Uploading a kindle book

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The book is up.

To upload my book I did not use a program like Scrivener or an editor program to convert the book file into Mobi format. I just loaded the .doc file into the Amazon Kindle converter and let it rip.

Before loading the file into the converter I made the file as simple as I could (no special formatting or characters in the file text. Use the style settings like H1 and body text style to control how your texts looks). I used Libre Office to write the book and saved the file as a .doc file.

Problem 1. You have to set the margins and the first line of a paragraph indent using the ruler bar at the top of the screen in Libre Office or the Amazon converter program will mess the results up. The Kindle converter program outputs right and left justified text (proportionally spaced text) and if there are spaces in front of the first word of the first line of a paragraph then the first line of the paragraph will be indented unevenly (the space gets proportionally spaced making things very ragged). You will have to go back and make the first line of very paragraph indent to the ruler setting with no spaces in front of the first word (in the original .doc file). I have not found a way to do this in mass. I had to do the first line of very paragraph one at a time (all 150 pages of single spaced text). Whatever you do don’t input a file with proportionally spaced text into the Amazon Kindle converter.

Problem 2. Libre Office has the habit of sticking spaces between words in a different (its default) font in your text. I had to highlight all the text and convert it to the font I wanted to use (Times New Roman).

Why Times New Roman, because other computers (mainly Apple computers) do not use the same fonts as Windows computers. When a Apple computer reads your file and does not have the font you used it will choose a bad looking font to display your words. Windows computers are not quite as bad at doing this. Times New Roman looks OK on both types of computers. Guru after Guru says use this or that font, but have they checked that the font will look good on a windows computer and a Mac computer (iPad or whatever)? I think the only thing the reader will notice is if you use a serif or sans serif font (the serif is the little foot at the bottom of each letter. This text is in a serif font; Times New Roman). Serif fonts are easier to read. Be good to your reader.

Problem 3. I write fiction and did not have any bullet points in the words of my file. I have no suggestions on how to handle that problem. The Amazon Kindle converter does not like bullet points. It does not like you hitting the return button twice or more times.

Problem 4. What size of font to use? I use 16 point font size. For a Kindle book it doesn’t matter. It seems that the converter changes the font size to a standard size. I use 16 point font for ease of reading. I don’t think a bigger font size will increase your file size or increase the cost to transmit your file. The reader can always change the font size on their reader.

Problem 5. What file type should you use? I now use .docx file type for the input to the Amazon Kindle converter. I read somewhere that the .docx file type works better. It seems to convert faster and did not have as many problems (but that may be do to learning how to avoid problems).

The book; The Daemon Boat is now on Amazon Kindle.

Stay strong, write on.              Professor Hyram Voltage

More writing with drip irrigation

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To squeeze more time out of the week I installed a drip irrigation system to water the garden. It took three days of hard work in the sun. The water feed line and a conduit for the electrical control line were installed in the ground back in the spring.

Lesson one. (It’s a big one) don’t mix parts or supplies from different manufacturers. I read this in a article off the web and it explains many of the problems I had in the past. That did not stop me from buying a Orbit brand hole puncher (it was cheaper) and using it on DIG brand tubing. It did not work. I had to go back to the hardware store and get a DIG brand hole punch.

We ran out of splices for the big tubing. Ran down to get a couple more couplings from the small local hardware store. All they had were made by another manufacturer. My friend stopped me from getting them. They were made by a name brand, but not the DIG brand we had been using. He checked closely and found the diameter of the big tubing the small hardware store coupling were made for was .12 inches different from the DIG tubing I had been using. Don’t mix material from different manufacturers.

Lesson two. Don’t over engineer the project. My friend wanted to run six electrical valves and one hundred feet of white plastic PVC pipe to feed the drip tubing.

The big drip tubing is easier to handle and change than White PVC. I used only one electrical valve and it was plenty. In ten minutes I have water coming out the bottom of the containers.

Lesson three. Be careful punching the hole for the bards (1/4 inch feed lines). Out of 120 drip lines (holes) I had three that leaked where the bards were installed.

Lesson four. The dripper or end of the drip line has to be up against the plant so the water goes to the plant’s roots. The water from the dripper goes straight down not sideways. The plant can dry out with plenty of water going to the container.

Stay strong, write on.               Professor Hyram Voltage