Comments on: A Format For Online Fiction, Part 2

By: Johny C.

Johny C. — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 22:13:00 +0000

Very nice post, I found it to be very interesting. I have bookmarked your page as I will show it to my friend.
You can also check out http://www.ecompareereaders.com for more information on all new ereaders of 2011.

By: MCM

MCM — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:29:32 +0000

ePub sucks like nobody’s business, but the fundamental theory is good. XML is good too, but it means you need to write custom interpreters, when we’ve already got a bunch of lightweight rendering engines (WebKit, Gecko and Opera) already deployed on tons of devices. All you need to do is make some simple HTML pages of your content with CSS in an included stylesheet, and you’re good to go. You embed a lot of “invisible” content in the package so it can be pulled if requested, but it’s still fundamentally a standard ePub file. Validates and everything. The cheaper ePub readers ignore the fancy stuff, but anything web-based reads it all in. ePub is already supported widely, so you’re not introducing a new format into the mix. It’s sneaky, but it does the job :)

By: Eli James

Eli James — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:19:58 +0000

I’m surprised that ePub is that powerful, to be honest. I’d have thought that if you want to build something that spans so many formats and mediums, XML would be a good choice. But I’ll have to think about that – I must admit that I’d completely forgotten about mobile devices and their importance to web fiction publishing.

Oh and thanks, MCM. For the compliment. =)

By: MCM

MCM — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:00:46 +0000

Excellent, excellent post! Not a huge surprise, but still. It needs to be said.

One of the challenges of this format debate is portability. If we remove interface from the equation (which I would argue it should be), you’re left with a book — a presentation — which people will want to read on varying devices. A common complaint during Typhoon was that it wasn’t readable on mobile platforms. The seamless conversion from one presentation technique to another should be a big part of the process.

My current theory is this: enhanced ePub files that are fully designed and formatted into whatever the author desires. The reading software can be interchangeable, using whatever UI method you want. Build the “browse” content into the book itself, so the packaging is complete. I’ve made this kind of thing recently, and it works perfectly. Weaker ePub readers just do the text, but the advanced ones give the full effect. And I have a few reader systems for websites that present the files seamlessly.

I’m hoping to have a draft of this available in the next few weeks, and then everyone can see how it works. I even have a handy WordPress exporter plugin that will create such files for you almost instantly. The software needs to be broken out from the content, but if we keep in mind the “browse” and “read” requirements, I think we’ll be okay.