Missing Kindle format documentation web pages

[jhowell]

Oddly, the Amazon web pages for KindleGen and Kindle Format 8 that I have used in the past are no longer present. (At least for me.)

KindleGen: https://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?docId=1000765211

Kindle Format 8 Overview: https://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?docId=1000729511

I wonder whether this is a temporary problem or if it reflects an intentional change by Amazon to remove the more technical documentation related to building books for Kindle. Their emphasis these days is on Kindle Previewer 3 and Kindle Create.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by jhowell

Oddly, the Amazon web pages for KindleGen and Kindle Format 8 that I have used in the past are no longer present. (At least for me.)

KindleGen: https://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?docId=1000765211

Kindle Format 8 Overview: https://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?docId=1000729511

I wonder whether this is a temporary problem or if it reflects an intentional change by Amazon to remove the more technical documentation related to building books for Kindle. Their emphasis these days is on Kindle Previewer 3 and Kindle Create.

Don't know, but frankly speaking, their emphasis on KC is making more work for us, so...rock on, Zon.

Spoiler:

To me, the emphasis on KC makes NO sense. Honestly, to use thej damn program, you have to understand styles and headings. If you understand and use Styles and Headings, why the hell do you need KC? Shakes head....

Hitch

[odamizu]

Not sure what was on the pages you posted (the links aren't working for me either), but I did find this page, which I don't recall seeing before:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?docId=1000234621

(I will be mightily unhappy if KindleGen is phased out as I prefer it to Calibre for converting epub to kf8.)

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by odamizu

Not sure what was on the pages you posted (the links aren't working for me either), but I did find this page, which I don't recall seeing before:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?docId=1000234621

(I will be mightily unhappy if KindleGen is phased out as I prefer it to Calibre for converting epub to kf8.)

I should certainly hope so.

You know that you can drop an ePUB onto KP 2.9xx, and it will convert/process the ePUB into a MOBI, too?

Hitch

[jhowell]

The kindlegen page is working for me again, but not the KF8 page. Odd.

[odamizu]

Originally Posted by Hitch

I should certainly hope so.

You know that you can drop an ePUB onto KP 2.9xx, and it will convert/process the ePUB into a MOBI, too?

I'm not a publisher or author. I just convert epubs for personal reading on my Kindle.

Originally Posted by jhowell

The kindlegen page is working for me again, but not the KF8 page. Odd.

KF8 page seems to be up again. Guess it was just a temporary thing for both pages??

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by odamizu

I'm not a publisher or author. I just convert epubs for personal reading on my Kindle.

Right--but, you can drop your source--an ePUB, an OPF, a zipped HTML folder, etc., onto KPublisher, and your mobi will be built. ALSO, you can do the same thing at the KDP--you can upload an ePUB, and voila, one MOBI, coming up. Just download it from the appropriate spot (download Preview mobi) and you're set.

KF8 page seems to be up again. Guess it was just a temporary thing for both pages??

Dunno, hope it's to stay, for a variety of reasons.

Hitch

[odamizu]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Right--but, you can drop your source--an ePUB, an OPF, a zipped HTML folder, etc., onto KPublisher, and your mobi will be built. ALSO, you can do the same thing at the KDP--you can upload an ePUB, and voila, one MOBI, coming up. Just download it from the appropriate spot (download Preview mobi) and you're set.

Interesting. It never occurred to me to try KDP since the landing page is addressed to authors and publishers. I did sign in, but then it asked me for all sorts of info — address, bank account to get paid, etc., which is more info than I want to share to convert copyrighted de-DRMed epubs for personal use, if you know what I mean

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by odamizu

Interesting. It never occurred to me to try KDP since the landing page is addressed to authors and publishers. I did sign in, but then it asked me for all sorts of info — address, bank account to get paid, etc., which is more info than I want to share to convert copyrighted de-DRMed epubs for personal use, if you know what I mean

That's the publisher's info. You don't have to provide it. Only if you're going to publish the book, and expect to get paid. Just go right to the bookshelf, upload your ePUB, and kablammo. :-) Then download the MOBI from the Preview section at the bottom of Section 2. :-)

Hitch

[JSWolf]

The KF8 page works for me.

What's so special about Kindle Create?

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The KF8 page works for me.

It seems to have just been a temporary problem. It works for me too now.

Originally Posted by JSWolf

What's so special about Kindle Create?

Only that Amazon seems to be pushing its use for novice author/publishers.

Kindle Create is Amazon's attempt to simplify the process of taking a Word document and creating a properly formatted Kindle book from it. It shows how the Word document will look once converted to KFX format and allows the user to make simple changes to the content and formatting of the book.

In my opinion the main flaw with KC is that it does not apply these changes back to the original Word document, making it difficult to maintain revisions of the book going forward.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by Hitch

You know that you can drop an ePUB onto KP 2.9xx, and it will convert/process the ePUB into a MOBI, too?

I'm trying to imagine what advantage this would have over kindlegen for private use conversion and come up empty.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

I'm trying to imagine what advantage this would have over kindlegen for private use conversion and come up empty.

Who said that there was any advantage whatsoever? Odamizu expressed concern, that KG might "go away." I simply advised that there are numerous other ways, to achieve the exact same end result, i.e., dropping an ePUB on KP; dropping an ePUB on KDP; dropping the OPF from an HTML folder on KP, etc.

The "advantage" is always in the eye of the beholder, as otherwise, everyone would have the exact same process, and, as I said, I was speaking to a very specific comment by odamizu.

Hitch

[JSWolf]

So how does Kindle create handle a really crappy Word Document?

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

So how does Kindle create handle a really crappy Word Document?

It depends on the book. KC has its own predefined set of styles, specific to different book genres, and lets the user apply them to content in the book in order to achieve consistent formatting.