[LMB] OT: question about Baen book dowloads

[B. Ross Ashley]

On Sun, 1 Jul 2007 16:53:58 -0700, "Jean Lamb" <tlambs1138 at charter.net>
wrote:

 > When I download some books from Baen, either from the Free Library
 > or my little Liaden orgy, I discover that when I download them
 > using the format for Palm Pilot as my choice, that the book show
 > up on my Tungsten with all the html markings written out.

I feel your pain. The Mobipocket reader is not built for Linux, so I 
can't use it on my Zaurus handheld. FBReader and OpieReader will read 
.prc files, but have the same problems with some of the residual markup.

What I do is generally a 2-stage process which involves the use of my 
Windows machine: I get the RTF download, open it up in Open Office, save 
it as HTML. This reformats the text and saves the cover picture and any 
maps and other illustrations as .jpg files linked into the text. I then 
open Mobipocket Creator, the home version, free download from 
Mobipocket, and build my own .prc file, without all the markup. I do the 
same two stages for andy ebook I obtain in .lit format ... there's a 
freeware converter out there, Convertlit, that renders .lit files into 
html plus pictures, and even builds a starter for Mobipocket Creator for 
you. (An .opf file. Click on the .opf, Creator opens up, and you can 
build your .prc automatically.)

Baen's method of building the e-books seems to involve making a separate 
.html page for each chapter of the book and linking them all together. 
Other epublishers make a single massive .html file. The single massive 
file method makes for a cleaner copy in Mobipocket. Probably a nightmare 
to proofread, though.

Mobipocket Creator will only run on a Windows box. I have tried to get 
it to run under WINE on my Linux desktop; it installs but just sits there.
-- 
B. Ross Ashley http://brashley46.livejournal.com 
http://brashley46.no-ip.info
"It would be too painful to think that there are worlds somewhere
where I got everything right."  Sulien, in _The King's Name_, by Jo Walton
Registered Linux user # 402119