Questions on d/l'ing and storing fic w/Calibre

[shesgottaread]

Hi folks

Comments

[kimberlyfdr]

I always save parts of a series (or stories all set within the same verse) as one book, either by saving them all in the same document and then converting to mobi or saving each part as an epub and combining them in Calibre with the plug-in.

[shesgottaread]

Thanks for your reply! I've been doing that as well for some stories but not others.

My apologies to everyone that it's taken me so long to get back and view everyone's input. The past two days have been incredibly bothersome.

[kimberlyfdr]

For me, I like merging a series into an epub, but I'm pretty sure that a "universe" epub (multiple merged series and/or one-offs all merged into one giant collector's-edition-box-set-style epub) would get too large too quickly to be useful.

Not necessarily. I have one universe file on my Kindle that runs over 1000 pages and it's perfectly manageable. I'm sure there's a tipping point, though, when the file would be so big that it's not easily loaded / navigable.

[shesgottaread]

Thanks for pointing out the benefits of EpubMerge! Not sure if I'd installed that plugin, but whether I have or haven't, I'll certainly be checking it out now.

I definitely like the idea that you can have the flexibility of putting all of Missy Good's Dar & Kerry or X&G stories in one big book, but also having them as separate books. There's certainly something that appeals in the idea of the giant collector's edition, but I think it is something I'd do selectively. In editing, I've certainly found that if the book is too long, GrabMyBook starts to choke. However, when it comes to reading, I've got books that are 1000+ pages and the reader apps don't seem to bog down too noticeably.

[ultra_maniac]

I'm partial to saving each story in a series as separate books, then merely sorting them into a folder for ease of keeping them together. I've also been rethinking this logic if only because authors over on Archive of Our Own post a jillion of parts to a fic but I'm lazy and I sometimes authors post out of order or update a fic that's part 2 in a series of 3, and it's just so complicated.

For all stories from a particular author, I end up sorting into couplings or fandoms instead, just because I like everything fandom organized instead of author organized.

[frelling_tralk]

I've also been rethinking this logic if only because authors over on Archive of Our Own post a jillion of parts to a fic

Yep, to be honest I'm not sure how to save chapters into one complete file, so I do the same of d/l each individual chapter from Archive Of Our Own and uploading it to a folder in my kindle. It does get to be a pain though when some stories have like 20 individual chapters, so I should probably stop being lazy and figure out how to make a complete book with the fanfic I read :P

[shesgottaread]

I highly recommend the combination of Calibre w/ the fanfiction downloader plugin for handling the multiple chapter stories, although I know AO3 has a download to epub or mobi function as well.

[kimberlyfdr]

Single stories with multiple chapters at AO3 download as one file, but I agree that out-of-order parts in a series can be problematic (Story 2 is a WiP while the one-shot future sequel is done). I've had to take apart a few universes because of that, but then I just convert it out of mobi format into its separate parts, insert the new addition, then put it together again for conversion.

[amothea]

I download everything into Calibre with Fanfiction Downloader and use epubmerge to merge any stories that are part of a series. Or if I want to make an author collection. It's quick and easy. I also use search in Calibre with custom columns to find what I'm looking for as well.

[shesgottaread]

Yup, I definitely use the Calibre search and custom columns. I'm also pretty strict about updating the "series" column when the ffdl plugin doesn't do it for me.

Thanks!

[chamekke]

What you said :-)

I'm sure there are ways I could do it that would be quicker, but I like to be able to adjust the text's readability. Especially if I'm copying fics from Livejournal... some of my favourite authors only post here, and they often struggle with hinky formatting.

[kimberlyfdr]

Squee!Book should take care of some of the formatting issues for you. I often use it to collect multiple part LJ fic, copy to a word document to make more formatting changes, then paste it back into the text box to create an ebook file.