Poetry and Ebooks: Managing Fixed Layouts in Reflowable Text
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Poetry and eBooks: Managing Fixed Layouts in Reflowable Text by Andrew P. Chesham B.A., University of British Columbia, 2003 PROJECT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF PUBLISHING in the Publishing Program Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology Andrew P. Chesham 2012 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Fall 2012 All rights reserved. However, in accordance with the Copyright Act of Canada, this work may be reproduced, without authorization, under the conditions for “Fair Dealing.” Therefore, limited reproduction of this work for the purposes of private study, research, criticism, review and news reporting is likely to be in accordance with the law, particularly if cited appropriately. Approval Name: Andrew P. Chesham Degree: Master of Publishing Title of Project: Poetry and eBooks: Managing Fixed Layouts in Reflowable Text Supervisory Committee: John Maxwell Senior Supervisor Associate Professor Publishing Program Mary Schendlinger Supervisor Senior Lecturer Publishing Program Jesse Finkelstein Industry Supervisor Chief Operating Officer D&M Publishers Vancouver, B.C. Date Approved: October 9, 2012 ii Partial Copyright Licence Abstract This report, drawing on an internship at D&M Publishers and work with The Writer’s Studio (TWS) at Simon Fraser University, explores the current struggles of formatting poetry in ebooks. The EPUBs of The Return (D&M) and emerge 2011 (TWS), are used as case studies. The report describes the solutions used for these titles, and offers an overview of other ebook formats available for presenting poetry. Keywords: Poetry; ebooks; EPUB; publishing; PDF; Fixed-Layout ebooks; EPUB 3 iii Dedication To those who admire poetry, even if they don’t understand it… iv Acknowledgements The completion of this report would not have been possible without the help and support of many people. A big thanks to my supervisory committee: John Maxwell, Mary Schendlinger, and Jesse Finkelstein. Their feedback and positive spirits helped to shape this paper. Thanks to D&M Publishers, The Writer’s Studio and the Writing and Communications program at SFU for allowing me to be a part of their organizations and for giving me the opportunity to work with their ebooks. Thanks as well to the poets, designers, and publishers who took the time to speak with me and provide me with valuable insight: Peter Cocking, Lara Smith, Jen Currin, Ray Hsu, Joshua Tallent, Elee Kraljii-Gardiner, Betsy Warland, Wayde Compton, Renée Sarojini Saklikar, Christine Leclerc, Julie Morris, Daniel Zomparelli, Sachiko Murakami, and Daniela and Dethe Elza. I would also like to thank Jo-Anne Ray and Rowland Lorimer for their help in the MPub program. Thanks also to my family and friends for their unwavering support. Finally, the biggest thanks goes to my partner, Katie, for giving me the office, and always saying, “you’re amazing!” I could not have done it without you. v Table of Contents Approval .......................................................................................................................... ii Abstract .......................................................................................................................... iii Dedication ...................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................... v Table of Contents ........................................................................................................... vi List of Figures................................................................................................................ viii Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: EPUB and Poetry ........................................................................................ 5 EPUB .............................................................................................................................. 5 Special Challenges of Formatting Poetry ......................................................................... 7 Chapter 2: D&M Publishers / The Return ................................................................... 10 D&M Publishers ............................................................................................................ 10 eBook Philosophy ................................................................................................. 11 Production Process .............................................................................................. 12 The Return .................................................................................................................... 14 The Author ............................................................................................................ 14 The Book .............................................................................................................. 15 The eBook ............................................................................................................ 15 Poetry Formatting Challenges .............................................................................. 17 Chapter 3: The Writer’s Studio / emerge 2011 ........................................................... 28 The Writer’s Studio ........................................................................................................ 28 emerge .......................................................................................................................... 29 Role of emerge ..................................................................................................... 30 emerge 2011 ........................................................................................................ 30 Formatting Challenges .......................................................................................... 30 Note on the eBook ................................................................................................ 40 Chapter 4: Other Options for Displaying Poetry in eBooks ..................................... 43 Formats ......................................................................................................................... 43 EPUB 3 ................................................................................................................ 43 Fixed-Layout eBooks ............................................................................................ 44 APPS .................................................................................................................... 46 Key Considerations .............................................................................................. 48 PDF Files ...................................................................................................................... 54 Key Considerations .............................................................................................. 57 vi Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 59 Reading on Small Screens ............................................................................................ 60 Reconsidering Content .................................................................................................. 63 Changing Perspective........................................................................................... 64 Collaboration ........................................................................................................ 66 Adjusted Production Processes for eBooks ................................................................... 69 D&M Publishers .................................................................................................... 69 Emerge 2012 ........................................................................................................ 70 Bibliography ................................................................................................................ 73 Personal Correspondence and Interviews ..................................................................... 78 vii List of Figures Figure 1: The print version of The Return ...................................................................... 18 Figure 2: The ebook for The Return on a small screen .................................................. 18 Figure 3: The ebook for The Return with hanging indents ............................................. 21 Figure 4: The Return using <div> tags........................................................................... 23 Figure 5: The ebook for The Return using <div> tags with the "Display : inline- block" ........................................................................................................... 25 Figure 6: Opening section of the print version of “St. Elmo’s Fire” ................................. 32 Figure 7: The ebook version of “St. Elmo’s Fire,” using non-breaking spaces ............... 34 Figure 8: The ebook version of “St. Elmo’s Fire,” using non-breaking spaces, on a smaller screen .......................................................................................... 35 Figure 9: “St. Elmo's Fire” in a <pre> tag ....................................................................... 36 Figure 10: “St. Elmo's Fire,” using the <pre> tag on a smaller screen. Right side of poem is not