I feel remarkably good for an eBook-addict and fiction-addict with zero fiction eBooks. Now I have a clean eBook baseline, consisting of the Calibre Quick-Start Guide in default library configuration. I deleted the old libraries with all their eBooks, de-intalled calibre including the configuration directory, and reinstalled this new, clean-baseline calibre instance. I realized the best time of all possible times to zero both eBook and calibre baselines was now, together.
1. I had a minor problem losing a few books between saving-out and adding-in operations across two libraries. (Didn't normally use CopyToLibrary.) I couldn't pin it down enough to replicate on demand and document it. The library infrastructure configuration for each library had evolved through a lot of structural changes, any of which could have engendered some problem that lingered on sporadically. A clean installation of calibre might solve whatever that was.
2. I made mistakes. I didn't track sources on eBooks, and I was careless about some sources. If I didn't fix it now, I'd have more eBooks to sort out later. And I want to achieve a higher level of format quality next go-round. Since I'd converted everything to ePub I'd have had to re-add them from my Raw Books bin in their original formats with bad metadata, fix author and title then merge them with the right metadata in the old ePub record, and still wouldn't know their sources in all cases. So I deleted all Raw Books too.
3. I will start eBook gathering anew, slowly, redownloading some books a few at a time from Amazon, Baen, other legitimate sources. I'll know the source and track it in metadata, and in most cases delay any conversions or cleanups until right before reading, also leaving them as whatever format they arrived in. And this go-round I will be much more discriminating in choice of content for inclusion, regarding authors, genres, quality of content, desire-to-read-soon. At the start of my eBook activities, I'd grabbed a lot of stuff from places like Mobile Read, Project Gutenberg, Amazon (free or on sale) that looked mildly interesting and I didn't intend to read until later, if ever. Why should I even bother to download those and maintain them in my own eBook database, when they're all instantly available from those vendors/distributors whenever I want to read them in the future? At that future time format qualities and my conversion skills probably will be better than now. So I'm thinking a new strategy might be good to try: "don't download the series or title until just before reading." Obtain-the-book-on-demand. That might work pretty well, as opposed to my original strategy to "obtain long before reading and fixup right away in case I might want to read it someday." I'd been gathering a lot more than I was reading anyway. That use of time gathering and fixing didn't match my reading needs.
4. I'd also like to determine a slightly more comfortable infrastructure for my library or libraries. Rethink custom fields and templates. Rethink that habit of using two libraries, one for cleanups and one for main library.
I know a little more now about eBooks, the eBook world, and calibre than when I started in January. My work habits in the KISS 0.21 (at Post #52 in this thread) seem okay to me as still-a-beginner, except where marked there as needing revision, and except as discussed above. But I settled into those habits in haphazard fashion. I want to rethink everything first then go slow and build carefully.
Does that reasoning seem sound?
The next version of KISS may take awhile to shake out. Thank you to everyone who posted in this thread, and other MR posters elsewhere too. You taught me a lot so far and helped me work this out. Whether it's sound reasoning or not sound - thanks.
