conversion to azw3 with cover showing in Kindle

[schubi77]

Hello folks,
I am trying the whole day to reach this:
See the cover when opening it on Kindle for the first time.
In detail:
I am writing a book and its ready and fine.
I convert the openoffice odt file via calibre into an azw3 file
and load the converted book via USB to my kindle D01100.
But when I look at the book to check the result of my doings it always
starts behind the cover, not showing the cover itself.
I would have to push the previous-page button to see the cover which I feel
as a bad way when a user looks first time at the new bought book.
This seem to be a universal problem because I found the mentioning of
this eefect several times in the internet.
Now I try the solution.
I want to tell Kindle via Calibre to take the cover as starting point for reading.
Calibre itself offers the option to do this during conversion with the argument:
Start reading at (XPATH-Expression)
Does anyone know if this gives a solution for the problem and what I would
have to write there?
I got already the basic line which says:
//h:a[@name='start'] which works if I write "start" into my document.
But how to do this with my cover picture?
Maybe anyone has a good idea for me...
or any other good hint (but please no workaround with two pictures etc.)
Thanks in advance
schubi77

[theducks]

Originally Posted by schubi77

Hello folks,
I am trying the whole day to reach this:
See the cover when opening it on Kindle for the first time.
In detail:
I am writing a book and its ready and fine.
I convert the openoffice odt file via calibre into an azw3 file
and load the converted book via USB to my kindle D01100.
But when I look at the book to check the result of my doings it always
starts behind the cover, not showing the cover itself.
I would have to push the previous-page button to see the cover which I feel
as a bad way when a user looks first time at the new bought book.
This seem to be a universal problem because I found the mentioning of
this eefect several times in the internet.
Now I try the solution.
I want to tell Kindle via Calibre to take the cover as starting point for reading.
Calibre itself offers the option to do this during conversion with the argument:
Start reading at (XPATH-Expression)
Does anyone know if this gives a solution for the problem and what I would
have to write there?
I got already the basic line which says:
//h:a[@name='start'] which works if I write "start" into my document.
But how to do this with my cover picture?
Maybe anyone has a good idea for me...
or any other good hint (but please no workaround with two pictures etc.)
Thanks in advance
schubi77

But a Fake 'not a real cover' page is the only way

Note you can reuse any image many times, so only the first page that is NOT designated as the cover can be set as Start reading.

BTW you are trying to violate a basic Kindle feature (not opening on the cover)

[eschwartz]

calibre can set the Start Reading Location (it is the "Text" semantic).

But Kindles store the cover image in such a way that it isn't actually a location in the book -- it is metadata.
You will notice that paging backwards to the cover actual.ly registers a new location in the "Back" history.
Obviously an extra page with an embedded image of the cover will be a part of the book text itself, and you can set that as the beginning. It will then show up twice (one metadata cover and one coverpage).
That is the only way.

Personally, I prefer the current way of things

[schubi77]

Ok, thanks for your answers!

[schubi77]

Hello,

its really hard.
Kindle or calibre, I dont know who is making that.

Meanwhile I got through your answer the Kindle opening with
an image, but with the wrong one and I do not know where this
image is taken from.

From the start:
I have two versions of my book so I have two odt-files.

One is the fully version with normal cover and one is a partly version
of the book which has the same cover but with "Leseprobe" written as watermark
in the background.
(done with Photoshop).
Both are given as an jpg with same sizes.

Also the partly version of the book has in its odt file at first page
the cover image with watermark "Leseprobe" as an gif size 500x667.

During conversion I tell callibre to take the .jpg of the cover including
the watermark "Leseprobe".

After the conversion of my "Leseprobe" through calibre I get in Kindle
as cover shown the wrong origin-image which is without "Leseprobe"
I do not know where it gets this, because on all points during conversion I use the
images for the "Leseprobe".
Also in Metadata its showing the right image.

I am aware that I used this image before when I converted the fully version
and calibre might use it again anyhow without changing to my "Leseprobe".jpg
But I dont know where to check for that.
Within metadata its showing the right image.

I guess it sounds complicated, but I tried to declare it in an understandable way...
Do you know anything about this behaviour?

[pdurrant]

I urge you to give this up. Fighting the way the Amazon Kindle software is intended to operate (opening the book to the first page of text) will only frustrate you and annoy your customers.

[schubi77]

No, no, I accepted your advices...
I tried to work with the recommended "fake" cover page.
And now I have an image when opening.
Thats ok.

Meanwhile I got it, both pictures are in the wished way.
Dont know why this has not been working that way from the
start...

Ok, solved.

Thanks!