Ebook Library User Poll

[amalthia]

This is a poll for anyone that's used or has an interest in using the Ebook Library Archive. I'm trying to get an idea of what I can do to improve the site and know which formats to focus on more.

Poll #2703 Ebook Library User Poll

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 68

View Respondents

What type of device do you read fan fiction on?

View Answers

Cybook
0 (0.0%)

Nook
1 (1.5%)

Amazon Kindle
14 (20.9%)

Ipad
3 (4.5%)

Sony PRS
18 (26.9%)

Ipod/touch
18 (26.9%)

Other will explain in comments
23 (34.3%)

What is your preferred reading format?

View Answers

RTF
21 (32.3%)

PDF
15 (23.1%)

LRF
4 (6.2%)

Mobi/PRC
14 (21.5%)

Epub
34 (52.3%)

Other I'll explain in the comments
11 (16.9%)

What fandoms do you read in the most?

View Answers

Comments

[sally_maria]

I use a Sony PRS - and I actually prefer my files in txt format. I've been reading stored fanfic as text files on my computers for years, so I just automatically moved my saved fic across, and I'd rather have it all the same.

I'm perfectly happy with RTF, because that's easy to convert to text, but I've never got into using any of the dedicated ebook formats.

I also prefer easily edited formats, because I hate leaving typos in stories when I spot them - no I can't change it on the reader, but I can make a mental note to update my file copy and re-upload with the next batch.

[sothcweden]

I recently got a Sony PRS-300 (the Pocket Edition) after having used a checked-out-from-the-library PRS-505 for awhile. The reason I prefer the RTF format is that it makes it easy for me to go in and change the font size in the file to better suit the PRS-300. The standard Arial 20pt. used in the archive's RTF files is perfect for the 505, but appears too large on the 300. I go in and reduce the font size to 18pt. for my reader once I've dl'd the file. I don't know if there's a way to do that in the ePUB format, but I should probably find out. Also, RTF doesn't seem to have some of the formatting issues I've seen with other formats.

Found through metafandom. I really love the archive, btw, because I only have internet access at work, and it makes saving stories to read later so much easier than copy/pasting each chapter into a Word document.

[amalthia]

I did not know this about the PRS-300. Thanks for pointing it out. :)

Technically I can drop the RTF size down a notch and it's still readable on the 505. It's just changing fonts is so easy, but the goal was to reduce steps, and i've met some people who use size 22 on their RTFs.

I've been making the epub font 14 because on the 505 size 12 was so small I had to magnify. How does the LRF work out?

One of the main reasons I still offer RTF even though it's a resource hog is because truly most of the work is merging the stories not necessarily converting them.

I think you may be able to edit epubs in Sigil? or you can reconvert using a smaller font size.

[sothcweden]

Thanks for the suggestion about editing epubs. I'm still kinda new to this, and still learning.

I'm glad you still provide RTF, even if it's a hog, because I find it the simplest format to edit myself, and as I later read in comments, because apparently others do the same things I do and edit out misspelled words when they find them. I miss having the art, but reading fluidly wins out.

I'm guessing a lot more people still have 500/505s than 300s, so I think the formatting you use is probably the best for the largest number of people. I would have purchased a 505 for its larger screen and better placed page turner if they were still on the market, but when I found a 300 on sale for $155, I snapped it up. And I didn't really want all the bells and whistles of the later models (touch screen, web services). I use it pretty much exclusively for fanfic and occasionally to read articles that would chain me to my desktop computer otherwise.

[amalthia]

The 300 has the same insides as the 505 just a smaller screen and no SD card slot. And it sounds like you found a good deal for it! :) I mostly just read fic on my device too.

Most of the people I've met love their 300s because they are smaller, lighter, and fit in pockets/purses better than the 505. I'm not sure all the bells and whistles are needed for reading?

[marashapeshifter]

I used to read on a Palm and for the longest time I saved fics as html then copy pasted them to doc files which was very time consuming. Recently I was given an iPod Touch so now I use that with Stanza and I'm having a much easier time of it now.

I usually read fics from livejournal so for saving fics I have a greasemonkey script that automatically sets format=light and mode=reply and the firefox addon Nuke Anything that removes everything except the fic text and headers. Archives that use eFiction have a printer friendly version while with FFnet I use the Fanfiction Downloader to do the same thing. From the 'clean' text I print to pdf with the author and title as the file name and the pdf is set to save to a specific folder. A bit of imperfect hacking has it imported to Calibre and converted to epub.

Format wise I prefer epub for reading and pdf for converting. Txt doesn't keep the formatting, html sometimes has hidden stuff saved like javascript, doc and rtf play funny with paragraph breaks and encoding depending on the source. Printing to pdf has been the workaround for me since it preserves paragraph breaks and encoding without the funny business of html. I dislike reading pdf though because it doesn't reflow the text. I'm pretty picky and I like to set the foreground/background color, margins, paragraph/line spacing, font size/family/color so epub on stanza has been perfect for me.

Regarding fandoms I don't really follow most of the fandoms in the archive aside from SGA and SG1. Not that I'm criticizing the archive, absolutely not! I think what you're doing is awesomesauce! Most of them aren't my cuppa tea is all. :) I started out with mostly anime fandoms, then a few book fandoms, and only in the last couple of years got interested in western fandoms.

I think supporting rtf and maybe epub or mobi works fine. Frankly I'd think that with programs to manage ebooks such as calibre around it's easy enough for people to convert to their preferred format so consistently offering one or two formats is enough.

(Err, this turned out a lot longer than I meant it to, sorry...)

[amalthia]

What fandoms do you follow? I'm trying to figure out what fandoms people would like to read but are under represented in the archive. So far I've been archiving what I read because I'm pretty much the only one adding stories to the archive. (though I'm always open to more help) :)

Yeah RTF I think is the MUST keep format. :) I agree from there people can do a lot to create their own ebooks with Calibre. :)

[marashapeshifter]

I'm heaviest on Gundam Wing, Harry Potter, and Queer as Folk but I'll read anything that I have even a passing knowledge of. I'm willing to help if you don't mind. It's summer where I live so I'll have a few weeks of spare time and I was planning on organizing my saved fics anyway. I'm just a bit iffy about contacting the authors because I totally don't know what to say and some of the authors from older fandoms can't be contacted anymore.

Just throwing an idea out there, how about allowing people to submit requests for specific fanfic they'd like to see archived? That way it will be more obvious what fandoms are in demand and it can be up to the requester to ask the author for permission. Maybe authors can give blanket permission or refusal for their fics. Then volunteers can compile the ebook and submit to the archive. I'm not very clear how the whole thing would work but it could make it easier I guess.

[amalthia]

I have asked for specific requests from time to time but never got any nibbles. The hard part beyond merging the fics is contacting authors and then sending follow up emails. (okay truly the hard part is finding a way to contact some authors, I swear emails are being hidden better than state secrets nowadays)

With older fandoms this is especially problematic. But it would help if requesters had the author's email as well as location of fic if they had a request. :) When I request permission I request for all the author's stories not specific stories so it gives some flexibility but practically speaking I'm only really archiving fics over 10k words and mostly those over 20k.

[marashapeshifter]

I see how that would be difficult, running after people is hard. I guess I'll have to give it a shot anyway. Now I'm really impressed with what you've done with the archive so far. :D

[amalthia]

I'm thinking it may not be a bad idea to maybe post some guidelines in case anyone does have a specific request they'll know what information I need to easily find and contact the author. With some fandoms it's not as much of an issue but there are many fandoms out there where I don't have a clue.

[darkemeralds]

I read fic on my Windows Mobile phone. I'll probably read it on my Android phone when I get one of those.

I prefer HTML or just TXT because my ebook reader (uBook by Gowerpoint) parses them both really well. Mobi is nice too, and works well on the smallish screen.

[scribblesinink]

A little late to the party, but... I just got my Bebook Neo two days ago. Still trying to find my way around, but it seems that PDF and ePub are the way to go. I plan on converting my longer stories to ereader formats some day soon (using Calibre), so this poll is very helpful to decide what format(s) I should think about.

[amalthia]

The reason I'm not a big fan of PDF is because the PDF looks best if made to a certain screen size and if you go down or up a screen size like from 6 to 5 inches or 6 inches to 10...the PDF may or may not look right. epub I think is more popular because it reflows to fit the screen. :)

[slyprentice]

I'm beginning to prefer .epub over almost any file out there when it comes to e-reading. This mostly has to do with the fact that it's a format easily read over multiple platforms and because it tends to produce a smaller file size than other formats, which is extremely important to me.

[amalthia]

Based on this poll I've started to revamp my Epub creations so they look better and I know how it works. I think the one format I'll end up phasing out is LRF. :(

[slyprentice]

I loved LRFs when I still had my PRS-505. It was the one format that was consistently clean and easily adjustable. Now, however, with my pocket edition 300, LRFs don't work as well. Epub gives me the same effect that LRF did before and since I'm planning to buy another reader at some point, it's a good type to have but that's just me. I did read on an e-reader site that Sony is planning to phase out LRFs as well so it might not be that popular a format in the future either..? :/

[amalthia]

Yeah, LRF is pretty much dead in the water. It only works on the Sony ebook devices, and Sony themselves have stopped supporting it, and Calibre does not support any future fixes for the format.

I'm also trying to cut down on the amount of formats needed for the Ebook Library. Currently, I have to deal with format specific issues with mobi, lrf, and epub all of which require different fixes. It's a bit much sometimes. But at least with epub and mobi the formats are supported across many devices so it's worth the effort to figure out the bugs.

Ultimately, my biggest wish is that archives and websites evolve to the point where the Ebook Library is no longer needed.

[snakeling]

I use Aldiko on an Acer Liquid running Android.

[snakeling]

Oh, and when I store fanfic on my computer, I prefer to read it in FBReader in epub format, too.

[amalthia]

it looks like epub is becoming the standard. :)

[amaresu]

I was trying to register at the site and the reCaptcha doesn't show up. Because of this I wasn't able to send in anything with the contact form. I took some screencaps so you can see what I'm seeing.

http://i42.tinypic.com/s4b38y.png
and
http://i41.tinypic.com/15yjk8n.png

I use Firefox 3.6 and Ubuntu 9.02 if that helps. Thanks.

[amalthia]

I'll investigate. This is very odd. Thanks for letting me know it wasn't working properly. I'll let you know when I figure out why it's not working and when I get it working again.

[amalthia]

It looks like it's fixed now. Please try it again and let me know!

I think when mediawood.net moved to a new server not all the settings were implemented and as a result I'm finding some wonky errors.