Hello everyone and greetings from Germany (excuse my English!)!
I want to create an eBook.
My goal is as follows:
—Page 1-----------------
CHAPTER ONE
—PAGEBREAK— —Page 2-----------------
EPIGRAPH
—PAGEBREAK— —Page 3-----------------
Text Chapter, Lorem Ipsum…
--------------------------
To achieve this, I set the following in the compiler settings
—CHAPTER 1 (Binder)-----------------
Header
—CHAPTER 1-1 (Binder)-----------------
Section
—CHAPTER 1-2 (Binder)-----------------
Section
--------------------------
I hope you understand what I mean.
What do you think, is this feasible or should I change something?
It looks good on the ebook reader but maybe there are hidden problems that I as a beginner don’t see, but you as professionals do.
Considering the books you read, is it normal to have a page break after a Chapter number or title, and again after an epigraph, or do they flow directly after one another?
It would be normal after a final scene per chapter.
You can of course do as you wish, and from what you say you are compiling without problem, which to me is one of the most important considerations… setting Scrivener up to compile the output the way you want it without having to continually struggle with the Compile system.
That said, as I have mentioned before, we must bear in mind that it’s the reader who has control of how the text will look on their device and their opinion of what “looks good” may differ from yours.
The first question is, “What is the ebook reader you are viewing it on?” If it’s Apple Books, that simulates pages, so I presume you see the Chapter title alone on one page, then the epigraph alone on another, then the actual text starts on a third. Other eReaders use vertical scrolling or can be set to do so, so how your layout will appear on them is not so clear.
But, I can tell you this, if I were to read your book and had to scroll three pages before I could continue reading the text, I’d probably give up… your book would have to be very compelling to make me continue; I suspect the vast majority of readers (@RevoTiLlor included ) are like me.
So the second question is, “Are your epigraphs so important that they need to be on their own page?” That they are important to you, I don’t question, but I suspect that being on their own page, readers will probably scroll through most them without paying any more attention to them than they would if they immediately preceded the text of the new chapter, possibly even less after the first couple.
We all believe we’re the exception to the norm, and find we’re sadly mistaken.
Please don’t misunderstand, I don’t mean any harm (please keep in mind that I’m not a native speaker!!!)
Do you know “House of Leaves” by Mark Danielewski? It doesn’t get any more twisted and crazy than this, and it’s still a bestseller.
Do you know “Fifty Shades” by E. L. James? It’s on the level of pulp fiction and yet it’s a worldwide bestseller.
your book would have to be very compelling to make me continue
It is, absolutely! But unfortunately, the topic is only of interest to Germans.
“Are your epigraphs so important that they need to be on their own page?”
They are a central part of the novel. Not like Stephen King, where a song is quoted, but PART of the story.
You can of course do as you wish, and from what you say you are compiling without problem
That’s the only answer I’m interested in, because that’s all it matters.
We are mostly not professional designers. If you are getting the results you want, then your use of the Compile command is fine. Whether that design is best for your book is not something we are qualified to answer.
However, consider that you may not be qualified to answer that question either. It’s true that it’s your book, but ultimately it’s up to readers to decide whether it “works” or not.
) are like me.