Confused. Is Calibre an eBook creation Tool or tool for readers?

Fran_3 · 10-24-2020, 12:12 PM

I'm afraid I'm confused about what Calibre's principal intended use is.

Is it...

1 - A tool for authors & publishers to use to create, format, and prep eBooks for publication and for sale on Amazon and other retail sites?

or

2 - A tool for readers to organize their eBook library?

I am looking for a tool help design & layout eBooks and then prep them for publication via Amazon or Ingram or other such wholesale &/or retail outlets that sell eBooks.

Thanks for any help.

DNSB · 10-24-2020, 02:01 PM

This probably belongs in the calibre forum. Sadly in the grand tradition of MobileRead, you will get wildly varying opinions as to what calibre is best used for.

For me, calibre is a tool I use to manage my library. I use various plugins for calibre to clean up the metadata, convert to epub as needed, remove DRM, transfer ebooks to my ereaders, keep track of various statistics, etc.

You could use calibre' editor to create an ebook but I would suggest using tools such as Microsoft Word or OpenOffice Writer for the writing process. Learn to use styles correctly and you will have a file that cleanly converts to epub which is the favoured format for most publishers. Oddly, this includes Amazon where epub is a preferred input format for producing their mobi/AZW3/KFX ebooks.

If you are planning on creating ebooks for sale, I'd suggest also getting acquainted with Kindle Previewer and purchasing several ereaders in addition to reading apps on iOS and Android. It can be rather surprising the differences between what an ebook looks like on a Kindle, Kobo, Nook, Pocketbook, Tolino, etc.

Check the calibre forum for some advice but don't miss the E-Books Formats forum and it's Workshop. ePub and Kindle Formats subforums where you will likely find more on the ebook creation process.

Fran_3 · 10-24-2020, 02:37 PM

David,
Can you supply me with a link to the Calibre Forum?
I searched but guess I missed it.
Thanks for the help.

PS if I double posted this sorry, I'm just learning how to navigate this forum.

Fran_3 · 10-24-2020, 02:52 PM

Ah! Duh! I got it. You are refering to the Calibre sub-forum here on Mobile Reads. Right?

Thanks

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fran_3

David,
Can you supply me with a link to the Calibre Forum?
I searched but guess I missed it.
Thanks for the help.

PS if I double posted this sorry, I'm just learning how to navigate this forum.

issybird · 10-24-2020, 03:03 PM

You might want to look at our Writers’ Corner.

I’ve moved this to the Calibre forum as suggested. The way to get a post moved is to report it and ask; we’d rather that people did that than repost.

ownedbycats · 10-24-2020, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fran_3

Is it...

1 - A tool for authors & publishers to use to create, format, and prep eBooks for publication and for sale on Amazon and other retail sites?

or

2 - A tool for readers to organize their eBook library?

Yes.

theducks · 10-24-2020, 04:59 PM

1) A Librarian (store, catalog, and delivery)
2) Conversion for when the Library copy does not match the users device.
3) A touch up and minor tweak Editor (Yes, folk could create content, but there are easier tools).

BetterRed · 10-24-2020, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fran_3

I'm afraid I'm confused about what Calibre's principal intended use is.

Is it...

1 - A tool for authors & publishers to use to create, format, and prep eBooks for publication and for sale on Amazon and other retail sites?

or

2 - A tool for readers to organize their eBook library?

↑ ↑ ↑ ✔ ↑ ↑ ↑ ✔ ↑ ↑ ↑ ✔

I am looking for a tool help design & layout eBooks and then prep them for publication via Amazon or Ingram or other such wholesale &/or retail outlets that sell eBooks.

Thanks for any help.

calibre User Manual

Quote:

calibre is an e-book library manager. It can view, convert and catalog e-books in most of the major e-book formats. It can also talk to many e-book reader devices. It can go out to the Internet and fetch metadata for your books. It can download newspapers and convert them into e-books for convenient reading. It is cross platform, running on Linux, Windows and macOS.

BR

gbm · 10-24-2020, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fran_3

I'm afraid I'm confused about what Calibre's principal intended use is.

Is it...

1 - A tool for authors & publishers to use to create, format, and prep eBooks for publication and for sale on Amazon and other retail sites?

or

2 - A tool for readers to organize their eBook library?

I am looking for a tool help design & layout eBooks and then prep them for publication via Amazon or Ingram or other such wholesale &/or retail outlets that sell eBooks.

Thanks for any help.

It can be used for both.. Most people will use it to organize their ebook library and do minor editing.

Baen Books uses calibre to convert their ebooks for uploading to the various ebook stores including their own.

bernie

Quoth · 10-25-2020, 11:06 AM

I use LO Writer and save an extra copy as docx. The edit version is odt. Word docx works too. Proper use of styles, headings, anchors etc is needed.

Then Calibre is purely a docx->epub2 conversion. I then make other formats from epub.
I also use it to read proofing annotations from the Kobo via Kobo Utilities.

But the main use for most people is managing their library (and series and collections on Kobo).

I upload the epub2 to Amazon KDP, Smashwords and Google.
I also upload doc to Smashwords (for any format other than epub or Kindle) and a dual mobi for random kindles to Smashwords.

The source LO Writer is reformatted for paper editions.

pdurrant · 10-25-2020, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fran_3

I am looking for a tool help design & layout eBooks and then prep them for publication via Amazon or Ingram or other such wholesale &/or retail outlets that sell eBooks.

Thanks for any help.

You want Sigil if you're happy with HTML and CSS.

I don't know what to suggest as a good WYSIWYG ebook creator.

calibre is mainly for readers, not creators.

BetterRed · 10-25-2020, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

You want Sigil if you're happy with HTML and CSS.

I don't know what to suggest as a good WYSIWYG ebook creator.

calibre is mainly for readers, not creators.

The calibre editor has features that Sigil doesn't have (e.g. regex functions & multi-lingual spellcheck), and vice-versa (integration with Mammoth DOCX conversion, grammar checkers, PageEdit).

Some of us both use both - and forget which one we're using

BR

JSWolf · 10-25-2020, 08:19 PM

There is no such things as a good WYSIWYG editor for eBooks. It just doesn't exist and any WYSIWYG editors will not work well and will produce poor code.

10-24-2020, 12:12 PM	#1
Fran_3 Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2020 Device: none	Confused. Is Calibre an eBook creation Tool or tool for readers? I'm afraid I'm confused about what Calibre's principal intended use is. Is it... 1 - A tool for authors & publishers to use to create, format, and prep eBooks for publication and for sale on Amazon and other retail sites? or 2 - A tool for readers to organize their eBook library? I am looking for a tool help design & layout eBooks and then prep them for publication via Amazon or Ingram or other such wholesale &/or retail outlets that sell eBooks. Thanks for any help.

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10-24-2020, 02:01 PM	#2
DNSB Bibliophagist Posts: 35,301 Karma: 145435140 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Vancouver Device: Kobo Sage, Forma, Clara HD, Lenovo M8 FHD, Paperwhite 4, Tolino epos	This probably belongs in the calibre forum. Sadly in the grand tradition of MobileRead, you will get wildly varying opinions as to what calibre is best used for. For me, calibre is a tool I use to manage my library. I use various plugins for calibre to clean up the metadata, convert to epub as needed, remove DRM, transfer ebooks to my ereaders, keep track of various statistics, etc. You could use calibre' editor to create an ebook but I would suggest using tools such as Microsoft Word or OpenOffice Writer for the writing process. Learn to use styles correctly and you will have a file that cleanly converts to epub which is the favoured format for most publishers. Oddly, this includes Amazon where epub is a preferred input format for producing their mobi/AZW3/KFX ebooks. If you are planning on creating ebooks for sale, I'd suggest also getting acquainted with Kindle Previewer and purchasing several ereaders in addition to reading apps on iOS and Android. It can be rather surprising the differences between what an ebook looks like on a Kindle, Kobo, Nook, Pocketbook, Tolino, etc. Check the calibre forum for some advice but don't miss the E-Books Formats forum and it's Workshop. ePub and Kindle Formats subforums where you will likely find more on the ebook creation process.

10-24-2020, 02:37 PM	#3
Fran_3 Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2020 Device: none	David, Can you supply me with a link to the Calibre Forum? I searched but guess I missed it. Thanks for the help. PS if I double posted this sorry, I'm just learning how to navigate this forum.

10-24-2020, 03:03 PM	#5
issybird o saeclum infacetum Posts: 20,209 Karma: 222235366 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: New England Device: H2O, Aura One, PW5	You might want to look at our Writers’ Corner. I’ve moved this to the Calibre forum as suggested. The way to get a post moved is to report it and ask; we’d rather that people did that than repost.

10-24-2020, 04:59 PM	#7
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 29,778 Karma: 54830978 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	1) A Librarian (store, catalog, and delivery) 2) Conversion for when the Library copy does not match the users device. 3) A touch up and minor tweak Editor (Yes, folk could create content, but there are easier tools).

10-25-2020, 11:06 AM	#10
Quoth the rook, bossing Never. Posts: 11,080 Karma: 85874891 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper11	I use LO Writer and save an extra copy as docx. The edit version is odt. Word docx works too. Proper use of styles, headings, anchors etc is needed. Then Calibre is purely a docx->epub2 conversion. I then make other formats from epub. I also use it to read proofing annotations from the Kobo via Kobo Utilities. But the main use for most people is managing their library (and series and collections on Kobo). I upload the epub2 to Amazon KDP, Smashwords and Google. I also upload doc to Smashwords (for any format other than epub or Kindle) and a dual mobi for random kindles to Smashwords. The source LO Writer is reformatted for paper editions.

10-25-2020, 08:19 PM	#13
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,887 Karma: 128597114 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	There is no such things as a good WYSIWYG editor for eBooks. It just doesn't exist and any WYSIWYG editors will not work well and will produce poor code.

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