Convert azw3 to doc with notes made on Kindle?

[dfoyble]

Hello - I’m having a lot of trouble with one issue: I can't find a way to convert a Kindle azw3 file to a doc file that keeps intact all the notes I have made while reading on the Kindle. I’ve found ways to pull the notes into a Word doc, but only the notes. I’m an editor and am really hoping to find a way to read and annotate my client manuscripts on my Kindle then export the complete file to Word, which is what I use to line edit and etc. Thank you for any suggestions/help!

[jhowell]

I am curious about the workflow here.

If you are starting with a Word document and converting that to Kindle format and then wanting to convert the Kindle format back to a Word document then you may be disappointed in the results. Things like styles and formatting may not go through that round trip cleanly.

It will probably work out better if you edit the original word document, if that is the source format of the book.

[dfoyble]

Thanks JHowell

My issue is my eyes. I’ve been working on my computer for years and have begun to edit many more manuscripts. I want the ease of reading on a Kindle while making notes that I can then bring back to Word by way of finalizing the work for my clients, who submit to me in Word.

[Tex2002ans]

Originally Posted by dfoyble

Hello - I’m having a lot of trouble with one issue: I can't find a way to convert a Kindle azw3 file to a doc file that keeps intact all the notes I have made while reading on the Kindle. I’ve found ways to pull the notes into a Word doc, but only the notes.

Sadly, there is no way to currently do this.

Annotations are a serious thorn in everyone's side, and there is currently no standard way of importing/exporting these things between programs... everyone has their own proprietary blobs/ecosystems + ways of storing these things that aren't compatible with anyone else.

And as you ran across, probably the best you can currently do (depending on your device/reader) is to export Annotations into a TXT/HTML format... but these typically only export the note, not the highlighted text.

And there is no way to save the notes "into the file itself" (like a DOCX or PDF).

Technical Discussion #1: A lot of this Notes/Highlights stuff is still in the development.

I wrote about the "Open Annotation" standard a year ago in the topic Merge notes into epub file?.

Currently, the only implementation I know of is Hypothes.is, and it is currently web only (no ereader comes close to using this). No other third party program or word processor uses this (that I know of). Implementing this standard, in theory, WOULD allow notes to be shared across programs/ecosystems.

Technical Discussion #2: On a similar workflow note, I also work closely with Editors who pass things back/forth using DOCX comments. They use Google Docs or Word DOCX... and I work directly in HTML/EPUB.

I recently put in a Feature Request in Calibre for DOCX comments converted to HTML comments, or HTML comments converted to DOCX comments:

Feature Request: Preserve HTML Comments in EPUB->DOCX Conversion

I still have to followup on Kovid's post and open an actual ticket for it. But it may be one of those projects which are too much work for not enough gain (the way Word stores comments are... a disaster).

Originally Posted by dfoyble

I’m an editor and am really hoping to find a way to read and annotate my client manuscripts on my Kindle then export the complete file to Word, which is what I use to line edit and etc. Thank you for any suggestions/help!

For now, your best bet would probably be to just stick with editing on the computer.

Either work directly in Microsoft Word, or many people have shifted towards Google Docs (so you can easily share the documents "in the cloud" with your clients).

If you get a larger tablet, you could probably read in Google Docs and edit and add comments directly.

Or in the discussion linked above, a few others mentioned some Android/IOS PDF readers that can save comments in the PDF.

I know this stuff is pretty crappy/uncomfortable to read compared to e-ink... but there is just no good way to carry detailed notes like this over/between ecosystems. As crappy as it sounds, your best bet for doing this would be using a tablet/laptop/PC.

Depending on the complexity of the documents, converting between formats may also bring you a hell of a lot more pain than it's worth (and even Word DOCX <-> Google Docs can sometimes introduce hideous formatting issues in the backend).

Side Note: I also know that Microsoft Edge introduced EPUB-reading support. And "supposedly" you can export EPUB notes:

https://winaero.com/blog/export-epub...icrosoft-edge/

(I just tested it on my end, I have no such Export options.)

I wouldn't trust Microsoft and that workflow with a ten-foot pole anyway. I remember them initially not supporting note export for copyright reasons (evil pirates are just going to highlight and export the entire book!!!). And it probably has all the same flaws as the other methods (exporting the text in your notes only).

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by Tex2002ans

[ . . . ] Or in the discussion linked above, a few others mentioned some Android/IOS PDF readers that can save comments in the PDF. [ . . . ]

This thread may be of tangential interest to anyone following this thread ==>> Annotating PDFs in OS X without modifying the PDF file. It revolves around a MacOS PDF reader called SKIM.

BR

[dfoyble]

Tex2002ans!

Thank you so much for the detailed reply/info. Very helpful, though of course disappointing. I can't believe this functionality hasn't been developed yet. :-/