Neverending...

[R. C.]

The never-ending life of an habitual researcher is tedious. Oh, wait, that is not the point.

In the on-going process to find an audience, I came across something interesting this morning. Back in 2015-16 I did a lot of reading about recommended eBook (epub/mobi) fonts and font sizes.  The recommended font types are, generally the same today. However, it appears the general consensus today, is the minimum font size is 12pt. Which is up from a minimum of 11pt.

Did I miss a memo? Is 12pt the new font size?

R.C.

[Post-Crisis D]

Why are you setting a fixed font size in epub/mobi?  Use em.

[R. C.]

Why are you setting a fixed font size in epub/mobi?  Use em.

Apologies for the confusion. I am not setting the font size in an epub/mobi. In the docx source the font is fixed.

R.C.

[PJ Post]

Perhaps the people who decide these things are getting older?

Then again, it could be due to the undo influence of the 12 Point Guild. I heard they muscled in on the 10 Pointers a few years back - as I recall, it was pretty ugly.

[R. C.]

Perhaps the people who decide these things are getting older?

Then again, it could be due to the undo influence of the 12 Point Guild. I heard they muscled in on the 10 Pointers a few years back - as I recall, it was pretty ugly.

Yeah, the 10 Pointers tried to throw in with the 11'ers against the 12 Point Guild,  but we all know those turds are useless.

[j tanner]

Who cares?

Use what you like. The font size in the docx is only seen by you because it's stripped out of the file in the conversion to ebook. You can have your docx in 17 point, purple, comic sans if you like and no one will ever know.

[R. C.]

Who cares?...

I care... Google Books requires a PDF. A PDF made from a docx file inherits the font.  I just checked, yep, the new font is carried through to the eBook.

FYI - Changing from 11pt to 12pt adds about 25% more pages to a 430 page (5.5x8.5) manuscript.

R.C.

[Matthew]

I care... Google Books requires a PDF. A PDF made from a docx file inherits the font.  I just checked, yep, the new font is carried through to the eBook.

FYI - Changing from 11pt to 12pt adds about 25% more pages to a 430 page (5.5x8.5) manuscript.

R.C.

You should be able to upload a .epub file. See: https://support.google.com/books/partner/answer/3297415?hl=en

In which case, what j tanner said applies. Google Docs for its .epub export does not embed a font, so the device will use their built-in fonts. Even if you do embed fonts, Kindles let you as a reader ignore the embedded font for a better reading experience.

[Post-Crisis D]

For print/PDF, you cannot go by font size alone.  For example, you could have two different fonts set at 12 point and one will appear larger than the other because different fonts can appear to be different sizes at the same type size due to variations in x-height and other factors.

[Jeff Tanyard]

Perhaps the people who decide these things are getting older?

Then again, it could be due to the undo influence of the 12 Point Guild. I heard they muscled in on the 10 Pointers a few years back - as I recall, it was pretty ugly.

Yeah, the 10 Pointers tried to throw in with the 11'ers against the 12 Point Guild,  but we all know those turds are useless.

I think I saw the documentary about that...

[R. C.]

Loosely based on actual events...

[j tanner]

Who cares?...

I care... Google Books requires a PDF. A PDF made from a docx file inherits the font.  I just checked, yep, the new font is carried through to the eBook.

FYI - Changing from 11pt to 12pt adds about 25% more pages to a 430 page (5.5x8.5) manuscript.

R.C.

Yikes. I doubt they require a PDF but it's been ages since I did an upload there. Upload an EPUB. Their conversion for PDF should handle everything properly (ie stripping the font info) but I wouldn't trust it because PDF is a pretty messy format in regards to ebooks (but fantastic for print.) Either way, however, the final resulting "page" count on Play of EPUB vs PDF should be about the same, as should uploading two different PDFs of the same content with different font settings. (ie. you shouldn't be able to get Play to show a 800 page book just by doing 20 point font unless Play implementation is really, really dumb.)

[R. C.]

I must be missing something... after all these years...

I can load everywhere with a docx (or a doc for Smashwords) file that is correctly formatted. Why convert to and epub to load and convert when it is not needed?

R.C.

[j tanner]

I must be missing something... after all these years...

I can load everywhere with a docx (or a doc for Smashwords) file that is correctly formatted. Why convert to and epub to load and convert when it is not needed?

I'd ask the same question except about PDF. At least EPUB is an actual ebook format. PDF makes no sense. Google should support DOC/X before PDF but they don't for whatever reason. Could be some legacy thing with trade publishing or scuttled plans to do one stop support for ebook + print. "Why?" is a question big companies almost never answer unfortunately.

[Lynn]

Google Play Books wants an EPUB for "reflowable text" and an "original pages" PDF. If your book isn't published in print first, uploading a PDF is not really the best way to go.

https://support.google.com/books/partner/answer/3316879?hl=en&ref_topic=3238502#epub-pdf

[j tanner]

Google Play Books wants an EPUB for "reflowable text" and an "original pages" PDF. If your book isn't published in print first, uploading a PDF is not really the best way to go.

Ooh! That actually makes sense. It's for fixed page books like graphic novels or a weird tabled layout in a textbook or something. You definitely wouldn't want to use it for fiction.

[R. C.]

Google Play Books wants an EPUB for "reflowable text" and an "original pages" PDF. If your book isn't published in print first, uploading a PDF is not really the best way to go.

https://support.google.com/books/partner/answer/3316879?hl=en&ref_topic=3238502#epub-pdf

"We recommend that you send us both PDF and EPUB files for your books, as we offer our users two display modes: original pages and reflowable text. Providing the PDF file for your book will ensure that readers can view the book in its original layout, while the EPUB file will allow them a more customizable experience."

Well, damn. Okay.

R.C.