LRF weirdness with Calibre 0.7.44

[cyprinella]

I've got version 0.7.44 and I'm noticing that when it converts epubs to lrfs, the file size is like ten times the size of the original epub (like 1.0 MB or more when files I converted on older versions are much, much smaller.) and my 505 chokes on it. I've been trying to download one really long story from A03, and I'm converting it because the epub from the site comes up empty in my reader every time. It works if I convert it to RTF and load that. If I convert to LRF, it never loads and freezes my reader. Anyone having a similar problem with this version?

Editing and creating EPUB files

[holyschist]

I recently picked up a used Sony PRS-600 to try out ereaders properly, and so far I like it. However, I have noticed that EPUB files converted from PDF annoy the hell out of me, because they have hard page breaks, which do not coincide with ereader pages on my preferred font size. So I have two questions:

1) What's the easiest way to edit EPUB files created by someone else to add a table of contents, fix formatting issues and typos, etc.?

2) What's the easiest way to create basic EPUB files from scratch, if one felt inclined to do so? (No images, no fancy formatting.)

I could do it entirely by hand, but that seems less than efficient--I'd rather generate the file automatically and clean up by hand if necessary. I'm using a Mac, current operating system, and I do have Adobe InDesign (CS3), but that sounds like it might be overkill. Free is good.

Has anyone tried Sigil or eCub? Have another favorite EPUB editor/creator?

Also--does anyone happen to know how the PRS-600 handles epub ebooks that were originally created from HTML that had non-Roman unicode characters (e.g. Chinese)? I know I am going to run into this on occasion. Do ebooks with non-Roman characters have to be PDFs to display correctly?

Thanks!