iPhone EZ - Uploading Books To iPhone Stanza

[PennyPie]

Hi all!!

I got my 1st 'fun phone' a couple weeks ago. Up til then, I'd only had a utilitarian, no frills phone. But I decided I wanted to be able to do more than place/receive phone calls. So, I got an iPhone. Well, I must tell you, I'm absolutly head over heels with it!!! But, I've spent long hours over a number of days trying to easily (the operative word here) get books onto the device.

Documentation is hard to come by...iPod's manual doesn't address it, iPod for Dummies is silent on the subject, and even our dear MR was lacking in easy methods. (Note the word EASY...there were instructions, but as far as I could see, none were very straightforward.) iTunes also is not an easy option, and since I don't have a 13 year old boy to teach me how to manage the site & device, it's a steep learning curve with little to help me.

Well, I finally discovered an EASY method to upload books into the Stanza program of my iPod!!!!! Here it is:

1.Convert your books to epub. I use Calibre
2.Create a free 1GB account at http://box.net.
3.Upload the ePub files to your box.net account.
4.In Stanza on your iPhone, go to the "Get Books" tab.
5.Open the "Shared" segment and hit the plus sign.
6.Select "Add Web Page".
7.For the name, enter "box.net", and for the URL enter "box.net". Tap "Save" in the upper right corner.
8.Select "box.net" from the "Book Sources" section.
9.The box.net mobile site will load in Stanza's embedded browser. Log in with your username and password.
10.You should see the book(s) you uploaded. Tapping the link to the book will automatically download the file and install it in Stanza's library.

That's it...very simple. But it took me 3 days of on & off searching to find this answer. Since the vast majority of iPhone/iTouch users don't use their device for reading, the documentation for doing it is very hard to come by.

I really enjoy reading on my iPhone...I tend to do lots of reading in little snippets. And since my phone is always in my pocket, I can read on 'the run'. I use my Sony for dedicated reading...times that I just sit and enjoy. But using the iPhone, I make quite a bit more headway on a book with the little 'grab & dash' bits of reading I do now with the phone.

I hope this helps the 'technically challenged' among us having the same problem!

[Bremen Cole]

If you use Calibre just turn on the "server" option and then do what you do in Stanza and you get the files right off your computer, no need for box.net. It's what I do... and much easier than your method....

[donnakamla]

Hi. There is an even easier way. Requires wireless router.
Sharing using Stanza Desktop
The Stanza iPhone application, which can be downloaded onto the iPhone via the Apple App Store, can upload books from your computer using Stanza Desktop. The Stanza Desktop application is currently available for Apple Macintosh and Windows computers from http://download.lexcycle.com.

Launch Stanza Desktop.
Go to File->Open, and open a book or document in one of Stanza's supported formats. Note: The text of eReader books will not be displayed, but you can still use this interface to share books with Stanza iPhone.
Go to the "Tools" menu, and ensure that the "Enable Sharing" menu item is checked.
Ensure that your iPhone is connected to the same wireless network that your PC is on.
Launch Stanza on your iPhone.
From the top-level library menu, select "Shared Books". You should see your computer name. Select it.
Stanza Desktop will then notify you that your iPhone is attempting to connect to your shared library, and request your permission to allow the connection.
Once you have granted permission, Stanza iPhone will display a list of books that are open in Stanza Desktop.
Tap on the book to download it Stanza on your iPhone. It will appear in Titles and Recent Downloads.

[Bremen Cole]

If you want to try this Penny, here are the simple directions.

1. Open Calibre and open the "Preferences" tab.
2. Click on the "Content Server" option.
3. Click "Start server", and if you want "start server on startup"
4.In Stanza on your iPhone, go to the "Get Books" tab.
5.Open the "Shared" tab
6. In a moment you will see the "Books in Calibre" option.
7. Open it, and there are all the books in your calibre library read to send to your iPhone///or iPod Touch.

[PennyPie]

Hey..Bremen...THANKS!!! See, this is what I mean...DUMMY Proof...I'm no techie, and some directions are so confusing, jargon not familiar, minimal usage of product makes navigation difficult....your '7 easy steps' looks like something even I can manage!!!

Will give it a try soon!!!
Again, thanks for clear, concise info!

[acastillo]

[post removed ]

Just saw discussion regarding Stanza update in another thread.

[nikkie]

I recently helped my sister learn to do this on her iPod Touch. She has a wireless router.

The easiest way (at first) was just opening the book in Stanza Desktop and then downloading it on Stanza for the iPhone.

After she became familiar with this method she realized that Calibre Server is faster.

So if you just want to get some books on your iPhone or iPod, try Stanza Desktop. Once you have become familiar with that, move up to Calibre server.

I did note that I had a better experience with finding the server when I saved the url to calibre server in Stanza as my own site. Trying to locate via bonjour or broadcast protocol was not as reliable.

[3weddings]

Bremen...thanks for your post!
I followed each step, but for some reason only one book (the Quick Start Guide) appears. Have I missed something? I converted 20pdfs last nite and they show on my Kindle.

Thanks for any guidance!

Edited!!!
I am needing coffee...my kindle books were mobi, I just redid everything to ePub and we're GOOD to Go.
Soooooooo glad I found you guys!! Thanks!

[Bremen Cole]

Glad you got it working..... and for goodness sake get that coffee!!!

[JayLaFunk]

Originally Posted by Bremen Cole

If you want to try this Penny, here are the simple directions.

1. Open Calibre and open the "Preferences" tab.
2. Click on the "Content Server" option.
3. Click "Start server", and if you want "start server on startup"
4.In Stanza on your iPhone, go to the "Get Books" tab.
5.Open the "Shared" tab
6. In a moment you will see the "Books in Calibre" option.
7. Open it, and there are all the books in your calibre library read to send to your iPhone///or iPod Touch.

Hi Bremen,

I use your method and I am very happy with it but is there a way that calibre (PC) & Stanza (Iphone) will automatically sync with each other if you add new books to your calibre library and download the new books over or if you change some detail, tags, notes etc.

Now that I am adding more books to my calibre library, I am forgetting what is on my stanza app and sometimes I add the same book twice.

Jay

[Bremen Cole]

I really don't know as I do not sync. I just keep what I am currently reading on my reader, and leave my full library on the computer (backed up of course). When I finish a book I delete it from the reader so I never have more that 20 or less on it at once. Good question, perhaps ask in the dedicated Calibre forum here at Mobileread https://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=166

[JayLaFunk]

Originally Posted by Bremen Cole

I really don't know as I do not sync. I just keep what I am currently reading on my reader, and leave my full library on the computer (backed up of course). When I finish a book I delete it from the reader so I never have more that 20 or less on it at once. Good question, perhaps ask in the dedicated Calibre forum here at Mobileread https://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=166

Cheers Bremen

Jay

[D_Reese]

PennyPie, thanks for the "EZ" solution. I recently moved over to iPhone and I haven't been able to get past the Stanza and Calibre "Catalog Error Timed Out" message. I was able to download my files from box.net with no problem.

[Robbie.Hadley]

ive tried doing it through box.net for my iphone, and it doesnt work. what am i doing wrong. when i click on the book title it gives me an "Operation could not be completed (webkiterrordomain error 24)" error. and calibre doesnt seem to work for my iphone, please help!!!