Personal Development for Smart People^TM Forums

Happy Giraffe · 06-03-2011, 08:36 PM

I have a book available in paperback and I would now like to make available a Nook version (Barnes & Noble e-book). I used B&N's PubIt interface to convert a Microsoft Word version to Epub format, but the file is still buggy. I would like to do some editing on the Epub file to clean it up (I know some XHTML and CSS), but I can't figure out how to see the coding.

I normally work in Notepad, but I just get gibberish if I try to open the Epub in that. Does anyone know what software (preferably inexpensive or free) I could use to edit an Epub? Thanks so much for your help.

MiBeloved · 06-04-2011, 12:15 AM

Use Atlantis

Atlantis Word Processor

I suggest you make word convert the file to .rft format by doing a save as and selecting that file type.
then import it into Atlantis or open it there and do your editing
then do save special and then save as ebook
that will give you an epub file which can open on nook

to get it into kindle though your best bet is to make an .html file and then use MobiCreator free software to convert that to a kindle file.

Happy Giraffe · 06-04-2011, 02:17 PM

Thank you so much. I was not aware of Atlantis Word Processor, and it looks like it might be exactly what I need, especially the "tweak_epub" utility. Thanks to this blog post, I now also understand why I couldn't open and edit the Epub I produced through Pubit; I didn't know it needed to be unzipped: Atlantis Word Processor Blog: Tweaking ePubs: It's just a ZIP file!

MiBeloved · 06-04-2011, 03:31 PM

good luck
glad to help

Dimitri · 06-12-2011, 04:50 PM

Hey HappyGiraffe. The first step is to create your e-book in html format. When you open up the html file in Notepad, then you can immediately see if there's any weird code or bugs flying around. If all you're getting is normal text with a few mark-up tags (h1, h2, em, strong) then all is good. See how your e-book renders in a web browser and make sure it does so to your satisfaction.

Once you've got your ideal html document, it's an easy road. When designing Living It Savage, I initially used the free Calibre program to convert html to epub. Calibre is good in that it allows you to convert a variety of files, but it's options are limited and different formats turn out differently.

Converting html to epub using Calibre worked really well. Converting html to pdf using Calibre did not yield the same results. I used the TotalHTMLConverter to convert html to pdf. To add a cover to my epub, I later scrapped the Calibre epub file and used the free Sigil epub editor. Using Sigil, I imported my html file, inserted a cover image and converted it to epub. Works like magic.

gorgecurtis · 12-01-2011, 06:18 PM

why put it in html at all just get the pdf and convert pdf to epub. that is what i have done with all the my books that i have made to ebook's then i figured it was worth it just to send it to a manuel company so i don't have to fart a round with the stupid free software that never works well enough to submit my books to the main web stores . it was cheep and i got indexing i was vert happy with the formatting to! it looks and feels just like the print book pdf to epub

Aminka Ozmun · 12-08-2011, 11:58 PM

Hey,

Just curious if you folks have any opinions on the upcoming ePub 3 file format.

06-03-2011, 08:36 PM	#1 (permalink)
Happy Giraffe Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 37	Software for editing an Epub file I have a book available in paperback and I would now like to make available a Nook version (Barnes & Noble e-book). I used B&N's PubIt interface to convert a Microsoft Word version to Epub format, but the file is still buggy. I would like to do some editing on the Epub file to clean it up (I know some XHTML and CSS), but I can't figure out how to see the coding. I normally work in Notepad, but I just get gibberish if I try to open the Epub in that. Does anyone know what software (preferably inexpensive or free) I could use to edit an Epub? Thanks so much for your help.

12-08-2011, 11:58 PM	#7 (permalink)
Aminka Ozmun Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: New York City Posts: 209	Hey, Just curious if you folks have any opinions on the upcoming ePub 3 file format. Last edited by Aminka Ozmun; 12-09-2011 at 12:02 AM. Reason: Erratum.

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06-04-2011, 12:15 AM	#2 (permalink)
MiBeloved Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 863	Use Atlantis Atlantis Word Processor I suggest you make word convert the file to .rft format by doing a save as and selecting that file type. then import it into Atlantis or open it there and do your editing then do save special and then save as ebook that will give you an epub file which can open on nook to get it into kindle though your best bet is to make an .html file and then use MobiCreator free software to convert that to a kindle file.

06-04-2011, 02:17 PM	#3 (permalink)
Happy Giraffe Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 37	Thank you so much. I was not aware of Atlantis Word Processor, and it looks like it might be exactly what I need, especially the "tweak_epub" utility. Thanks to this blog post, I now also understand why I couldn't open and edit the Epub I produced through Pubit; I didn't know it needed to be unzipped: Atlantis Word Processor Blog: Tweaking ePubs: It's just a ZIP file!

06-04-2011, 03:31 PM	#4 (permalink)
MiBeloved Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 863	good luck glad to help

06-12-2011, 04:50 PM	#5 (permalink)
Dimitri Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Posts: 55	Hey HappyGiraffe. The first step is to create your e-book in html format. When you open up the html file in Notepad, then you can immediately see if there's any weird code or bugs flying around. If all you're getting is normal text with a few mark-up tags (h1, h2, em, strong) then all is good. See how your e-book renders in a web browser and make sure it does so to your satisfaction. Once you've got your ideal html document, it's an easy road. When designing Living It Savage, I initially used the free Calibre program to convert html to epub. Calibre is good in that it allows you to convert a variety of files, but it's options are limited and different formats turn out differently. Converting html to epub using Calibre worked really well. Converting html to pdf using Calibre did not yield the same results. I used the TotalHTMLConverter to convert html to pdf. To add a cover to my epub, I later scrapped the Calibre epub file and used the free Sigil epub editor. Using Sigil, I imported my html file, inserted a cover image and converted it to epub. Works like magic.

12-01-2011, 06:18 PM	#6 (permalink)
gorgecurtis Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Posts: 1	why put it in html at all just get the pdf and convert pdf to epub. that is what i have done with all the my books that i have made to ebook's then i figured it was worth it just to send it to a manuel company so i don't have to fart a round with the stupid free software that never works well enough to submit my books to the main web stores . it was cheep and i got indexing i was vert happy with the formatting to! it looks and feels just like the print book pdf to epub

Personal Development for Smart PeopleTM Forums

Personal Development for Smart People^TM Forums