Amazon's adoption of new file formats

[Bill Hiatt]

I thought it was a good thing for Amazon to make books available in EPUB and PDF. But as is often the case, they did this in the most awkward way imaginable.

I learned this by accident while changing a price. After finishing, I got an error message saying that I had to consent to DRM choice before I could finish. That reminded me of the format change. The book in question was non-DRM, so I thought given permission would be a one-step process. Nope!

The problem is that the switch requires going back to the page where one edits the content. It's easy to check the non-DRM box again and agree to make EPUB and PDF files available. (You could also apparently apply DRM if you wanted.)

But then the system goes into a long, drawn-out file conversion routine (much longer than normal). I guess for an old title, where what was uploaded was MOBI, that might take a while, though the system out to just borrow the PDF submitted for the paperback to use as the PDF file. Then it seems to hang on generating a preview. Canceling unfortunately cancels not just the preview, but the whole thing and makes you start all over with file conversion.

I suppose picking the DRM option would have been faster, but I didn't want that.

Sigh! How long would it take to do all my titles? I'll let you know if the first one ever finishes.

What ought to happen, of course, is that you should be able to skip the preview stage, particularly if all you did was agree to the DRM setting. But that isn't what's happening. The system could easily produce the new files it needs in the background after you've save everything. But it doesn't.

Anyone trying to change anything is going to get trapped in the same nightmare, which is maybe why it's so slow. I'd recommend trying to leave your existing books alone for a while. It may get faster.

[TimothyEllis]

I don't use DRM, and I noticed the same on my last release, but chose no DRM as usual. Nothing untoward happened.

So either they've changed something recently, or it only applies to existing books where the choice is changing.

I think doing a PDF version is insanity, as that's the preferred version for pirates.

They were already doing an EPub, so that's not a change.

[Bill Hiatt]

EPUB is a change as far as making it retroactively available for old titles (both on future sales and on past ones).

And yeah, I would have preferred ebook availability only in EPUB, not in PDF.

Actually, the conversion is long-since done, and it's generating the preview that seems to be going nowhere. I think I used to be able to click save and continue while the generation was happening, but if so, that's no longer the case.

Aha! I just found a workaround! If I open the dashboard in a different window, I can save all the changes, proceed to the pricing page, and save.  All done! So all one really needs to do is start the process in one window, and when the preview nonsense starts, finish in another. That's mildly cumbersome, but it beats the alternative.

[cecilia_writer]

Thanks for the warning Bill!
I just wondered whether your suggestion of borrowing the print pdf would work for ereaders - I format my file for print differently from the the document file I submit for the ebook, with added page numbering in the footer and without live links in the TOC. Though I suppose it wouldn't be that difficult for them to update if necessary.

[Bill Hiatt]

Thanks for the warning Bill!
I just wondered whether your suggestion of borrowing the print pdf would work for ereaders - I format my file for print differently from the the document file I submit for the ebook, with added page numbering in the footer and without live links in the TOC. Though I suppose it wouldn't be that difficult for them to update if necessary.

Yeah, it is true that we format differently for paper. But PDF, because it isn't reflowable, isn't really the greatest choice for an ereader, anyway. I was thinking in terms of time needed to convert, but given the fact that it's not really the conversion process that caused that glitch but creating the preview, I suppose it doesn't take that long to create a PDF with things like links during the conversion process. And the PDF certainly doesn't need some of the features we use for print books, just as you pointed out.