[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! :)

> --
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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
> <mailto: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>.
>
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