Hi, I am new here, and have just created my first ebook. I have a few problems, some I can fix on my own, but some I need your assitance!
1. My ebook weight is very large. I do have some graphics and html which in total weights about 400k. When I compile it, it weight like 700k. Is this normal? Is there any tips or tricks to reducing the size of the ebook so its like 100k. I want people to be able to read it without the internet, cause a lot of people pay by time. So I don't want to put my graphics on my server, but if this is the only option, i probably will.
2. I tried to email someone my ebook so they could test it out. I zipped the ebook and tried to send through gmail, but it said since it was an exe, they couldn't send it. Is this normal, and is there a work around. Do you suggest all ebook are downloaded? I want my ebook to be brandable, so I want people to use email as a medium to distribute it.
3. As a suggestion to the makers of this program, I think it would be a good idea to include 5-10 simple ebook templates, so you can get started right away.
4. I am using dreamweaver to build my html, i know it adds a bunch of code. Is there such a program that will go through the html and delete everything which is not necessary?
Thanks for your help in advance,
Jason T
P.S. If anyone wants to evaluate my ebook, please download it from here. Most of the links aren't working, but for the content, I would be much appreciative!
1) Have you optimized the graphics? Most graphics programs have a way to optimize them. There are also stand alone programs that may do even a slightly better job of optimization--just do a search and you'll find instructions on how to optimize and available standalone optimization programs.
As an option you could offer two versions of the same ebook. One heavily optimized and one slightly optimized. Leave it up to the customers to select which one is appropriate for them.
2) Emailing can create problems. A better option is to let the customers download it from your site. Executiable files are then not a problem. You might still want to offer zipped versions of the ebook.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but can't you make the book brandable and still downloadable from a web site?
3) Your suggestion is a good one. You might want to check the thread about version 5 suggestions because I think Sunil mentioned something about it in the upcomming version.
4) What added code are you referring to? DOC Types? If you use any javascript you might want to leave DOC Types in place because it affects behaviors in some instances.
Or are you referring to CSS code. If it is CSS code you may want to learn about using external CSS stylesheets.
OPTIMIZING CODE: There are several programs that will compress an HTML file by removing everything that isn't needed. My experience is that it really doesn't have much impact on file size. What I've found that does have the greatest impact is to use CSS stylesheets and external javascript code files.
CSS reduces a lot of redundant code from appearing repeatedly on all pages. If you aren't already using CSS it is something that you should find helpful.
Basically anything that you find that references SEO (search engine optimization) will have a tendency to reduce page size and give you cleaner code.
I don't think you can get the total size down to less than 400k - even if you only have one (blank) page in your ebook - because that seems to be the minimum size for the compiled run-time EXE.
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