![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
amalthiaI've been thinking of making a series of posts about typography in fan fiction ebooks. This is something I've been giving thought to lately because currently there is no set standard for how people create epubs and mobipocket ebooks of fan fiction.
The big question is should there be a standard?
There is a general standard for how people post fiction to archives, LJ/DW, and in other communities. Authors use a standard template of sorts to share relevant information such as Title, Author, Summary, Rating, Length/Word Count, Warnings, and Author Notes.
However, how an author formats the rest of the story is up to them, such as margins, font type, section breaks, indents or blank space between paragraphs. Through years of online fandom people came to a general consensus as to what looks best on a browser and as to what information is most important. Those that share their fic in purple font on black backgrounds in type 8 Times New Roman fonts are generally ignored by anyone with eyes that can see.
With ebook formats there isn't a fandom approved set standard.
I have a standard I've come up with after three years of trial and error. Reading on my device was the best teacher as to what works and what does not.
I've found that for myself I prefer to get as much out of my battery as possible and as a result I've chosen to go with indenting paragraphs instead of paragraph spaces. On smaller screens the indents make the most use of the limited screen space. What works on a 15-22 inch computer monitor does not work as well on 3-6 inch screens.
I've also stuck with Times New Roman because for me it's easier to read at a smaller font size. I find that I love when Chapters start on a brand new page with a certain amount of space between the header and the beginning chapter.
I've also found that I like obvious section breaks such as ***** or +++++ or some other unique keyboard characters. This has more to do with actual converting html to epub/mobipocket. Section breaks that rely on blank spaces do not translate well and disappear. That one took me awhile to figure out what was going on. I had originally thought that the author's did not have a section break when they switched pov or scenes. It made for some very confusing reading until I figured out what was going on. Further investigation showed that the authors relied on blank paragraphs to create their section breaks. Earlier versions Calibre had stripped the blank lines in order to remove spaces between paragraphs and create indents. (this discovery falls into "wish I knew then what I know now") Now I know to watch out for extra blank paragraphs indicating a section break and manually add **** to indicate a section break. So when the file is converted the section break is not lost.
I also love having a Table of Contents. Not all stories formatted in epub or mobipocket have one. For shorter stories this is not much of an issue but for anything over 100k words it's nice to have.
I like the artwork in the story I'm reading to be centered.
These are just some general standards I have come up with over the years.
Ebook devices are growing in popularity in fandom but there is no real dialogue amongst those creating ebooks for portable devices. I'm not sure who all is even creating them. I've met a few authors who've done remarkable things when they created an epub version of their fan fiction stories. They did things I sadly do not have time to do like dropcaps, stylized chapter headings, and etc.
I'm not sure it's really possible to create a standard because most of us have our own preferences and I'm not sure if it's actually necessary. The only standard I can think of that is a necessity is the Author and Title not being left off the actual story.
My friend pointed out that it took years of fighting and wank before we have the general posting standards we have now for stories posted online in web browsers. And there is no real consensus for warnings.
Currently I don't know any two people who even merge stories the same way. I'm not sure we'll ever get to the stage of two people converting stories the same way. Though if the major archives make it possible to export into mobipocket or epub that'll maybe take the ebook fans a step closer to some sort of standard.
Not sure when or why I'm so interested in typography and standards but I've been noticing that many people who create ebooks off fan fiction treat the file as if it's going to be read on in a browser on a computer monitor that has a lot more space. I'm not sure if it's a style choice to keep the blank space between paragraphs or if it's something they would like to remove but don't know how?
But as to my original question as to whether there should be a standard.
I myself do not know.
I think on one hand if authors knew exactly how the epub/mobipocket story would turn out maybe they would be more receptive to sharing their works in multiple formats?
However, on the other hand what if everyone likes eating up their screen real estate with empty paragraph spaces? And would it kill ebook design creativity? I have some lovely epubs on my device that don't fit my current conversion style. I'd hate to never see anyone go full out on their own fic because they are trying to stick to a "standard."
I think I've narrowed down what is most important to me as a reader of ebooks on portable devices. That's a Table of Contents, clear title and author name, summary, indented paragraphs, clear section breaks (like *****), centered images, and chapters starting on a new page. I think if ebooks hit these bench marks then margins, font type, and font size aren't nearly as important.
I think tomorrow or later this week I'll cover why I don't think PDF is a good ebook format for portable devices.
The big question is should there be a standard?
There is a general standard for how people post fiction to archives, LJ/DW, and in other communities. Authors use a standard template of sorts to share relevant information such as Title, Author, Summary, Rating, Length/Word Count, Warnings, and Author Notes.
However, how an author formats the rest of the story is up to them, such as margins, font type, section breaks, indents or blank space between paragraphs. Through years of online fandom people came to a general consensus as to what looks best on a browser and as to what information is most important. Those that share their fic in purple font on black backgrounds in type 8 Times New Roman fonts are generally ignored by anyone with eyes that can see.
With ebook formats there isn't a fandom approved set standard.
I have a standard I've come up with after three years of trial and error. Reading on my device was the best teacher as to what works and what does not.
I've found that for myself I prefer to get as much out of my battery as possible and as a result I've chosen to go with indenting paragraphs instead of paragraph spaces. On smaller screens the indents make the most use of the limited screen space. What works on a 15-22 inch computer monitor does not work as well on 3-6 inch screens.
I've also stuck with Times New Roman because for me it's easier to read at a smaller font size. I find that I love when Chapters start on a brand new page with a certain amount of space between the header and the beginning chapter.
I've also found that I like obvious section breaks such as ***** or +++++ or some other unique keyboard characters. This has more to do with actual converting html to epub/mobipocket. Section breaks that rely on blank spaces do not translate well and disappear. That one took me awhile to figure out what was going on. I had originally thought that the author's did not have a section break when they switched pov or scenes. It made for some very confusing reading until I figured out what was going on. Further investigation showed that the authors relied on blank paragraphs to create their section breaks. Earlier versions Calibre had stripped the blank lines in order to remove spaces between paragraphs and create indents. (this discovery falls into "wish I knew then what I know now") Now I know to watch out for extra blank paragraphs indicating a section break and manually add **** to indicate a section break. So when the file is converted the section break is not lost.
I also love having a Table of Contents. Not all stories formatted in epub or mobipocket have one. For shorter stories this is not much of an issue but for anything over 100k words it's nice to have.
I like the artwork in the story I'm reading to be centered.
These are just some general standards I have come up with over the years.
Ebook devices are growing in popularity in fandom but there is no real dialogue amongst those creating ebooks for portable devices. I'm not sure who all is even creating them. I've met a few authors who've done remarkable things when they created an epub version of their fan fiction stories. They did things I sadly do not have time to do like dropcaps, stylized chapter headings, and etc.
I'm not sure it's really possible to create a standard because most of us have our own preferences and I'm not sure if it's actually necessary. The only standard I can think of that is a necessity is the Author and Title not being left off the actual story.
My friend pointed out that it took years of fighting and wank before we have the general posting standards we have now for stories posted online in web browsers. And there is no real consensus for warnings.
Currently I don't know any two people who even merge stories the same way. I'm not sure we'll ever get to the stage of two people converting stories the same way. Though if the major archives make it possible to export into mobipocket or epub that'll maybe take the ebook fans a step closer to some sort of standard.
Not sure when or why I'm so interested in typography and standards but I've been noticing that many people who create ebooks off fan fiction treat the file as if it's going to be read on in a browser on a computer monitor that has a lot more space. I'm not sure if it's a style choice to keep the blank space between paragraphs or if it's something they would like to remove but don't know how?
But as to my original question as to whether there should be a standard.
I myself do not know.
I think on one hand if authors knew exactly how the epub/mobipocket story would turn out maybe they would be more receptive to sharing their works in multiple formats?
However, on the other hand what if everyone likes eating up their screen real estate with empty paragraph spaces? And would it kill ebook design creativity? I have some lovely epubs on my device that don't fit my current conversion style. I'd hate to never see anyone go full out on their own fic because they are trying to stick to a "standard."
I think I've narrowed down what is most important to me as a reader of ebooks on portable devices. That's a Table of Contents, clear title and author name, summary, indented paragraphs, clear section breaks (like *****), centered images, and chapters starting on a new page. I think if ebooks hit these bench marks then margins, font type, and font size aren't nearly as important.
I think tomorrow or later this week I'll cover why I don't think PDF is a good ebook format for portable devices.