Managing books on PC- using calibre or amazon whispernet

[sookie]

Hi folks! So I recently got my first e-reader (K3 with 3G) and I'm still trying to figure things out re organization and ebook management. Right now I'm using both whispernet and calibre to load books on my e-reader but my current method appears to me to be a bit disorganized. I feel this way because on my PC I have my ebook collection spread between Kindle for PC software and calibre. I'm using calibre to store epub books that have been mobi converted.

So my long winded question is whether this method (keeping books separate within Kindle for PC and calibre) is the norm for other kindle users. Is it a bad idea to just load everything into calibre (ie move auto downloaded books via whispernet into calibre)? Perhaps this will cause redundant loading onto my kindle?

Thanks in advance!

[kevinp]

Congratulations on the new Kindle.
If you're just looking for opinions... I keep all my books in Calibre. I only keep 15-20 books on my Kindle at a time. I can't read that many books at once anyway! It's no problem for me to connect to my computer to load a new book any time I want.

I've also heard the Kindle takes a very long time to index your collection if you put a few thousand books on it. (Can't imagine why people would want or need that many books on the Kindle at once)

[FF2]

I am probably in a situation similar to the original poster. I've got free, drm-free and pdf stuff loaded into Calibre. But anything I got directly from Amazon, well, is on my kindle and also backed up separately to a folder on my computer. But I guess I have never thought of loading those KINDLE books into Calibre.

As a matter of fact, I am probably using Calibre wrong. If I download a book or pdf (instruction manuals, recipes), they are in my download folder. I then drag them to calibre and they wind up in the Calibre library but they also still reside in my download folder - duplicating too many titles???

I'll take more organizing suggestions, too.

[TheKindleWorm]

Originally Posted by FF2

I am probably in a situation similar to the original poster. I've got free, drm-free and pdf stuff loaded into Calibre. But anything I got directly from Amazon, well, is on my kindle and also backed up separately to a folder on my computer. But I guess I have never thought of loading those KINDLE books into Calibre.

As a matter of fact, I am probably using Calibre wrong. If I download a book or pdf (instruction manuals, recipes), they are in my download folder. I then drag them to calibre and they wind up in the Calibre library but they also still reside in my download folder - duplicating too many titles???

I'll take more organizing suggestions, too.

Calibre merely takes a copy of any books you add into it. It will never delete or overwrite the original source file which I think is a good idea for people like me who end up making a dog's dinner of things! You can go and delete those original files manually if you're sure you no longer want them.

I store all my books in Calibre. With Kindle books - I make sure to copy the file off my Kindle and place in Calibre. That's because if Amazon accidentally lost any purchase I had made, I'd then have a backup in Calibre which would work on that Kindle. The files for Kindle or Kindle for PC are encrypted to work only within that particular device / app.

My Calibre library is all backed up on dropbox just because I've had PCs die on me before and my book library is more important than most of my files.

[TheKindleWorm]

I forgot to mention that I've added in a custom column in Calibre so I can identify which books have come from Amazon. This is useful to know if I ever get a new kindle for example and need to download those files again. Just a thought.

How to:

http://www.kinworm.com/2010/09/ebook...n-calibre.html