# The Dreaded TOPAZ Format



## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

I thought we could use this thread to list books with the dreaded TOPAZ format -- and maybe include updates if any of them get fixed. For anyone who doesn't know, Topaz is a format/font that is used on some books. It almost looks like the book was scanned to create the efile. Many people have reported problems with Topaz -- pages turn very slowly, Kindle sometimes freezes, and changing the font size is weird and sometimes non-existent. Lots of people refuse to read books in Topaz.

So far on my list:

*A Fountain Filled With Blood *by Julia Spencer-Lewis
*Social Intelligence* by Karl Albrecht

Others?

L


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## pidgeon92 (Oct 27, 2008)

Are these Amazon Kindle e-books? Or from another website? I don't see _A Fountain Filled With Blood_ as available in the Kindle store....


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

pidgeon92 said:


> Are these Amazon Kindle e-books? Or from another website? I don't see _A Fountain Filled With Blood_ as available in the Kindle store....


Hm, interesting. I wonder if they took it down when people complained. It was freebie from Amazon, yes. I still have it on my Kindle because I haven't read it yet.

L


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## Susan B (Oct 27, 2008)

The only book I've read in the Topaz format is: (Amazon Kindle Book) 

Falling Leaves: The True Story of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter
                                  by Adeline Yen Mah  

The TPZ format wasn't bad enough to make me ask for a refund but it was annoying.


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## pidgeon92 (Oct 27, 2008)

Falling Leaves is no longer available either.

Is there a way to tell what the format is prior to purchasing?


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## Susan B (Oct 27, 2008)

pidgeon92 said:


> Falling Leaves is no longer available either.
> 
> Is there a way to tell what the format is prior to purchasing?


I see that it's gone. Maybe Amazon is telling the publishers to re-format TPZ books? I know of no way to tell prior to download to tell if a book is in TPZ format. If you DL to your computer you can see the file extension and tell but maybe one of our Kindle experts on this board knows of another way.


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## Khabita (Oct 28, 2008)

Someone on the Amazon board said that you can tell by the file size, because Topaz formatted files are very large.

But of course "large" is a relative term, so that still would not make it easy to tell.

I haven't gotten anything in Topaz format yet. I am very glad that Amazon is willing to refund the price of a book if the user does not like how it's formatted, though.


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

I did a little research. First off, the Topaz files have the extension .AZW1. I had four files with that extension on my Kindle: *A Fountain Filled With Blood* and three samples. I looked at all three samples and sure enough! Topaz! But these didn't look as bad as some of the others I have seen. The font was large and easy to read and the pages turned quickly. So...

The file for *Fountain* was large: 5867 KB. Most of the other book files were 500 to 800 KB. The New York Times was about 1200 KB. So that tidbit of information was correct.

Now this is the downside of this research. Since I had to look at the samples, I started reading one. And I liked it so much I bought the book! Duh...so much for me hating the dreaded Topaz format! LOL. And I just spent another $9.99!

L


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## pidgeon92 (Oct 27, 2008)

Let me know what the samples are, I would like to see the formatting difference.... I would like email Kindle support and see if they can identify the formats in the individual book descriptions, but I want to have enough background to properly ask the question....


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

pidgeon92 said:


> Let me know what the samples are, I would like to see the formatting difference.... I would like email Kindle support and see if they can identify the formats in the individual book descriptions, but I want to have enough background to properly ask the question....


Promise not to laugh? Three books from Cleis Press: The Back Passage (James Lear), The Secret Tunnel (James Lear), and My Miserable Lonely Lesbian Pregnancy (Andrea Askowitz).

L


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

These are the Topaz books I've come across:

Cockatiels at Seven by Donna Andrews (read sample... passed on purchase)
Memoirs of Mangy Lover by Groucho Marx (sample)
Pebble in the Sky by Isaac Asimov (really, really awful - complained to Amazon)
Death by Black Hole by Neil deGrasse Tyson (sample, complained to Amazon, but it's still there)
Child of a Rainless Year by Jane Liskold (sample)
The Art of Deception by Kevin Mitnick (sample)
To Light a Candle: The Obsidian Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey (sample)
A Mammoth Murder by Bill Crider (marginal, went ahead and read it)
The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi (marginal, went ahead and read it)

Harpo Speaks by Harpo and Rowland Barber is another sample I read, but it seems to have disappeared from the store. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't great, either.

Mike


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## pidgeon92 (Oct 27, 2008)

Ok, I downloaded samples of _Cockatiels at Seven_ and _Pebble in the Sky_, and they are indeed awful. Seriously bad. I think we should recommend to everyone that they download samples of all books prior to purchasing them.

I didn't try downloading any of the samples Leslie suggested.... 

I've sent an email to Amazon customer service to see if they will put something in the book description to indicate the file type, I'll post their response.


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## dog (Oct 31, 2008)

Yes, topaz is bad.  the best thing to do is to get samples.  but I have still purchased books I want to read in Topaz  (like I have a choice?) and put up with the slower speed. but on the positive side, font is larger and that is welcome to these tired eyes.  I haven't had the freeze problem, but definitely the slow refresh rate.  A bad choice by publishers...


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## pidgeon92 (Oct 27, 2008)

Here are two pages from the Pebble in the Sky sample, so people can see the formatting issues:


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

Pidgeon92-

You can make a screenshot from the Kindle using Shift-Alt-G that comes out much better than a photograph.


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## pidgeon92 (Oct 27, 2008)

That's what I get for not reading the user manual.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

pidgeon92 said:


> That's what I get for not reading the user manual.


I'm pretty sure it's not there, heh. I got it from a list of shortcuts and secrets somewhere. It's also on the forum here somewhere.

It only works if you have an SD card in the Kindle.

Mike


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## pidgeon92 (Oct 27, 2008)

A-HA! I have no SD card. So it's not my fault. So NYAH.


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## Lotus (Oct 31, 2008)

Wow, those are just horrible!

I'll definitely be downloading samples of everything.


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

jmiked said:


> pidgeon92 said:
> 
> 
> > That's what I get for not reading the user manual.
> ...


I don't understand. How did you make the screenshot?

L


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## pidgeon92 (Oct 27, 2008)

Glad I'm not the only one that didn't know.... 

Frankly, I _like_ my pictures.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

Leslie said:


> I don't understand. How did you make the screenshot?
> 
> L


You display the screen you want to copy, press Shift-Alt-G and a GIF of the screen will be put in the root directory of your SD card. It's listed in the Tips and Tricks section here, under the thread: *Kindle hacks, Easter Eggs, and keyboard shortcuts!*


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

jmiked said:


> Leslie said:
> 
> 
> > I don't understand. How did you make the screenshot?
> ...


Thanks so much! This is great to know. I am getting going on an FAQ thread for this forum and this morning, the lightbulb went off! I can include pictures! That was one of my frustrations on the Amazon thread...having to explain everything in words. As they say, a picture is worth 1000 words!

L


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## Guest (Nov 2, 2008)

That's bad, but I seem to remember some early science fiction looked just like that in print. Maybe they are scanning old badly formatted early scifi?


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

MonaLS said:


> That's bad, but I seem to remember some early science fiction looked just like that in print. Maybe they are scanning old badly formatted early scifi?


That's not very early, I think it was published in the early 1950s. I have the book in storage, and I don't remember it looking like that.


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## cush (Oct 27, 2008)

Here's a couple of Heinleins I have.

*Space Cadet*
*Glory Road*

Haven't tried reading them yet so I can't comment on formatting.
I also have The Ghost Brigades and enjoyed it despite some formatting problems.


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## Essensia (Nov 3, 2008)

The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1789, by Robert Middlekauff, a volume of the Oxford History of the United States.

It looks a little odd, and now I know why. No real complaints, though, other than the fact that it looks "different" from the usual comforting Kindle font. No problems with slow page turns or freezing.


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## Angela (Nov 2, 2008)

I sampled a bible today that had some bad formatting. There were spaces in the middle of words, extras spaces between words, etc. I thought left justifying would help and it did a little, but was still difficult reading. I don't know if this was Topaz or not, but I have decided to post a comment that it is faulty.


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

I think we can share the information, not just the link. Apparently, in the product description, if it lists ONLY the number of pages, that's a clue that it is in Topaz (AZW1) format. If it lists file size and pages, then it is in standard AZW format.

I just verified this on a few books:

Social Intelligence, which I knew was Topaz (and I listed in this thread).

# Format: Kindle Edition
*# Print Length: 304 pages*
# Publisher: Pfeiffer (November 4, 2005)
# Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
# ASIN: B000QECFB2

The other one I listed, The Secret Tunnel:

# Format: Kindle Edition
*# Print Length: 325 pages*
# Publisher: Cleis Press (October 1, 200
# Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
# ASIN: B001ECQH3C

And then, The Shack, #1 in the Kindle store:

# Format: Kindle Edition
*# File Size: 404 KB
# Print Length: 256 pages*
# Publisher: Windblown Media; 1st edition (June 20, 200
# Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
# Language: English
# ASIN: B001B8Z2S0

You might also have a book that is Kindle only, and doesn't have pages, like the FAQ:

# Format: Kindle Edition
*# File Size: 152 KB*
# Publisher: Bristlecone Pine Press; 1st edition (September 3, 200
# Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
# Language: English
# ASIN: B001F7AGHE

So this would seem to be useful clue. Thanks, Lettie!

L


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## pidgeon92 (Oct 27, 2008)

Excellent information. Time for Leslie to update the FAQ!


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## Angela (Nov 2, 2008)

thanks for the info Leslie... I will make sure I check ahead of 1-click!


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## jah (Oct 28, 2008)

Thanks Leslie for info.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

Based on the samples, I've come across two books that are in Topaz format that actually are pretty nice (both are non-fiction):

Bad Astronomy by Brad Plait, and
Blind Man's Bluff by Sherry Sontag

So Topaz isn't universally awful.

I'm going to purchased both of these in the next week or so.


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## marianneg (Nov 4, 2008)

I've bought at least two books with the "dreaded" Topaz format, and both of them were perfectly fine.  I didn't even notice slower page turns.  So no need to be prejudiced until you at least try a sample


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## marianneg (Nov 4, 2008)

Turns out that _The Princess Bride_, which everyone seems to be reading and loving, is in the "dreaded" Topaz format.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

Being in the Topaz format isn’t a guarantee of poor appearance, but it’s a red flag that it would be a good idea to see a sample. I’ve ended up buying several things in Topaz format that are indistinguishable from the regular formatting.

I’ve also ‘returned’ several Topaz books that were horrible, before I learned the lesson.


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## Angela (Nov 2, 2008)

marianner said:


> Turns out that _The Princess Bride_, which everyone seems to be reading and loving, is in the "dreaded" Topaz format.


It may be, but I haven't had any trouble reading it thus far.


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## marianneg (Nov 4, 2008)

Angela said:


> It may be, but I haven't had any trouble reading it thus far.


That's my point exactly


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