Brand new to Calibre...can it do what I need?

[poor_richard]

Hello,

I am a e-book creator, but only in the last couple days have I found myself using Calibre.
(I wanted MOBI files to load into the Kindle app on a Fire device, rather than as documents. I needed Calibre to remove that "PDOC" thing from the file.)

After downloading, I found it may have functionality that I had been looking for in another respect. I'll try to explain what I hope to do the best I can. If there are any questions, let me know so I can clarify...

I create my books with Sigil. I convert them to MOBI with Amazon's command line KindleGen program. I sell the e-books through Amazon exclusively, but I'd like to be able to load them on USB flash drives and sell them that way, especially some of my larger projects.

Here's my trouble:
I assume a certain lack of tech savvy from people. Rather than expect everyone to know what files work on which device and where the files need to go in the directory structure, I'd like to have a tool/program which will handle it for them.

Also, I'd like to prevent the people that are tech savvy from sharing too much.

Upon installing the portable version of Calibre, I get the feeling it can handle that first function, i.e. the automatic installing of e-books.
Am I right about this?

I do not know, however, if Calibre can help with my second issue, i.e. preventing excessive sharing. Any thoughts?

Third, if both of these are possible, can the remaining Calibre functionality be removed or disabled? I saw editing and converting functions which would not be necessary.

Thanks for your help.

[eschwartz]

You can customize the toolbars in calibre, hiding the unneeded functionality, see Preferences ==> Toolbars.
But you cannot strip it out of the program itself.

You can install the portable version of calibre, load the books into the library, and give them that. Clicking an icon of a stack of books would definitely be easier for non-tech-savvy people, although you might be surprised how many get the hang of "these 'file' things" once they have to.

As far as protecting the product you sold from your tech-savvy customers, as a tech-savvy customer I am diametrically opposed to that! Sounds like you want DRM, which will cost you quite a chunk of money for an Adobe vendors license. And all the common DRM encryption schemes have been cracked, and come with a point-and-click method. (See: https://apprenticealf.wordpress.com)

Someone who desperately wants to "share" will do so no matter what you try. Offering the customer a pleasant experience (on their terms) encourages goodwill, and further purchases vs. pirating, generally speaking.

[chaley]

Assuming I understand one of your fundamental question correctly, I offer a piece of advice. Pirates are going to pirate, no matter what you do. Our estimate for our Android app Calibre Companion is that around 40% of our users are knowingly running pirated software. There are automated tools to help the "dedicated software liberators" do their dastardly deed. There are many sites dedicated to distributed this "liberated" software. And so on.

Ebooks suffer from the same problem as apps (if not worse), and in the end there is squat you can do about it. The only thing I have found that can help is building a relationship with your "users" (readers) in hopes that people will see the benefit in supporting you, but even that doesn't help in most cases. Almost none of the lowlifes that pirate stuff will support you, end of discussion.

Of course, sometimes one finds the opposite, people who support you beyond reasonable expectation. What an amazing thing this is.

[eschwartz]

Exactly. So IMHO as one of the customers, it helps more to avoid driving off the non-pirates, by not posing odious restrictions. And many honest readers consider ebook DRM to be fairly odious.

Baen, and recently Tor, are two publishers who buy goodwill from their customers by not using DRM, and retain a dedicated fanbase of loyal customers as a result.

[dickloraine]

To run calibre you need a device with windows, os or linux and each version is different. Not that helpfull for different devices.
Most devices recognize which app can open a file. I would think, that is much more easy than a complete software. Oh, and I would assume, that someone who buys an usb-stick knows how to use it.
DRM you won't get outside of big vendors or high cost. If you are concerned by that, only sell through amazon. But I don't think any pirate would buy an usb-stick with the file, if he can much more easily crack the amazon drm.
I don't know amazons contracts, but I would check if you are allowed to sell your files yourself, if you are in an exclusive contract.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by poor_richard

Hello,


Here's my trouble:
I assume a certain lack of tech savvy from people. Rather than expect everyone to know what files work on which device and where the files need to go in the directory structure, I'd like to have a tool/program which will handle it for them.


Thanks for your help.

People who buy from walled garden store using their device, probably ended up with their Brand of device because IT WAS tied to a source of books.

Almost every other kind of store has a FAQ 'What format do I need"
This assumes that these folk can read a FAQ


Someone I visited, put ALL common formats into the the BOOKS (Zip) you purchased.


2nd
Keep it simple for you paying customers

[chaley]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Exactly. So IMHO as one of the customers, it helps more to avoid driving off the non-pirates, by not posing odious restrictions. And many honest readers consider ebook DRM to be fairly odious.

I happen not to agree with you, with the exception of the word "odious".

Attempting to find unbreakable DRM isn't worth the trouble because it isn't possible, and in addition fair use is a very valid concept. That said, making the eventual user *do something* to remove a restriction isn't IMO odious, especially if the restriction doesn't significantly affect their use of the "product" now and in the future. All the removal process does is (at best) insert a small pause, asking the user to think about what they are doing and decide if their use is reasonable, which it often is. And yes, I understand that the Alf tools remove even this pause, but I am coming from a different space. And I further admit to being a bit bitter, sometimes hoping that the lowlifes will someday need to support a family on app/book-like revenue. And I further admit that this topic as it relates to my app was discussed to a fair-thee-well in a thread some 6 months ago, so this will be my last missive here.

[eschwartz]

I don't mind app DRM so much, since apps are only useful on the devices that... well, have the store to download it from. For me, DRM opposition is rooted in practicality, not a Stallman-like philosophical stance.

And if we didn't have Alf, it wouldn't be trivial to remove ebook DRM, and it would significantly affect users. So I can't give DRM a free pass because of something it opposes.

[cybmole]

Look at how, for example, humble bundle, and also some other small sellers approach this. You can download your purchases as zip and or opt for a send to kindle service. I don't see that book arriving as document is going to kill sales. The folks most bugged by that are probably savvy enough to manually add a copy to books folder on fire.
It is a far bigger ask for a first time book buyer to trust you enough to run an installer from a stick!
It would red flag with me as a malware risk

[poor_richard]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the input. Just wanted to comment on a handful of things that came up through the discussion:
1. I use Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing. I have never seen anything regarding them having exclusive rights to distribute the books.

2. Good point regarding the customer's potential concern of malware. Would you be more or less concerned, generally speaking, if someone handed you, say, a business card with a QR code?
That is one other method I've considered...uploading all my files and giving people a QR code or a URL for download.

3. Here's a little more info about my work: its all public domain. If you want one of my books, its out there...where do you think I got it. However, I have gone through the effort to restore the original text, something that an organization like the Internet Archive doesn't do. My work is more niche, so its doubtful a place like Gutenberg will ever clean up the books I've done.
That said, the pirate who pays me then attempts to crack and distribute my work is wasting his time.
...which kinds of answers my own question then, doesn't it? I hadn't thought about it in those terms until right now.

Tied into this: Public domain materials on KDP only yield a 35% cut of the sales for the seller. I could direct all customers to Amazon to purchase my books, but I'd like to try getting a larger cut. Not to mention, I'm limiting my sales my excluding the likes of the Nook, Kobo, Sony reader, etc.

4. Why I'm looking into this: I'd like to get a booth at a convention in a few months. I don't think it would look good if I had nothing to sell...even if I did, because I have a sizable digital library. If I had flash drives pre-loaded with books and plastered with information about my available materials, at least I know people are walking away with something tangible...and my web URL.

[cybmole]

flash drives at a booth sounds fine. but ideally , if you distribute a program, then you need 32 bit version, 64 bit version, mac versions, linux versions....

a card with a URL seems better to me, as that page can then offer options... and cheaper than flash drivers ?

it's about managing expectations,. if I buy a single book and get asked to download and run an exe, then that seems fishy. if I am handed something and told that will install a bunch of books, plus a library system , it sounds reasonable.

but just the books in 2 , maybe 3 formats will suit 99+% of all devices.
epub, azw, and mobi for older kindles is all you should need.. or just epub and mobi if you have no fancy azw-only features

could be it "sells " better for you to write the flash drive while the customer waits i.e. you say what format(s) would you like or "what device do you have" , then make one with only the relevant books and formats included, and you get ~30 more secs to pitch/chat while customer waits. you can then also add in in a personalized receipt/welcome file

[ this is me just speculating on what could appeal to me as a customer, I've no direct experience of manning a sales booth ]

calibre , with add on drivers , can makee kepubs also ( which gives you chapter numbers and other goodies) , but with my set up it only does that when it detects a kobo reader attached. maybe there's a way to have it make touse anyway, the kobo forum guys will know.

[IanD]

Originally Posted by cybmole

calibre , with add on drivers , can makee kepubs also ( which gives you chapter numbers and other goodies) , but with my set up it only does that when it detects a kobo reader attached. maybe there's a way to have it make touse anyway, the kobo forum guys will know.

[Conversion Output] KePub Output Plugin

Never tried it myself, mind.

[LadyKate]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

I don't mind app DRM so much, since apps are only useful on the devices that... well, have the store to download it from. For me, DRM opposition is rooted in practicality, not a Stallman-like philosophical stance.

And if we didn't have Alf, it wouldn't be trivial to remove ebook DRM, and it would significantly affect users. So I can't give DRM a free pass because of something it opposes.

I personally hate DMR. Having purchased pdb and lit format books with drm back in the day when they were the defacto standard, it makes me crazy to think that I may only read books on the current devices I have. Who is to say what will be the standard format in the future? With DRM I cannot convert to a new format without having to "break" the DRM.

I will always choose a title that is DRM free before the one with DRM when choosing between two books (unless of course I absolutely must read the one with drm then I will search libraries and only reluctantly purchase it). While I can strip the drm from my purchases, I prefer to support those authors/publishers who don't make me take that additional step.

I have some dead tree books that were printed in the 1930s and they are still usable. Just because I choose the electronic format should not preclude my being able to read my purchases in the future on any device I choose.

For that matter, current drm only lets you read your purchase on the devices registered. That sucks. I've had devices that lasted a year or less... compare that to an 80 plus year old book in my library...