I finally got this working, 100% of the time. It might be overkill in spots, but here's my process... and much like with lucky socks, I'm not changing it...
- Open Calibre/Import any book etc.
- Select book, click the "Edit metadata" button.
- Remove any metadata that might be under the following (using the little recycle symbols): Rating, Tags, Ids, Date, Published, Publisher, and Series
- With your browser, head to Amazon.com and look up the *Kindle version* (important to get the Kindle version) of the book you are trying to add.
- Scroll down to Product Details and find the 10-character ASIN number. Copy that.
- Back in Calibre, still in the edit metadata section, go to "Ids" and type (without the quotes) "asin:0000000000" Replace the zeros with the asin you looked up. For example, "asin:B004TRXX7C"
- At the bottom of the metadata screen click the little "cogs" icon next to the "Download metadata" button.
- Make sure Amazon.com is the only source that is checked. Uncheck all others. Hit Apply (or cancel if it's currently the only one selected)
- Back in the metadata window, click the "Download metadata" button
- In the new window you should see your book's info as pulled from Amazon.com. Click OK.
- In the next window select your cover art, then click OK.
- The metadata will all be filled out correctly now. Click OK.
- With your book still selected, click the "Convert books" button.
- From the output format on the top right, select AZW3, then click OK.
- Wait for the job to finish, then click the "Quality Check" button. Scroll down to "Fix", then click "Fix ASIN for Kindle Fire". You will see a message that the book has been updated, click OK.
- Connect your Kindle to your computer (if it isn't already)
- On the right side of the "Send to device" button click the downfacing arrow.
- Select the option for "Send specific format to" and then "Main Memory".
- Make sure the only format being sent is the AZW3 we just created, then click OK.
- Wait for the job to finish.
- Eject and/or unplug your Kindle
- Look for the book you just added.
- Select the book's properties by holding your finger down on it for a few seconds. (I personally use a Paperwhite, so your experience here may be different.)
- Click "View on Goodreads".
- If it loads the book on the Goodreads page, you're good to go. You will be able to update the reading status properly as you start the book and read through it using Goodreads. Congrats!
- If it didn't load, then you didn't follow my instructions to the letter and should delete the book from Calibre and start over. If you did follow them 100% then there might be some other issue I haven't run into yet with any of the books I've tried, and I can't help you.
