Sort authors by LN

[Ripplinger]

I've read through this thread, but I still can't get the author names to sort by LN, they always sort by FN.

I want authors displayed as FN LN, but when sorting by authors, this is the first reader I've had that sorts by FN no matter what I've tried.

Can anyone tell me exactly where to enter the correct line to get the Paperwhite2 to list authors by LN? And hopefully it's in a place that doesn't mess with the display on other readers.

[HarryT]

You need to ensure that the book's metadata has the author listed as:

LN, FN

The Kindle will then display the author as:

FN LN

and will correctly sort by LN.

[Ripplinger]

But that changes the display in Calibre to LN, FN, as well as how the books are sent to the Kobo readers, which I'd like to avoid. I've gotten used to Calibre's default sorting by FN LN in Windows Explorer. Sony 350s always seem to sort and list LN, FN no matter what is changed in the metdata.

Is there a way to force LN, FN sort just when sending to the Kindle and leave all else as it is?

For the metadata, Author(s) was FN LN, Author_sort was LN, FN. Just to be sure I'm changing it in the right place, Author(s) would be changed also to LN, FN for your method, right?

[HarryT]

I'd suggested asking on the Calibre forum. I believe that what you're saying is correct, yes, but Kovid will be able to tell you for sure.

Yes, in Calibre I have both "Author" and "Author Sort" set to LN, FN which is my personal preference.

[tilia]

No need to change how authors are displayed in calibre.

I thought it used to be set in the devise driver, but the option is not there any more, so maybe wrong about that.

I use a plugboard so that books with more than one author shows up properly as well.

format: azw3
device: Kindle2
source template: {author_sort:re(\s\&\s,;)}
destination: authors

[eschwartz]

It is a setting in Preferences ==> Output Options ==> MOBI Output and AZW3 Output.

"Use author_sort for author"

I have wondered in the past why this isn't the default.

[Ripplinger]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

It is a setting in Preferences ==> Output Options ==> MOBI Output and AZW3 Output.

"Use author_sort for author"

I have wondered in the past why this isn't the default.

That did it without messing up the sort or listing on other readers, thank you!

[HarryT]

Excellent! Delighted you've found a solution .

[Ripplinger]

One glitch I ran into when I set the series and # on the author line... those sort as FN LN. I have info displayed as:
Book Title
Author [Series Title ##]

The books not in a series sort by LN as they should, those in a series sort by FN. I originally had the metadata plugboard set for author, which didn't display any series info once I changed the output of azw3 files to author_sort. When I changed it to author_sort for the plugboard it displayed the series info, but the authors with series info were sorted by FN. The plugboard I'm using for author_sort is:
{authors}{series:| [| }{series_index:0>2s| |]}

Is there a way to keep it on the author line but let it sort by LN? I could switch the series info back to the book title line if need be, but that ended up with very long book titles that just fell off the page so you couldn't read them, so I'd prefer it on the author line if possible.

[eschwartz]

Actually, this just came up recently. Take a look at this post from the templates, plugboards, and custom columns megathread: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...29#post2981529

[Ripplinger]

I definitely do not like the added comma since it displays the authors differently when there's a series.

This is what mine looks like with the above plugboard I use. Chris Kuzneski with the series info is incorrectly sorted by C, then you come to Mary Higgins Clark, Glenn Cooper, Michael Cordy all sorted correctly. You would think the series numbers would be sorted in order too but it's not as you can see.

So I take it no real solution has been found yet so the author names display consistently when trying to add the series info?

[eschwartz]

You could add "noseries" to the end if series is not present. Use {series:ifempty(noseries)| - | }

[Ripplinger]

But wouldn't that sort all authors incorrectly under FN since those with series info added are sorted by FN?

[eschwartz]

No, they would all get displayed and sorted as LN, FN, with either the series, or "noseries" appended -- see PRS-T2's screenshot below the post I linked, although he didn't use "noseries".

[eschwartz]

Hmm, actually, something like this plugboard might work:

{author_sort:re(\,.*,)}{series:| [| }{series_index:0>2s| |]}{author_sort:re([^\,]*\,,\,)}