When I compile a manuscript in Kindle, the book always begins at chapter 2. There is no chapter 1. I’ve tried this with several different test projects, and it always ends up the same, beginning at chapter 2.
Does anybody know how to fix this problem?
There’s a bug presently whereby the numbering is incorrectly counting by page (section) break, so that might be what’s affecting your compile–do you have a title page or any other section that comes before the first chapter?
If you just have chapter folders (not also parts), you may be able to work around this by inserting a page break at the end of your title page in the editor (Edit > Insert > Page Break) and setting the separators in compile such that you won’t get a section break from that between your title page and first chapter. For instance, if you have a binder that looks like this:
you can right-click the Title Page document and convert it to a folder, then in File > Compile set the Separators so that there there’s only an empty line or single return for the Folder/Folder divider–the only one of the four that should have “Page Break” is the Text/Folder separator at the bottom. So long as the title page is set to compile as-is, it will still come out looking the same, and with the page break inserted in the actual document, you’ll still get that coming out properly in the ebook. The inserted page break doesn’t affect the counters, however, so the Chapter prefix numbering should come out correctly.
Edit: Eh, although then your first chapter won’t be included in the auto-generated TOC and won’t get any page padding applied, so that might make it less appealing as a workaround.
I’ll give this a try, thanks.
So, it sounds to me that there is no successful workaround to successfully compile to Kindle and get the first chapter right in the TOC. If there is a bug fix for this in a week or two, great. If it is months away, then is there no other workaround? I have asked myself that as I have done some searches to learn how to generate a Kindle file.
I have read several multi-part blogs and a style guide which detail a series steps that are similar. In order to get a .mobi file from a manuscript, I could use Calibre. But, to use it and get a good file, I would probably have to prepare the manuscript by stripping it of formatting from a word processor by copying and pasting it into a text editor, and then, formatting it in the text editor using html. Another early step would be to preserve some of the special formatting, e.g., italics, quotations, before stripping it. Finally, I would have an html file that I could use in Calibre. Easier said than done. For some, that may be a straightforward process, but not for me.
I would much prefer to use Scrivener from start to finish. Is it possible to write your manuscript in Scrivener with some kind of presets (??) that when finished, the manuscript would not have to go through a stripping process and could just be saved as an html file and then used in Calibre? Maybe this is already how Scrivener is designed. (This is not something I am able to test since I do not have a manuscript in Scrivener yet.) I am new to all of this and would prefer to do more work on the front end so that I do not have to re-do somethings on the back end.
My intent is not to be critical but to gain some knowledge from others who know the process much better than I do. Thanks.