Conversion Problem

[Mishri Jain]

I saved my file as WORD document in the 'Save As' option. I entered this file on the Calibre Library and then selected this document for the next step of conversion by clicking on the 'Recycle' icon of Calibre. And I get the following message: "could not convert because no suitable source format found."

I am stuck at this point. Need help to overcome this problem and proceed further to accomplish conversion to MOBI output.

I am a novice, not sophisticated in these matters. Shall greatly appreciate any assistance.

Thanks.........Mishri.

[ldolse]

Calibre doesn't support Microsoft Word format. Save your document as html(filtered) or rtf.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Mishri Jain

I saved my file as WORD document in the 'Save As' option. I entered this file on the Calibre Library and then selected this document for the next step of conversion by clicking on the 'Recycle' icon of Calibre. And I get the following message: "could not convert because no suitable source format found."

I am stuck at this point. Need help to overcome this problem and proceed further to accomplish conversion to MOBI output.

I am a novice, not sophisticated in these matters. Shall greatly appreciate any assistance.

Thanks.........Mishri.

Recycle Icon = DELETE

To re-CONVERT
Select Convert and Verify the input (upper Left) is the Source type you want to use.

Note: 95% of the time you should Never place a document DIRECTLY into the Calibre Library folder (The other 5% of the time, is when you have learned enough to do a sleight of hand change will does not damage the DB integrity) There are plugins that help do some of this safer

[Mishri Jain]

As you say, NEVER to place a document Directly into the Calibre Library and there are plugins that help do same of this safer. Then please let me know what are those plugins and how to use it to place a document in Calibre Library?

Remember, I am an absolute novice. Don't know much about these things.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Mishri Jain

As you say, NEVER to place a document Directly into the Calibre Library and there are plugins that help do same of this safer. Then please let me know what are those plugins and how to use it to place a document in Calibre Library?

Remember, I am an absolute novice. Don't know much about these things.

ALWAYS use the 'ADD books' Icon (Red book with the Plus). For the first-time adding to the Library.
Open the Metadata Editor (for the correct title )to add additional Formats OR Update the Existing format. You may drag and drop into the Formats window or use the 'Add books' Icon located there.

Tweak (T on the keyboard) can be used for 'surgery' operations on an Existing EPUB. There is no protections for the Book, but the Library as a whole will not be damaged.

Read the list in the MR Calibre: Plugin section for ones you might find useful

[Piper_]

Mishri, just to be extra clear, you need to do both of the things suggested by ldolse and TheDucks.

1. Go back to your original WORD document, open it, and save or export "as" either html(filtered) or rtf.

2. Open calibre, and use the "Add Books" button, or just drag and drop to get that new html or rtf file into calibre.

It should now appear at the top of the list of books in your calibre library.

3. Right Click on that, point to [Edit Metadata], and select [Edit Metadata Individually]

4. In the window that pops up, fix up the title, author, cover, comments, etc., as you want them to be. (If you need help on this part, let us know.)

5. Hit "OK"

6. Now, right-click on the book, point to [Convert Books] and select [Convert Individually]

7. In the new window that pops up, make sure the output format on upper right says "Mobi", then hit "OK".

That should do it for you. The default conversion settings should be fine, but if you want to tweak things, like chapters, you can try converting again, but editing some conversion options this time. Let us know if you need help with those.

Good luck!

[Mishri Jain]

Dear Piper,
Thanks so very much for these step by step instructions. This is the kind of directive I needed. Now, I do not quite understand the "Metadata" to fix up metadata individually as you have noted in your instructions. For example. I have a Title page in my book, which I would also like as the Cover Page. How do I do that?

Also, I want to add an external hyperlink so that one could click it and immediately access the sample chapter to examine. Reading on the internet, I learn that I have to choose a domain name and a hosted website. I shall be most thankful if you could choose a dummy domain name and illustrate exactly how to accomplish this.

I realize that I have asked far too much help. But, my motivation is to have my scientific rendition of "The True System of Yoga" book accessible far and wide.

I shall be most grateful for your kindness in helping me see through this process successfully. Reading your instructions I felt I have found a true helping hand.

Best regards........Mishri.

[Piper_]

Originally Posted by Mishri Jain

Dear Piper,
Thanks so very much for these step by step instructions. This is the kind of directive I needed. Now, I do not quite understand the "Metadata" to fix up metadata individually as you have noted in your instructions. For example. I have a Title page in my book, which I would also like as the Cover Page. How do I do that?

You're welcome, Mishri. The gurus here run circles around me with their understanding of the really complex calibre functions, so I'm thrilled when I can help someone out too.

By metadata you could fix up, I was referring to things like the Title, Author(s), publisher, the cover image you'd like to use, and any comments you'd like to make, as in a description of the book.

In the window that pops up in step #3, you can type or paste these things in by hand, or you can have calibre download them from public servers, by clicking the "Download metadata" or "Download Covers" buttons.

I'm afraid I'm not quite sure what you mean by, "I have a Title page in my book, which I would also like as the Cover Page. How do I do that?"

By "Cover page," do you mean you want that page to appear as the book's cover?

Or do you want that page to be called the "Cover Page" in its header and in the book's Table of Contents?

Also, I want to add an external hyperlink so that one could click it and immediately access the sample chapter to examine. Reading on the internet, I learn that I have to choose a domain name and a hosted website. I shall be most thankful if you could choose a dummy domain name and illustrate exactly how to accomplish this.

I realize that I have asked far too much help. But, my motivation is to have my scientific rendition of "The True System of Yoga" book accessible far and wide.

I shall be most grateful for your kindness in helping me see through this process successfully. Reading your instructions I felt I have found a true helping hand.

Best regards........Mishri.

Well, I can tell you how to set up a domain name and site for a link to go to, but if and how you can to get it to work from within any given ebook will depend on a few things.

Before we get into that, we might want to make sure that's really what you want to do.

Since you say you want the book to be accessible far and wide, my main questions would be:

• Are you only intending to make this a .mobi book?
  
• Do you want to make it available on Amazon?
  
• Do you not want to make an epub version for e-readers who don't use Kindles or Kindle applications?

Basically, from where do you want people to get your ebook, and what all devices do you want this ebook to work on?

The answers to those questions might change what you can do - or even want to do - with that external link and the cover page as well.

[Mishri Jain]

Hello Piper,
First, reading such meaningful and relevant questions, I truly feel you are God sent to me. Forgive me for expressing my feelings, but I had to. Now to your questions and comments.
As to the 'Cover Page', I would like to have that page appear as the book's cover.

However, the book has been reviewed by a scientist-physician (M.D.) at NIH; by a research scientist (M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A) at Haifa, Israel; an assistant professor at University of Illinois at Chicago; and by a Yogi at Rishikesh,The Himalayas, India. Is it advisable to make this blurbs page as the 'Cover Page'? Or will it be unusual, even unprofessional?

The reason for external hyperlink was the suggestion made by some Ebook publishers to allow a prospective reader/purchaser to click on the hyperlink and be able to review a sample of the book's content immediately so as to be persuaded to obtain/buy a copy of the book. I do not know whether, alternatively, one could simply provide an email address somewhere in the book (probably has to be at or near the opening page, I guess), said email address entirely dedicated to and automatically linked to a sample chapter of the book? I do not know whether this is even possible. Or, just provide an internal hyperlink for a sample chapter associated with the 'Table of Contents' (not so called TOC, but typewritten and made by me and placed in the book immediately after the Copyright page) and simply not worry about the external hyperlink? I do not know how best to approach this issue.

No, I do not intend to make this ONLY .mobi book. As noted in your remarks, I certainly would like to make it in EPUB version as well so that e-readers who do not use Kindle or Kindle applications could also read/get it. In other words, I would like the book to be available on all reading devices. I do not know whether only Mobi formatted books are readable on Kindle. Can EPUB books also readable on Kindle? I should think so (otherwise how will Amazon sell so many Kindle?) But am not sure. In short, yes I would like to have the book available on all e-reading devices (iPAD, Kindle, etc.).

Piper, please allow me to ask: since it will be because of your invaluable help at this critical juncture that the publication of this book in proper formats and outlets will be possible, could I be allowed to include your name in the "ACKNOWLEDGEMENT" section of the book when it is ready to be uploaded to however and whatever outlet(s) we finally decide upon?

Kindest regards..........Mishri.

[Piper_]

Originally Posted by Mishri Jain

Hello Piper,
First, reading such meaningful and relevant questions, I truly feel you are God sent to me. Forgive me for expressing my feelings, but I had to.
[...]
Piper, please allow me to ask: since it will be because of your invaluable help at this critical juncture that the publication of this book in proper formats and outlets will be possible, could I be allowed to include your name in the "ACKNOWLEDGEMENT" section of the book when it is ready to be uploaded to however and whatever outlet(s) we finally decide upon?

You're so kind, Mishri, I fear I won't be able to earn so much gratitude. I do promise to help you reach your goal as painlessly as possible, as far as I can. I'll probably learn some things along with you.

No need for an acknowledgment, but if you wish to add one, I would love to see it given to Kovid Goyal for all his development and support of calibre for us all.

Now to your questions and comments.
As to the 'Cover Page', I would like to have that page appear as the book's cover.


However, the book has been reviewed by a scientist-physician (M.D.) at NIH; by a research scientist (M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A) at Haifa, Israel; an assistant professor at University of Illinois at Chicago; and by a Yogi at Rishikesh,The Himalayas, India. Is it advisable to make this blurbs page as the 'Cover Page'? Or will it be unusual, even unprofessional?

If I am understanding what this ebook will be, I can see why you don't want an artistic image as a cover.

But I do think you should have an image file you can define as the cover in the metadata when you submit the ebook to retailers.

What you could do would be to use Word to make a very nice cover page - something like the cover of a medical journal...? You may include blurbs, etc., in addition to the title, author, subtitle, etc.

Then, you can just save that nice cover page as an image. (You'll need to consider dimensions, but we can get to that later.)

You want it to look as professional, attractive, and readable as you can for people who are browsing for ebooks like yours.

The reason for external hyperlink was the suggestion made by some Ebook publishers to allow a prospective reader/purchaser to click on the hyperlink and be able to review a sample of the book's content immediately so as to be persuaded to obtain/buy a copy of the book. I do not know whether, alternatively, one could simply provide an email address somewhere in the book (probably has to be at or near the opening page, I guess), said email address entirely dedicated to and automatically linked to a sample chapter of the book? I do not know whether this is even possible. Or, just provide an internal hyperlink for a sample chapter associated with the 'Table of Contents' (not so called TOC, but typewritten and made by me and placed in the book immediately after the Copyright page) and simply not worry about the external hyperlink? I do not know how best to approach this issue.

No, I do not intend to make this ONLY .mobi book. As noted in your remarks, I certainly would like to make it in EPUB version as well so that e-readers who do not use Kindle or Kindle applications could also read/get it. In other words, I would like the book to be available on all reading devices. I do not know whether only Mobi formatted books are readable on Kindle. Can EPUB books also readable on Kindle? I should think so (otherwise how will Amazon sell so many Kindle?) But am not sure. In short, yes I would like to have the book available on all e-reading devices (iPAD, Kindle, etc.).
Kindest regards..........Mishri.

Thank you.

OK, then. Here are the most important points to consider now:

Regarding Formats:

No, Kindles don't read epub, but most other ereaders do. So you will need a good epub version of your book as well.

In fact, my advice would be to format the book in epub first, and then convert it to mobi.

It's more simple to edit and get an epub book just the way you want it, using a wonderful, free program many of us here use, called Sigil.

Download here.
See the support forum for it just below this calibre forum.

There are many people who are much more experienced with this than I, so they may pipe in with better workflow advoce, but what I do is this:

Follow all the steps I gave you in post #6, but when you get to Step 7, make sure the output format on upper right says "epub" - not "mobi."

Now you will have an epub version of your ebook that's easy for Sigil to open and edit just the way you want it. I can give you some tips and steps to get there, if or when needed.

Once you have an epub fixed up and ready for epub ereaders, you would convert the epub to .mobi for the rest.

Whether or not a simple calibre conversion is all you will need to get that epub into a good and Amazon-ready mobi will depend on a few things; in particular, how much formatting your book requires. (Are there many tables, footnotes, etc.?)

Regarding links and sample chapters:

Yes, you should add your email address and website address to the ebook.
I wouldn't worry too much about making them clickable, though, because so many ereaders either don't have internet access, or they won't open a browser or email ap from a click within a book, even if they do.

But that's ok, because once you get your book on the retailer's web site, most (if not all) of them handle the free sample part.

Look at the listing of any ebook on Barnes and Noble or Amazon (who both have wireless ereaders), you'll see a link to "Download a free sample now."

At the end of those samples, you'll see that they add a "click here to download the rest of the book" link for you.

I'm not sure how it's done at sites like Sony or others, but when it comes to that end, I think you will find a lot of valuable information on this thread:
How and Where to Publish Your Ebooks

You might also want to familiarize yourself with the Writer's Corner and the mobi and epub sections of the Workshop.


I know this doesn't give all the answers you'll need to get your book out there, but I don't want to swamp you with too much at once, or explain steps you won't need to take. If you aren't sure about anything I've said, or if you want to investigate other options, just let me know, ok?

[Mishri Jain]

Many thanks, Piper, for clarifications.
I have no problem following your step-by-step instructions listed in Post#6. Now, as you suggested, I should take advantage of Sigil. When I click on "Download here" in your Post, a whole list of Sigils comes up (many are 'Experimental'). Which one of these should I download? And you said that you can give some tips and steps for opening and using Sigil to edit the EPUB file. I would need these tips and steps to save me from trouble.
As to the cover page, you mentioned that I could make a very nice cover page using WORD. Again, as you have gathered by now, I would need instructions how to do this.

Also, just so that you know, there are no tables and there are only four footnotes in the document.
I would ask you more about hyperlinks and where to publish, etc., after I have successfully accomplished EPUB conversion.

Unitl then, with kindest regards.........Mishri.

[theducks]

Avoid the 'experimental's' for now

Go with 3.4
You need to choose the one for your operating system.

Pay attention to NOT choose a 64 bit version unless your PC and Operating system are 64 bits

[Mishri Jain]

As suggested, I have downloaded the 3.4 Sigil for my 32 bit PC.
I have also reviewed Sigil's User Manual. Frankly, it may be quite easy to follow for some but does no appear so simple for a tech dummy like me.

At this point, as noted in Post#6, I have followed up to step #3 and can select "Edit Metadata Individually." Now, I do not know at what step should I use Sigil and how? Need all the tips I can get. I know I will have to fix several formatting issues because the file saved as "HTML, filtered," is not similar to the formatted WORD file. It has all kind of differences. I need your help.
Among other instructions, kindly let me know, how I may change the Copy and Paste items to JPEG format? In "save as" options there are other options but not rtf or JPEG. I believe if not in JPEG it will not show up. What's the remedy?

If it would be simpler, I could email you the finalized WORD file as an attachment so that you may be able to help better. Kindly let me know.........Mishri.





several

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Mishri Jain

As suggested, I have downloaded the 3.4 Sigil for my 32 bit PC.
I have also reviewed Sigil's User Manual. Frankly, it may be quite easy to follow for some but does no appear so simple for a tech dummy like me.

At this point, as noted in Post#6, I have followed up to step #3 and can select "Edit Metadata Individually." Now, I do not know at what step should I use Sigil and how? Need all the tips I can get. I know I will have to fix several formatting issues because the file saved as "HTML, filtered," is not similar to the formatted WORD file. It has all kind of differences. I need your help.
Among other instructions, kindly let me know, how I may change the Copy and Paste items to JPEG format? In "save as" options there are other options but not rtf or JPEG. I believe if not in JPEG it will not show up. What's the remedy?

If it would be simpler, I could email you the finalized WORD file as an attachment so that you may be able to help better. Kindly let me know.........Mishri.





several

Press F8 in Sigil, that brings up the metadat editor wibdiw.You can change the existig field data (not the names, Sigil only allows you to add from the list of Approved names)You can have more than 1 line for Author (or any other). The buttons shoud give you a clue.
Rememner to save your work.
BTW you can Flightcrew (Green tick) check right from Sigil with links to the problems with Line numbers.

[Piper_]

Originally Posted by Mishri Jain

As suggested, I have downloaded the 3.4 Sigil for my 32 bit PC.
I have also reviewed Sigil's User Manual. Frankly, it may be quite easy to follow for some but does no appear so simple for a tech dummy like me.

At this point, as noted in Post#6, I have followed up to step #3 and can select "Edit Metadata Individually." Now, I do not know at what step should I use Sigil and how? Need all the tips I can get. I know I will have to fix several formatting issues because the file saved as "HTML, filtered," is not similar to the formatted WORD file. It has all kind of differences. I need your help.
Among other instructions, kindly let me know, how I may change the Copy and Paste items to JPEG format? In "save as" options there are other options but not rtf or JPEG. I believe if not in JPEG it will not show up. What's the remedy?

If it would be simpler, I could email you the finalized WORD file as an attachment so that you may be able to help better. Kindly let me know.........Mishri.

Hi, Mishri.
I'd be happy to take a look at the Word doc and see what I can do for you. I'll pm you with email address. I'm under the weather this week, but I'll work on it this weekend if I can and then, hopefully, post back here with the steps that are/were needed, for future reference, at least.