[First Project] Murder by the Clock by Rufus King

[Nick Wiltsie]

Hi!

I'd like to contribute by producing "Murder by the Clock" by Rufus King. It's on the "for your first production" list and I don't see any prior emails claiming it.

PG: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/75500
IA: https://archive.org/details/bwb_S0-CTT-590

I've produced a few white-label books for personal use using the Standard Ebooks toolkit, so I'm somewhat familiar with the process and standards.

Thanks,
Nick

[Alex Cabal]

Great, that one would be a good start.

I see at least one illustration that you'll have to convert to SVG.
There's also a letter or two, see the manual for formatting.

Make sure to read the Standard Ebooks Manual of Style before starting,
as you won't know what to fix if you haven't read the standards. In
particular, please closely review the semantics, high level patterns,
and typography sections:

https://standardebooks.org/manual

https://standardebooks.org/manual/latest/4-semantics

https://standardebooks.org/manual/latest/7-high-level-structural-patterns

https://standardebooks.org/manual/latest/8-typography

The step by step guide will take you from start to finish. Please follow
it exactly:

https://standardebooks.org/contribute/producing-an-ebook-step-by-step

This page on common issues in older books may be useful:

https://standardebooks.org/contribute/how-tos/common-issues-when-working-on-public-domain-ebooks

Please email often if you have any questions at all. Our standards are
well-established so there is probably already a standard for formatting
whatever problem you've encountered.

When you're ready, email back with a link to your Github repository so
that I can assign you a manager and reviewer.

Have fun! :)

> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
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> utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.

[Nick Wiltsie]

Great! I'll check back in as I have questions. The repo is live here: https://github.com/nwiltsie/rufus-king_murder-by-the-clock

Thanks,

Nick

[Nick Wiltsie]

First question: The chapters are all titled with times, e.g. "10:02 p.m.—Pale Flares the Darkness". Section 8.11 of the manual says that "a.m." and "p.m." are lowercased, but `se titlecase` and `se lint` both want them capitalized. Which rule wins?

Thanks,

Nick

[Alex Cabal]

OK, Vince will manage with David reviewing.

On 2/10/26 6:35 PM, Nick Wiltsie wrote:
> Great! I'll check back in as I have questions. The repo is live here:
> https://github.com/nwiltsie/rufus-king_murder-by-the-clock
>
> Thanks,
> Nick
>
> On Tuesday, February 10, 2026 at 10:52:04 AM UTC-8 Alex Cabal wrote:
>
> Great, that one would be a good start.
>
> I see at least one illustration that you'll have to convert to SVG.
> There's also a letter or two, see the manual for formatting.
>
> Make sure to read the Standard Ebooks Manual of Style before starting,
> as you won't know what to fix if you haven't read the standards. In
> particular, please closely review the semantics, high level patterns,
> and typography sections:
>
> https://standardebooks.org/manual <https://standardebooks.org/manual>
>

> https://standardebooks.org/manual/latest/4-semantics <https://
> standardebooks.org/manual/latest/4-semantics>
>
> https://standardebooks.org/manual/latest/7-high-level-structural-
> patterns <https://standardebooks.org/manual/latest/7-high-level-
> structural-patterns>
>
> https://standardebooks.org/manual/latest/8-typography <https://
> standardebooks.org/manual/latest/8-typography>

>
> The step by step guide will take you from start to finish. Please
> follow
> it exactly:
>
> https://standardebooks.org/contribute/producing-an-ebook-step-by-

> step <https://standardebooks.org/contribute/producing-an-ebook-step-
> by-step>

>
> This page on common issues in older books may be useful:
>
> https://standardebooks.org/contribute/how-tos/common-issues-when-

> working-on-public-domain-ebooks <https://standardebooks.org/
> contribute/how-tos/common-issues-when-working-on-public-domain-ebooks>

>
> Please email often if you have any questions at all. Our standards are
> well-established so there is probably already a standard for formatting
> whatever problem you've encountered.
>
> When you're ready, email back with a link to your Github repository so
> that I can assign you a manager and reviewer.
>
> Have fun! :)
>
>
> On 2/9/26 6:18 PM, Nick Wiltsie wrote:
> > Hi!
> >
> > I'd like to contribute by producing "Murder by the Clock" by
> Rufus King.
> > It's on the "for your first production" list and I don't see any
> prior
> > emails claiming it.
> >

> > PG: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/75500 <https://
> www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/75500>
> > IA: https://archive.org/details/bwb_S0-CTT-590 <https://
> archive.org/details/bwb_S0-CTT-590>

> >
> > I've produced a few white-label books for personal use using the
> > Standard Ebooks toolkit, so I'm somewhat familiar with the
> process and
> > standards.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Nick
> >
> > --
> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> > Groups "Standard Ebooks" group.
> > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it,
> send
> > an email to standardebook...@googlegroups.com
> > <mailto:standardebook...@googlegroups.com>.
> > To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/

> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/>
> > standardebooks/29c2fb86-2b84-4863-95aa-
> a7c0d382d58bn%40googlegroups.com <http://40googlegroups.com>
> > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ <https://groups.google.com/d/
> msgid/>
> > standardebooks/29c2fb86-2b84-4863-95aa-
> a7c0d382d58bn%40googlegroups.com <http://40googlegroups.com>?
> > utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.

>
> --
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> standardebooks/ddeefdfd-208a-4a5d-a93b-23f03e447239n%40googlegroups.com
> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/standardebooks/ddeefdfd-208a-4a5d-
> a93b-23f03e447239n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.

[David]

Just to note - the "new" project page has a glitch: https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/rufus-kin/murder-by-the-clock

"kin" is missing the "g" in "King" - but this title is one of the "Haycraft-Queen Cornerstones", so there is already an SE page for it:

https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/rufus-king/murder-by-the-clock

I presume the "new" page should be deleted, and this project linked to the existing HQ version.

David / Fife, UK

[Alex Cabal]

Fixed, thanks!

> <https://github.com/nwiltsie/rufus-king_murder-by-the-clock>

> >
> > Thanks,
> > Nick
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> Groups "Standard Ebooks" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send
> an email to standardebook...@googlegroups.com
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> standardebooks/a3c348fd-7941-4525-975a-5f5f5b0106abn%40googlegroups.com
> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/standardebooks/
> a3c348fd-7941-4525-975a-5f5f5b0106abn%40googlegroups.com?
> utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.

[Alex Cabal]

You can do what titlecase does for now. I'll think about this more at a
later date.

On 2/10/26 8:27 PM, Nick Wiltsie wrote:
> First question: The chapters are all titled with times, e.g. "10:02 p.m.

> —Pale Flares the Darkness". Section 8.11 <https://standardebooks.org/
> manual/1.8.6/8-typography#8.11> of the manual says that "a.m." and

> "p.m." are lowercased, but `se titlecase` and `se lint` both want them
> capitalized. Which rule wins?
>
> Thanks,
> Nick
>
> On Tuesday, February 10, 2026 at 3:35:32 PM UTC-8 Nick Wiltsie wrote:
>
> Great! I'll check back in as I have questions. The repo is live
> here: https://github.com/nwiltsie/rufus-king_murder-by-the-clock
> <https://github.com/nwiltsie/rufus-king_murder-by-the-clock>
>
> Thanks,
> Nick
>
> On Tuesday, February 10, 2026 at 10:52:04 AM UTC-8 Alex Cabal wrote:
>
> Great, that one would be a good start.
>
> I see at least one illustration that you'll have to convert to SVG.
> There's also a letter or two, see the manual for formatting.
>
> Make sure to read the Standard Ebooks Manual of Style before
> starting,
> as you won't know what to fix if you haven't read the standards. In
> particular, please closely review the semantics, high level
> patterns,
> and typography sections:
>
> https://standardebooks.org/manual <https://standardebooks.org/
> manual>
>

> https://standardebooks.org/manual/latest/4-semantics <https://
> standardebooks.org/manual/latest/4-semantics>
>
> https://standardebooks.org/manual/latest/7-high-level-
> structural-patterns <https://standardebooks.org/manual/latest/7-

> high-level-structural-patterns>

>
> https://standardebooks.org/manual/latest/8-typography <https://
> standardebooks.org/manual/latest/8-typography>
>

> The step by step guide will take you from start to finish.
> Please follow
> it exactly:
>

> https://standardebooks.org/contribute/producing-an-ebook-step-
> by-step <https://standardebooks.org/contribute/producing-an-

> ebook-step-by-step>

>
> This page on common issues in older books may be useful:
>
> https://standardebooks.org/contribute/how-tos/common-issues-

> when-working-on-public-domain-ebooks <https://
> standardebooks.org/contribute/how-tos/common-issues-when-
> working-on-public-domain-ebooks>

>
> Please email often if you have any questions at all. Our
> standards are
> well-established so there is probably already a standard for
> formatting
> whatever problem you've encountered.
>
> When you're ready, email back with a link to your Github
> repository so
> that I can assign you a manager and reviewer.
>
> Have fun! :)
>
>
> On 2/9/26 6:18 PM, Nick Wiltsie wrote:
> > Hi!
> >
> > I'd like to contribute by producing "Murder by the Clock" by
> Rufus King.
> > It's on the "for your first production" list and I don't see
> any prior
> > emails claiming it.
> >

> > PG: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/75500 <https://
> www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/75500>
> > IA: https://archive.org/details/bwb_S0-CTT-590 <https://
> archive.org/details/bwb_S0-CTT-590>
> >

> > I've produced a few white-label books for personal use using the
> > Standard Ebooks toolkit, so I'm somewhat familiar with the
> process and
> > standards.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Nick
> >
> > --
> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the
> Google
> > Groups "Standard Ebooks" group.
> > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from
> it, send
> > an email to standardebook...@googlegroups.com
> > <mailto:standardebook...@googlegroups.com>.

> > To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/

> msgid/ <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/>
> > standardebooks/29c2fb86-2b84-4863-95aa-
> a7c0d382d58bn%40googlegroups.com <http://40googlegroups.com>
> > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ <https://
> groups.google.com/d/msgid/>
> > standardebooks/29c2fb86-2b84-4863-95aa-
> a7c0d382d58bn%40googlegroups.com <http://40googlegroups.com>?
> > utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.
>

> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
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> <mailto:standardebook...@googlegroups.com>.
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> standardebooks/6377195b-0b1f-4aa8-8073-aa9260c68c6fn%40googlegroups.com
> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/
> standardebooks/6377195b-0b1f-4aa8-8073-aa9260c68c6fn%40googlegroups.com?
> utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.

[Nick Wiltsie]

Will do - I'll capitalize A.M. and P.M. in the chapter titles for the time being.

Something else to consider at that later date: the nbsp between the time and a.m./p.m. is not copied into the TOC by `se build-toc`, so this title in the chapter (I replaced nbsp with '␣' and regular space with '·' for visualization)...

<hgroup>
<h2 epub:type="ordinal z3998:roman">I</h2>
<p epub:type="title">8:37␣<abbr>p.m.</abbr>—Spring·3100</p>
</hgroup>

... becomes this line in the TOC:

<li>
<a href="text/chapter-1.xhtml"><span epub:type="z3998:roman">I</span>:·8:37·<abbr>p.m.</abbr>—Spring·3100</a>
</li>

`se lint` then complains with t-009 "Missing no-break space before time and a.m. or p.m.." for the toc.xhtml file. If I manually add that nbsp into the TOC, m-045 complains that it doesn't match the <title> element. If I update the <title> element with the nbsp, I get s-021, "Unexpected value for <title> element. Hint: Beware hidden Unicode characters!".

Once I switch everything to A.M. and P.M. the t-009 warnings go away, but that feels like sidestepping the issue.

I'm fine to handle this manually or update the se-lint-ignore.xml file appropriately for this book, but I think the two tooling changes that would resolve these edge cases more generally are:

• Don't apply t-009 within toc.xhtml
• Do apply t-009 to A.M. and P.M. as well as a.m. and p.m.

Thanks, Nick

[Alex Cabal]

Thanks, I have fixed all of this in the toolset:

- AM/PM are always lowercased when titlecasing

- Lint no longer complains about missing no-break spaces in the ToC for
that case

You can remove the lint ignore entry for this in your ebook, in the next
version of the toolset, lint will no longer complain about these things.
Thanks!

On 2/11/26 6:20 PM, Nick Wiltsie wrote:
> Will do - I'll capitalize A.M. and P.M. in the chapter titles for the
> time being.
>
> Something else to consider at that later date: the nbsp between the time

> and a.m./p.m. is /not/ copied into the TOC by `se build-toc`, so this

> title in the chapter (I replaced nbsp with '␣' and regular space with
> '·' for visualization)...
>
> <hgroup>
> <h2 epub:type="ordinal z3998:roman">I</h2>
> <p epub:type="title">8:37␣<abbr>p.m.</abbr>—Spring·3100</p>
> </hgroup>
>
> ... becomes this line in the TOC:
>
> <li>
> <a href="text/chapter-1.xhtml"><span epub:type="z3998:roman">I</
> span>:·8:37·<abbr>p.m.</abbr>—Spring·3100</a>
> </li>
>
> `se lint` then complains with t-009 "Missing no-break space before time
> and a.m. or p.m.." for the toc.xhtml file. If I manually add that nbsp
> into the TOC, m-045 complains that it doesn't match the <title> element.
> If I update the <title> element with the nbsp, I get s-021, "Unexpected
> value for <title> element. Hint: Beware hidden Unicode characters!".
>
> Once I switch everything to A.M. and P.M. the t-009 warnings go away,
> but that feels like sidestepping the issue.
>
> I'm fine to handle this manually or update the se-lint-ignore.xml file
> appropriately for this book, but I think the two tooling changes that
> would resolve these edge cases more generally are:
>

> * Don't apply t-009 within toc.xhtml
> * Do apply t-009 to A.M. and P.M. as well as a.m. and p.m.

>
> Thanks, Nick
> On Wednesday, February 11, 2026 at 12:35:16 PM UTC-8 Alex Cabal wrote:
>
> You can do what titlecase does for now. I'll think about this more at a
> later date.
>
> On 2/10/26 8:27 PM, Nick Wiltsie wrote:
> > First question: The chapters are all titled with times, e.g.
> "10:02 p.m.
> > —Pale Flares the Darkness". Section 8.11 <https://

> standardebooks.org/ <https://standardebooks.org/>

> manual> <https://standardebooks.org/ <https://standardebooks.org/>

> > manual>
> >
> > https://standardebooks.org/manual/latest/4-semantics <https://
> standardebooks.org/manual/latest/4-semantics> <https://

> > standardebooks.org/manual/latest/4-semantics <http://
> standardebooks.org/manual/latest/4-semantics>>
> >
> > https://standardebooks.org/manual/latest/7-high-level- <https://
> standardebooks.org/manual/latest/7-high-level->
> > structural-patterns <https://standardebooks.org/manual/latest/7-

> <https://standardebooks.org/manual/latest/7->
> > high-level-structural-patterns>
> >
> > https://standardebooks.org/manual/latest/8-typography <https://

> standardebooks.org/manual/latest/8-typography> <https://
> > standardebooks.org/manual/latest/8-typography <http://

> standardebooks.org/manual/latest/8-typography>>
> >
> > The step by step guide will take you from start to finish.
> > Please follow
> > it exactly:
> >
> > https://standardebooks.org/contribute/producing-an-ebook-step-
> <https://standardebooks.org/contribute/producing-an-ebook-step->
> > by-step <https://standardebooks.org/contribute/producing-an-
> <https://standardebooks.org/contribute/producing-an->
> > ebook-step-by-step>
> >
> > This page on common issues in older books may be useful:
> >
> > https://standardebooks.org/contribute/how-tos/common-issues-
> <https://standardebooks.org/contribute/how-tos/common-issues->
> > when-working-on-public-domain-ebooks <https://
> > standardebooks.org/contribute/how-tos/common-issues-when-

> <http://standardebooks.org/contribute/how-tos/common-issues-when->

> > working-on-public-domain-ebooks>
> >
> > Please email often if you have any questions at all. Our
> > standards are
> > well-established so there is probably already a standard for
> > formatting
> > whatever problem you've encountered.
> >
> > When you're ready, email back with a link to your Github
> > repository so
> > that I can assign you a manager and reviewer.
> >
> > Have fun! :)
> >
> >
> > On 2/9/26 6:18 PM, Nick Wiltsie wrote:
> > > Hi!
> > >
> > > I'd like to contribute by producing "Murder by the Clock" by
> > Rufus King.
> > > It's on the "for your first production" list and I don't see
> > any prior
> > > emails claiming it.
> > >
> > > PG: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/75500 <https://

> www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/75500> <https://
> > www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/75500 <http://www.gutenberg.org/

> ebooks/75500>>
> > > IA: https://archive.org/details/bwb_S0-CTT-590 <https://

> archive.org/details/bwb_S0-CTT-590> <https://
> > archive.org/details/bwb_S0-CTT-590 <http://archive.org/details/

> bwb_S0-CTT-590>>
> > >
> > > I've produced a few white-label books for personal use using the
> > > Standard Ebooks toolkit, so I'm somewhat familiar with the
> > process and
> > > standards.
> > >
> > > Thanks,
> > > Nick
> > >
> > > --
> > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the
> > Google
> > > Groups "Standard Ebooks" group.
> > > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from
> > it, send
> > > an email to standardebook...@googlegroups.com
> > > <mailto:standardebook...@googlegroups.com>.
> > > To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/
> <https://groups.google.com/d/>

> > msgid/ <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ <https://

> groups.google.com/d/msgid/>>
> > > standardebooks/29c2fb86-2b84-4863-95aa-
> > a7c0d382d58bn%40googlegroups.com <http://40googlegroups.com>

> <http://40googlegroups.com <http://40googlegroups.com>>
> > > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ <https://groups.google.com/
> d/msgid/> <https://
> > groups.google.com/d/msgid/ <http://groups.google.com/d/msgid/>>
> > > standardebooks/29c2fb86-2b84-4863-95aa-
> > a7c0d382d58bn%40googlegroups.com <http://40googlegroups.com>
> <http://40googlegroups.com <http://40googlegroups.com>>?

> > > utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.
> >
> > --
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> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/>
> > standardebooks/6377195b-0b1f-4aa8-8073-
> aa9260c68c6fn%40googlegroups.com <http://40googlegroups.com>

> > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ <https://groups.google.com/d/
> msgid/>

> > standardebooks/6377195b-0b1f-4aa8-8073-
> aa9260c68c6fn%40googlegroups.com <http://40googlegroups.com>?

> > utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
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> standardebooks/913d6259-038e-4d04-81d0-5742edd11cc8n%40googlegroups.com
> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/
> standardebooks/913d6259-038e-4d04-81d0-5742edd11cc8n%40googlegroups.com?
> utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.

[Nick Wiltsie]

Hi again! I have a few questions.

There is a single illustration in the book, which is the scrawled text "BY THURSDAY OR—".

1. Is there a standardized guide on producing the SVGs? I found the guides for producing images from maps with several colors and music scores, but the the specificity of those titles implies a more general "how to create figures" that I can't find. (I've made an SVG, but I don't know what I don't know.)
2. What should the alt text be? The SEMOS says that it should be "prose to describe the image in detail." The surrounding text describes the note as scrawled on a scrap of paper, but the illustration is strictly of the words, so something like "A note with the words 'BY THURSDAY OR—'." isn't really correct.
3. Does this merit a List of Illustrations? The SEMOS says that the LOI should only contain "links to images that a reader may wish to return to during reading." The particulars of the writing are irrelevant to the plot, beyond the description of it being "scrawled".
4. Presuming an LOI is merited, `se lint` gives me the warning "loi semantic inflection found, but no MARC relator ill (Illustrator)" on the loi.xhtml file. There is no illustrator credited - what should I do in this case?

Separate from the illustration...

1. This page contains the sentence "He thought of <i>Bohême</i>—dawn always made him think of <i>Bohême</i>—and hummed a bar or two of it softly." I can't determine what Bohême is (the closest thing I can find is La Bohème, released in 1965) — per the SEMOS if it's a standalone piece of music it should be italicized, but if it's a short composition it should be quoted. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Nick

[Vince]

On Feb 21, 2026, at 6:16 PM, Nick Wiltsie <nickw...@gmail.com> wrote:

…

Separate from the illustration...

1. This page contains the sentence "He thought of <i>Bohême</i>—dawn always made him think of <i>Bohême</i>—and hummed a bar or two of it softly." I can't determine what Bohême is (the closest thing I can find is La Bohème, released in 1965) — per the SEMOS if it's a standalone piece of music it should be italicized, but if it's a short composition it should be quoted. Any suggestions?

Your manager will answer your questions, but La bohème is quite a bit older than that. :)

[Vince]

And, of course, your manager is … me. Doh! There’s a very good explanation for this, but it boils down to I didn’t pay attention.

There is a single illustration in the book, which is the scrawled text "BY THURSDAY OR—".

1. Is there a standardized guide on producing the SVGs? I found the guides for producing images from maps with several colors and music scores, but the the specificity of those titles implies a more general "how to create figures" that I can't find. (I've made an SVG, but I don't know what I don't know.)
2. What should the alt text be? The SEMOS says that it should be "prose to describe the image in detail." The surrounding text describes the note as scrawled on a scrap of paper, but the illustration is strictly of the words, so something like "A note with the words 'BY THURSDAY OR—'." isn't really correct.
3. Does this merit a List of Illustrations? The SEMOS says that the LOI should only contain "links to images that a reader may wish to return to during reading." The particulars of the writing are irrelevant to the plot, beyond the description of it being "scrawled".
4. Presuming an LOI is merited, `se lint` gives me the warning "loi semantic inflection found, but no MARC relator ill (Illustrator)" on the loi.xhtml file. There is no illustrator credited - what should I do in this case?

No, no standardized guide. If you search the group you’ll find an email from several years ago I posted that David Grigg gave me when I was encountering having to do this the first time. The general advice is to use Inkscape to trace it, then save it as a simple SVG with no transforms, se clean will do some cleanup, and then you’ll have to add the title.

The alt can be what essentially you said—“A handwritten note with the words ‘By Thursday or—‘ on it."

No, I don’t think an LOI is necessary for this. 

[Nick Wiltsie]

> Your manager will answer your questions, but La bohème is quite a bit older than that. :)

Well... that's what you get for letting uncultured boors like me into your club! Another possibility is "Danse Bohème" / "Les tringles des sistres tintaient" (link) from Carmen.

Separately, how does this look for a cover? The skull and hourglass are pretty on-the-nose for "Murder by the Clock", but I struggled to find anything that felt more appropriate. The original art is listed as in the public domain from the National Gallery of Art: https://www.nga.gov/artworks/93323-vanitas-still-life

Nick

[Alex Cabal]

You could use the the first edition cover
https://www.abebooks.com/first-edition/Murder-Clock-Rufus-King-First-Edition/30651479198/bd

You'd have to remove the title, byline, and publisher logo, but that
shouldn't be hard because the painting is geometric solid colors.

That cover would work nicely since detail is above the SE title box and
it fits perfectly with the era. The still life is a little too
renaissance flavored for an art deco crime novel.

On 2/25/26 5:55 PM, Nick Wiltsie wrote:
> > Your manager will answer your questions, but La bohème <https://
> en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_boh%C3%A8me> is quite a bit older than that. :)

>
> Well... that's what you get for letting uncultured boors like me into
> your club! Another possibility is "Danse Bohème" / "Les tringles des

> sistres tintaient" (link <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhVpWHxuvQw>)

> from Carmen.
>
> Separately, how does this look for a cover? The skull and hourglass are
> pretty on-the-nose for "Murder by the Clock", but I struggled to find
> anything that felt more appropriate. The original art is listed as in
> the public domain from the National Gallery of Art: https://www.nga.gov/
> artworks/93323-vanitas-still-life
>

> cover.png
>
> Nick
>
> On Sunday, February 22, 2026 at 6:23:25 AM UTC-8 Vince wrote:
>
> And, of course, your manager is … me. Doh! There’s a very good
> explanation for this, but it boils down to I didn’t pay attention.
>

>> There is a single illustration <https://archive.org/details/
>> bwb_S0-CTT-590/page/10/mode/2up> in the book, which is the

>> scrawled text "BY THURSDAY OR—".
>>

>> 1. Is there a standardized guide on producing the SVGs? I

>> found the guides for producing images from maps with several

>> colors <https://standardebooks.org/contribute/how-tos/how-to-
>> create-svgs-from-maps-with-several-colors> and music scores
>> <https://standardebooks.org/contribute/how-tos/how-to-create-
>> figures-for-music-scores>, but the the specificity of those

>> titles implies a more general "how to create figures" that I

>> can't find. (I've made /an/ SVG <https://github.com/nwiltsie/
>> rufus-king_murder-by-the-clock/blob/main/src/epub/images/
>> illustration-1.svg>, but I don't know what I don't know.)
>> 2. What should the alt text be? The SEMOS <https://
>> standardebooks.org/manual/1.8.6/single-page#7.8.2> says that

>> it should be "prose to describe the image in detail." The
>> surrounding text describes the note as scrawled on a scrap of
>> paper, but the illustration is strictly of the words, so
>> something like "A note with the words 'BY THURSDAY OR—'."
>> isn't really correct.

>> 3. Does this merit a List of Illustrations? The SEMOS <https://
>> standardebooks.org/manual/1.8.6/single-page#7.9.3> says that

>> the LOI should only contain "links to images that a reader may
>> wish to return to during reading." The particulars of the
>> writing are irrelevant to the plot, beyond the description of
>> it being "scrawled".

>> 4. Presuming an LOI is merited, `se lint` gives me the warning

>> "loi semantic inflection found, but no MARC relator ill
>> (Illustrator)" on the loi.xhtml file. There is no illustrator
>> credited - what should I do in this case?
> No, no standardized guide. If you search the group you’ll find an
> email from several years ago I posted that David Grigg gave me when
> I was encountering having to do this the first time. The general
> advice is to use Inkscape to trace it, then save it as a simple SVG
> with no transforms, se clean will do some cleanup, and then you’ll
> have to add the title.
>
> The alt can be what essentially you said—“A handwritten note with
> the words ‘By Thursday or—‘ on it."
>
> No, I don’t think an LOI is necessary for this.
>
>>
>> On Feb 21, 2026, at 6:28 PM, Vince <vr_se...@letterboxes.org> wrote:
>>
>>> On Feb 21, 2026, at 6:16 PM, Nick Wiltsie <nickw...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> …
>>>
>>> Separate from the illustration...
>>>

>>> 1. This page <https://archive.org/details/bwb_S0-CTT-590/
>>> page/221/mode/1up> contains the sentence "He thought of

>>> <i>Bohême</i>—dawn always made him think of <i>Bohême</i>—and
>>> hummed a bar or two of it softly." I can't determine

>>> what Bohême /is/ (the closest thing I can find is La Bohème
>>> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
>>> La_Boh%C3%A8me_(Charles_Aznavour_song)>, released in 1965) —

>>> per the SEMOS if it's a standalone piece of music it should

>>> beitalicized <https://standardebooks.org/manual/1.8.6/single-
>>> page#8.2.11.2>, but if it's a short composition it should
>>> bequoted <https://standardebooks.org/manual/1.8.6/single-
>>> page#8.2.11.3>. Any suggestions?
>> Your manager will answer your questions, but La bohème <https://
>> en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_boh%C3%A8me> is quite a bit older than
>> that. :)
>

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[Nick Wiltsie]

I like the first edition cover far more - thanks for recommending it!

The question now is to what fidelity do I reproduce the original art? This rough vector trace of a wordless cover has the same feel as the original but lacks the block-printing overlaps. Is it worthwhile to improve the trace, or should I just attempt to find a cleaner original image (e.g. purchasing this replica or requesting their original scan) and work with a raster image?

Nick

[Vince]

Well, that’s a good question. The second one looks OK, but with the flatness of everything it no longer looks (to me) like a “painting in the fine-art style.” Alex, what do you think?

Here’s a much higher resolution version, but it also has much worse aging issues, so upsizing the first one may still be a better option.

On Feb 28, 2026, at 2:32 PM, Nick Wiltsie <nickw...@gmail.com> wrote:

I like the first edition cover far more - thanks for recommending it!

The question now is to what fidelity do I reproduce the original art? This rough vector trace of a wordless cover has the same feel as the original but lacks the block-printing overlaps. Is it worthwhile to improve the trace, or should I just attempt to find a cleaner original image (e.g. purchasing this replica or requesting their original scan) and work with a raster image?

<MurderClean.png>

[Alex Cabal]

Yeah that larger scan is unusable, the paper is very deteriorated. I
prefer the colors in the other one too.

I think your vectorized one looks fine. In a thumbnail they will
probably be indistinguishable.

On 2/28/26 2:50 PM, Vince wrote:
> Well, that’s a good question. The second one looks OK, but with the
> flatness of everything it no longer looks (to me) like a “painting in
> the fine-art style.” Alex, what do you think?
>

> Here’s <https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/
> AVvXsEjz3pAhICHIzg4J3JeL0nFv7vTvl6Dltb3qjhEMqdwbZo-7-z_veFMHL0-
> FwA5l3Pttj8Bcf3ayfrZhaEuqByPt4meMJ64Yi3EUzMIrQ0psaIMI75Z93ar8s0VyxrvKUCvm1a8ztDk8z-LKSs6ybW5rCa79GGoP7GSzU-wZPt57N6ojZPcaii_LyrXnKA/s2307/rufuskingclockmurder%20(2).jpg> a much higher resolution version, but it also has much worse aging issues, so upsizing the first one may still be a better option.

>
>> On Feb 28, 2026, at 2:32 PM, Nick Wiltsie <nickw...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> I like the first edition cover far more - thanks for recommending it!
>>
>> The question now is to what fidelity do I reproduce the original art?
>> This rough vector trace of a wordless cover has the same feel as the
>> original but lacks the block-printing overlaps. Is it worthwhile to
>> improve the trace, or should I just attempt to find a cleaner original

>> image (e.g. purchasingthis replica <https://www.dustjackets.com/pages/
>> books/35665/rufus-king/murder-by-the-clock>or requesting their

>> original scan) and work with a raster image?
>>
>> <MurderClean.png>
>>
>> <MurderCleanTracedCropped.png>
>>
>> Nick
>>
>> On Friday, February 27, 2026 at 7:22:53 AM UTC-8 Alex Cabal wrote:
>>
>> You could use the the first edition cover
>> https://www.abebooks.com/first-edition/Murder-Clock-Rufus-King-

>> First-Edition/30651479198/bd <https://www.abebooks.com/first-
>> edition/Murder-Clock-Rufus-King-First-Edition/30651479198/bd>

>>
>> You'd have to remove the title, byline, and publisher logo, but that
>> shouldn't be hard because the painting is geometric solid colors.
>>
>> That cover would work nicely since detail is above the SE title
>> box and
>> it fits perfectly with the era. The still life is a little too
>> renaissance flavored for an art deco crime novel.
>

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[Nick Wiltsie]

Okay... I think the book is ready for review! I've been through the guide, there are no lints, `semanticate` and `typogrify` are stable, I've proofread the epub on Kindle... I can't find anything else to do.

https://github.com/nwiltsie/rufus-king_murder-by-the-clock

Thanks,

Nick

[David]

Okay! I'll get to it in the statutory "next couple days" (could be today).

[David]

Today it was. :) Really nice job, Nick, especially for a first production! There are just a few things to tidy up. Please ping me from the github issue when you're done, or with any questions arising. Thanks!

[David]

This is now ready for you, Alex -

https://github.com/nwiltsie/rufus-king_murder-by-the-clock

[David]

P.s. I forgot this one has some "hand-over" notes:

• N.b. se-lint-ignore.xml references Tools v.2.11.2. (See "a.m./p.m." discussion, above in this thread.)
  
• The cover art wasn't in the database, but it is now; it still needs verification.
• This adds a new series for SE. There is no listing of the "Lieutenant Valcour" series on Wikipedia, but there's a convenient one in this Amazon entry (publication dates are in Wikipedia, though).

Hope that helps.

[Alex Cabal]

OK, everything looks great Nick, thanks! Great work on your first
production. I've gone ahead and released it.

If you'd like to work on something more advanced next, check our Wanted
Ebooks list for moderate difficulty productions:
https://standardebooks.org/contribute/wanted-ebooks

Or, pitch something else that might interest you to the mailing list.

Thanks!

On 3/3/26 11:40 AM, David wrote:
> P.s. I forgot this one has some "hand-over" notes:
>

> * N.b. se-lint-ignore.xml references Tools v.2.11.2. (See "a.m./p.m."

> discussion, above in this thread.)

> * The cover art wasn't in the database, but it is now <https://
> standardebooks.org/artworks/edward-mcknight-kauffer/murder-by-the-
> clock>; it still needs verification.
> * This adds a new series for SE. There is no listing of the

> "Lieutenant Valcour" series on Wikipedia, but there's a convenient

> one in this Amazon entry <https://www.amazon.co.uk/A-Lt-Valcour-
> Mystery/dp/B0B5LC4GB3> (publication dates are in Wikipedia, though).

>
> Hope that helps.
>
> On Tuesday, 3 March 2026 at 17:29:22 UTC David wrote:
>
> This is now ready for you, Alex -

> https://github.com/nwiltsie/rufus-king_murder-by-the-clock <https://
> github.com/nwiltsie/rufus-king_murder-by-the-clock>

>
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