epub conversion process

[greglondon]

Well, this is wonderful. I wanted to upload a slightly new version of my book (it originally started with deleting a single letter, and I've spent the day fighting the conversion process from OpenOffice to MSWord. Apparently the epub converter will only take Word, not open office (YAY LULU!). And the conversion from one to the other causes all sorts of subtle formatting issues as text is cut off the bottom of the page at different places that it is in the OpenOffice version.

And now I have now run into one of Lulu's new "improvements" to the process. It won't convert my book to epub format.

I modified the headers so that they are at most 3 levels deep.

The other flag in the guide says don't use "text boxes". Does this mean don't use TABLES????

Otherwise, how can I figure out specifically what this magical mystery black box of a converter is actually choking on?

For all I know it could be an alien character on page 139 and there would be no way to catch it without seeing the log files.

[Ken Anderson]

Lulu will take a Word 2003 doc or a Word 2010 docx. Or they will take an EPUB. It is your responsibility to ensure you prepare and supply the correct format. Have you taken the time to read these guidelines http://connect.lulu.com/t5/eBook-Formatting-Publishing/eBook-Creator-Guide/ta-p/109443 ? If you want to use text boxes, tables or any special formatting then create your own EPUB. Lulu's Word to EPUB converter is really meant for simple novel format books. If you want something different you must do more work yourself or get someone to do it for you. I suggest spending more time understanding the EPUB format. See http://idpf.org/epub/201

[MITCHBENSELataoldotcom]

i couldnt get as far as you did.....

[SkyeAtman]

Hello - I need help with ePub conversion from Word 2004 for Mac.

Yesterday Lulu successfully converted my Word file to ePub.  Heading 1 only was used for all parts of the book.

Today the file was rejected with no reason given.  The main change I made was to create Headings 1, 2, 3 (as specified in the Creator Guide).  I also modified two body styles from indented to not indented.

Question:  do the Headings have to appear in order?  In my document, Heading 1 appears first (the title), then Heading 3 (for copyright and other front matter), followed by Heading 2 for chapters.  Could this be the problem?

Also, a continuing problem with using Arial font.  The ePub converter changes most of the text to Times New Roman, but not all.  Several Headings stayed in Arial.  Searching through the entire file shows only Arial used.

FYI:  The original file I uploaded (and successfully converted several times) was created by saving a Pages document in Word format.

Thank you so much in advance,

Skye

[Ken Anderson]

Lulu's Word to EPUB converter does have some anomalies. It's better to have a Paragraph style Heading 1 followed by Heading 2. You can then follow by Heading 1 again? The converter will also screw up fonts. Because the iPad supports a limited number of fonts, and the user can change the display, so I would recommend you just use Times Roman. Again the converter screws up non indents and indents. Don't change from one to another. If you want non indented text then create an indented style with an indent of 0.01", apply that to all the body text and it will appear to the eye as non indented.