12

I currently use PagePlus X6 to typeset books. It has the capability to export to .pdf files and .epub files. However, the generated files are being rejected by Lulu and CreateSpace. Is there an alternative I can use which can prepare files for Lulu and CreateSpace easily?

Some sample error messages received from Lulu:

Your eBook has been rejected for improper capitalization. The first letter of all words in the title, subtitle and author name should be capitalized, except for the following words: a, an, and, for, from, of, or, the, to. The first and last word of the title and subtitle should always be capitalized.

Your title should be the very first line of your document, with no blank lines or images above it, styled as Heading 1, to replace the broken link in your NCX. Style text as Heading 1 by selecting the text, then clicking “Heading 1” in the style toolbar.

Improve this question
10
  • Lulu advertises a free converter for Word and RTF to ePub - have you tried that? Also, you could try opening the file in the Calibre ePub editor to see what the problem is. My bet is that your software is creating files that are just slightly off and it might be easier to fix the files than to learn an entirely new software package.
    – Donald.McLean
    Dec 19, 2013 at 15:39
  • 1
    Can you display the error message?
    – DᴀʀᴛʜVᴀᴅᴇʀ
    Dec 19, 2013 at 15:54
  • 2
    Have you not validated the epub? All epubs should be validated if you are going to sell them and Calibre wont show a problem because it is not meant for production but for personal usage. Also, you will not be able to publish one file for all because each book may render differently on devices and certain features have to be coded certain ways.
    – DᴀʀᴛʜVᴀᴅᴇʀ
    Dec 19, 2013 at 23:04
  • 2
    @Matt_2.0: Your comment is a very good one; perhaps it could be an answer or even a self-answered question. "How do I validate an epub?" is a question that I expect we will see here somewhat regularly.
    – elixenide
    Dec 20, 2013 at 18:29
  • 2
    You probably should drop Lulu as they cannot support all authors with the rules they are having. I have all lowercase words in my full name, as has e.g. the author of the published book Justine
    – Anthon
    Dec 22, 2013 at 15:05

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
3

For CreateSpace you essentially need to provide a PDF and do the layout by combining your output with images in the form of PDF output. To conform to their formats, you would still need a template for the editing software that you use, that generates a PDF that can be merged with such templates (and not come into the margins as they warn you not to).

The CreateSpace forums give some, but IMHO not very much more helpful tips (e.g. here)

It looks like CreateSpace is more reader-customer oriented and not so much bookwriter-customer, I had more help from the publisher for the single book that I helped typeset that made the shelves, and I was the first generating electronic input (from LaTex) for them.

Improve this answer
4
  • That doesn't answer the error. His error is caused by incorrect metadata and a bad link in the ePub. The OP will get the same error even if he submits it as a .pdf file. If the bookmark is wrong, my past experience, it will generate the same incorrect link in the .ncx file.
    – DᴀʀᴛʜVᴀᴅᴇʀ
    Mar 6, 2014 at 14:54
  • @Gramps the error you efer to is Lulu specific, my answer is on how to create acceptable CreateSpace material. My only experience (as a reader) with LuLu is that I had an error in my Apache config for two years because of sloppy output formatting.
    – Anthon
    Mar 6, 2014 at 15:14
  • its not LuLu specific. The same errors are both generated by many other platforms but the OP didnt ask for those. If you want me to edit my answer with examples we should edit the OP's question to extend on that and stay on-topic.
    – DᴀʀᴛʜVᴀᴅᴇʀ
    Mar 6, 2014 at 15:17
  • @Gramps, don't think that is necessary, the OP seems to have lost interest in the site (just looked up his profile).
    – Anthon
    Mar 6, 2014 at 15:23
1

Your eBook has been rejected for improper capitalization. The first letter of all words in the title, subtitle and author name should be capitalized, except for the following words: a, an, and, for, from, of, or, the, to. The first and last word of the title and subtitle should always be capitalized.

This error is because you have a title or author in the wrong format while sending in the metadata:

  • WRONG = "lorem ipsum"
  • WRONG = "LOREM IPSUM"
  • RIGHT = "Lorem Ipsum"

Your title should be the very first line of your document, with no blank lines or images above it, styled as Heading 1, to replace the broken link in your NCX. Style text as Heading 1 by selecting the text, then clicking “Heading 1” in the style toolbar.

This is a known issue if you use a program like Calibre, in regards to incorrect bookmarks to incorrect locations, and several platforms will issue a refund on your title if you do not check your bookmarks.

I would suggest if you are using any tool to generate an ePub you should ALWAYS navigate and test your ePub and validate it through a current validator. A validator I recommend to people that experience ePub issues is IDPF.

As stated by Anthon you can submit a .pdf file but your metadata could still be incorrect and the bookmarks incorrect so you may still get the same error.

Another key note make sure your fonts are embedded in the .pdf file if you are going to submit it VIA .pdf because you will get an error. To check:

  • Open .pdf file
  • Ctrl+D
  • Click Tab FONTS
  • Review accordingly
Improve this answer
2
  • the OP is not only about metadata. The message quoted from LuLu writes about "the first line of your document"
    – Anthon
    Mar 6, 2014 at 15:26
  • That's an error when generating an incorrect bookmarked title, but again, as stated in my comment above to the OP, I would need to see the file to properly see what the issue is.
    – DᴀʀᴛʜVᴀᴅᴇʀ
    Mar 6, 2014 at 15:28

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.