Sort ebooks by number in series on Kindle?

[Juleru]

Hey!

I hope this is the right subforum for my question!
I own a Kindle Paperwhite 12 and I created a bunch of collections for my ebook series.

Is there anything I can do in Calibre to make the Kindle display the ebooks within these series in the right order (can't just rely on the year) that doesn't involve jailbreaking the Kindle or formating the titles like "[number] title" or "series - number: title" (this would make some titles really long and make it hard to even find the right ebook).

[Sirtel]

No, there isn't.

[Juleru]

Thanks for the prompt reply!
Damn! Can this even be done with a jailbreak?
What do people do in this case? Do they just add the number after the title or use the long version that includes the series name?

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Juleru

Thanks for the prompt reply!
Damn! Can this even be done with a jailbreak?
What do people do in this case? Do they just add the number after the title or use the long version that includes the series name?

People with Kindles usually add the number and/or series name to the title.

Kobo and Pocketbook devices support series information for sideloaded books, so there's no need for clumsy workarounds.

As to jailbreaking, I'm not sure. The native Kindle reader doesn't support series info for sideloaded books, it doesn't matter if you jailbreak or not. The main advantage of jailbreaking is using KOReader instead of the native reader, but I don't know if KOReader supports series info from Calibre.

[Juleru]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Kobo and Pocketbook devices support series information for sideloaded books, so there's no need for clumsy workarounds.

I know, it's so nice that Kobo even uses tags to automatically create collections. Kindles are nice but it's such a pity that they don't support series.

The native Kindle reader doesn't support series info for sideloaded books, it doesn't matter if you jailbreak or not.

How does it do it for "real" ebooks? It's surprising nobody has found a way to fake that yet.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Juleru

How does it do it for "real" ebooks? It's surprising nobody has found a way to fake that yet.

What do you mean by "real" ebooks? Kindles support series sorting of books purchased and downloaded directly from Amazon. Not books sideloaded via USB, emailed or sent via Send to Kindle. It has nothing to do with them being "real" (whatever you mean by that) or not.

As to why nobody has found a way to fake it, it's simple. Amazon has made that part of the Kindle OS closed and inaccessible, the same as collections. There is no way to manage either series or collections on a Kindle by third-party programs.

[Juleru]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

What do you mean by "real" ebooks?

"Real", as in not sideloaded but downloaded directly from Amazon.

As to why nobody has found a way to fake it, it's simple. Amazon has made that part of the Kindle OS closed and inaccessible, the same as collections. There is no way to manage either series or collections on a Kindle by third-party programs.

That sucks. Thanks for explaining!

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Juleru

That sucks.

Yeah. Amazon intentionally crippling sideloading (by not allowing series sorting or collection management via calibre and playing games with book covers) was a big part of my decision to switch from Kindle to Kobo. I want to manage everything in calibre and sideload from there, no matter where I purchased the books. Amazon wants you to buy and download only from them, and they want to monitor everything you do with your Kindle. So I ditched them.

[fogice]

Originally Posted by Juleru

that doesn't involve ... formating the titles like "[number] title" or "series - number: title" (this would make some titles really long and make it hard to even find the right ebook).

Setting up a plugboard means it only has that silly long name on the Kindle, not in Calibre. I couldn't tell if that is sufficient for your needs or not.

Also, even if you do this, if you number your books with decimals (for short stories/novellas in the middle of a series of books), there is no way to get them to sort properly amongst your other books.

[Juleru]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

was a big part of my decision to switch from Kindle to Kobo.

I recently also got a Kobo Libra Colour but it's a lot wider than the Paperwhite and won't fit into my small backpack. That's why I bought the new Kindle: Kindle for small backpack (I also really like the flush screen), Kobo for comics and when size doesn't matter.

they want to monitor everything you do with your Kindle. So I ditched them.

That's why I don't use "send to Kindle" and usually keep my Kindle in airplane mode.

Originally Posted by fogice

Setting up a plugboard means it only has that silly long name on the Kindle, not in Calibre.

The "silly long name" is exactly the problem. The font size is set to default but with some series I still won't be able to see the title because of the length of the whole thing. I usually know what series a book is part of, so I won't even need that part, it's just the order that I often mix up.

Also, even if you do this, if you number your books with decimals (for short stories/novellas in the middle of a series of books), there is no way to get them to sort properly amongst your other books.

Kindle doesn't sort [3], [3.5] and [4] in the correct order?

[Tarana]

I sideload everything from Calibre in order to have series order. I use a plugboard to order my series. It uses the data in your series column to put in order. Here's how I learned to do it:

https://www.howtogeek.com/114063/how...-ebook-series/

[fogice]

Originally Posted by Juleru

Kindle doesn't sort [3], [3.5] and [4] in the correct order?

I tried everything I could think of, and couldn't make it work right. Dealing properly with series information is one of the main reasons I jumped to the Kobo ecosystem.

[PeterT]

Originally Posted by Juleru

I recently also got a Kobo Libra Colour but it's a lot wider than the Paperwhite and won't fit into my small backpack. That's why I bought the new Kindle: Kindle for small backpack (I also really like the flush screen), Kobo for comics and when size doesn't matter.



That's why I don't use "send to Kindle" and usually keep my Kindle in airplane mode.



The "silly long name" is exactly the problem. The font size is set to default but with some series I still won't be able to see the title because of the length of the whole thing. I usually know what series a book is part of, so I won't even need that part, it's just the order that I often mix up.



Kindle doesn't sort [3], [3.5] and [4] in the correct order?

No. Sorting is done Alphabetically not numerically