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I spent today learning how to make EPUBs with images! I've seen my talented friends Alyson and Zoe offer these for their stories, and I finally sat down and figured out the process myself.

Here's Work It - Part 1 in EPUB format for anyone who prefers reading on an e-reader or just likes having the option!

I made two versions:

One with the images placed where they naturally fall in the story

One with all the images grouped as a gallery at the end, so your reading isn't interrupted

Honestly, I'm not sure if maintaining two versions is worth the extra effort going forward, so I'd love your feedback! Do you prefer having the images woven into the text, or would you rather read uninterrupted and look at the gallery afterward? Or does it not matter much to you either way?

This is very much an experiment, so please let me know if this is a format you'd like to see more of! πŸ’•

P.S. I also edited the story a bit - because I'm as much of a perfectionist as Delia, I guess!

Files

Comments

Rinny writes

I don't normally do a lot of epubs, but I viewed there and personally, I like the images inline. also excited to see where the story goes.

SteveP

Definitely prefer this, and definitely prefer images inline (although I do like the images repeated at the end too, as you've been doing; is that too hard to do in the epub version?)

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, Steve! And no, not at all! Sometimes I feel like repeating the images is a fun "recap" of the story so far...

Emory Ahlberg

Thanks so much, Rinny, And I'm excited for you to see it, as well. πŸ’•

SteveP

Exactly, that little recap is really nice if it’s not too much work.

Maggie Heels

I think I prefer images inside story but also like the gallery at the end... I understand that keeping two separate files is an extra effort so my vote is to stay with a current pattern - images within the flow of the story plus gallery at the end ❣️

Pet Jeffery

This is something that interests me because my preferred way of reading is EPUB and e-books. I much prefer any images to appear within the text. If they're at the end, I may as well look at them in a pdf as a separate experience from reading the story. There are a couple of other things that seem to me worth saying. One is that the images should be placed between paragraphs. I seem to recall that, when reading the Taylor Made pdfs, I often found the images mid paragraph or even mid sentence. So, I broke off reading part way through a paragraph or a sentence, looked at the picture, and then had to scroll back to remind myself how the paragraph began. The other thing is that I think EPUB documents, when loaded on to an e-book reader, should be attributed to the author. All of your EPUB documents appear on my e-book readers as the work of Unknown. Zoe is very good at attributing authorship, as is Fakeminsk. Alyson Greaves is patchy in that regard, some things (including The Catch) are attributed to Alyson, others appear as Unknown. All of Helena Grace's work appears as Unknown. I sometimes change the EPUB file name before sending it to my Kindle library, so that it includes the author's name. But somehow, it's unsatisfactory to have something in my e-book library entitled "Emory Ahlberg The Last Straw - Part 1" by Unknown. It isn't the work of Unknown, dagnabbit, it's the work of Emory Ahlberg! I haven't yet looked at the EPUB document, but I'm guessing that it now says 'the fabric of the dress'.

Pet Jeffery

Postscript to my comment: I've now downloaded the EPUB file and sent it to my Kindle library. I see that it does attribute authorship to Emory Ahlberg. (Yay!) I thought of deleting my comments on that, but I've decided to keep them, as I think it's important.

Pet Jeffery

Placing the images both inline and at the end would increase the file size. There might be a danger of making it too big to email to my Kindle library.

Ellen Mellor

I think I prefer the pdf version myself. Although it doesn't actually make much difference. I don't have a colour ereader so I will be looking at your work on my tablet with the same app so I can see the pictures in full colour. Losing that would mean losing a large part of the pictures. I mean, reading The Last Straw without seeing the switch from monochrome to colour would have really lost a lot of the intensity of it all. Even without that, not being able to see your masterful colouring would not be great. I am a fan of having the pictures both inline and as a gallery. Inline adds to the story and the gallery gives me a chance to appreciate the artwork in a larger format.

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, Ellen! The PDF will continue to have both the inline and gallery. For the EPUB, the gallery at the back is unfortunately the same size. πŸ’•

Penelope Moore

As much as I prefer the images at the end, I think this is something that's easy enough to do both with. It's not like a PDF where repeating an image makes the file bigger, it's just referencing the same JPEG. So my vote is for both, inline and then a gallery at the end. :)