Books on Kobo with wrong author name

[anesthezea]

I have a few books on my Kobo by the same author. The author is listed correctly in the metadata in Calibre, in the file names, in the folders on the Kobo via USB, in the folders on my computer, etc. Everywhere else I can think to look, the author name is correct - except when I look for them in the Kobo's book/collections lists. They all have different author names there and I can't figure out why.

I thought it was a Calibre problem at first, so I checked all the metadata, the folders, etc. Took the books off the device, edited them, resent them to the Kobo, etc. I checked the filenames in Finder, the folder names. Everything with Calibre as far as I can tell checks out.

I think now it must be something in how the Kobo is reading the files. I'm stumped. Has anyone else had a similar problem? Was it the reader?

[davidfor]

What format are the books? The firmware is reading the metadata from inside the books for epubs, kepubs, PDF and probably MOBI. For the other formats, it comes from the file name.

If you are sideloading epubs, or using the KoboTouchExtended driver, calibre should be updating the metadata in the book during the send. If the metadata is different to what is in the calibre library, then this isn't happening. Check that the Epub Metadata Writer plugin is enabled. This is in the Plugins section of the calibre preferences.

Another way it could be wrong is if you have a metadata plugboard that is setting the author incorrectly. This is in the preferences. There could be one for the format, the device or a generic plugboard.

If you are converting to kepub in the library and sending that, then you need the Kepub Metadata Writer plugin. This is needed for calibre to be able to update the metadata in kepub books. I would also suggest installing the Kepub Metadata Reader plugin.

If you check the above and it isn't one of them, we need some more details. For example, what is showing as the author? A different name, spelling or something else? Opening the book on the device with the calibre viewer or editor will allow you to see what the metadata is set to in the book.

[Barbara1955]

Could be author has different pen names. I know several of mine do. When they update they seem to go with the most popular.

[anesthezea]

The files are all epubs, sideloaded thru Calibre. I am using the KoboTouchExtended driver. The Epub Metadata Writer plugin is enabled.

I checked the metadata plugboards. There was one for the KoboTouchExtended driver. I deleted it to see if anything changed. It didn't.

I'm not converting to kepub in Calibre. I'm sending the epubs to the Kobo.

The author is Daphne du Maurier, but only one book in 16 is showing her name on the device. The other 15 show what I think are the names of the people who do the introductions/forwards. The only place I've found these names is on the titlepage.xhtml inside the epub (opened each file in Sigil to check). All of the file names, folder names, and metadate that I can find show du Maurier as the author. I checked the metadate in Calibre, Calibre Viewer, and Sigil.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by anesthezea

The files are all epubs, sideloaded thru Calibre. I am using the KoboTouchExtended driver. The Epub Metadata Writer plugin is enabled.

I checked the metadata plugboards. There was one for the KoboTouchExtended driver. I deleted it to see if anything changed. It didn't.

Did the metadata plugboard fiddle with the author? Did you remove the book from the device before resending it? The default configuration for the drivers is to send the book to the device in a way that the device doesn't reimport it. That means that you don't lose the reading status, but it does mean that the metadata isn't updated. You can turn this option off, or use my Kobo Utilities plugin to update the metadata.

I'm not converting to kepub in Calibre. I'm sending the epubs to the Kobo.

The author is Daphne du Maurier, but only one book in 16 is showing her name on the device. The other 15 show what I think are the names of the people who do the introductions/forwards. The only place I've found these names is on the titlepage.xhtml inside the epub (opened each file in Sigil to check). All of the file names, folder names, and metadate that I can find show du Maurier as the author. I checked the metadate in Calibre, Calibre Viewer, and Sigil.

If you have replaced that copy of the book on the device, then try changing the file name. This will trigger the import processing when the device is disconnected from the PC. The book details will be removed from the internal database because they point to a file that no longer exists and then the book will be imported as new. And that will extract the current metadata and use that.

If that doesn't fix things, then the book has the wrong metadata. You need to look at the metadata in the copy of the book on the device. You can edit it with calibre or Sigil, or even just add it to the calibre library. Doing the latter will show what calibre things the authors are. Or, put it somewhere we can look at. As I think it will be under copyright, you can't post it unless you use the scramble plugin to obfuscate it. But, you can put it somewhere and send me a PM with the link to look at. Or, posting the contents of the OPF file from the book should be enough to see.

[anesthezea]

I opened the files in Sigil and saw that the wrong author names were in the content.opf file. I changed them to the proper author, saved them, added them all back to Calibre, sent them to the device again and trumpets and fairycakes, it works now!

Thank you!!!!!!