ebook formatting headaches

Scrivener Scrivener for Windows
1

I’m not a writer, I’m someone beginning a massive project of editing dozens of very large manuscripts for an author and making them into ebooks. These are very academic theology documents laid out in a very hierarchical manor that is well suited to Scrivener’s organization layout and NonFiction Subheader option. As an example, the first project is a 657 page (printed on 8.5x11") book.

Given the content is theology, the book(s) will have lots of scripture references and lots of quotes from other books, I really want to get them to stand out by indenting them without a first line further indent. I can achieve this formatting quite simply in Scrivener, but when I Compile to epub, my nicely left aligned and indented paragraph is now not indented, but has a huge first line indent out of nowhere. If I instead compile to .docx, then Compile through Jutoh, voila!!!, my formatting is back! You can view this progression from left to right below. Look at the bottom 1/3rd of the page at the two quotes from H. Swete. Scrivener format > hideous epub format from scrivener > nice epub format via scrivener-to-.docx-to-jutoh.

So, you reasonably ask, what’s the problem, you got a working solution? I’m not so sure. I’m having this kind of trouble with my simple 24 page “learn an editor” trial paper and haven’t yet investigated the handling of footnotes, bibliographies, etc. with fully working linking in epub and mobi / Kindle formats. That kind of thing staying all in place nice and neat working through 3 separate compiles in 2 different ebook formatters? Seems dubious. I need to get from Scrivener to epub and mobi in one compile each and have everything look like how I see it and how the links, footnotes, etc. work.

Happy for input here as to specific configurations, but this product’s customization seems aimed at coders, and I’m not one. I am definitely willing to discuss hiring someone to do whatever setup / templates, etc. is necessary to make this happen. I’m going to be working on this project quite possibly for the next decade.

Scrivener maddening formatting sm.jpg
Scrivener maddening formatting sm.jpg955×535 420 KB

2

Yeah, so further testing shows that what may be at least workable for epub, is completely not workable for mobi. Once I have one thing working for one, the other looks like crap after my hoop jumping. Given that no one is chiming in with a solution, I guess I’ll have to go with Jutoh, though I’ll lose all the sweet scrivener organizational and heirarchical, sub-head goodness. Unfortunately, if the process is awesome yet the result is hideous or adds 30% to the overall work, that ain’t a good trade-off.

Offer is still open to pay someone to setup my system with whatever templates, compiling XHTML mojo or whatever it takes to get to epub and mobi straight from Scrivener looking exactly how I have it looking in Scrivener. Respond here or contact me directly at therenshaw@gmail.com.

3

Have you tried applying “Preserve Formatting” to your quotes? I’m on a Mac v. 3 and am not sure where you find it in the Windows menus.

Otherwise, if you’re not going to need to publish in the immediate future, then version 3 will give you styles, which will make it easier.

I realise that with 675 pages, it will be a lot of Work to sort out.

Mark

4

Thanks, I’ll go and see if I can find that setting as that is one I’d not uncovered and tested. Much appreciated.