ePub on Kindle for Mac?

gdgibson · 04-03-2011, 04:14 PM

Can you read your home-brewed mobi files on Kindle Reader for Mac? If so, how? And how does the Mac experience compare with the Kindle for iPad experience?

Some background: I'm someone tasked with converting books to ePub and Kindle for a small press. So I'm familiar with almost everything involved, including Calibre (though "familiar with" does not necessarily mean "proficient at").

I'm doing some conversion work freelance now, and I'm up against a problem. My client will likely view their eBook using Kindle Reader on an iPad, and I don't have one. I figured that reading the Mobi version on Kindle for Mac would give me a similar experience, and I hoped that the ePub to Calibre to Kindle Reader for Mac conversion route would be as straightforward as ePub to Calibre to Kindle. But I don't see any obvious way of making it happen, and quick Google searches haven't yielded any help. (Setting it up for them to preview before we go live on the Kindle store is going to be another headache, and any suggestions there will be appreciated!)

Thanks for your time - I've been lurking here for a while, and it's helped a lot with my conversion duties.

ATDrake · 04-03-2011, 04:29 PM

Yes, just add a copy of your Mobi file to the ~/Documents/My Kindle Content folder or wherever your version of K4Mac stores its files, or drag and drop it to either the open app window or its Dock icon (I forget which, exactly).

Incidentally, there have been reports in the Sigil and Calibre forums that Calibre mobi conversions don't create enough space in a certain portion of the metadata to allow for the extra layer of DRM that the Kindle for Apps use, so it can't be used to convert a commercially-submittable Mobi file.

Though this point may be moot if your client is willing to go DRM-free.

Anyway, the Kindle Previewer app will allow them to see how it will actually look on several devices.

Hope this helps, and welcome to MobileRead!

gdgibson · 04-03-2011, 05:12 PM

Thanks!

Quote:

Yes, just add a copy of your Mobi file to the ~/Documents/My Kindle Content folder or wherever your version of K4Mac stores its files,

Drag and drop. Didn't think of that. Incidentally, I finally found the "My Kindle Content" folder in Library/Application Support/Kindle. I had looked for a Kindle folder in my Library and Documents folder, but hadn't realized how many levels I had to drill down.

Quote:

Incidentally, there have been reports in the Sigil and Calibre forums that Calibre mobi conversions don't create enough space in a certain portion of the metadata to allow for the extra layer of DRM that the Kindle for Apps use, so it can't be used to convert a commercially-submittable Mobi file.

That would be a big problem if true, since as far as I know Adobe is still recommending Calibre for the last stage of converting an InDesign book to Kindle. Though I converted a book for work as recently as last week and it seems to have done fine.

Thanks for the tip about the previewer. My work machine runs 10.4, so I have had to forego a lot of Kindle's Mac utilities.

ATDrake · 04-03-2011, 05:44 PM

If you've an Intel Mac and can get WINE running via MacPorts or Fink, then you should be able to use the Windows versions of KindleGen and Kindle Previewer.

That's what I used to do last year before Amazon finally ported them over to the Mac.

elcreative · 04-03-2011, 06:35 PM

Or do the sensible thing and just run Windows under BootCamp and or Parallels/VMware... install, it works... no tinkering with WINE/Unix/Terminal etc... install and go...

Quote:

Originally Posted by ATDrake

If you've an Intel Mac and can get WINE running via MacPorts or Fink, then you should be able to use the Windows versions of KindleGen and Kindle Previewer.

That's what I used to do last year before Amazon finally ported them over to the Mac.

ATDrake · 04-03-2011, 09:50 PM

Ah, but WINE is free and comes with none of the problems besetting Windows (it has an entirely different set of problems instead).

Besides, I think that 10.4 is pre-Boot Camp? At least for the official non-beta versions, the latter of which are probably not still available for download at Apple's website.

04-03-2011, 04:14 PM	#1
gdgibson Member Posts: 19 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: All	ePub on Kindle for Mac? Can you read your home-brewed mobi files on Kindle Reader for Mac? If so, how? And how does the Mac experience compare with the Kindle for iPad experience? Some background: I'm someone tasked with converting books to ePub and Kindle for a small press. So I'm familiar with almost everything involved, including Calibre (though "familiar with" does not necessarily mean "proficient at"). I'm doing some conversion work freelance now, and I'm up against a problem. My client will likely view their eBook using Kindle Reader on an iPad, and I don't have one. I figured that reading the Mobi version on Kindle for Mac would give me a similar experience, and I hoped that the ePub to Calibre to Kindle Reader for Mac conversion route would be as straightforward as ePub to Calibre to Kindle. But I don't see any obvious way of making it happen, and quick Google searches haven't yielded any help. (Setting it up for them to preview before we go live on the Kindle store is going to be another headache, and any suggestions there will be appreciated!) Thanks for your time - I've been lurking here for a while, and it's helped a lot with my conversion duties.

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04-03-2011, 04:29 PM	#2
ATDrake Wizzard Posts: 11,517 Karma: 33048258 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Roundworld Device: Kindle 2 International, Sony PRS-T1, BlackBerry PlayBook, Acer Iconia	Yes, just add a copy of your Mobi file to the ~/Documents/My Kindle Content folder or wherever your version of K4Mac stores its files, or drag and drop it to either the open app window or its Dock icon (I forget which, exactly). Incidentally, there have been reports in the Sigil and Calibre forums that Calibre mobi conversions don't create enough space in a certain portion of the metadata to allow for the extra layer of DRM that the Kindle for Apps use, so it can't be used to convert a commercially-submittable Mobi file. Though this point may be moot if your client is willing to go DRM-free. Anyway, the Kindle Previewer app will allow them to see how it will actually look on several devices. Hope this helps, and welcome to MobileRead!

04-03-2011, 05:44 PM	#4
ATDrake Wizzard Posts: 11,517 Karma: 33048258 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Roundworld Device: Kindle 2 International, Sony PRS-T1, BlackBerry PlayBook, Acer Iconia	If you've an Intel Mac and can get WINE running via MacPorts or Fink, then you should be able to use the Windows versions of KindleGen and Kindle Previewer. That's what I used to do last year before Amazon finally ported them over to the Mac.

04-03-2011, 09:50 PM	#6
ATDrake Wizzard Posts: 11,517 Karma: 33048258 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Roundworld Device: Kindle 2 International, Sony PRS-T1, BlackBerry PlayBook, Acer Iconia	Ah, but WINE is free and comes with none of the problems besetting Windows (it has an entirely different set of problems instead). Besides, I think that 10.4 is pre-Boot Camp? At least for the official non-beta versions, the latter of which are probably not still available for download at Apple's website.

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