Amazon purchased ebooks and Calibre library?

jukin · 12-30-2010, 11:54 AM

Apologies if this is a FAQ but I couldn't actually find what I was looking for.

I love Calibre and manage all my non-Amazon purchased ebooks with it. I would like to be able to include my Amazon purchased ebooks in my Calibre library so that I could manage the whole of my Kindle content using Calibre (and also add things like reviews and covers which Amazon ebooks sometimes do not include). Is there any way that I can include my Amazon purchases in Calibre and edit metadata like I can with other ebooks?

Sorry again if this is a FAQ but sometimes it's hard to phrase a precise search query.

Thanks for your help.

kovidgoyal · 12-30-2010, 12:02 PM

just add the books like you would any others. You wont be able to convert/view them, but everything else should work.

Note that it is not always possible to update metadata in purchased books, but it should work for most books.

user_none · 12-30-2010, 12:10 PM

Also realize that Amazon books are device locked. So if you get a new Kindle for instance you will need to redownload the book from Amazon.

jukin · 12-30-2010, 12:10 PM

Excellent! Thanks very much for your help Kovid. Much appreciated.

jukin · 12-30-2010, 12:11 PM

And thank you too user_none, just seen your reply.

Alison C · 12-30-2010, 11:00 PM

I have just downloaded Calibre, and am working my way (slowly - my problem, not Calibre's!) through building my library. I had the same question as Jukin about adding my Amazon purchases, but I'm afraid I don't fully understand the answer. How do I add to Calibre the Amazon books which were sent direct to my Kindle? As far as I know they aren't on my PC at all. (Spot the numpty ...)

I saw in the User Manual that it's possible to drag and drop from the Kindle to Calibre - but is that removing them from the Kindle, or copying them? Really sorry to be asking such stooopid questions.

Alison

Edit: okay, I have been experimenting, and now know that the drag and drop function doesn't remove them from the Kindle. So far so good ...

Alison C · 12-31-2010, 01:03 AM

Talking to myself now! One of the things I am trying to do is change the way a couple of my downloads appear on the Kindle. It's two books that I downloaded from the MobileRead library: their titles and authors don't show up as they should, so they go to the end of the alphabetical listing.

I tried renaming the PRC files and transferring them again; no luck. I have now got them in Calibre and changed the metadata to what looks like the right format, and transferred them again, but still the details on the Kindle are wrong. (They show as Hamsun_Hunger and Arnim_Enchanted April). If any kind soul can tell me how to change this, I will be so grateful; it's driving me a bit nuts at the moment. Thanks in hope.

Alison

jukin · 12-31-2010, 12:24 PM

Hi Alison,
Regarding adding Kindle books to Calibre. Here's what I did:
1) Opened the Kindle content in Calibre (attached the Kindle first of course)
2) Right-clicked on the book (or books) I wanted and selected 'Save to disk'
3) The books get saved as .azw files
4) Switched back to Calibre library and then added them as I would any other book.
5) I was able to edit the metadata and add a cover.
6) I then saved the book to the Kindle
I now had two copies on the Kindle, both with the correct metadata and cover (don't know how that happens) and so I deleted one and, so far, everything looks good.

Regarding your second question. I've found that it's very important to ensure the 'Title Sort' and 'Author Sort' fields have the correct data - they generally do if the field color is green i.e. if the author is Fred Bloggs then the Author Sort field should have Bloggs, Fred. That ensures that if you sort on author, your book is listed under 'B', and the same for title.

BTW my way of adding Kindle books to the Calibre library may not be the most efficient, I just did what works for me.

Good luck Alison.

jukin · 12-31-2010, 12:25 PM

Hey Alison, drag and drop may actually be much better - I must try that!!

waller4343 · 12-31-2010, 03:39 PM

Here's what I do to add books from my Kindles to Calibre:

1 - plug in the Kindle and wait for Calibre to recognize it.
2 - choose the device icon next to library.
3 - highlight all the books I want to add.
4 - right click one of the books and choose "add to library".
5 - wait for it to finish adding the books.

I have 2 Kindles and I created 2 custom yes/no/undefined - one called Kindle DX and the other called Kindle WiFi. I mark the books I added as yes in the correct column and then I can always see the titles I have on each of my Kindles. I have saved searches so I can pull up only the DX or the WiFi.

Then I can create a catalog for each reader. Ya' gotta love Calibre.

jukin · 12-31-2010, 04:40 PM

Hey waller4343, that's even quicker than my method. For some reason I didn't relate 'Add to library' with the Calibre library...DOH! Thanks for the heads-up.

waller4343 · 12-31-2010, 05:34 PM

Not a problem Jukin. It's amazing how versitile Calibre can be. They keep adding features that I didn't know I wanted and now I can't live without.

Alison C · 12-31-2010, 09:00 PM

Thanks, jukin and waller. I was experimenting yesterday and did manage to work out the highlight and add to library routine, which was easy and simple. Still can't get these two rogue books to work, though: I have edited the title and author in Calibre, and the field colour is green, but it was still wrong when I transferred the book to the Kindle. New day, new year - I'll give it a new try!

Happy new year to one and all.

Alison

12-30-2010, 11:54 AM	#1
jukin Connoisseur Posts: 81 Karma: 12 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: New Philadelphia, PA Device: iPad Air 2, Kindle Fire HD 10	Amazon purchased ebooks and Calibre library? Apologies if this is a FAQ but I couldn't actually find what I was looking for. I love Calibre and manage all my non-Amazon purchased ebooks with it. I would like to be able to include my Amazon purchased ebooks in my Calibre library so that I could manage the whole of my Kindle content using Calibre (and also add things like reviews and covers which Amazon ebooks sometimes do not include). Is there any way that I can include my Amazon purchases in Calibre and edit metadata like I can with other ebooks? Sorry again if this is a FAQ but sometimes it's hard to phrase a precise search query. Thanks for your help.

12-30-2010, 11:00 PM	#6
Alison C Enthusiast Posts: 46 Karma: 5714 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Somerset, UK Device: Kindle Paperwhite wifi	I have just downloaded Calibre, and am working my way (slowly - my problem, not Calibre's!) through building my library. I had the same question as Jukin about adding my Amazon purchases, but I'm afraid I don't fully understand the answer. How do I add to Calibre the Amazon books which were sent direct to my Kindle? As far as I know they aren't on my PC at all. (Spot the numpty ...) I saw in the User Manual that it's possible to drag and drop from the Kindle to Calibre - but is that removing them from the Kindle, or copying them? Really sorry to be asking such stooopid questions. Alison Edit: okay, I have been experimenting, and now know that the drag and drop function doesn't remove them from the Kindle. So far so good ... Last edited by Alison C; 12-31-2010 at 12:59 AM. Reason: Answered part of my own question

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12-30-2010, 12:02 PM	#2
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,860 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	just add the books like you would any others. You wont be able to convert/view them, but everything else should work. Note that it is not always possible to update metadata in purchased books, but it should work for most books.

12-30-2010, 12:10 PM	#3
user_none Sigil & calibre developer Posts: 2,488 Karma: 1063785 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Florida, USA Device: Nook STR	Also realize that Amazon books are device locked. So if you get a new Kindle for instance you will need to redownload the book from Amazon.

12-30-2010, 12:11 PM	#5
jukin Connoisseur Posts: 81 Karma: 12 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: New Philadelphia, PA Device: iPad Air 2, Kindle Fire HD 10	And thank you too user_none, just seen your reply.

12-31-2010, 01:03 AM	#7
Alison C Enthusiast Posts: 46 Karma: 5714 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Somerset, UK Device: Kindle Paperwhite wifi	Talking to myself now! One of the things I am trying to do is change the way a couple of my downloads appear on the Kindle. It's two books that I downloaded from the MobileRead library: their titles and authors don't show up as they should, so they go to the end of the alphabetical listing. I tried renaming the PRC files and transferring them again; no luck. I have now got them in Calibre and changed the metadata to what looks like the right format, and transferred them again, but still the details on the Kindle are wrong. (They show as Hamsun_Hunger and Arnim_Enchanted April). If any kind soul can tell me how to change this, I will be so grateful; it's driving me a bit nuts at the moment. Thanks in hope. Alison

12-31-2010, 12:24 PM	#8
jukin Connoisseur Posts: 81 Karma: 12 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: New Philadelphia, PA Device: iPad Air 2, Kindle Fire HD 10	Hi Alison, Regarding adding Kindle books to Calibre. Here's what I did: 1) Opened the Kindle content in Calibre (attached the Kindle first of course) 2) Right-clicked on the book (or books) I wanted and selected 'Save to disk' 3) The books get saved as .azw files 4) Switched back to Calibre library and then added them as I would any other book. 5) I was able to edit the metadata and add a cover. 6) I then saved the book to the Kindle I now had two copies on the Kindle, both with the correct metadata and cover (don't know how that happens) and so I deleted one and, so far, everything looks good. Regarding your second question. I've found that it's very important to ensure the 'Title Sort' and 'Author Sort' fields have the correct data - they generally do if the field color is green i.e. if the author is Fred Bloggs then the Author Sort field should have Bloggs, Fred. That ensures that if you sort on author, your book is listed under 'B', and the same for title. BTW my way of adding Kindle books to the Calibre library may not be the most efficient, I just did what works for me. Good luck Alison.

12-31-2010, 12:25 PM	#9
jukin Connoisseur Posts: 81 Karma: 12 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: New Philadelphia, PA Device: iPad Air 2, Kindle Fire HD 10	Hey Alison, drag and drop may actually be much better - I must try that!!

12-31-2010, 03:39 PM	#10
waller4343 Enthusiast Posts: 46 Karma: 16090 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Colorado, USA Device: Kindle DX, K3, iPad	Here's what I do to add books from my Kindles to Calibre: 1 - plug in the Kindle and wait for Calibre to recognize it. 2 - choose the device icon next to library. 3 - highlight all the books I want to add. 4 - right click one of the books and choose "add to library". 5 - wait for it to finish adding the books. I have 2 Kindles and I created 2 custom yes/no/undefined - one called Kindle DX and the other called Kindle WiFi. I mark the books I added as yes in the correct column and then I can always see the titles I have on each of my Kindles. I have saved searches so I can pull up only the DX or the WiFi. Then I can create a catalog for each reader. Ya' gotta love Calibre.

12-31-2010, 04:40 PM	#11
jukin Connoisseur Posts: 81 Karma: 12 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: New Philadelphia, PA Device: iPad Air 2, Kindle Fire HD 10	Hey waller4343, that's even quicker than my method. For some reason I didn't relate 'Add to library' with the Calibre library...DOH! Thanks for the heads-up.

12-31-2010, 05:34 PM	#12
waller4343 Enthusiast Posts: 46 Karma: 16090 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Colorado, USA Device: Kindle DX, K3, iPad	Not a problem Jukin. It's amazing how versitile Calibre can be. They keep adding features that I didn't know I wanted and now I can't live without.

12-31-2010, 09:00 PM	#13
Alison C Enthusiast Posts: 46 Karma: 5714 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Somerset, UK Device: Kindle Paperwhite wifi	Thanks, jukin and waller. I was experimenting yesterday and did manage to work out the highlight and add to library routine, which was easy and simple. Still can't get these two rogue books to work, though: I have edited the title and author in Calibre, and the field colour is green, but it was still wrong when I transferred the book to the Kindle. New day, new year - I'll give it a new try! Happy new year to one and all. Alison