Monday, June 27, 2011

FYI - Barnes & Noble and iTunes Added

It looks like the distribution to Barnes & Noble and iTunes has finally gone through for Mythik Imagination #1. So that's the good news..

But.


Since this blog is the "behind the scenes exclusive view" of all things Mythik (we are all about transparency, right?) I will say that I'm still not entirely happy with what the Smashwords Meatgrinder and I came up with in regards to the formatting of all the Smashwords versions of MI#1 (which includes iTunes and B&N.) I am a bit hesitant, though, to upload a new version to "fix" what isn't really broken. I might make it worse (haha, a very minor version of the "Unintended Consequences" scenario from the last Weird Wednesday.) Anyway, the problem is that sometimes the chapter breaks seem to cut off the titles. I was sure when I first downloaded and tested, it worked fine, but now it looks like it doesn't. It's very frustrating, after following the Style Guide so carefully. Anyway, I will try to make improvements with #2. On the flip side, I was very pleased with the Kindle version.

And in other FYI news, I'm making the final revisions to the print edition of MI#1. I think it will look really cool. So stay tuned for that.

I'm really excited about the MI#1 Podiobook. I'm behind schedule on that, but it should be a cross between the old CBS Radio Mystery Theater and a spoken-word Twilight Zone. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to "make use of time, let not advantage slip." Ha that's Shakespeare - who says the SF genre isn't literate? But I've got some good actors lined up and hopefully will get it done soon.

I'm still struggling to get MI#2 finished. So much to do, so little time...

What projects are you working on?

4 comments:

  1. I know what you mean about the Smashwords formatter. I can usually get mine to look fine on the Kindle, but the Nook (at least the app I have on my computer) adds page breaks so there are empty pages, which it shouldn't because I never add more than two blank lines. It's hard to judge, too, if you don't have multiple ebook readers you can physically check the book on.

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  2. the Podiocast sounds like a fun project.

    I learn from you and Lindsay ...

    Hey, that Lifeboat Foundation thing you posted is the perfect thing for my new WIP. Thanks for such inspiring posts.

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  3. I'm going through the formatting adventures now too. Like you, Lindsay, I've found the Kindle version looks good, but the epub version seems to need some black magic. I'm currently using a program called calibre to convert from mobi to epub (I formatted the mobi by hand) - what do you guys use?

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  4. @Lindsay - yeah the Nook is a pain. I have to rely on the desktop readers for most of the formats. Someday I'll have a Mythik QC department with all the latest hardware for testing ;)

    @M Pax - Yes, I'm looking forward to doing the Podiobooks. Reminds me of when I was a kid recording stories onto a cassette recording (only hopefully a bit higher quality lol) I'm glad the Lifeboat was helpful!

    @Nicolas - I formatted the .html by hand for the .mobi. For epub and the rest, I followed the Smashwords Style Guide and used the Meatgrinder from a Word file. I think it can be improved, though...

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