Comments on: Skills in the Digital Era part two http://thedigitalist.net/2008/09/skills-in-the-digital-era-part-two/ a blog by the digital team at Pan Macmillan Sun, 05 Feb 2012 02:58:30 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: eBook Conversion http://thedigitalist.net/2008/09/skills-in-the-digital-era-part-two/comment-page-1/#comment-3897 eBook Conversion Wed, 21 Jan 2009 15:55:38 +0000 http://thedigitalist.net/?p=235#comment-3897 We are ebook conversion service Provider Company and offering conversion services to ebook from pdf, word document, normal paperback, or any text format to widely used ebooks format like mobipocket and microsoft reader ebook. We can also convert ebook in any other available format according to your requirements. We are ebook conversion service Provider Company and offering conversion services to ebook from pdf, word document, normal paperback, or any text format to widely used ebooks format like mobipocket and microsoft reader ebook. We can also convert ebook in any other available format according to your requirements.

]]> By: Jack Smith http://thedigitalist.net/2008/09/skills-in-the-digital-era-part-two/comment-page-1/#comment-3736 Jack Smith Tue, 02 Dec 2008 17:28:55 +0000 http://thedigitalist.net/?p=235#comment-3736 Converting complicated pdf file to kindle format which mainly consists of tables and images is quite tough as Amazon is still in experimental stage to make it perfect, but very recently the site "ebookconversion" I came across which provides ebook conversion service along with kindle ebook conversion at very affordable rates, mostly for the PDF ebook which consists of tables and images which are quite tough to convert them to ebook format such as mobipocket, kindle or MS reader, but I have found that the above ebook conversion company converts these type of ebooks in more profession and efficient way at very reasonable rate. Converting complicated pdf file to kindle format which mainly consists of tables and images is quite tough as Amazon is still in experimental stage to make it perfect, but very recently the site “ebookconversion” I came across which provides ebook conversion service along with kindle ebook conversion at very affordable rates, mostly for the PDF ebook which consists of tables and images which are quite tough to convert them to ebook format such as mobipocket, kindle or MS reader, but I have found that the above ebook conversion company converts these type of ebooks in more profession and efficient way at very reasonable rate.

]]> By: Digital Skills Evening: Society of Young Publishers (notes) « How [I am trying] to get a job in publishing http://thedigitalist.net/2008/09/skills-in-the-digital-era-part-two/comment-page-1/#comment-3444 Digital Skills Evening: Society of Young Publishers (notes) « How [I am trying] to get a job in publishing Tue, 30 Sep 2008 19:55:30 +0000 http://thedigitalist.net/?p=235#comment-3444 [...] September 30, 2008 by Robert with Ros Kindersley JFL, Chris Meade if:book & Nicholas Blake Macmillan [...] [...] September 30, 2008 by Robert with Ros Kindersley JFL, Chris Meade if:book & Nicholas Blake Macmillan [...]

]]> By: Nicholas Blake http://thedigitalist.net/2008/09/skills-in-the-digital-era-part-two/comment-page-1/#comment-3440 Nicholas Blake Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:35:23 +0000 http://thedigitalist.net/?p=235#comment-3440 'Version control' is an issue that each publisher will have to decide for itself -- as far as I am aware there is no standard or recommended policy, unlike with print books. Our current converter is a part of the company that also owns our printer, so we have automatic resupply of the eBook file when corrections and updates are made to a print edition, so that our eBooks are always up to date, but this may not be practicable or even appropriate for other publishers. When Douglas Adams imagined "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" back in 1979 it came with automatic, frequent updates via the subetha net, and since eBooks are digital files it would be relatively straightforward for customers to be given updated files as they were issued, but while the model for eBooks' sale and production is the same as printed books that's unlikely to happen, and since most trade books don't change greatly during their lifetime that makes sense, though it's easy to imagine a subscription model that would take advantage of this possibility. However, at the moment customers who buy an eBook from our site and lose it can redownload it free of charge and there's no formal mechanism apart from file date to show whether it's changed. This is one of the aspects of eBook publishing that is in my opinion most likely to change, and my answer in two years' time would probably be very different. Sony Readers don't access the Web directly. ‘Version control’ is an issue that each publisher will have to decide for itself — as far as I am aware there is no standard or recommended policy, unlike with print books. Our current converter is a part of the company that also owns our printer, so we have automatic resupply of the eBook file when corrections and updates are made to a print edition, so that our eBooks are always up to date, but this may not be practicable or even appropriate for other publishers.

When Douglas Adams imagined “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” back in 1979 it came with automatic, frequent updates via the subetha net, and since eBooks are digital files it would be relatively straightforward for customers to be given updated files as they were issued, but while the model for eBooks’ sale and production is the same as printed books that’s unlikely to happen, and since most trade books don’t change greatly during their lifetime that makes sense, though it’s easy to imagine a subscription model that would take advantage of this possibility. However, at the moment customers who buy an eBook from our site and lose it can redownload it free of charge and there’s no formal mechanism apart from file date to show whether it’s changed.

This is one of the aspects of eBook publishing that is in my opinion most likely to change, and my answer in two years’ time would probably be very different.

Sony Readers don’t access the Web directly.

]]> By: Jennifer Sagala http://thedigitalist.net/2008/09/skills-in-the-digital-era-part-two/comment-page-1/#comment-3437 Jennifer Sagala Mon, 29 Sep 2008 08:55:29 +0000 http://thedigitalist.net/?p=235#comment-3437 Thanks for posting your notes from this talk. Could you say something more about 'version control' and the concept of new editions? Are ebooks a fixed entity upon being published? Canthey be altered/updated, or is it a subsequent, new purchase? Pardon my ignorance, but do readers have access to the web? Thanks. Thanks for posting your notes from this talk. Could you say something more about ‘version control’ and the concept of new editions?

Are ebooks a fixed entity upon being published? Canthey be altered/updated, or is it a subsequent, new purchase?
Pardon my ignorance, but do readers have access to the web? Thanks.

]]> By: The Daily Square - Not Goin’ Home Anymore Edition | Booksquare http://thedigitalist.net/2008/09/skills-in-the-digital-era-part-two/comment-page-1/#comment-3432 The Daily Square - Not Goin’ Home Anymore Edition | Booksquare Sat, 27 Sep 2008 17:37:32 +0000 http://thedigitalist.net/?p=235#comment-3432 [...] Skills in the Digital Era part twoNicholas Blake posts the talk he gave on preparing publishing for the future. Nice reading. [...] [...] Skills in the Digital Era part twoNicholas Blake posts the talk he gave on preparing publishing for the future. Nice reading. [...]

]]> By: The Daily Square - Not Goin’ Home Anymore Edition | Booksquare http://thedigitalist.net/2008/09/skills-in-the-digital-era-part-two/comment-page-1/#comment-3431 The Daily Square - Not Goin’ Home Anymore Edition | Booksquare Sat, 27 Sep 2008 17:37:32 +0000 http://thedigitalist.net/?p=235#comment-3431 [...] Skills in the Digital Era part twoNicholas Blake posts the talk he gave on preparing publishing for the future. Nice reading. [...] [...] Skills in the Digital Era part twoNicholas Blake posts the talk he gave on preparing publishing for the future. Nice reading. [...]

]]> By: Bench Marks » Blog Archive » Link Roundup 9-26-2008 http://thedigitalist.net/2008/09/skills-in-the-digital-era-part-two/comment-page-1/#comment-3428 Bench Marks » Blog Archive » Link Roundup 9-26-2008 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 18:50:14 +0000 http://thedigitalist.net/?p=235#comment-3428 [...] Skills in the Digital Era part two A great article from The Digitalist, the blog run by Pan MacMillan’s digital publishing team. It gives a transcript of a talk given by one of their editors on the skills needed to be an editor in the era of digital publishing. Short summary: the same skills you need to be an editor period. There’s a particularly interesting question posed, whether publishers should be investing heavily in Web 2.0-driven means to interact with readers: “…just because Web 2.0 encourages new ways for readers and writers to get involved with each other it doesn’t follow that publishers want to, or can, take advantage of it, in much the same way that the poetry subculture of the twentieth century did little to affect conventional poetry publishing. In a way, the healthier and more active this reader-collaborative culture is the less likely it is that a publisher will want to become involved for fear of contaminating it.” [...] [...] Skills in the Digital Era part two A great article from The Digitalist, the blog run by Pan MacMillan’s digital publishing team. It gives a transcript of a talk given by one of their editors on the skills needed to be an editor in the era of digital publishing. Short summary: the same skills you need to be an editor period. There’s a particularly interesting question posed, whether publishers should be investing heavily in Web 2.0-driven means to interact with readers: “…just because Web 2.0 encourages new ways for readers and writers to get involved with each other it doesn’t follow that publishers want to, or can, take advantage of it, in much the same way that the poetry subculture of the twentieth century did little to affect conventional poetry publishing. In a way, the healthier and more active this reader-collaborative culture is the less likely it is that a publisher will want to become involved for fear of contaminating it.” [...]

]]> By: Nicholas Blake http://thedigitalist.net/2008/09/skills-in-the-digital-era-part-two/comment-page-1/#comment-3427 Nicholas Blake Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:07:05 +0000 http://thedigitalist.net/?p=235#comment-3427 Converting a printed index for use in an eBook with reflowable text is relatively straightforward, and essentially involves adding a tag at the point where each printed page began; a search and replace in the index then replaces the folios with hyperlinks, which appear in the eBook as 'ref 1', ref 2' etc. Care is needed at this stage with roman numerals and numbers that aren't page references, of course, and there is a limitation in that only the first page of spreads can be linked. Screengrab 2 (available on my flick page) shows this in action in a Penguin title. Our converters have automated this process; others charge, sometimes per link, which is why some publishers decide to publish without it. There is a separate issue about moral rights: it could be argued that where the index to the print edition was supplied by the author, publishing the book without it without their permission is a breach of their moral rights. Converting a printed index for use in an eBook with reflowable text is relatively straightforward, and essentially involves adding a tag at the point where each printed page began; a search and replace in the index then replaces the folios with hyperlinks, which appear in the eBook as ‘ref 1′, ref 2′ etc. Care is needed at this stage with roman numerals and numbers that aren’t page references, of course, and there is a limitation in that only the first page of spreads can be linked. Screengrab 2 (available on my flick page) shows this in action in a Penguin title. Our converters have automated this process; others charge, sometimes per link, which is why some publishers decide to publish without it. There is a separate issue about moral rights: it could be argued that where the index to the print edition was supplied by the author, publishing the book without it without their permission is a breach of their moral rights.

]]> By: MikeShatzkin http://thedigitalist.net/2008/09/skills-in-the-digital-era-part-two/comment-page-1/#comment-3426 MikeShatzkin Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:54:24 +0000 http://thedigitalist.net/?p=235#comment-3426 One question. It is not simple to "use the index in all editions"? The Kindle would allow me to attach references to content chunks, which are numbered and of which you get a different number on each "page" depending on which of the six font sizes you're reading in. But the "page" numbers would be different in different formats, and perhaps for different readers. Is it really possible to follow this piece of advice? Or are there circumstances when it would be so costly to do so that it would be ridiculous to try? Or, perhaps, is this another case where properly structured XML would save you? One question. It is not simple to “use the index in all editions”? The Kindle would allow me to attach references to content chunks, which are numbered and of which you get a different number on each “page” depending on which of the six font sizes you’re reading in. But the “page” numbers would be different in different formats, and perhaps for different readers.

Is it really possible to follow this piece of advice? Or are there circumstances when it would be so costly to do so that it would be ridiculous to try? Or, perhaps, is this another case where properly structured XML would save you?

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