editing kindle ebooks while reading

[pgfiore]

Ciao All
I'd like to make light modifications onto mobi/azw3 while I'm reading them on my paperwhite.
I do not want to use pc neither calibre, I have no patience to face an "edit task" for a whole ebook.
What I would like is fixing those small errors coming from scanning immediately, when I discover them. while reading.
I have a dream; to tap the single wrong word, choose "alter", correctly rewrite it and continue to read...

Any chance?
Any other way I could investigate?

Thank in advance
pf

[thomass]

even if you manage to do this there is a bigger problem: recompiling the doc over and over and over again will eat Kindle's battery.

Instead you may follow this: enter the correct form of words as notes, then look for a way (of course on a pc) to change this words according to your notes. for example: convert the doc to htmlz (ie one file html) then use a script to search on this file according to your MyClippings.txt. Or create a Calibre plugin ( like polish book,edit ToC) that could tweak your azw3 book directly according to your MyClippings.txt file. Or ...

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by thomass

even if you manage to do this there is a bigger problem: recompiling the doc over and over and over again will eat Kindle's battery.

Instead you may follow this: enter the correct form of words as notes, then look for a way (of course on a pc) to change this words according to your notes. for example: convert the doc to htmlz (ie one file html) then use a script to search on this file according to your MyClippings.txt. Or create a Calibre plugin ( like polish book,edit ToC) that could tweak your azw3 book directly according to your MyClippings.txt file. Or ...

WOW! What a convoluted way to do any sort of editing.

If the eBook is AZW3, load it into Calibre and use Tweak Book to get access to the files and fix the errors.

If the eBook is Mobi, it's a bit more difficult to fix. You can use the KindleUnpack plugin to decompile the Mobi. But, I'm not sure of the best way to put it back together again.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

WOW! What a convoluted way to do any sort of editing.

If the eBook is AZW3, load it into Calibre and use Tweak Book to get access to the files and fix the errors.

If the eBook is Mobi, it's a bit more difficult to fix. You can use the KindleUnpack plugin to decompile the Mobi. But, I'm not sure of the best way to put it back together again.

Wolfie, mon sweet:

I think it's pretty obvious from the OP's post that s/he doesn't want to edit at ALL. S/he already said, "I do not want to use pc neither calibre, I have no patience to face an "edit task" for a whole ebook," indicating that s/he doesn't understand how a mobi file is created, so...you're kinda wasting your time.

pgfiore:

A Mobi file isn't a word-processing file, and a Kindle or other ebook-reader isn't a mobi editor, as such a thing does not exist. A Kindle book has to be built from its HTML source. That means that if you wish to change it, you have to unpack it, as Wolf mentioned, then edit the HTML, suffering through the slings and arrows of doing so in HTML. THEN you can rebuild it into its newly-edited and shiny state. This all assumes that it's your book, or your source file. If it's got DRM, then you have other issues. In short: no, you can't change the book from the screen. You'll either have to learn to edit them in HTML, or go without.

Hitch

[susan_cassidy]

Besides, I think that would probably violate the author's rights, if you were allowed to change the book in situ.

ETA: besides all that, I think that some people would erroneously edit phrases that they don't use correctly, as in "free reign" instead of the correct "free rein".

[thomass]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

WOW! What a convoluted way to do any sort of editing.

As said by Hitch, OP wants a way to edit while reading the book on Kindle, and I guess there is not a simplier way.

[pgfiore]

Thanks for your proposals folks. I see your point. I'm a poor old IT guy, so the "behind the scenes" part is well understood (at least now after that good explanation...)
(btw, sorry my english, of course I'm far to be a pro level at all)

What I cannot face, too lazy, is to read a book once more to apply changes which I noted reading it the first time on paperwhite (of course they are not encrypted, at least when I read them )
Let's say Thomass suggestion could be approachable; I've got... it's the only one anyway

thanks to you all and free rain
p.s. what does OP mean?

[thomass]

Originally Posted by pgfiore

p.s. what does OP mean?

http://www.ehow.com/info_12047160_op-mean-forums.html

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by pgfiore

Thanks for your proposals folks. I see your point. I'm a poor old IT guy, so the "behind the scenes" part is well understood (at least now after that good explanation...)
(btw, sorry my english, of course I'm far to be a pro level at all)

What I cannot face, too lazy, is to read a book once more to apply changes which I noted reading it the first time on paperwhite (of course they are not encrypted, at least when I read them )
Let's say Thomass suggestion could be approachable; I've got... it's the only one anyway

thanks to you all and free rain
p.s. what does OP mean?

pgfiore:

Most of us are poor old IT guys, if it's any comfort. And thomass' link will give you a good handle on numerous acronyms/abbreviations for use on the forums.

Welcome to MR,
Hitch

[JSWolf]

I make corrections for two reasons. One is in case I ever decide to read the book again and the other is in case I give the book to someone else to read. I do share among family. They don't keep a copy when they finish reading. To me, it's not that different from loaning a pBook.

Also, if I find a number of errors while I'm reading and they are recurring errors, I can fix them before I finish reading and then replace the one on the Reader with one more error free.

[Notjohn]

Originally Posted by pgfiore

What I cannot face, too lazy, is to read a book once more to apply changes which I noted reading it the first time on paperwhite (of course they are not encrypted, at least when I read them )

Is it a finished book that you bought from Amazon? (I can't think of any other reason to use the Kindle as a proof-reading device.... Oh well, I suppose it might be converted on the KDP but not yet published...) In that case, just use the Highlight feature. When the reading is done, then copy & paste your highlights into a text file and use that as a guide for editing.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Notjohn

Is it a finished book that you bought from Amazon? (I can't think of any other reason to use the Kindle as a proof-reading device.... Oh well, I suppose it might be converted on the KDP but not yet published...) In that case, just use the Highlight feature. When the reading is done, then copy & paste your highlights into a text file and use that as a guide for editing.

nj:

The OP already said that s/he won't make edits as they'd have to be made, so, this entire conversation is just a bunch of geeks discussing it, now, for no purpose. S/he wanted to be able to magically edit on the Kindle device. Obviously, a) it cannot be done and b) it presents all sorts of issues if the reader is electing to edit a copyrighted work. {shrug}. Really, we'll all exercising ourselves over nothing.

Hitch

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Hitch

nj:

The OP already said that s/he won't make edits as they'd have to be made, so, this entire conversation is just a bunch of geeks discussing it, now, for no purpose. S/he wanted to be able to magically edit on the Kindle device. Obviously, a) it cannot be done and b) it presents all sorts of issues if the reader is electing to edit a copyrighted work. {shrug}. Really, we'll all exercising ourselves over nothing.

Hitch

Well, I suppose someone could write ebook reading software (even for mobi devices) that would allow such editing on-the-fly.

But I can't see anyone actually doing it.

What would be good would be a mechanism (in the Kindle software) to report errors easily back to the publisher anonymously.

Amazon could easily do this. Publishers wishing to join could provide Amazon with a 'typos' email address, and any reported typos could be automatically sent to the publisher with the exact location of the error.

I would use it! Reporting typos to publishers is a tedious process. To be able to do it quickly and while reading would be splendid. And then if I ever re-read the book, the publisher will have (I hope) issued an update from the crowd-source proof-reading.

But I don't see that happening either, although it would be almost trivial for Amazon to implement.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Well, I suppose someone could write ebook reading software (even for mobi devices) that would allow such editing on-the-fly.

But I can't see anyone actually doing it.

What would be good would be a mechanism (in the Kindle software) to report errors easily back to the publisher anonymously.

Amazon could easily do this. Publishers wishing to join could provide Amazon with a 'typos' email address, and any reported typos could be automatically sent to the publisher with the exact location of the error.

I would use it! Reporting typos to publishers is a tedious process. To be able to do it quickly and while reading would be splendid. And then if I ever re-read the book, the publisher will have (I hope) issued an update from the crowd-source proof-reading.

But I don't see that happening either, although it would be almost trivial for Amazon to implement.

Oh, PLEASE, please, please, do not suggest that to Amazon, or even promote it as a good idea.

Nothing against you, my friend; I'm sure your edits would be great. But as someone who often receives these little billet-doux from (authors who have received them from) Amazon, please don't encourage this. I can't tell you what it's like to get notices from Amazon to fix two "typos" (one a British usage, BTW), in a 226K-word book. Or, to make changes because ONE letter is missing from a backlist book of 140K words, that was scanned and OCR'ed.

I've ranted about this, privately, to Amazon, because it's the worst possible scenario--the dreadful books, those that are unreadable, receive no notices, no edits at all. Why? Because nobody reads them, thus the reading public doesn't submit errors, and Amazon doesn't (essentially) forward them. The amazing irony of the situation is that it's the popular books, the best books--the books that were edited in the first place, carefully constructed, formatted, etc.--that get read, and thus get these "helpful hints" from readers.

So, the books that need it the most, don't get it at all, and the books that need it the least, do. Authors feel compelled to make the edits "right away," and so end up remaking books more than once a year. And I'd point out: this never would have happened a mere 10 years ago; hell, not even five. The "immediacy" and instant gratification of the digital age seem to imply that authors and publishers need to make those edits right away. Ten years ago, publishers would have taken any letters that they'd received about typos, stuck it in a file, and made the edits--if ever--when a second edition was published. Not even a second print run.

While I see the advantages, to some publishers, of essentially 'crowd-sourcing' the proof-reading for a book, the change in the publishing world about "instantly fixing typos" seems to me to be absurd, for, as I say, merely a decade ago nobody would have had their knickers in a twist about a few typos in a book. Now readers submit them as if they are the beta readers or proofreading personnel for a publisher--not the consumers. It's a paradigm shift, and I'm not sure it's a good one.

It's contributing to new phenomena in which the book is never done. We see books being updated, re-uploaded, authors imploring Amazon to send notices to the people who've already bought them--it's contributing to an environment in which Indy authors, particularly, have begun to think of Amazon as their critique group; that it's okay to put up a book that's not "really" done. It's not serving either the authors or the buyers/readers well.

I can see the point in sending notices to Amazon about a book that's rife with errors. But the types of notices we see, at least, are as I described above--1 or 2 errors in books of over 140-220K words. It's ridiculous. And as I said, I think it's contributing to a mindset that isn't serving either side of the equation very well, because when a reader buys a book, s/he should not be expected to contribute to the perfection of the book; it should be a complete work. That's what we thought ten years ago, and it's what we should think now. Amazon and Nook, Kobo, Diesel, et al, should not be Wattpad, and when an author/publisher puts a book up for sale, it should be polished, complete, and DONE.

That's my $.02.

Hitch

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Hitch

And as I said, I think it's contributing to a mindset that isn't serving either side of the equation very well, because when a reader buys a book, s/he should not be expected to contribute to the perfection of the book; it should be a complete work. That's what we thought ten years ago, and it's what we should think now. Amazon and Nook, Kobo, Diesel, et al, should not be Wattpad, and when an author/publisher puts a book up for sale, it should be polished, complete, and DONE.

You make some very good points.