Push Books from Calibre to K3; Tags Unrecognized

[xari]

Hi There,

Received my first ever Kindle yesterday (poor, scared UPS guy... ).

I'd heard about Calibre and ended up setting up my intended K3 book collection in Calibre in advance, including editing metadata and setting up the tag/collection system I want to use. For most books, I even re-converted them from .mobi to .mobi to make sure my changes (new cover art, etc.) were set.

When my K3 arrived, using a tip I'd read in another thread, I set up [most, but not all of] my collections on the K3 prior to transferring books over from Calibre. (IIRC, the person suggesting that tip said that it would help Calibre send the books to the correct collection.)

However, when I sent over about 10 books from Calibre as a test case, not a single one showed up in the collections that were already on the K3. Nor did they create any new collections (e.g., the ones I hadn't already created on the K3).

Help?!!

Qs:

1. Should I *not* have set up the collections in advance on the K3 like that?

2. If I delete the books currently on the K3 (and the collections there too, if necessary), and then--from Calibre--send over the books whose metadata I've already edited and tagged, will the collections show up the way I want on the K3?

Any advice would be MUCH appreciated!

TIA, xari.

[kovidgoyal]

The Kindle doesn't support the creation of collections via a USB connection

[xari]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

The Kindle doesn't support the creation of collections via a USB connection

Alas, alack! (Oh little Kindle, why? Whyyy? )

Okay, next thought, might it work if I use Calibre to e-mail the books to the Kindle? Or is it just a Kindle flaw I'll have to deal with?

TIA, xari.

[kovidgoyal]

the only way to create collections on the kindle is by using its UI

[xari]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

the only way to create collections on the kindle is by using its UI

Alrighty then!

Good to know.

Still I can use my tags in Calibre to help guide my collection-making on the K3, so all my hard work is not lost!

Thanks again, kovid, for all your hard work on this program and for being so available to answer questions and respond to suggestions for additional features.

Kudos!

[DarkLaguna]

Hi xari, I hope I'm not bumping up an old thread, but I had similar problem as you, and the way I managed to deal with it was;

• Set what soon-to-be-collection as a series in Calibre (eg. Fiction, History, Philosophy, Classics,... series's)
  
  
• Arrange my Calibre library by Series.
  
  
• Set the Preferences --> Sending Books to device as
  

  {series} - {author_sort}/{title}

• Push to kindle. (Should be blank. No content in the document folder). Now the folders on the kindle will be in the format "Series - Author".
  
  
• Open "Kindle Collection Manager", Create a collection, and dump the folders within the same series into the collection.

I think that's a good way to organize the library, combining the merits of lexical and categorical classifications together.

Also affirming, thank you kovidgoyal SO MUCH for this unearthly app. Magnificent.

[xari]

@DarkLaguna: Thanks for the advice. I've held off trying "Kindle Collection Manager" because there are a few updates that the creator is planning to make that I'd like to wait and make use of. But once he does, I'll definitely give your method a try.

Thanks again!

[speakingtohe]

I think the creator may have quit, but it is still very useful.
Calibre will make the collection directories for you and the collection amanger will change then into collections
Not perfect to have two steps but works fine.

[niceboy]

DarkLaguna, I did not know about that series feature. I am waiting for my kindle to arrive and in the meantime I have been organizing my ebooks and cleaning up the tags.

In anticipation of moving my books I set the Preferences --> Sending Books to device as: {tags} - {author}

Figuring that would send books to folders matching my tags and then I could use Collection Manager with "Make Collection from Folder" but what will the file names be according to this setup? I did not understand how to set up the file naming.

Also, I tried registering my email to get access to BETA of Kindle Collections Manager but nothing happened. Is the application available anywhere else besides the developers site?

Thank you.

[suecsi]

If you go back to the site, it is working now. Adrian had some problems with the SQL server back end of the hosting site. Current version is 0.4 and he is now working on it again - he was away for quite a while without access to email and possibly underestimated how much interest his little homebrew solution would create.

[niceboy]

Seems like a LOT of people are very grateful for his tool. It sure is nice of him to put it out there.


---


BTW what will I get with "Sending Books to device as: {tags} - {author}"
I am trying to get Folders by tag and I would like "Author - Title.mobi" for file names but I am not sure how to write it.

[DarkLaguna]

@niceboy;

You can use

{tags}/{author}-{title}

which will generate a folder, with the tag as a name, and in which you'll have the Author - title.mobi file.

I think however, it'll make more sense to use

{tags}/{author_sort}/{title}

since this will keep the files inside categories of the Author names. Also, the file name displayed in the Kindle itself would only be that of the title, and the author from the metadata, which is aesthetically better.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by DarkLaguna

which will generate a folder, with the tag as a name, and in which you'll have the Author - title.mobi file.

If I'm not mistaken this will create a single folder that has all the tags associated with that book as the folder name. As a example if I use the above template for the save to disk feature I end up with the below folder and file.

C:\Documents and Settings\user\Desktop\True Crime, Non-Fiction, Biographies & Memoirs\Frank Abagnale - Catch Me if You Can.epub

Now if you only have one tag then it's fine.