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#1 |
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KDP unload, then Kindle Preview
The option to upload mobi is gone a while ago. For ordinary reflowable ebooks that Amazon gives out in Mobi (KF7), azw2/KF8 or KFX format the best upload is epub2. The MS docx format is the second-best.
I just noticed that downloading a file direct to preview on a Kindle after upload processing is gone. You either preview on the Internet Web page or they suggest download of the Kindle Previewer (which has no Linux version?) and they offer an HTML download. Except the ‘HTML Download’ is Zip file. Previewing inside it after download revealed what looked a bit like an epub, so I renamed the <downloaded name>.zip file to <downloaded name>.epub and it opens fine in Calibre's standalone ebook viewer on Linux. So no need to fire up the VM with a copy of windows and install Kindle Previewer? Actually when we use an entirely new style or HTML construct we make a dual mobi and test on three different Kindles, one only does KF7. Then we do a purchase of mobi version and azw3 versions by using accounts with suitable kindles. We gave up testing KFX because if the KF8 is OK, the KFX will be too (See also epub2 vs kobo kepub; we don't test kepub). Obviously this is a recent change and how reliable is the idea of simple rename of .zip to .epub and using an epub viewer rather than Kindle Previewer? Does this also suggest rename of .epub to .zip and ‘Send to Kindle’ via email will work to get an azw3/KF8 version on later Kindles? Edit: The .zip download renamed to .epub loaded fine into the Calibre Editor and passed Book Check and Epub Check. Title should be KDP upload, then Kindle Preview Last edited by Quoth; 10-29-2021 at 04:45 AM. |
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#2 | ||||||
Grand Sorcerer
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Amazon's instructions for dealing with the downloaded preview file are incomplete to the point of being wrong: Quote:
You need to click the "Learn More" link in order to get proper instructions: Quote:
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I believe that this only worked for you because you started with a properly formatted EPUB as the source. I am curious how the downloaded zip file differs from the original EPUB that you uploaded. (I tried uploading an EPUB and got back an identical file as the preview zip.) Last edited by jhowell; 10-29-2021 at 11:43 AM. |
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#3 |
mostly an observer
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I like the online previewer as it currently exists. I see no reason to use Kindle Previewer 3.x at all.
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#4 | |
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Amazon recommended to me that a known "correct" epub2 was the best to upload to KDP and better than docx. At the time, with no change here, the docx uploads stopped working properly because all the page breaks were getting removed. Amazon couldn't figure it and when I said my epub2 was perfect they wrote I should have been uploading that and not the docx. Indeed the KF8 and KFX from uploaded epub (test purchases!) and the mobi KF7 identical results to our locally created one. So really then there is no preview file being offered. A web view is not a practical proof medium and the so called Kindle Previewer is actually taking an epub2 and converting it and no assurance that it's the same result as a retail Kindle customer gets. This means there is now no point to downloading a preview when you upload a verified epub2. We run Book Check, Epub Check, test all the links & TOC in Calibre Viewer and also if new styles are used we test on three kinds of real eink Kindle (KF7, and Kindle and Publisher Fonts mode of KF8), Lithium on Android, Aldiko on 4.3" Android, Sony 5" PRS350 and two models of Kobo. |
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#5 |
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I do have various Windows on a number of VMs on Linux. Also we have XP, Win7 and Win10 PCs for games and one XP box in a workshop to control equipment. There may even be WFWG3.11 and Win98SE in the attic on something.
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#6 | |
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I guess if we do anything new as well as the local test of Calibre to real kindles from epub version, we do a test purchase. Why there is no free download to the publisher like Smashwords has (for every version available to customers) is a mystery. |
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#7 | |
Grand Sorcerer
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This whole download to preview thing seems to have been incredibly poorly thought out. They call it an HTML file. It downloads as a ZIP file. And to use it following Amazon's instructions you need to rename it to be an EPUB file. Who came with that workflow? |
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#8 | |
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Any decent archive program will extract all the files if you rename an epub to zip. Handy to get the lovely illustrations out of a Gutenberg download. They are bonkers. It's only a sort of preview if you only have docx and are clueless about ebooks. I immediately suspected it was an epub rather than just HTML when the alleged downloaded zip was peered at by engrampa. So I renamed, and voila, it loaded and passed in epub editor and worked in viewer. |
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#9 |
Grand Sorcerer
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#10 |
Grand Sorcerer
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The whole download-to-preview thing made sense in the days when you could download a MOBI file and then sideload or email it to a device and get something that would render the same as the final published book. That just isn't possible any more.
Personally I think they should just drop download-to-preview and replace it with something better. it would make much more sense to be able to put a book through the whole conversion process and then push it to your Amazon account as a private book that you could download and view on your own Kindle apps and devices just as if you had purchased a finished and published book. That would allow the book to be seen in all of the various formats and flavors before releasing it. The downside would be the need for the publisher to have various Kindle apps and devices to test with. |
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#11 | |
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Of course years ago for reasons I never understood, MS decided to hide file name extensions by default in explorer even though they decide on Windows what happens. Linux/Unix/BSD and MacOS can often do the right thing even if the extension is deleted, but not if it's the wrong extension (see magic numbers). However I downloaded an ebook from Amazon recently and it wouldn't open in Calibre till I renamed it from .azw to .mobi, but other azw (separate to azw3 files) files open. It's annoying in LibreOffice Writer that on the preview window of recent documents that it hides the extension as I only edit .odt and most checked files have also a .docx version saved. I have to hover mouse to see full file name. |
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#12 | ||
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Exactly what I said earlier. Quote:
If it's just using tried and tested styles, HTML, and Images then just Book Check, Epub Check, Check all TOC entries on a viewer and all links/footnotes etc on a viewer and quick check on one eink is enough. Images of new sizes might need more testing. The only point at all for a publisher using epub2 upload to KDP is to see Amazon's conversion. Which is why even when there was a more real preview file that could load on a real kindle we did test purchases of KF7 (mobi) and KF8 (azw3) for two different Kindles. Seems that is now more important if we change any recipe anywhere. Wonder what @Hitch thinks? |
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#13 | |
Bookmaker & Cat Slave
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Well, I think that you've all forgotten the old days, all this Sturm und Drang.
Hitch |
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#14 |
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It seems that Calibre is now more use to create "preview" files for real ink Kindles than Amazon and that download a preview file is now pointless, especially if your KDP upload is an epub2.
I always make and test on Kindle anyway* from epub2 using Calibre, before I upload epub2 to KDP (* Unless there are no styles / links changes) |
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#15 |
mostly an observer
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Great discussion, thanks!
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