Standard Ebooks

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Standard Ebooks, a volunteer-run project that creates high-quality, typography-focused editions of public-domain works, is praised as a superior alternative to the often error-prone or poorly formatted versions found on major commercial platforms. Commenters examine its strong editorial standards, use of classic web tech and Git-based workflows, and deliberate choices such as avoiding PDFs, modern religious scriptures, and self-published content to keep scope and quality manageable. The conversation also explores potential enhancements—like print-on-demand, popularity sorting, better Kindle workflows, and LLM-assisted proofreading—while emphasizing that carefully curated, DRM-free classics remain the core value.

Project value vs other sources

  • Commenters praise Standard Ebooks (SE) for high-quality, well-typed, DRM-free editions vs the often sloppy, inconsistent, or exploitative-feeling editions on large stores and raw Project Gutenberg (PG) texts.
  • Key differentiators mentioned: careful typography, modern ebook features, consistent house style, rigorous proofreading, and curated selection of enduring works.

Print editions and physical book quality

  • Several people want SE to offer print-ready files or POD options, noting mainstream public-domain prints are often low-quality “print-on-demand” paperbacks.
  • SE leadership is skeptical: good pre-2005 or reputable-publisher editions are already cheap and abundant; if SE did print, it would likely be expensive, ornate editions—though that market may be saturated.

Pricing and DRM debates

  • Strong debate around whether $10 ebooks of public-domain classics are “ripoffs.”
  • One side: digital copies, especially of very old works, should be cheaper (around $3–5) and DRM-free, especially given free SE alternatives.
  • Other side: instant access and convenience justify $10; age of the text should not dictate price.

Editorial standards, changes, and PG relationship

  • Contributors emphasize SE’s “strong editorial opinion” and consistency as central to its success.
  • SE sometimes modernizes spelling/capitalization when it doesn’t harm meaning; some readers object to any language updates beyond fixing obvious errors.
  • SE editions are often composite and structurally different from PG, so they aren’t trivially “upstreamable,” though individual typos sometimes are reported back. PG’s email-based errata workflow is seen as cumbersome.

Formats, devices, and website

  • SE offers reflowable formats (EPUB, AZW3, etc.) but intentionally no PDFs; maintaining high-quality PDFs is seen as too burdensome and better left to user conversion.
  • Kindle support is discussed heavily: SE criticizes Kindle’s formats and rendering; others are satisfied emailing EPUBs that Amazon silently converts. Kobo and other readers are suggested as better alternatives.
  • Some UX suggestions: faster search, popularity sorting, better Kindle-browser optimization, clearer HTML reflow, improved page titles.

Scope, policies, and content limits

  • SE focuses on US public-domain English titles and avoids self-published works to preserve quality and curation.
  • Core religious scriptures of major modern religions are excluded to avoid theological fights over translations; religious-themed works more broadly are included.
  • Non-English expansions are blocked mainly by tooling and style-guide limitations, not law.

Tooling, contributions, and automation

  • SE uses Git-based workflows and classic web tech; some find GitHub-centric contribution off-putting, but email typo reports are accepted.
  • Interest expressed in LLM-assisted OCR/proofreading pipelines; limited experiments suggest they can help but don’t replace human passes.
  • Related projects include audiobook efforts (e.g., volunteer public-domain recordings) and services that repurpose SE texts into serial email reading experiences.