Alphabetization problem with sideloaded books

[Jean]

I sideloaded a lot of books to my paperwhite using Calibre.

When I select to alphabetize them in alphabetical order by Author they are alphabetized by first name - not last name.

Can anyone point me to what I may have done wrong and how to correct the problem?

[Sirtel]

Kindles want the authors to be Last Name, First Name. You can use a metadata plugboard for that, if you don't want to change the names in your calibre library.

[monophoto]

A possible clue - on the Calibre metadata page, there is a field for 'author sort', and if you hover the mouse just right, a popup appears that says:

"Specify how the author(s) of this book should be sorted. For example Charles Dickens should be sorted as Dickens, Charles. If the box is colored green, then the text matches the individual author's sort strings. If it is colored red, then the authors and this text do not match.

The error icon indicated that the current author sort does not match the current author. Not action is required if this is what you want."

[Jean]

In Calibre the author sort field is last name, first name so I'm not sure why my kindle is sorting them as first name, last name.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by Jean

In Calibre the author sort field is last name, first name so I'm not sure why my kindle is sorting them as first name, last name.

It's the transfer settings.

[Jean]

What transfer setting are you refering to? Where is it located?

[Quoth]

EDIT: Ignore this rubbish advice. Only affects files, not metadata. See later.

Connect Kindle
Go to Device when job has finished
Configure Kindle

Save Template:

{author_sort}/{title}

The visible Author Column should be First Last and the author_sort is visible in Metadata as Last, First

[Jean]

My template editor line reads:

{author_sort}/{title} - {authors}

Do I need to delete the - {authors} part? That was the default setting.

[jhowell]

That template controls how the file is named when sent to Kindle storage. That file name has no impact on the author or title displayed on the Kindle.

If you are creating AZW3 or MOBI files using calibre and want authors to sort properly on the device you need to enable the option called "Use author sort for author" which can be found in the AZW3 Output or MOBI Output tab of the conversion dialog.

[Jean]

I found where that option is located. Do I need to set it individually for each book or is there a global setting option? Also, once I set it will I need to reconvert all my books for that option to be recognized?

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by jhowell

That template controls how the file is named when sent to Kindle storage. That file name has no impact on the author or title displayed on the Kindle.

If you are creating AZW3 or MOBI files using calibre and want authors to sort properly on the device you need to enable the option called "Use author sort for author" which can be found in the AZW3 Output or MOBI Output tab of the conversion dialog.

My bad.

I knew I'd set it SOMEWHERE.

Yes, Jean, you'd need to reconvert. Also remove and resend.

Sorry!

It's so long since I've much used a Kindle, maybe more that 5 years since my first Kobo.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by Jean

I found where that option is located. Do I need to set it individually for each book or is there a global setting option? Also, once I set it will I need to reconvert all my books for that option to be recognized?

There is a global option, but it only affects titles added later. So I think you do need to reset it for each re-conversion?

But obviously ignore me and do whatever jhowell writes.

[DNSB]

You can remove the saved conversion options for individual books in bulk using the Edit metadata in bulk option. Select the books you want to remove the saved conversion options for, right click, hover on Edit metadata, slide the cursor over the the > and select Edit metadata in bulk. Part way down the screen, you should see a checkbox labelled Remove stored conversion settings for the selected books. Check this box and click ok.

Once you have done that, the global options will be used for the next conversion on those books.

[jhowell]

The global setting under Preferences, Conversion, Output Options is used for the Embed Metadata function and that can be used to avoid reconverting books.

It might also be used when updating metadata at the time a book is sent to the Kindle, but I am not absolutely certain of that.

[Jean]

So I would need to manually set the author sort each time I import a new book?