Amanda Gomm of Digital Bindery's miniTOC Portland presentation - July 27, 2011. As publishers, we spend a lot of time choosing typefaces and formats, kerning and justifying, and setting margins, then throw it all out the window when it comes to ebooks. Understanding the constraints of the medium and accepting the ebook as its own unique art form will allow digital publishing to move from mass-produced product back into the realm of book as art. I will discuss the decisions that must be made to create a readable and design-sound ebook.

1. Digital Publishing An Artisanal Approach Presented by Amanda Gomm

2. Artisanal Ebook Design Timeless Harmony Form & Function Combining design aesthetics and technical expertise to realize the highest functional and aesthetic quality possible under current constraints. Handcrafted Classic Put a bird on it Attention to detail Art Custom Beauty High Quality

3. Quality is… Marketing Hype Fitness for use Conformance to specifications Customer Defined All of the above (except a—a is evilish)

5. Readers

6. Reviewers

7. Retailers

8. LibrariansReadability Versatility Mobility

10. Designers

11. Editors

12. Project ManagersSatisfied Readers Beauty Correctness Versatility Robust Design Revenue

14. The Publisher’s role as gatekeeper is also filled by reviewers, social media, retailers, and the customer herself

17. Correctness

18. Informative or entertaining

19. Value added

20. Readable

22. Sound performance on maximum devices

23. Conformance to device limitations

24. Preparation for technological advances

25. Readable, versatile & mobile

27. Understand obsolescence and the inevitable and completely indifferent torrent of technology

28. Decide now how to handle the economic impact of depreciation

29. Mobile & versatile

31. Readable, mobile & versatile

34. The device controls:

35. Interpretation of code

36. Implementation of standards

38. The user controls:

39. Font face

40. Font size

41. Margin size

42. Leading

43. Justification

44. Screen rotation

46. To embed or not to embed, that is the question—or it was for a while there. (Embedding fonts is so over.)

47. Relative size

48. Capitalization

49. Style (bold, italic, underline)

50. Serif, sans serif, monospace

51. font-family: “Palatino”,”Times”,”LightClassic”,serif;

52. font-family: “Helvetica Neue”,”Arial”,sans-serif;

53. font-family: “Courier”,”Courier New”,monospace;

54. Readable & versatile

57. Chapter breaks

58. Forced page breaks is the new recto

59. Images

60. Justification

61. Size

62. Horizontal Rulez

63. <hr class=“sweetestrule” />

64. Readable & mobile

66. Chapter breaks

67. Images

68. Size

69. Mobi: <img class=“pictures” hisrc=“images/picture.jpeg” alt=“My Picture” />

70. Quality

71. 16 shades of gray

72. File > Save for Web & Devices

73. Placement

74. Readable

76. Chapter breaks

77. Images

78. Tables

79. Readability demands creative reimagining for the platform

80. Fixed layout EPUB

81. Only displays correctly on Apple OS

82. PDF

83. Downloadable content

84. Readable

86. Chapter breaks

87. Images

88. Tables

89. Layout

90. Leading

91. Justification

92. Margins

93. Portrait vs. Landscape

94. Columns

95. Float those divs

96. Readable & versatile

98. Perceived Artisanal Quality

99. Discussion Questions, comments, and tales of your adventures in publishing are eagerly awaited! Amanda Gomm amanda@digitalbindery.com 503.208.4745 www.digitalbindery.com Facebook: DigitalBindery Twitter: @DigitalBindery Tom McCluskey tom@digitalbindery.com