing and it was a real mess. Did some tweaking and cleaning up in my WYSIWYG HTML editor and imported that into Calibre. Converted the book to a .mobi and sent it via Calibre to my ereader. Wow ... What a thrill! It actually looked and read like a book (apart from a few minor tweaks and formatting that I had overlooked in the HTML editor)!
Thanks everyone for sharing and opening up some new routes to self-publishing!!!
Janys wrote: " What a thrill! It actually looked and read like a book (apart from a few minor tweaks and formatting that I had overlooked in the HTML editor)!...."
Great! Calibre is a good tool when it works right, and a big frustration when it doesn't. For me, since I used it from the beginning, it's nearly indispensable. I tried Sigil, found it very user-UNfriendly, and couldn't make it work. Maybe I should try reading instructions for a change, but they looked pretty intimidating. In fact, just downloading it was more complicated than it needed to be.
Great! Calibre is a good tool when it works right, and a big frustration when it doesn't. For me, since I used it from the beginning, it's nearly indispensable. I tried Sigil, found it very user-UNfriendly, and couldn't make it work. Maybe I should try reading instructions for a change, but they looked pretty intimidating. In fact, just downloading it was more complicated than it needed to be.
Ken wrote: "Janys wrote: " What a thrill! It actually looked and read like a book (apart from a few minor tweaks and formatting that I had overlooked in the HTML editor)!...."Great! Calibre is a good tool wh..."
LOL
Well they do say RTFM don't they!!!?? I'm just as bad and tend to go for intuition first and tweaking later. Isn't always a healthy choice of course. :(
Anyway, thanks for your findings which have been very useful.
I'm curious why anyone would want to use HTML for the upload. I've never converted my novels to HTML for the upload to Amazon. I just use Word docx and let Amazon convert it for me. I've never had a problem. When I upload to smashwords, I have to upload word doc instead of word docx and it works fine. Smashwords converts it to all the various formats for me without any problems. I then download each of the different format copies for free and save them in my download folder. That way I can send whatever format desired as an attachment to e-mails when someone wants a copy. It works fine for me.
James wrote: "I'm curious why anyone would want to use HTML for the upload. I've never converted my novels to HTML for the upload to Amazon. I just use Word docx and let Amazon convert it for me. I've never had ..."
Someone else asked me why I didn't just upload the HTML instead of EPUB. Do you get a goto menu with your docx? I'm asking because I don't know. Everyone seems to have his own system.
First of all, Amazon wouldn't recognize my word processing doc; I don't know why. Second, HTML doesn't provide a goto menu for the ebook. I found that converting to EPUB solved all of my problems, and it worked fine until the folks at Calibre changed something and it all fell apart. Third, Smashwords says they accept only Microsoft Word docs or EPUBS, and I hope to submit to Smashwords beginning in June. I don't have Microsoft Word; I have LibreOffice, so an EPUB doc fills the bill. I now have a system that works for me; it may not be for everybody, but it has the added benefit of being free, from the word-processing program to the EPUB converter.
Since I'm now confident that it works, I just bit the bullet and updated my novel on Amazon. I wanted to make some VERY minor typo corrections, but mainly I wanted to change the front matter and add a bio at the end. I also raised the price by 4 cents to make it end in .99, which is another Smashwords requirement. I'm getting all of my Smashword info from their book that I downloaded, so some of it may be superseded by now.
So now I have to check my current WIP to make sure it's formatting is okay. I'm more than halfway through it, and I should probably not put it off.
Someone else asked me why I didn't just upload the HTML instead of EPUB. Do you get a goto menu with your docx? I'm asking because I don't know. Everyone seems to have his own system.
First of all, Amazon wouldn't recognize my word processing doc; I don't know why. Second, HTML doesn't provide a goto menu for the ebook. I found that converting to EPUB solved all of my problems, and it worked fine until the folks at Calibre changed something and it all fell apart. Third, Smashwords says they accept only Microsoft Word docs or EPUBS, and I hope to submit to Smashwords beginning in June. I don't have Microsoft Word; I have LibreOffice, so an EPUB doc fills the bill. I now have a system that works for me; it may not be for everybody, but it has the added benefit of being free, from the word-processing program to the EPUB converter.
Since I'm now confident that it works, I just bit the bullet and updated my novel on Amazon. I wanted to make some VERY minor typo corrections, but mainly I wanted to change the front matter and add a bio at the end. I also raised the price by 4 cents to make it end in .99, which is another Smashwords requirement. I'm getting all of my Smashword info from their book that I downloaded, so some of it may be superseded by now.
So now I have to check my current WIP to make sure it's formatting is okay. I'm more than halfway through it, and I should probably not put it off.
I tried converting from PDF to EPUB and it was messed up, maybe that's my issue? I'm wondering what would happen if I tried .doc or html to EPUB.
One of my reasons for using HTML is because it seems to give me more options on the layout before converting to the epub format. I was thinking about this just today and wonder if I am combining my web skills with the epublisher unnecessarily. Knowing how I would like it to look, and knowing how to get that result could be a hindrance more than a help. But as I said earlier - I only installed the application today so still have to put it through all its paces. Might change my mind about using the HTML once I've got to know Calibre better.
Mercia wrote: "It appears that Amazon does not know that Amazon is no longer accepting Calibre converted mobis...."Then they've changed it again. When I was fighting with it in November, that's what KDP support told me. They're also the ones who admitted that the online converter wasn't as capable as Kindlegen. Maybe they've fixed that, too.
Justin wrote: "I tried converting from PDF to EPUB and it was messed up, maybe that's my issue? I'm wondering what would happen if I tried .doc or html to EPUB."
If you write in .doc, make sure it's formatted correctly, then convert it to HTML for input to Calibre. I get excellent results with that process.
Janys wrote: "One of my reasons for using HTML is because it seems to give me more options on the layout before converting to the epub format. I was thinking about this just today and wonder if I am combining my..."
I do my work and my corrections using the original word processing doc. Converting to HTML for me is simply to produce a format that works better with Calibre. I review it to confirm good formatting, but use it for nothing else, other than an input doc for Calibre.
Lance wrote: "When I was fighting with it in November, that's what KDP support told me. They're also the ones who admitted that the online converter wasn't as capable as Kindlegen. Maybe they've fixed that, too..."
At least you got a response from Amazon; I never did.
*By the way, I viewed my now updated novel on Amazon's Look Inside feature, and it looks great! Just the way I wanted.
If you write in .doc, make sure it's formatted correctly, then convert it to HTML for input to Calibre. I get excellent results with that process.
Janys wrote: "One of my reasons for using HTML is because it seems to give me more options on the layout before converting to the epub format. I was thinking about this just today and wonder if I am combining my..."
I do my work and my corrections using the original word processing doc. Converting to HTML for me is simply to produce a format that works better with Calibre. I review it to confirm good formatting, but use it for nothing else, other than an input doc for Calibre.
Lance wrote: "When I was fighting with it in November, that's what KDP support told me. They're also the ones who admitted that the online converter wasn't as capable as Kindlegen. Maybe they've fixed that, too..."
At least you got a response from Amazon; I never did.
*By the way, I viewed my now updated novel on Amazon's Look Inside feature, and it looks great! Just the way I wanted.
You shouldn't convert your HTML to epub to publish to Amazon. Just use the HTML file for Amazon. It works every time.
Lance wrote: "When I was fighting with it in November, that's what KDP support told me. "Support staff do not always now what their company policy actually is. My guess is that they got confused by the policy that "only mobis created by Amazon tools are supported and recommended," the "and recommended" suggests that "supported" means what customer support will help you with, not that non-Amazon tooled mobis are rejected. What they reject are prc files created by mobimaker from the format's legacy days as a PalmOS system.
Abby wrote: "You shouldn't convert your HTML to epub to publish to Amazon. Just use the HTML file for Amazon. It works every time."
You may have missed the earlier part of the discussion. Uploading HTML directly to Amazon won't generate a goto menu, which is something Amazon favors. It's probably okay if you're uploading a short story, or anything else that doesn't have chapters, but for a book you need something better than straight HTML. At least that has been my experience.
You may have missed the earlier part of the discussion. Uploading HTML directly to Amazon won't generate a goto menu, which is something Amazon favors. It's probably okay if you're uploading a short story, or anything else that doesn't have chapters, but for a book you need something better than straight HTML. At least that has been my experience.
Ken by go to menu you mean the table of content where you click, let's say 'chapter 10' and it goes there? If so why not create it in you HTML? That's what I do. If you follow their guide, it's very easy and takes but a few minutes (way easier and faster than smashwords, although even if that one takes a little more steps, it's not that complicated either.)
No, not the table of contents. Those are fairly easy when you get the hang of it, and the HTML format does provide it. The goto menu is a book navigation feature. On Kindle you can bring up a menu at the top of the book to let you bookmark, access or make notes, or go elsewhere in the book. The latter is a goto menu, and if you use it, the book page is replaced by a separate goto menu that allows you to navigate anywhere in the book. On the online reader, after you upload your book, but before you save and continue, you can click at the blank goto navigator at the top and see whether or not you have an NCX menu; this will be the goto menu when your book gets to Amazon.
Ken wrote: "You may have missed the earlier part of the discussion. Uploading HTML directly to Amazon won't generate a goto menu, which is something Amazon favors..."If what you mean is the "cover" / "table of contents" / "beginning" links, those are just tags you can insert by hand in the HTML code. One of the various formatting-your-book-for-Kindle job aids Amazon provides tells what those tags are.
If you insert a Word TOC at the end of your document (or whatever the equivalent is in your word processor) and export to HTML, you'll have a TOC in exported version. It's also easier to control how the TOC will look.
Lance wrote: "If what you mean is the "cover" / "table of contents" / "beginning" links, those are just tags you can insert by hand in the HTML code. One of the various formatting-your-book-for-Kindle job aids Amazon provides tells what those tags are...."
No, it's a separate toc available from any page in the book, listing everything from cover to end, including every chapter (maybe it's used only by Amazon; I don't know).
I've never used the HTML code for corrections; I use the word processing doc, which is LibreOffice in my case. It may be possible to learn how to insert a goto menu on that, but I'm no computer expert, and as long as Calibre works for me I'll use it. Also, as I may have mentioned, even if I get everything to work using HTML and can upload HTML directly to Amazon, I'll still need an EPUB (unless I buy Microsoft Word and redo all my books with that) to upload when I go to Smashwords--unless they've changed their requirements since they wrote the handbook. So why bother with the HTML?
No, it's a separate toc available from any page in the book, listing everything from cover to end, including every chapter (maybe it's used only by Amazon; I don't know).
I've never used the HTML code for corrections; I use the word processing doc, which is LibreOffice in my case. It may be possible to learn how to insert a goto menu on that, but I'm no computer expert, and as long as Calibre works for me I'll use it. Also, as I may have mentioned, even if I get everything to work using HTML and can upload HTML directly to Amazon, I'll still need an EPUB (unless I buy Microsoft Word and redo all my books with that) to upload when I go to Smashwords--unless they've changed their requirements since they wrote the handbook. So why bother with the HTML?
I checked my original doc with HTML and the coding was clean, but the Calibre EPUB docs showed code for italics that matched what I had seen on the Look Inside feature.
I've been using Calibre for several months with no problems. My remaining book, which I haven't yet updated still looks fine on the Look Inside feature; therefore, it was working correctly when I last updated. Is anyone else having this problem? If so, have you found a way to fix it?