Convert formats with no cover

[YetAnotherWriter]

Hi, I'm an author looking to convert some books to upload to Amazon. I feel like I must be missing something here.

TL/DR of my question: I cannot figure out how to convert from AZW3 to Mobi using Calibre without adding a cover.

I have mobi and epub files for a novel, the first book in a series. I needed to tweak a few things/add some links before uploading to Amazon. Calibre tells me I have to convert to AZW3 to edit the file. This seems odd; how can Calibre not directly edit one of the most common formats? But I convert, make the changes, save.

I go to upload to Amazon. Amazon rejects the AZW3 file, saying it's not an accepted format (huh??) and tells me to upload a mobi. This also seems odd (isn't it just going to convert the mobi back to an AZW3??). But okay, I'll convert it back.

So I'm converting the book back using Calibre, and Calibre keeps wanting to insert a cover. As some of you may know, you do not insert covers into an ebook file when uploading to Amazon. Amazon has a separate section where you upload the cover image, OUTSIDE the ebook file of whatever format.

My ebook has an image of the next book in the series (book 2) embedded in the back of the book so that readers can buy it conveniently .If I do not provide a cover, Calibre automatically grabs this image and puts it as the cover. This is wrong, as that's the cover for book 2 in the series and this is book 1. If I specify a file, it embeds the file into the ebook, which I don't want.

I thought I could get around this by ticking the box by 'use a cover from file' and then simply not specify a file, and this would get me a mobi file with no cover, which is what I want. HOWEVER, if I do this, I still get the book with the wrong cover (the image taken from the back of the book) automatically embedded at the front of the generated MOBI.

So I can't figure out how to convert an AZW3 file (or any format, I suppose) to a different format in Calibre without embedding a cover.

So yeah, I feel like I must be missing something and would really appreciate any help or advice. I realize I could probably do the conversion using some online tools, but I don't trust those sites, and I will need to convert several more books in a similar fashion and would like to understand what I'm missing or doing wrong.

[stumped]

"Calibre tells me I have to convert to AZW3 to edit the file"
???

for mobi maybe, but calibre editor is designed for epub. treat epub as the master and make all your changes in that. Then, at the end, convert to .mobi for upload if that is what amazon wants

its trivial to remove covers using calibre editor or with one of several plugins that have that option

[jhowell]

There is more than one kind of MOBI. The sort you should upload to Amazon is a Master MOBI, created using Amazon's Kindle Previewer from an EPUB or DOCX source file. Do NOT upload a MOBI created using calibre. It lacks important content for a published book.

Your process is seriously flawed. I suggest that you make the changes you need in the EPUB using the calibre editor. Validate it using the Kindle Previewer and then upload to Amazon either that EPUB or a MOBI produced from it using the Previewer.

[YetAnotherWriter]

okay thanks, I didn't realize epub was the format that Calibre likes best, nor did I know that Calibre-generated ebooks aren't ideal for Amazon. Good to know.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by YetAnotherWriter

okay thanks, I didn't realize epub was the format that Calibre likes best, nor did I know that Calibre-generated ebooks aren't ideal for Amazon. Good to know.

Calibre generated MOBI are not best. EPUB is fine AFAIK

[stumped]

Originally Posted by theducks

Calibre generated MOBI are not best. ..

but they are good enough for emailing via amazon send to, to a remote kindle or fire tablet as azw is not accepted for that routing. for local USB xfer I always convert to AZW, not to mobi.