Formatting Issue - Turn Coat by Jim Butcher

Giddeaon · 04-10-2009, 09:43 PM

Two part issue here....

First - if anyone is a fan of Jim Butcher and his Dresden Files series, I would suggestion holding off on getting the newest release. I just purchased the latest novel - Turn Coat - from Amazon, and the formatting is horrible. There are 2 or three extra empty lines in between each paragraph making the spacing very noticeable and distracting, especially while reading through dialogue. I've purchased other books in the series and have had no issues. This edition just released on April 7th.

Second Issue...more of a question.....Does anyone know if there is anything I can do about this? I paid almost $15 to buy the book on the day of its release because I truly want to support my favorite authors, and the formatting is so bad I just can't read it.....it's that irritating. Has anyone else had issues like this with purchases from Amazon - specifically with new releases - and does anyone know if they get fixed in future revisions? I know I see ebooks with version numbers all the time in the copyrights....do changes get done often to fix issues like this? I don't want to demand a refund, but I just don't want to suffer through the formatting.

Thanks for reading....

Gids

daffy4u · 04-10-2009, 09:55 PM

I've had good luck in reporting formatting issues to Amazon. Sometimes they've been able to get the problem correct very fast (mangled title) and other times (nearly every word containing the letter "p" was capitalized) a bit over a week. I didn't return the books, I just re-downloaded the corrected versions. The book that took over a week to correct, I did not receive notice when it was fixed. I found out on my own.

pwalker8 · 04-10-2009, 09:55 PM

Hum, while I see what you are talking about, I can't say that it bothers me all that much. If it bothers you, I guess you could strip out the drm, then reformat the book yourself, or just go to Jim Butcher's web site and complain there.

lilac_jive · 04-10-2009, 10:33 PM

I'm buying it for my 505, hopefully it'll be OK. I heard about this with a new Nore Roberts release and Amazon did fix the copies. I would definitely email them.

sirbruce · 04-10-2009, 11:37 PM

You're bothered by an extra line or two between paragraphs? Sheesh. Just imagine they printed the book that way; you're not missing anything.

Beyond that, you can use ctrl-shift-1 to minimize the spacing between lines if you have a Kindle 2.

Giddeaon · 04-10-2009, 11:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sirbruce

You're bothered by an extra line or two between paragraphs? Sheesh. Just imagine they printed the book that way; you're not missing anything.

Beyond that, you can use ctrl-shift-1 to minimize the spacing between lines if you have a Kindle 2.

I probably didn't explain it clear enough.

I use the 2nd smallest font size on my Kindle 1. With the current formatting of this book I get only 4 lines of dialogue per page if that dialogue is only a single line.

Example: (not from the book...just to show what it looks like)

------------------------------------
Do you want to go outside?

Sure.

Ok, I'll get my coat.

Don't forget your keys.
------------------------------------

Imagine everything within the dotted lines is a single page/Kindle1 screen. That's how big the spaces in between are. With large paragraphs it's not so bad. With single lines of dialogue where a new paragraph is used to indicate different people are speaking, it means a LOT of page flipping which breaks up my reading pace.

Hope that clarifies it.

Also - I did send an email to Amazon. I hope to get a response soon.

weatherman · 04-11-2009, 07:58 PM

That's just a dramatic pause.

sirbruce · 04-11-2009, 11:50 PM

I can see how that would be annoying.

Forster · 04-13-2009, 12:10 AM

Hmmm, the formating didn't really bother me. Yes there were spaces between paragraphs and a couple of typo's I noticed, but certainly not enough to recommend holding off buying the book if you are a Dresden fan, nor did the formating really interrupt the flow for me.

Good book BTW, Mr. Butcher has yet to let me down.

Gideon · 04-13-2009, 01:21 AM

This series is definitely a guilty pleasure of mine

koland · 04-13-2009, 02:19 AM

The first paragraph in one chapter is also messed up (starts repeating about half way thru, ends in middle of a sentence, but you can figure out what should be included and what is duplicates). And my copy is from fictionwise, so it isn't Amazon that is at fault (same problem with lots and lots of space between all the paragraphs, also).

Edit: Actually, it's the first paragraph in a number of chapters, all with the same problem. It's obvious that no one read any of these even in the HTML format, let alone the mobi format as released.

whitearrow · 04-19-2009, 06:31 PM

I took a peek "under the hood" of this one -- suffice to say the HTML formatting is absolutely godawful. It's a miracle the line-spacing is the worst problem.

I can't believe a "professional" did the formatting on this book. Unbelievable that nobody actually looked at the file on an e-reader before they released it.

texasnightowl · 04-20-2009, 12:51 PM

The J.D. Robb book that came out in February ... Promises in Death had the same issue. I contacted Amazon CS and "returned" it. And yes, the html underneath was horrible. I do not know if it has been fixed or not.

That book also had instances where paragraphs "broke" to a new paragraph when it should not have. ie., while the same character was speaking. Just from one sentence to the next it went to a new paragraph. I checked the hardback version at Target one day and in at least one of those cases, the print version did the same. So therefore my big complaint is about the huge spacing between paragraphs. The HTML was so bad that book designer couldn't open the file.

sirbruce · 04-20-2009, 01:12 PM

Post to Jim Butcher's LiveJournal and maybe he can get the publisher to format better:
http://jimbutcher.livejournal.com/

Buran · 04-22-2009, 02:10 PM

I read this book from the local library, although at some point I will get the series on Kindle. I've got complaints about paragraph spacing in at least one Clancy novel (Rainbow Six) that I've purchased from the Kindle Store. It sounds as if I should report this to Amazon. And it also sounds as if it's a good thing that I somehow managed to get the book quickly from the library even though I was 26th in line (honestly, I think they made a mistake -- there were still people ahead of me when I got the email that it had come in).

I have enjoyed the Dresden series, and I enjoyed Anita Blake (set in St. Louis, where I live, even!) before it became Porn Without (Much) Plot. Read the Huff Blood Books on recommendation from a friend; anyone know any similar series I might try?

04-10-2009, 09:43 PM	#1
Giddeaon Ex Libris....Vita Posts: 19 Karma: 30 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Saint Petersburg,FL Device: Kindle Fire HD	Formatting Issue - Turn Coat by Jim Butcher Two part issue here.... First - if anyone is a fan of Jim Butcher and his Dresden Files series, I would suggestion holding off on getting the newest release. I just purchased the latest novel - Turn Coat - from Amazon, and the formatting is horrible. There are 2 or three extra empty lines in between each paragraph making the spacing very noticeable and distracting, especially while reading through dialogue. I've purchased other books in the series and have had no issues. This edition just released on April 7th. Second Issue...more of a question.....Does anyone know if there is anything I can do about this? I paid almost $15 to buy the book on the day of its release because I truly want to support my favorite authors, and the formatting is so bad I just can't read it.....it's that irritating. Has anyone else had issues like this with purchases from Amazon - specifically with new releases - and does anyone know if they get fixed in future revisions? I know I see ebooks with version numbers all the time in the copyrights....do changes get done often to fix issues like this? I don't want to demand a refund, but I just don't want to suffer through the formatting. Thanks for reading.... Gids

04-13-2009, 02:19 AM	#11
koland Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,560 Karma: 8033155 Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: TN, USA Device: kindle(all), nook, nookcolor, Sony, Kobo, epic, iphone, iPad, pc	The first paragraph in one chapter is also messed up (starts repeating about half way thru, ends in middle of a sentence, but you can figure out what should be included and what is duplicates). And my copy is from fictionwise, so it isn't Amazon that is at fault (same problem with lots and lots of space between all the paragraphs, also). Edit: Actually, it's the first paragraph in a number of chapters, all with the same problem. It's obvious that no one read any of these even in the HTML format, let alone the mobi format as released. Last edited by koland; 04-20-2009 at 12:08 PM.

04-19-2009, 06:31 PM	#12
whitearrow Guru Posts: 808 Karma: 2260766 Join Date: Apr 2008 Device: Kindle Oasis 2	I took a peek "under the hood" of this one -- suffice to say the HTML formatting is absolutely godawful. It's a miracle the line-spacing is the worst problem. I can't believe a "professional" did the formatting on this book. Unbelievable that nobody actually looked at the file on an e-reader before they released it. Last edited by whitearrow; 04-19-2009 at 07:14 PM.

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04-10-2009, 09:55 PM	#2
daffy4u I'm Super Kindle-icious Posts: 6,734 Karma: 2434103 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Long Drive, Calinadia Candafornia Device: KDXG, KT, Oasis	I've had good luck in reporting formatting issues to Amazon. Sometimes they've been able to get the problem correct very fast (mangled title) and other times (nearly every word containing the letter "p" was capitalized) a bit over a week. I didn't return the books, I just re-downloaded the corrected versions. The book that took over a week to correct, I did not receive notice when it was fixed. I found out on my own.

04-10-2009, 09:55 PM	#3
pwalker8 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,196 Karma: 70314280 Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Atlanta, GA Device: iPad Pro, iPad mini, Kobo Aura, Amazon paperwhite, Sony PRS-T2	Hum, while I see what you are talking about, I can't say that it bothers me all that much. If it bothers you, I guess you could strip out the drm, then reformat the book yourself, or just go to Jim Butcher's web site and complain there.

04-10-2009, 10:33 PM	#4
lilac_jive Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,870 Karma: 27376 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Device: PRS-505	I'm buying it for my 505, hopefully it'll be OK. I heard about this with a new Nore Roberts release and Amazon did fix the copies. I would definitely email them.

04-10-2009, 11:37 PM	#5
sirbruce Provocateur Posts: 1,859 Karma: 505847 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Columbus, OH Device: Kindle Touch, Kindle 2, Kindle DX, iPhone 3GS	You're bothered by an extra line or two between paragraphs? Sheesh. Just imagine they printed the book that way; you're not missing anything. Beyond that, you can use ctrl-shift-1 to minimize the spacing between lines if you have a Kindle 2.

04-11-2009, 07:58 PM	#7
weatherman Addict Posts: 385 Karma: 1010052 Join Date: Apr 2008 Device: (previous: Kindle 2, Kindle Fire) Kindle 4 WiFi, K3K, KPW	That's just a dramatic pause.

04-11-2009, 11:50 PM	#8
sirbruce Provocateur Posts: 1,859 Karma: 505847 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Columbus, OH Device: Kindle Touch, Kindle 2, Kindle DX, iPhone 3GS	I can see how that would be annoying.

04-13-2009, 12:10 AM	#9
Forster Member Posts: 23 Karma: 642 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: kindle 2, DX, kindle fire, kindle 3, kindle PW	Hmmm, the formating didn't really bother me. Yes there were spaces between paragraphs and a couple of typo's I noticed, but certainly not enough to recommend holding off buying the book if you are a Dresden fan, nor did the formating really interrupt the flow for me. Good book BTW, Mr. Butcher has yet to let me down.

04-13-2009, 01:21 AM	#10
Gideon Wearer of Pants Posts: 1,050 Karma: 7634 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Norman, OK Device: Amazon Kindle DX / iPhone	This series is definitely a guilty pleasure of mine

04-20-2009, 12:51 PM	#13
texasnightowl Guru Posts: 699 Karma: 1001556 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Texas Device: Oasis 3, K4B(NT), K3/KK	The J.D. Robb book that came out in February ... Promises in Death had the same issue. I contacted Amazon CS and "returned" it. And yes, the html underneath was horrible. I do not know if it has been fixed or not. That book also had instances where paragraphs "broke" to a new paragraph when it should not have. ie., while the same character was speaking. Just from one sentence to the next it went to a new paragraph. I checked the hardback version at Target one day and in at least one of those cases, the print version did the same. So therefore my big complaint is about the huge spacing between paragraphs. The HTML was so bad that book designer couldn't open the file.

04-20-2009, 01:12 PM	#14
sirbruce Provocateur Posts: 1,859 Karma: 505847 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Columbus, OH Device: Kindle Touch, Kindle 2, Kindle DX, iPhone 3GS	Post to Jim Butcher's LiveJournal and maybe he can get the publisher to format better: http://jimbutcher.livejournal.com/

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04-22-2009, 02:10 PM	#15
Buran Geek Posts: 190 Karma: 471136 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Brentwood, MO Device: Kindle Oasis Waterproof 32GB 3G (without offers)	I read this book from the local library, although at some point I will get the series on Kindle. I've got complaints about paragraph spacing in at least one Clancy novel (Rainbow Six) that I've purchased from the Kindle Store. It sounds as if I should report this to Amazon. And it also sounds as if it's a good thing that I somehow managed to get the book quickly from the library even though I was 26th in line (honestly, I think they made a mistake -- there were still people ahead of me when I got the email that it had come in). I have enjoyed the Dresden series, and I enjoyed Anita Blake (set in St. Louis, where I live, even!) before it became Porn Without (Much) Plot. Read the Huff Blood Books on recommendation from a friend; anyone know any similar series I might try?