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[furbearingmammal]

Is this a book you created yourself or one you downloaded/bought?

 

[TwerpPoet]

For me it is several books I bought from Baen.com. They are DRM free MOBI format originally bought for and read on the first generation Kindle. It's not a big issue since I can go back to the site and download them in other formats compatible with other readers.

I notice that we are all using different phones and probably different OS versions, and that those of us with problems seem to only see them when the app tries to sync with Amazon. Sounds to me like some API called by the Kindle app when syncing fails more gracefully on some software versions than others.

I could easily be wrong, of course. I'm not much of a programer. But this makes more sense to me than ebooks that are only bad some of the time. Especial when I can actually read my books. The app only throws a fit when it's time to close the book or app. You know, right when the app is most likely to try and sync with Amazon.com.

 

[furbearingmammal]

I ask because I've had zero problems with the app. I wrote a book and formatted it for publishing in the Kindle store, from the ground up, and side-loaded it on my phone and the Kindle application for the PC. No problems with either, including with syncing it I don't know how many times.

If you can download any of the books again in e-pub format then I know you can use the Nook app, the Borders app, and I believe the Aldiko app as well to do your reading.

 

[TwerpPoet]

I've never done that. What format do the books come out in, and do they show up in your Amazon digital library?

I've already downloaded most my Baen books in ePub. I haven't put them on the phone; except for testing. I do very little reading on it, though I have both the Kindle and Nook apps and a couple of books loaded on each. This is more in the nature of habit, against the off chance that I get stuck somewhere and feel like reading. I prefer a bigger device or paper for serious reading.

When the question came up it peaked my interest so I experimented. Unfortunately I didn't experiment far enough to catch the problems before I posted my first reply.

 

[furbearingmammal]

Try reading on a Droid 1 screen.

Actually quite legible, but annoying at the number of times you have to turn the page.

I used Calibre, as sweaterjunkie has already suggested. There were some tweaks I had to manage, but once I got it all done it came out beautifully. There's a Kindle previewer program you can download to show you what it looks like on various platforms, too, because what looks GREAT on a PC screen and a 6" Kindle screen might be impossible to read on an iPhone's screen.

 

[TwerpPoet]

I read my first ebooks on a Palm PDA, so I can sympathize with the screen size, and the resolution was, um, adequate.

The preview is a good idea. I occasionally read poetry, and it rarely looks good on a small screen.

I occasionally think about writing a book, but the reality is I'm too lazy. Having ideas is easy. Sustaining and refining them through weeks, months and maybe years is hard work. Then there is the whole actually writing them down part.

Day dreaming is much easier.

Anyway, but to the topic, for at least one sentence anyway. I think I'll wait for the next Kindle app update and give it another try. Not because I need it, but just to see what happens.

btw, you never said what format your books ended up as. Can you publish an ebook from the Amazon Kindle store in .mobi format?

 

[furbearingmammal]

Sorry, bad news has been coming in like the tide surge of a hurricane. Been a bit distracted.

My book ended up as an e-pub from the first program I punched it into and then I used Calibre to convert it to .mobi, which is the format the KindleGen tool (which they want you to use on any book you want to upload) outputs at. So, yes, .mobi is what you publish on the Kindle store as. Hope that helps.

 

[TwerpPoet]

Thanks, that does help.

It also jogged my memory about .azw and .mobi being DRM capable versions of palm's .prc file type. So it suddenly makes sense.

Hope the bad news gets better.

 

[furbearingmammal]

Thanks, and I'm glad I jogged the memory.

 

[ACollins59]

Is this a book you created yourself or one you downloaded/bought?

(Assuming this question was meant for both TwerpPoet and me)

For me, it was a free book I downloaded from another site to my PC. It was supposedly in a format to be used with Mobi Pocket Reader, but my Kindle for PC app was able to open and read it without any conversion (.prc format).

 

[furbearingmammal]

IIRC, Mobi Pocket Creator outputs in .prc format if you're not encrypting it. Makes me wonder if it's actually in .mobi format, because I'd imagine they'd have the Android app limited to .mobi only.

 

[ACollins59]

So, you're thinking that even though the file has a .prc extension, it is really in .mobi format? Could this be why it doesn't "get along" with other books on my Droid, but is fine by itself?

 

[furbearingmammal]

Actually the opposite. I'm thinking that because it doesn't have a .mobi or .azw file extension it won't work. Even the free, non DRM-d books you can download from the Kindle store are .azw. Gutenburg hedges their bets and puts it in .mobi for compatibility.

I'm thinking the Android app is more limited in formats than the PC application. Just theory based on my experiences and what I've observed of the programs' behaviors. Since the Kindle itself can read .txt files, why not stick a .txt file into the folder and see if the Android app can read it. If not, we have our answer. If so, then we have a piece of the puzzle, at least.

 

[debdroid1a]

I occasionally think about writing a book, but the reality is I'm too lazy. Having ideas is easy. Sustaining and refining them through weeks, months and maybe years is hard work. Then there is the whole actually writing them down part.

Day dreaming is much easier.

National Novel Writing Month in November. (NaNoWriMo). One month to write a 50k novel. Okay so November is over, but plan for next year.
It's fun. Although this year I had to move and find a place and start moving, so I only got 5k in. Oh well, there's next year.
And the rest of the year day dreaming is much easier.

Back on topic.
I hope something works. I had some .mobi books on my Kindle for PC that worked fine I had to copy them on a flash stick to put them on my Netbook's Kindle for PC2, but could not copy them to my Droid1 Kindle app. They were free ones I got off the internet. Some of them off the Gutenburg site, so maybe that's why. I'll have to try some of the suggestions here and see if they work for me. Even with the small screen and constant turning of pages, I love reading on my Droid1, I've read more since I've had it.

 

[ACollins59]

OK, so I stuck a txt file in the kindle folder on my Droid. It not only can't read it, but it ignores the fact that it is even there (at least it doesn't force close on me). So I guess your hypothesis is correct, furbearingmammal - the Kindle app for Droid is more limited than that of an actual Kindle (or the Kindle for PC app).

Do you suppose I just could rename the book with a .mobi or .azw extension? Or maybe convert it? Then maybe it might get along with my other Kindle books?

Just a thought...