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

[shesgottaread.livejournal.com]

Hi folks!

I'm trying to decide how to organize some of the fic I save from the web. Primarily I use a combination of Calibre w/the fanfic downloader plugin and the Firefox extension Grab My Book these days to save fic. However, I've got a big backlog of stories that I've saved from sites over the past several years, some of  which is no longer available online. 

So, do you combine all parts of a story into one big file and then import it into Calibre? Do you prefer stories by one author to be collected into one e-book or each story stored seperately? And what about several stories that are part of the same universe of a particular author, would you combine those or just assign them as part of a series?

Mostly, I've been combining several stories into one big collection, but have been re-thinking that approach this past week, and thought I'd get input from the group before I go trying to make any significant changes. For instance, I saved chilly_flame's Small Favors universe (Devil Wears Prada featuring the Miranda/Andy 'ship) in one e-book, while other stories she's written are in additional e-books. If it makes a difference, I primarily read these either with Calibre or on my Nook Color.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts and advice you care to share. And thanks for the contributors to this group. I've picked up a couple of good ideas from reading older posts.

Cheers!
--sgr

Comments

[ambrdrgn.livejournal.com]

The EpubMerge plugin (by the same guy who did the FFDL plugin!) is your friend in this case. You can get the best of both worlds by downloading/importing the stories to Calibre, then using EpubMerge to collect them into an epub that contains all the stories. That way, you still have the single stories around, but you can also have a separate epub to click to if you just want to do a complete read-through without having to navigate the library after every story. Plus, EpubMerge is so easy to use that you can do a little experimenting to see what grouping methods work best for you. 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.

[kimberlyfdr.livejournal.com]

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.livejournal.com]

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.