Working with eBooks / eBooks 101

Status: MAINTENANCE – This project is part of the Rural Design Collective Project Pool and slated for future development
06.14.11 – “Ebook Enlightenment” Revisions at FLOSS Manuals – This is the current version of the book.
06.14.11 – #rdcHQ Responsibilities – Support James with artwork for EE and MYOSA and continued maintenance of gCI repository.

The Rural Design Collective worked with author James Simmons to create an eBook on how to make eBooks. James Simmons is a developer who has created notable Activities for the One Laptop Per Child XO that focus on using the little green machine as a learning tool. We collaborated on the book at FLOSS Manuals, a site that makes it very easy for anyone to author their own book (with a specific focus on software manuals) and convert it into an eBook. This effort brought a wealth of information together to help everyone – especially teachers in the classroom.

Our project team created two versions of “Ebook Enlightenment” using FLOSS Manuals and PrinceXML to create a highly navigable PDF version and a designer print edition for our generous backers on Kickstarter. Both are available for download here:

    → Easy Reader Print – (8.5″ x 7″)
    → Easy Reader Online – (8.5″ x 11″, with bookmarks)

We documented our research during the mentoring season, and have archived it here for posterity. Enjoy!

Workspace 2010
Page Elements – Christopher
HTML Elements – Christopher
  • h1, h2, h3
  • p, strong, code
  • ol, ul, li
  • blockquote
  • img
 Publishing Templates – rdcHQ

Book Design Files – rdcHQ
  • Cover – FPO .png
  • Cover Alternate – FPO .png
  • Section Images (Coming Soon)
  • Section HTML (Coming Soon)
  • Section CSS (Coming Soon)
Latest Book Epub – 07.29.10
 Current Color Palette – Oceana

Hex Colors -
#000000 (black), #B3FF80 (green), #FF6600 (orange), #FFCCAA (peach), #FF2A2A (red).
 Project Resources – rdcHQ
(Working Title)

RALWS Utilities:
Booki/FLOSS Links:
Other Bookish Links:
Design Reference:
Typography:
Page Thumbnails – Christopher (currently working on ePub conversion from SIGIL or Booki to PDF)