MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - NEED HELP! (using Calibre for a specific purpose)

rboatright · 10-21-2011, 01:08 AM

When you opened the file the woman sent you, you opened it with some as-yet-unknown program. We have no way of knowing what program you used to open that file.

If you open it again, you can go to Help and then ABOUT in the menu, and it should tell you what program you were using.

In any event, the program you were using was an ebook READING program, not an ebook editing program. It provided a way for you to enter your own notes about the ebook you were reading, and if you had run it correctly, you could have saved those notes along side the ebook. But in no circumstance would they have become PART of the ebook.

Now for the part you are not going to enjoy, and probably not understand.

If you want to upload your book to Amazon for sale on Kindles, it is going to have to be formatted as an AZW or MOBI file (they are different names for the same thing.)

There is no direct conversion possible from Word to Mobi or AZW. Mobi and azw files are stored internally as HTML documents, the same as web pages. So in order to convert your word document to a Kindle file, the program (like calibre) doing the conversion has to first convert it into one or more web pages.

The problem with that is, Word has lots of functions that simply do not translate well. For example, on the Kindle, you can not specify a typeface or a font-size. You have only limited ability to do things like drop caps and so forth. Formatting of bibliographic entries is primitive. Even formatting of inset quotations is limited.

So, word is the WORST POSSIBLE editor to use to create your book in. :-)

Now, just like on web pages, it is possible to have LINKS embedded in your kindle document which would jump your user to a definition or a note or something. Then you can have a back-link to jump you back.

The Kindle format does not support "pop up" definitions. The person READING the book can add notes to the book which appear as pop-ups, but you don't have the ability with ANY editor to do that at the time the ebook is distributed by Amazon.

getting into more detail comes into the "either go do a lot of research, or pay to have someone help you" stage. There are any number of excellent tutorials on creating mobi/azw files... I suggest you start by reading those.

One of the best techniques I know of is to use Calibre to convert your word document into an EPUB file, and then use SIGIL to edit the epub until it is as close to what you want as you can get it, then use CALIBRE to convert the epub into an Mobi/Azw file.

One other thing. In your word doc, never EVER format a word or paragraph by just choosing the formatting. Every format change should be done by picking a STYLE from the stylesheet. This will go a long ways towards making your conversion go more smoothly.

It's still going to suck and take a long time. That's why there are commercial services to help with this stuff.

10-21-2011, 01:08 AM	#7
rboatright Member Posts: 19 Karma: 1000 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: Kobo Mini	When you opened the file the woman sent you, you opened it with some as-yet-unknown program. We have no way of knowing what program you used to open that file. If you open it again, you can go to Help and then ABOUT in the menu, and it should tell you what program you were using. In any event, the program you were using was an ebook READING program, not an ebook editing program. It provided a way for you to enter your own notes about the ebook you were reading, and if you had run it correctly, you could have saved those notes along side the ebook. But in no circumstance would they have become PART of the ebook. Now for the part you are not going to enjoy, and probably not understand. If you want to upload your book to Amazon for sale on Kindles, it is going to have to be formatted as an AZW or MOBI file (they are different names for the same thing.) There is no direct conversion possible from Word to Mobi or AZW. Mobi and azw files are stored internally as HTML documents, the same as web pages. So in order to convert your word document to a Kindle file, the program (like calibre) doing the conversion has to first convert it into one or more web pages. The problem with that is, Word has lots of functions that simply do not translate well. For example, on the Kindle, you can not specify a typeface or a font-size. You have only limited ability to do things like drop caps and so forth. Formatting of bibliographic entries is primitive. Even formatting of inset quotations is limited. So, word is the WORST POSSIBLE editor to use to create your book in. :-) Now, just like on web pages, it is possible to have LINKS embedded in your kindle document which would jump your user to a definition or a note or something. Then you can have a back-link to jump you back. The Kindle format does not support "pop up" definitions. The person READING the book can add notes to the book which appear as pop-ups, but you don't have the ability with ANY editor to do that at the time the ebook is distributed by Amazon. getting into more detail comes into the "either go do a lot of research, or pay to have someone help you" stage. There are any number of excellent tutorials on creating mobi/azw files... I suggest you start by reading those. One of the best techniques I know of is to use Calibre to convert your word document into an EPUB file, and then use SIGIL to edit the epub until it is as close to what you want as you can get it, then use CALIBRE to convert the epub into an Mobi/Azw file. One other thing. In your word doc, never EVER format a word or paragraph by just choosing the formatting. Every format change should be done by picking a STYLE from the stylesheet. This will go a long ways towards making your conversion go more smoothly. It's still going to suck and take a long time. That's why there are commercial services to help with this stuff.