Do you split omnibuses into separate books?

[Katsunami]

Easy question: Yes, sometimes, Never?

Everybody knows and loves the Kobo discount codes. Some go as high as 80%. Using such codes, I aim to buy omnibuses: the larger, the better. For example:

The Dune Collection (6 books)
The Collected Abercrombie (6 books)
The Complete Malazan Book of the Fallen (10 books!)
The Dresden Files 1-6 and 7-12

And so on.

That way, when spending one code, I can effectively get a discount on 3 to 10 books at once, and I'm not even mentioning that the omnibus is often cheaper than the seperate books already.

However, omnibuses have one very big problem: it's impossible to mark a book as read, and I've decided that I finally want to track year by year which books I've read; in Calibre, so I can exclude read books when picking a new one, see in which year(s) I (re)read a book, and that sort of stuff.

This is my main reason for splitting up omnibuses using EPUBSplit. Then I fill out the metadata of each book, stick the correct cover on the front (Google it), so I can mark the book read accurately.

There is one exception: I don't split up Delphi Classics. These omnibuses are huge, and sometimes, they are updated, so I'd need to split them again (and again... and again...). If I read a book from such an omnibus, I create an empty book, fill that out, and mark it as read. In the comments section, I refer to the omnibus the book is actually in.

(Splitting a book and creating an empty one, and then filling them out, costs roughly the same amount of time.)

So... do you split? Always? If not too big? Never?

[EndlessWaves]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

So... do you split? Always? If not too big? Never?

I just keep reading through the whole omnibus so even if I was bothered about tracking reading times it would be accurate.

As for keeping track of duplicates, Calibre's search returns results from all fields so sticking the contents of the omnibus in tags, comments or a custom column makes it easy to find if a book is in my library.

[DrNefario]

I count the individual books separately but I don't actually physically split the files. I don't use calibre as my master list of books, and I don't habitually strip the DRM. My kindle books don't currently go anywhere near calibre, and quite a few of my omnibuses are in paper.

[Katsunami]

Hm, yeah. I wouldn't split paper omnibuses either... seems a bit destructive

[Ntsimp]

Since my device keeps track of where I'm at in a file, it doesn't matter that an omnibus is big. I didn't understand the possible answers until I read that first post. I don't use any kind of automated system to keep track of which books I've read; I just have a text file with a list of titles. I still haven't answered the question, because the answer is just "No".

[Rbneader]

I'm starting to think about it. Baen's trick of combining Andre Norton's early works into new omnibuses is causing no end of confusion. Epubsplit might be the easiest answer.

[DiapDealer]

I can't be bothered to split them up. I just read them.

[pdurrant]

I don't even make an empty book record. I might include the titles of the individual volumes in a custom column (Parts) that I've added.

[cromag]

I only split anthologies if they cause a problem with my ereader. I've had two that wouldn't open until I split them. I have no idea what the problem was, but they work, now. None of the poll options really fit for me.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I don't even make an empty book record. I might include the titles of the individual volumes in a custom column (Parts) that I've added.

With the Delphi Classics, I get the list of novels/stories from their site, and reformat it into plain text, so I can paste it into the comments section.

If I then search for a particular book and it's in one of the Delphi compilations, the compilation will come up because the book is mentioned in the comments.

Originally Posted by cromag

I only split anthologies if they cause a problem with my ereader. I've had two that wouldn't open until I split them. I have no idea what the problem was, but they work, now. None of the poll options really fit for me.

Hehe. I did it the other way around a few days ago. I downloaded the short stories of one author from Feedbooks.com; there were a lot. None of them except one had a front cover, and they didn't have any descriptions.

I couldn't be bothered to go and fix that bunch up, as I'd probably read them all one after the other. Therefore took off the cover of the one outlier, and stacked them on top of each other in order of publication, using EPUBMerge. Then I fixed where needed (indenting the TOC, and a bit of CSS stuff), created my own cover, and filled out the metadata. Now I have an 800 page anthology. Creating that took less than 10 minutes.

[Quexos]

No, I usually get a book to read it not to start messing with its DNA, I mean its CSS
Besides if I minded omnibuses I would simply get singles instead of omnibuses, d'oh !

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Quexos

No, I usually get a book to read it not to start messing with its DNA, I mean its CSS

There is always SOMETHING wrong... Some books have the weirdest layout you've ever seen.

Besides if I minded omnibuses I would simply get singles instead of omnibuses, d'oh !

Uh... no. When getting the 6 Dune books seperately, I'd pay €6.99, and the current 50% coupon would work on one of them only. When getting the onimbus, it would cost €30 (which is about €12 cheaper), and the price can be halved to €15.

€15 for the omnibus+code vs. €38.45 for the seperate books+code...

I'll get the omnibus and spend 15 minutes on splitting, thank you.

[theducks]

What I really hate is the Omnibus that is just the originals chained together into a big EPUB

No single style (code or visual). 1+ CSS per part (not easy/simple to edit the style)
In many case, looking at the original paper edition, there is a consistent look. Just Sloppy, and everybody seems to do it sometime

[Tarana]

I didn't vote because my option isn't there. I'd split some, but don't have the tech knowledge to do so.

In general, I have no need to split an omnibus of books unless there is no table of contents. I list the books individually in my Goodreads account, so storing or reading as an omnibus is not an issue. I'd like to be able to split anthologies, so that I could keep novellas and short stories of specific authors together with their series, but don't know how to use the software to do it.

Be aware that some omnibus editions are not complete. The only one I know specifically is the Dragonrider's of Pern Omnibus (1st 3 books) by Anne McCaffrey because this omnibus was geared towards the YA market. Some scenes in the original were dropped as inappropriate for this market. However, this problem was present in the paper version, not deliberate towards ereaders.

[Ken Maltby]

I do the opposite, I often merge all the epubs to have the series in one file. (I am now reading L.E. Modesitt's "Recluce Saga" constructed from the 16 epubs.) I have made a bunch of 5 book or fewer "omnibusi".

Luck;
Ken