Fan Fiction: Useful Resources & Organization Part II
Useful Resources For:
...converting, and organizing your fan fiction...
UPDATED: 3/25/2011
Please note that this is Part II of the Fan Fiction: Useful Resources & Organization post. Here you will find useful programs, information, and more about Converting and Organizing your fan fiction. Information about Downloading and Creating your fan fiction can be in Part I.
Converting:
- Calibre - (Program) - Converts and Organizes - a popular e-book converter that allows you to format your e-book, choose the file format, add table of contents, book covers, and much more. Highly recommended.
- Squee!Book - (Online) - Converts - an easy to use online website that converts individual stories; allows you to add book covers and converts to limited formats.
- BookCreator Tool - (Program) - Converts - converts documents (Microsoft Word 2003-2007) to LRF/MOBI/EPUB. Works with Calibre, if you want.
- Convert Word Docs to HTML - (Online) - Converts - simple site that converts word docs to clean html.
- ePub Creation on Mac - (Program) - by kannnichtfranz - Converts - a .pdf - .epub service for Mac.
- eBook Hood - (online) - a simple online website that allows you to convert your docs for your iPod, PDA, or Mobile Phone. Only .rtf and .txt documents accepted.
- 2EPUB - (Online) - Converts - mostly powered by Calibre, you can upload one file type and download it in another format. (input: doc, epub, fb2, html, lit, lrf, mobi, odt, pdb, pdf, prc, rtf, txt. -- output: epub, fb2, lit, lrf, mobi.)
- eReader Software - (Program) - Converts - usable for multiple devices including a variety of smartphones, this site has various program options that allow you to convert simple files into .pdb format.
- Zamzar - (Online) - Converts - an online converter that will convert to a variety of formats; works with your e-mail and the free version only allows you to convert files up to 100MBs.
- Google Docs - (Online) - Converts - able to export in .pdf or .rtf, this is a great basic converter that can double as a document editor or, if you want, additional storage for your fan fiction.
- DropBook - (Program) - Converts - this application allows you to convert a text file into a .pdb file for Palm OS.
Please note that many fan fiction downloaders (including some of the ones listed in the FFD section in Part l) can double as a very basic converter. There are also many sites available via google search that allow you to convert files to specific formats for free as well as several newer word processors that allow you to choose what type of file you'd like to save your document as (i.e. .rtf, .html, etc.).
Organization:
- Calibre - (Program) - E-Book Library Manager - a popular e-book library managers that allows you to edit meta information, use tags, and further organize your e-book library.
- Adobe: Digital Editions - (Program) - E-Book Library Reader - an e-book library manager that allows you to annotate pages and transfer e-books from one computer/device to another.
- Read It Later - (App) - Multi-Use For iPod/iPhone/iPad/Firefox, etc. - an app. that is somewhat similar to the delicious bookmarking site with the exception that it archives a copy for later and allows you to read it off-line. Apparently has paid features that you can use as well.
- Zotero - (App) - Plugin for Firefox - Helps you collect, manage, cite, and share your research sources. Designed for research, this plugin should work well for e-books as it allows you to group, add notes, sort by categories, and more.
- Scrapbook Plus - (Add-On) - Firefox - an easy to use Firefox add-on that allows you to download, save, and sort you fan fiction into folders and sub-folders. Easy to back-up and restore.
- Kindlabra - (Program) - Kindle Only - a free Windows/Linux based program that allows you to manage your Kindle Collection.
- Kindle Collection Manager - (Program) - Kindle Only - a free Windows program that allows you to manage your Kindle collection. Seemingly abandoned by the creator but might be useful for those willing to give it a try.
- Kindle Collection Maker - (Online) - Kindle Only - a web based service that allows Kindle users to create collections.
There is also the option to use your own file managing system or using the e-book library that comes with your e-reader (if you have one).
Other Useful Articles, Sites, Tutorials, & Programs:
- Mobile Reads - (Site) - an excellent site for information about pretty anything you could think of in terms of e-books, formatting, and more.
- Delicious Bookmarking - (Site) - a social bookmarking site that allows you to bookmark links for later, tag and organize links, and share links with others. Highly Recommended.
- Portable Apps - (Site with Programs) - a fantastic website that has a variety of portable apps for use on any windows computer.
- WOWIO - (Site) - great site for free e-books and comics that aren't necessarily mainstream.
- We Make Zines - (Site) - an online community for zine makers and readers. This isn't necessarily fan fiction related, however, it does boast a large community with plenty of information for those of you who want to build your own zine.
- Project Gutenberg - (Site) - a large website that houses thousands of free e-books.
- Stanza - (App) - a free application for you iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch that allows you to read books from their library. Note: This app might have more uses but I haven't personally used it.
- What's the Best Way To Read PDFs on a 6 Inch Screen (Dear Author) - (Article/Tutorial) - this article has a few tutorials for optimizing PDFs for your ereader screen. It also shows how to delete Headers/Footers from PDFs so they convert better to another format, such as EPUB or MOBI.
- Kindle and Calibre Plugboards - (Tutorial) - a tutorial for using Calibre plugboards to sync books to your Kindle so that they are sorted by series reading order (Series 1 - Book Title - Author). This is geared toward the Kindle, but it can be used for the Sony as well.
- How to make a Catalog-Based Calibre Library available for Stanza - This is a great article from the folks at Dear Author on how to make a Calibre library that you can access through Stanza on your iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad, sort of like your own homegrown "web store". It also tells you how to set it up so you can access your catalog via the internet from anywhere.
I am always looking for new material for these posts so if you happen to find a particularly wonderful program, article, or etc. that you feel should be added, please don't hesitate to drop me a comment!