We have spent the day trying to untangle the tentacles of MS Word from 4 relatively small files I thought I would run a fast conversion on. Wrong. Use Word Perfect. It produces actual HTML that we can convert. It does not scatter 3 lines of code into a document to produce one singe 1/m dash. Sheesh! What a dirty critter that is!
On the other hand, we are THIS close. I am finalizing Faery Moon, page by page. I’ve got to contact the copyright office. I’ve got to do some proofing. We don’t have a five-person office to do this. It’s all us, right down to tracking commas and periods.
We did take to the ice yesterday and today: I’m getting my balance back now that I’ve gotten rid of the inner ear glitch that afflicted me when I first went back. Trying to refine my inside 3-turn, and I’m starting to get downright cocky again.
I don’t know if I’ll make it to the rink tomorrow: I’ve got soooo much that needs doing. I’m getting up fiveish, but it’s still not enough. But we are really, really just about to push the button that activates everything. Jane says this week, if this weekend. I’m agreeing. I think we’re going to make it.
It was the comparing of commas and periods that took me so long to proof the scanned chapters of Hellburner. At the end of a chapter my eyes weren’t seeing clearly any more. So I don’t envy you that job!
Writers, proofreaders, editors…all galley slaves.
You know what they say: a pun at maturity is fully groan. 😆
One word of advice on the .mobi format stuff when HTML enters the mix: Watch the text-align tags! One global tag on a document can screw up all the careful centering, justifying and pretty-ifying work in the world.
Oh, yeah! 😉 But it looks pretty good, except for the boxes MS Word generates in place of every quote mark in the ms.
CJ – I’m back in business as of tonight for the rest of Faery in Shadow and beginning to scan Harmonies. Don’t you just love catastrophic computer crashes?
Ow. And the nests of backup files they create, as you back up with no particular order or plan, just stacks of rescued files picked out of the electronic soup.
Sooooo sorry to hear about the computer crash.I SOOOO understand.
Have I said THANK YOU! for the offer to scan Harmonies? If not…THANK YOU!!!!!
My complete sympathy of WP vs Word file conversions Used to be that Word Perfect had some good and very extensive in terms of formats (new and obsolete) file conversion programs you could download. I don’t know if they still are available, or even who currently owns the program.
I think I may have it on a backup CD somewhere if you are having trouble opening some real old files, like CPM Word Star or something. I intend to upgrade my mac mini to an intel mac mini soon, so I may start using word perfect 8 again under XP (dual boot). Hell, I even have a spare 5.25 floppy drive if you have anything to put it in. (Maybe I should really convert my wife’s dissertation before it becomes impossible, and the early electronic versions of her journal articles?)
However, It’s amazing the time wasting text formating issues that can come up vis a vis the Word files.
Thanks for the offer.
WP12, bless its pointy little head, STILL converts Word Star and Volkswriter (which was our previous word processor of choice)! It’s an amazing program. Plus, there’s that invaluable “reveal codes” command so if you’re having ghosty little problems, you can fix ’em at the source.
Gee whiz, Cherryh, I didn’t have to write my rant on Word after all. I should read your blog first, shouldn’t I? Sigh…you leave me nothing to write about…. 😀
Like heck. You rant using technical words so people know what it really did. My rants tend to be a little less specific, as in “I’ll kill that thing!”