Re: Amazon support for EPUB3 ???

Kindle has a comic book creator for fixed layout publications. I’ve downloaded it. I’m working on a digital comic at the moment so will check it out when i get to  that point. I’m designing the panels in Clip Studio EX. I’m sure others here are already familiar with Amazon’s tool.

I’ll see what code the authoring program spits out to see if it follows the FXL standard. If others already know, please share so i don’t duplicate.


Best Regards,

Dale Rogers, M.Ed., CIW
Creator | Educator | Consciousness Explorer

dale@dalerogers.me
http://dalerogers.me/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dalerrogers/

From my iPhone. Pardon my thumbs.

________________________________
From: Filippo Floridia <filippo.floridia@mondadori.it>
Sent: Friday, April 12, 2024 9:14:08 AM
To: W3C EPUB 3 Community Group <public-epub3@w3.org>
Subject: Re: Amazon support for EPUB3 ???

Hi everyone,
I’m Filippo, eBook production coordinator from Mondadori’s group.

Amazon is not so clear about this topic. In their help page it’s stated:

«3. Does this change [ePub for reflowable eBooks] also affect fixed page layout eBooks?
Fixed layout eBooks are not affected by the change. You can continue to use EPUB and MOBI files created with the specifications described in the Kindle Publication Guidelines for fixed-pagination content.»

You can reach this page clicking Vendor Central > Publish to Kindle > Upload History (yellow warning banner).

I asked Amazon some clarification about this topic, and they answered: «For fixed layout files, therefore, both EPUB and MOBI are accepted.».

I still haven’t tried uploading an ePub file for a fixed layout eBook, but from what I am reading here it’s not working.

Thanks for the update

Regards


Filippo Floridia
Digital Sales

Mondadori Libri
Via privata Mondadori - 20054 - Segrate - MI (Italy)

email: filippo.floridia@mondadori.it<mailto:filippo.floridia@mondadori.it>
tel.: +39 349 8841436

Il giorno 12 apr 2024, alle ore 15:40, Jose Fernando Tavares <fernando@booknando.com.br<mailto:fernando@booknando.com.br>> ha scritto:

Hi Ruth,

As Ken mentioned, Amazon only handles conversion of fluid files. To submit a fixed layout file, you can convert the ePub using Kindle Previewer. This software allows you to test what works or doesn’t work on Amazon.

Here at Booknando, we produce a Fixed Layout ePub designed for Amazon, with right and left pagination as needed, and then convert it to mobi using Kindle Previewer and deliver this mobi file to the client.

Abraço


José Fernando Tavares
| Digital Publishing | Audiobooks | IA for business |
Booknando.com.b<http://booknando.com.br/>r | fernando@booknando.com.br<mailto:fernando@booknando.com.br>
+55 44 9 8811 7557 (whatsapp)


Em sex., 12 de abr. de 2024 às 10:30, Ken Jones <ken@circularsoftware.com<mailto:ken@circularsoftware.com>> escreveu:
Hi Ruth

Amazon only convert EPUB to reflowable ebooks.

Their guidelines<https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G200634390> are pretty poor but do state "We support fixed format books in MOBI that meet the specifications outlined in the Kindle Publishing Guidelines.
For reflowable eBooks, upload a EPUB, DOCX, or KPF file instead."

So, for fixed layout ebooks, Amazon’s guideline mean that the KF8 file is still to be used. A fixed layout KF8 for Amazon still has a .mobi suffix.

I have asked many times for more information and would love to hear from someone at Amazon about their support for EPUBs features both in reflowable and fixed layout ebooks. Especially in regards to accessibility and interaction.

FYI my company’s tool CircularFLO<https://www.circularsoftware.com/circularflo> generates both a Fixed-Layout EPUB3 plus the Amazon file KF8 as two different outputs from InDesign. This means that illustrated publishers can get around the issues of no KF8 support for SVG, transparencies, font obfuscations, audio, video, accessibility and interaction features by providing Amazon with a different, simplified print replica.

Thanks
Ken

Ken Jones
Director
Circular Software Limited
circularsoftware.com<https://www.circularsoftware.com/>

ken@circularsoftware.com<mailto:ken@circularsoftware.com>
@CircularKen<https://twitter.com/CircularKen>
linkedin.com/in/kenjones<http://linkedin.com/in/kenjones>

On 12 Apr 2024, at 13:50, Ruth Tait <artbyrt@gmail.com<mailto:artbyrt@gmail.com>> wrote:

Hello CG members,

I think there is an enormous gap between the news<https://www.theverge.com/2022/5/2/23053408/amazon-epub-kindle-ereader-file-format-kf8> that Amazon is supporting EPUB3 and the reality of what support is there.

A recently published valid epub3 fully accessible FXL book from our small press, served through an aggregator, is being rendered essentially as ‘garbage’ by the Kindle app.


  *   There is no support for SVG format. There are several diagrams in the book which, for file-size considerations were built in SVG. Adding fallback .png files would considerably increase book size.
  *   Many of the CSS styles (such as 'list-style-type: none’) are ignored
  *   The FXL format is turned into a flowable book, breaking book narrative continuity
  *   The ‘hidden’ embedded image description text is made visible (also CSS clip styles ignored)
  *   The CSS style positioning on image description links is ignored
  *   CSS line-height and padding/margin on headings are ignored

Essentially, if you want to make a book that is not merely a ‘wall of text’ but has design built in to provide readability affordances—you cannot rely on Amazon to give a good result.

After all the years, effort and work by members in development of this specification, I personally am affronted that Amazon—such a huge player in the market—consistently breaks the model that is set out and is currently well delivered by Apple, Vital Source Bookshelf and Thorium.

Amazon: for shame!

Ruth Tait