As a layouter, I'd make linebreaks before the numbers in the table on contents like so: https://imgur.com/R1EPC5S Also, if you get two lines in the tables of contents, I'd reduce line spacing too.
Also, I'd do away with page numbering on blank pages and intersections with only one heading. Preface doesn't need page numbering too.
I'd also bold the headings to make them standout more.
Reduce list bullet size and make the list items align to the first word, not the left textbox border.
If you're serious about this endeavor, pay someone to lay out the final text for you in a professional software. Most self-published authors do not take the time to clean up their EPUB files when that is the #1 thing that makes a book readable (I have a print copy of a different blog's collected writing on my desk as I type this and it has formatting errors for days--the biggest being half of the body copy is in 70% grey for whatever reason and it's nearly impossible to distinguish the thin, sans-serif text from the off-white paper). If this is something you do not have skill in, pay for someone else to do it. It'll be cheaper than trying to figure it out yourself.
I'll give it a look over, but I'm unsure of how much you should pay attention to our requests to cut stuff - I like some essays (e.g. Jesus as moral philosopher, which as a Christian I at least try to take seriously) and dislike others (essay on conservatism, which seemed to display an uncharacteristic lack of insight) but ultimately that's going to be the case regardless of the final composition, you're writing for a broad audience. I'd need to have a look over the final section properly to see if I agree that some of those should be cut.
EDIT: I think the only one I'd recommend including is "Conservation of moral status under misfortune" but n=1 here, I'd understand if you cut it.
I would suggest reordering the subsections a little - I'm unsure of why "Social Commentary" is separated from "For the Left" by "Yearning", "Artificial Intelligence" and Fiction but I feel there could be a more logical ordering of these. That said, if you do have a good reason for this (it certainly keeps it varied?), by all means keep it that way - it is your book!
Yes a logical ordering of the sections would be best. It's tough, but I'll give it thought in the next few weeks. A lot of it was about trying to achieve the right mixture of quality through the book (start with stronger essays rather than weaker essays then keep a good mix of strong-weak to keep the reader going).
Re: Conservation of moral status under misfortune. Glad to hear you like it! I like it too, but I'm very worried people won't "get" it. Is that a soft vote for cutting everything else in the "stuff I was on the fence about" section?
P.S. How would you feel about starting the book with a best-of section, and what would go in it?
Soft vote in favor, in the sense that I'm assuming you're already thinking of cutting them and I don't disagree. I guess that one just felt like it fitted with a lot of other essays - not in the sense of being redundant, just complimentary to stuff like the Ballard of Reading Gaol.
In my opinion there are good essays throughout, you could have a best of section but my assumption was that this should already be the "best of". I think keeping it in themed sections is probably best, none of them are that long and it means you can get a better understanding of your perspective on each topic.
As a layouter, I'd make linebreaks before the numbers in the table on contents like so: https://imgur.com/R1EPC5S Also, if you get two lines in the tables of contents, I'd reduce line spacing too.
Also, I'd do away with page numbering on blank pages and intersections with only one heading. Preface doesn't need page numbering too.
I'd also bold the headings to make them standout more.
Reduce list bullet size and make the list items align to the first word, not the left textbox border.
I've bolded the headings. Not a word wiz, so still trying to work out the rest.
If you're serious about this endeavor, pay someone to lay out the final text for you in a professional software. Most self-published authors do not take the time to clean up their EPUB files when that is the #1 thing that makes a book readable (I have a print copy of a different blog's collected writing on my desk as I type this and it has formatting errors for days--the biggest being half of the body copy is in 70% grey for whatever reason and it's nearly impossible to distinguish the thin, sans-serif text from the off-white paper). If this is something you do not have skill in, pay for someone else to do it. It'll be cheaper than trying to figure it out yourself.
I'll give it a look over, but I'm unsure of how much you should pay attention to our requests to cut stuff - I like some essays (e.g. Jesus as moral philosopher, which as a Christian I at least try to take seriously) and dislike others (essay on conservatism, which seemed to display an uncharacteristic lack of insight) but ultimately that's going to be the case regardless of the final composition, you're writing for a broad audience. I'd need to have a look over the final section properly to see if I agree that some of those should be cut.
EDIT: I think the only one I'd recommend including is "Conservation of moral status under misfortune" but n=1 here, I'd understand if you cut it.
I would suggest reordering the subsections a little - I'm unsure of why "Social Commentary" is separated from "For the Left" by "Yearning", "Artificial Intelligence" and Fiction but I feel there could be a more logical ordering of these. That said, if you do have a good reason for this (it certainly keeps it varied?), by all means keep it that way - it is your book!
Yes a logical ordering of the sections would be best. It's tough, but I'll give it thought in the next few weeks. A lot of it was about trying to achieve the right mixture of quality through the book (start with stronger essays rather than weaker essays then keep a good mix of strong-weak to keep the reader going).
Re: Conservation of moral status under misfortune. Glad to hear you like it! I like it too, but I'm very worried people won't "get" it. Is that a soft vote for cutting everything else in the "stuff I was on the fence about" section?
P.S. How would you feel about starting the book with a best-of section, and what would go in it?
Soft vote in favor, in the sense that I'm assuming you're already thinking of cutting them and I don't disagree. I guess that one just felt like it fitted with a lot of other essays - not in the sense of being redundant, just complimentary to stuff like the Ballard of Reading Gaol.
In my opinion there are good essays throughout, you could have a best of section but my assumption was that this should already be the "best of". I think keeping it in themed sections is probably best, none of them are that long and it means you can get a better understanding of your perspective on each topic.