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Formatting in-app instead of a dedicated formatter?

SSophie Tremayne1 wk ago3 replies4

Eleven books in and I've always formatted in a separate tool. This week I redid book 11's paperback in the Export view here, to see if I could stop paying for two things.

What I liked: the presets are finished books, not templates, and I had a print PDF I'd be happy to upload in about an hour. Drop caps, widow and orphan control, chapters opening on the right-hand page. The print checks run before it lets the file out, which I appreciated.

What caught me out: switching preset doesn't change trim size or margins. It's deliberate, and once I read why it made sense, but I spent twenty minutes wondering why my 5x8 wouldn't turn into a 6x9. That lives in the Page drawer.

Anyone else made the switch, or tried and gone back? Curious what decided it for you.

3 replies

  1. JJordan Ellery1 wk ago

    bookseller brain: the self-pub paperbacks that look self-pub are the ones where the words disappear into the spine. did you have to fiddle with that or does it sort it?

  2. BBea Kowalczyk-Hart1 wk ago

    Whatever builds the file, order a proof copy and have a human read it cover to cover. Software won't tell you your chapter nine heading says 'Chatper'. I've seen that on a shop shelf.

  3. SSophie Tremayne1 wk ago

    It sorts it. Page drawer, and there's a setting that widens the inside margin as the book gets thicker, so a 400-pager doesn't swallow its own words. First thing I checked, honestly.

  4. PPriya Natarajan1 wk ago

    I never got on with compile in Scrivener, which I'll own as my fault rather than its. What I noticed on my first export here is that the EPUB goes through EPUBCheck, which is one fewer thing for me to forget.

    Question for @kitaverillbooks: did you let the ebook carry your print typeface, or leave it to the reader's settings?

  5. SSophie Tremayne1 wk ago

    Left it to the reader. Mine are on phones at 11pm with the font turned up to maximum, and I'm not going to fight them.

    The ISBN check did catch a digit I'd typed wrong, which would have been a fun email to get after launch.

  6. JJordan Ellery1 wk ago

    'chatper' is real. i've also seen 'Chaper One' on a stall at a book fair. bea is right, get the proof

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