EPUB version 3.2 template, including simplistic, yet universal css stylesheet.
I made a PowerShell script build-epub.ps1 to build an epub package file from a given source directory. In order to do so, place the script in PATH and execute this command from a PowerShell to build "template.epub" from the template:
$ build-epub.ps1 ".\template"
It can also be done using 7za command line tool. In PowerShell, execute build.ps1 script from within this repo:
$ .\build.ps1
Kindle does not support EPUB e-books yet. Using kindlegen*, here is the command to build .mobi file from .epub:
& kindlegen -dont_append_source "template.epub"
* kindlegen has been discontinued, but Windows binary is provided in the releases of this repo.
Always validate resulting EPUB (.epub) file with epubcheck:
$ java -jar "/path/to/epubcheck.jar" "template.epub"
I use schema.org numberOfPages and wordCount fields in package metadata:
<meta property="schema:numberOfPages">{{number_of_pages}}</meta>
<meta property="schema:wordCount">{{word_count}}</meta>To get the number of words from html source use the provided PHP script:
$ php ./count-words.php "./template/Content/ch*.xhtml"
- An average reading speed is 250 words per minute for an adult.
- In a novel there are around 250-350 words per page.
| frontmatter | bodymatter | backmatter | notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| titlepage | foreword | appendix | footnote(s) |
| halftitlepage | abstract | endnote(s) | noteref |
| acknowledgments | preface | glossary | backlink |
| contributors | preamble | bibliography | |
| toc | introduction | seriespage | |
| dedication | epigraph | ||
| prologue | |||
| part | |||
| chapter | |||
| epilogue | |||
| conclusion | |||
| afterword |
Full rerefence: EPUB Structural Semantics Vocabulary.
My favourite serif fonts for long reading:
- Bookerly – Default Kindle font;
- Literata – Google font (free);
- Crimson Pro – Sebastian Kosch & Jacques Le Bailly (free);
- Newsreader – an original typeface designed by Production Type (free);
- Cochineal – a fork from the Crimson fonts (free);
- Source Serif – a free font from Adobe;
- Libertinus – a fork of Linux Libertine (free);
- Georgia – classic font from Microsoft;
- A foreword is written by someone other than the author and tells the readers why they should read the book.
- A preface is written by the author and tells readers how and why the book came into being.
- An introduction introduces readers to the main topics of the manuscript and prepares readers for what they can expect.