The downside
of Meatgrinder is that if you feed it a poorly formatted file, it'll spit out hamburger.
Scot P.S. Your defense
of Meatgrinder was also well argued!
Pam, I tend to shy away from smashwords as much as possible simply because
of the meatgrinder.
One author volunteered that they'd heard such horror stories
of Meatgrinder from their publisher that they kept their books off of Smashwords for that reason.
Since I hate Smashwords with a passion because
of the meatgrinder and the lag in payments, I started looking around.
Not exact matches
Then humanity turned it's new technoligies against itself and produced the
meatgrinder of World War 1.
Once you've done that, you can throw your manuscript through their
MeatGrinder system, and it spits out a bunch
of different formats for your book.
Until recently, Smashwords required you to upload a Word doc version
of your manuscript which their
Meatgrinder software then converted into all the various formats — HTML, mobi (Kindle), ePub, PDF, RTF, LRF (Sony), PDB (Palm), and plain text.
And I got through the Smashwords
meatgrinder really quickly, with only one small detail I had to change with a bit
of random garbage -LSB-...]
The ability to create a bunch
of other formats via
Meatgrinder is nice in theory, but in actual practice, my sales have been small enough on Smashwords to not make those other formats worth considering.
Once you've filled in all
of the metadata and uploaded the manuscript and the cover art, the
Meatgrinder will churn away at your file; depending on how large your document is and how many folks are trying to upload at the same time, it can take from a few seconds to a few minutes.
Furthermore, when introducing each type
of formatting, there is no explanation about the reasons / bases for ebooks» formatting issues or the assistance offered, via Smashwords vs. Amazon, for example, or about difficulties
of passing through Smashwords ««
meatgrinder» successfully and what that success generates in benefits; no mention is made
of that nor that Digital2Digital does not use such gate - keeping, for example.
Not only does SW automatically push your manuscript out in all the various major publication styles, the Word document, when formatted for «
Meatgrinder» is at least 97 % ready for Amazon and B&N (most just a question
of dropping the cover from page one).
There are thousands
of E-Book Conversion companies in the market that are using automated software (what we call
meatgrinders)
One
of the things I do at my job is clean up and beautify e-books that have been produced by a «
meatgrinder» — the sort
of automated conversion process that an outsourcer uses.
The downside is that you lose the ability to control what comes out
of Smashword's
Meatgrinder Word - to - ePub converter.
Smashwords is notoriously difficult to use (veteran authors refer to it as «the
meatgrinder»), but it allows you to publish to a lot
of marketplaces at once.
Smash's
meatgrinder gave me a bit
of trouble but I worked through it.
I can't vouch for their quality; most likely they use an automatic «
meatgrinder» type
of ebook software and then (hopefully) someone gives it a quick proof to make sure it's clean.
But one problem with
Meatgrinder is that it doesn't offer output that satisfies ebook design pros, many
of whom think that (compared to making an eBook from scratch) it's not easy to control the quality
of the output.
But if you're going to use a distributor to reach Apple or Kobo (there's a host
of other retailers, but they're a tiny part
of the market), I recommend using to Draft 2 Digital — D2D's converter isn't great, but it's far better than Smashword's «
meatgrinder.»
Below is an example
of a proper EPUB versus a hideous Smashwords - generated EPUB from their
Meatgrinder:
Don't use the italics button from up in the tool bar
of Word, they'll get lost in the
Meatgrinder.
Even though all the media clippings might sing praise
of the services, it seems indie authors have split opinions toward the
Meatgrinder software that converts one source file (a.
With the launch
of Smashwords Direct, the company has bowed to pressure, but Mark offers a rather nice defence
of the «
Meatgrinder» tool that Smashword's has used to date (and will continue to use:
Their «
meatgrinder» can automatically convert a properly formatted Microsoft Word document into a variety
of different formats for distribution to Apple iBookstore, Barnes and Noble, Sony Reader Store, Kobo, the Diesel eBook Store, Baker & Taylor, and more.
The big exception is Smashwords that requires a DOC file and then can manage some really odd mangling
of it in their
meatgrinder process.
Yet I've recently seen several EPUB ebooks that seem to get it right more
of the time and don't look like they've been through a «
meatgrinder» to get converted.
Once the series is done (two more titles) I'll do POD next, then get out
of the Select program and learn how to do Kobo & B&N and if I'm really brave, I'll take on the Smashwords
Meatgrinder.
Converting a file using
Meatgrinder may cause undesirable flow
of the text, that is, the originality
of text appearances could not be retained when the eBooks are viewed in varied eReader devices.
Here is where eBook Enhancers is helpful in providing authors with an EPUB file
of their Word format manuscripts, which is done MANUALLY without using any automated formats like
Meatgrinder, so as to have the text appear properly aligned, retaining originality and look similar in any eReader devices as well as computers.
When you upload your Word document to Smashwords — the only format accepted — it goes through their «
meatgrinder» conversion process to create a variety
of e-book files.
If you construct your book and Table
of Contents correctly (see Step 20 in the Style Guide), then our
Meatgrinder conversion system will automatically create the NCX for you.
The Linked ToC is what our
Meatgrinder conversion engine will use to create a linked ToC inside your ebook, and an NCX file (an external table
of contents) that readers can use on nearly any e-reading device or in any app.
I know Smashwords gets a lot
of static for its «
meatgrinder,» but as a reader, I LOVE the fact that I can just buy a book and directly download it to my PC or other device, in any format, with no need for a proprietary app, no DRM, no hassles.
Meatgrinder - produced books often rival or surpass the quality
of expensive, custom - designed ebook files.
Meatgrinder also produces an NCX file (advanced navigation, like a Table
of Contents) for EPUBs.
Meatgrinder is composed
of various virtual «blades,» and each
Meatgrinder blade specializes in creating a different ebook format.
And I got through the Smashwords
meatgrinder really quickly, with only one small detail I had to change with a bit
of random garbage code that came from I know not where.
If you can survive their
meatgrinder, they'll do a lot
of the other work for you.
In 2015, our authors and publishers can expect to see continuous improvements across every part
of our business, including: New distribution and merchandising tools that make your books more discoverable and desirable by readers New price management tools that give our authors and publishers more granular control over pricing in multiple currencies and territories New retailer additions to the Smashwords distribution network serving retailers and libraries Improved, more intuitive sales reporting An upgraded
Meatgrinder to improve the ease and capabilities
of our flagship ebook conversion tool Improved search for the Smashwords retail store... and some fun surprises that will set the stage for even greater things to come.
In The
Meatgrinder Madrigal, the artist spins a dense and complex web
of narrative, allusion and dark humour to create a new mythos, making classical works from art history serve as her «found objects».
Of course, no one really cares about them, so off to the
meatgrinder they go when the next pig farmer comes along.