Search by the author's surname

renzii · 02-17-2015, 05:25 PM

I am certain there is some very simple thing that I'm not doing, but since I haven't been able to figure it out, here goes. How can I configure my Calibre preferences, metadata whatever to allow my books to be loaded and searched by the author's surname on a Kindle Fire HDX 8.9? Yeah, I am that dumb. In my defence though, my Nook Simple Touch, Colour and HDs never had this issue... I just clicked send format to device and I was off! I thoght that the Kindle would be the same. Also, my Calibre converted AZW3 files are showing fine, but reading through the forums, I get the idea that I should have chosen Mobi?

Thanks in advance for any help!

HarryT · 02-19-2015, 03:08 AM

No, you really don't want to use Mobi. AZW3 is a much more capable format.

Are you saying that your Kindle is sorting your books by author's first name rather than surname? In Calibre I have the author field listed as "surname, firstname". This appears on the Kindle as "firstname surname" and sorts correctly by surname.

eschwartz · 02-24-2015, 03:05 PM

Preferences ==> Conversion ==> Output Options ==> MOBI/AZW3 Output (tabs, both of them)

Check "Use author sort for author"

Neither MOBI nor AZW3 has a separate author & author_sort field, so the Kindle uses the authors field for sorting (so really it is the author_sort field) and dynamically swaps around the commas to make the display name (which is the typical authors field).

Ideally this would be the default...

02-17-2015, 05:25 PM	#1
renzii Librarian/Reader/Student Posts: 33 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Trinidad Device: Kindle Fire 6th Gen	Search by the author's surname I am certain there is some very simple thing that I'm not doing, but since I haven't been able to figure it out, here goes. How can I configure my Calibre preferences, metadata whatever to allow my books to be loaded and searched by the author's surname on a Kindle Fire HDX 8.9? Yeah, I am that dumb. In my defence though, my Nook Simple Touch, Colour and HDs never had this issue... I just clicked send format to device and I was off! I thoght that the Kindle would be the same. Also, my Calibre converted AZW3 files are showing fine, but reading through the forums, I get the idea that I should have chosen Mobi? Thanks in advance for any help!

02-19-2015, 03:08 AM	#2
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	No, you really don't want to use Mobi. AZW3 is a much more capable format. Are you saying that your Kindle is sorting your books by author's first name rather than surname? In Calibre I have the author field listed as "surname, firstname". This appears on the Kindle as "firstname surname" and sorts correctly by surname. Last edited by HarryT; 02-19-2015 at 04:16 AM.

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02-24-2015, 03:05 PM	#3
eschwartz Ex-Helpdesk Junkie Posts: 19,422 Karma: 85397180 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)	Preferences ==> Conversion ==> Output Options ==> MOBI/AZW3 Output (tabs, both of them) Check "Use author sort for author" Neither MOBI nor AZW3 has a separate author & author_sort field, so the Kindle uses the authors field for sorting (so really it is the author_sort field) and dynamically swaps around the commas to make the display name (which is the typical authors field). Ideally this would be the default...