NEWS

BREAKING NEWS:

On December 5, I intend to submit my last Kodansha Files entry.

Please look out for it b/c I'm trying to make it special (perhaps a Calvin Reid interview?). Also look out for an all new An Unconventional Publisher Confessions entry.

Question.Debate.Be Unconventional.

Latesha Goodman
http://www.lateshagoodman.wordpress.com/

The Kodansha Files

Beginning in October, I will be tracking Kodansha USA, an American subsidiary of Kodansha, Japan's largest manga publisher. Why? Great question, I'm trying to discover when or if Kodansha USA intends to digitize its catalog. More specifically, I want to know which digital format it will use. Personally, I'm excited to see Sailor Moon as an iPad app. Still, Kodansha might prefer to keep its catalog solely in print. I don't know, but I do know whatever happens it makes for an interesting read, which brings me to my next point.
 
My blog, An Uncoventional Publisher focuses on new jobs for publishers in The Digital Age of Books.
As an aspiring publisher, I must understand traditional publishing and feel comfortable using new technologies. This reality mirrors that of today's publishing houses.That's why I believe my class assignment meshes perfectly with this blog.

Moreover, I think it's a great way to introduce Sailor Moon to unfamiliar consumers. If no one has ever heard of Kodansha Ltd, that's to be expected. Most readers have heard of Stephen King, but have no idea who his publisher is. On the other hand, if readers have never heard of Sailor Moon then that's a travesty. I'm introducing The Kodansha Files to do my homework and support Sailor Moon, 

Look out for Kodansha Files first entry October 15. In the meantime, I'm asking readers to do at least one of these four things:

• Message me if you have any relevant links, tweets or articles OR
• If you don't think Sailor Moon makes a great e-book say it and support it OR
• If you think Sailor Moon makes a great e-book say it and support it OR
• Post an e-book fail or an e-book pass; I know they're out there.

Looking forward to seeing you on Oct.15,  

Latesha Goodman
Author of An Unconventional Publisher Confesses
www.lateshagoodman.wordpress.com 

Disclaimer, if you don't feel comfortable with me including your real name let me know. This blog is attached to my public Wordpress blog; everything you say will be publicized. I don't mind someone disagreeing with my standpoint, I only ask for people to be respectful. I don't mind comments that have cursing, dirty jokes or graphic pictures. If you have examples that contain nudity that's fine too; if it's relevant then I'm on board. I only ask that your argument have validity and your comments aren't personal.

"The Life of Samuel Johnson" on eBooks

As demonstrated in class last night eBook conversions are not perfect.
Whether it is the mentality of "it's not my job" or "I'm not a fish" the proofing step should not be overlooked. The name Penguin Classics implies top-notch publishing integrity and editorial quality, and "The Life of Samuel Johnson" by James Boswell did not receive it.

The Kindle eBook edition of Boswell's work costs $12.24. So I opted for the free sample, which gives you approximately 10-15% of the book (usually Front Matter and beginning of a first chapter). Even from this small sample I detected multiple format and content issues such as: "principles'ofwhich, asBoswellrecords, Johnsonhad'Muchexperience'. Boswell's famousimage" or "He was from the beginning '$$$$, a king of men."
I can only imagine it continues throughout the Kindle version.

The Nook eBook edition is free. And although it's not the same edition as the Kindle, format and content was horrible, one such example is:
"Ovre reus e7riavecrTaTai9 7rpa£eo-i ttolvtus tvecrTi S^Awcris dper^s rj Ka/aas, aXka 7rpay/xa fipayy ttoAAcckis, kcli pv)fJ"
This happened throughout the text, in large batches as above and in hidden in words or short sentences.

The best way to proof eBook conversions is looking off a hard copy of the text to see how the content is suppose to be presented - borders, indentations, spacing, grammar, spelling, font, size, etc. - and making the correct adjustments for the eBook to appropriately represent the original text on a different platform. Not having a hard copy of Boswell's book, I could only detect the obvious errors (as noted above) - but there could have been more had I been comparing eBook to book.

Since these errors (format, missing content, special characters) appear in some way on three different devices (Nook, Kindle, iPad) it leads me to believe that Penguin sent a corrupted InDesign or PDF file to get converted to ePUB. Penguin then did not thoroughly proof the final ePUB version but instead sent the final file for submission to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple, and possibly other vendors, who accepted the file for resale.

"The Life of Samuel Johnson" on eBooks is broken.

The Future of the Book

Has anyone else seen this before? I watched this video about a year ago and thought it was really neat! It shows three digital book concepts named Alice, Nelson & Coupland. Take a look...

The Future of the Book. from IDEO on Vimeo.