New Kindle User - trying to organize library

[askyn]

Hello,

I just received a new Kindle Paperwhite Signature (11th generation).
This will be the first Kindle ive had / used.
I have used Calibre for years to organize / keep my books and I love it.
Im find it frustrating to try and get my books organized on the kindle tho.

Every other reader ive had used a straight directory format to save / display my ebooks.
Im used to having my books sorted by author/series/series # - title
This is the format in calibre -- {author_sort}/{series}/{series_index:0>3s} - {title}

Is there a way to get the kindle set up this way also? or a way to convert the series, over to "collections"?

What format comands do you use to send your books to your kindle?

I will be very greatful for any and all help.

Thank you,
Larry

[Pajamaman]

Are you talking about side-loaded books? AFAIK it's very hard (impossible) to organize side-loaded books on the Kindle. Even when the Kindle is jail-breaked, it's a pain. If you want to organize using Calibre, would suggest you send it back and get a Kobo instead.

[askyn]

While i thank you for the suggestion, this is a fathers day present from my wife.
It wouldnt go over very well to try and return it for something else rofl.

Im hoping someone can suggest a custom column or something for calibre that will allow the kindle to recognize the series as a collection or something simular.

or at least a suggestion on how to better organize the books.

And yes, sorry .. I am talking about side loading content. I currently have 3600+ books in calibre.

[askyn]

Or maybe a different approach is on the kindle it self?
maybe the way the books are sent to the kindle to allow sorting in a manner that would be author - series - series # - title so that i can see the books on the kindle in that way?

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by askyn

Or maybe a different approach is on the kindle it self?
maybe the way the books are sent to the kindle to allow sorting in a manner that would be author - series - series # - title so that i can see the books on the kindle in that way?

Metadata plugboards are your friends here. You can add a series name or whatever else you want to the book title when sending to the device. Otherwise there's no way to organize sideloaded books on a Kindle via Calibre.

[askyn]

hmm ...
Do any of those work without jailbreaking the kindle?
Like i mentioned above, my kindle is a brand new gift and I dont want to void any warranty etc.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Metadata plugboards are your friends here. You can add a series name or whatever else you want to the book title when sending to the device. Otherwise there's no way to organize sideloaded books on a Kindle via Calibre.

THIS ↑ ↑ ↑ ✔

Kindles do not use File names in their Library manager.
You need to fake the additions into the metadata (Leaves the PROPER metadata alone in Calibre) by using the plugboard.
Unfortunate for us, Big A blocked the use of Kindle Collections plugin (unless you jail break), so these are your choices

[Bookstooge]

I have found that using a metadata plugboard for the series name like the one mentioned above is the way to get the series number into the title.

Then it is all manual work. My work flow is to send all of a series to my oasis, create the collection, then add the new books to it. Then repeat for each series. That way it is easy to tell where you left off without having to guess. But I still plug my oasis in with a cable and keep it in airplane mode and never let it update. Captain Adama has been my mentor when it comes to computer connectivity So it definitely isn't effortlessly.

Here's the link to the metadata plugboard thread: HERE Personally, I use the first plugboard under the Kindle/Kobo heading.

[Pajamaman]

Originally Posted by askyn

While i thank you for the suggestion, this is a fathers day present from my wife.
It wouldnt go over very well to try and return it for something else rofl.

yeah, bit of a dilemma that. Reminds me of the time my wife brought me home a mini ipad. It sat there for a week untouched, gathering dust. Then we returned it and got a Samsung Android tablet.

[Rellwood]

I have always used the metadata plugboard to send the books like this:

War of the Alphas [04.00] Pas: An Urban Fantasy Novel

If you create a second series column you can make shortened series names so they aren't so long if you have a lot of series and then just point that column in the plugin.

You can create a second title/series column to make the titles/series show however you want them to show in your Kindle and save the series/titles in Calibre how you want.

As far as putting them in collections, it may be a bit of a pain, but if you start with no books on your Kindle, then add whatever books you want in such a way that they are sent in order of collections so that they are easy to find and add to them. Also, you can send them to Amazon via Send to Kindle and then add them from there.

NOTE: When sending to your Kindle make sure you use LN, FN in the author name because that is how Amazon sorts them, but know that this is also how they will be displayed on the device.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by askyn

hmm ...
Do any of those work without jailbreaking the kindle?
Like i mentioned above, my kindle is a brand new gift and I dont want to void any warranty etc.

Metadata plugboards work with any device, jailbroken or not.

[haertig]

Do you need to keep a large number of eBooks on your Kindle? I use Calibre to organize - much more functionality there than any eBook reader - and then I only put maybe a dozen or so books onto the Kindle at one time. And over time, I change out the books on the Kindle as my mood dictates and I decide I really don't want to read that book I put on there last month as much as I thought I did at the time. As soon as I finish a book, I remove it from the Kindle so I can add another if I want.

I keep enough books on the Kindle so that I have several choices for my next book to read if I'm caught out somewhere and have to make that decision "in the field". But not so many that I can't see them all by scrolling the Kindle through two or three pages of listings (which requires no organization to work through). My Kindle shows eight entries per screen (I don't display covers). I am running older firmware, and newer firmwares may show more or fewer listings per screen.

The thing is, eBook readers are pretty terrible at organizing, the Kindle probably being the worst of the bunch. So don't try to make it do something that it inherently sucks at - don't use it for organizing. Some people keep hundreds if not thousands of books on their Kindles. I've never had any need for that myself. My friend does exactly that, everything he owns gets put on the Kindle - and he's always complaining that he can't find what he wants. Yeah, I believe that.

You already use Calibre. Given that, it's trivial to move books on and off your Kindle. Do your organizing and searching in Calibre. Then just put a small subset of your books on your Kindle. Enough to get you through your vacation or whatever, but not enough to cover the rest of your life.