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Converting fics to e-reader format
May. 22nd, 2012 08:35 amI read a lot of fan fiction. And since I got a Kindle for Christmas, I read pretty much everything over 10,000 words on that. It's more comfortable for me, I can sit curled up under a blanket on the couch, it's quieter (the fan on our computer can get pretty loud after it's been on for several hours) and it leaves the computer free for my husband or kids to use.
So, you can imagine that I love AO3 and authors who provide PDFs or e-reader format versions of their fics. But sometimes I want to read a story that's only posted on LJ or ff.net (the latter, thank goodness, only very rarely: most good writers know to archive their works in multiple places). But neither LJ nor ff.net have the capability currently to provide a single-file version of multi-chapter fics in an e-reader format. I know there are automated programs you can download that will supposedly do it for you, but I tried out a couple for ff.net and they inserted tons of nonsense symbols and blank lines, which made reading a nightmare. Also, there are many sites out there that will convert files to any format you like, but most of those sites either ask for registration or want you to submit the file and then they email the conversion to you, both of which offend my sense of internet privacy.
So, this is the method I have found that works best for me, even though it involves a bit of work:
1. Copy-paste the text of each individual chapter into a Word (.doc) file. Make sure to use the Paste Special...Unformatted Text option. Otherwise I usually end up with like a page of code at the start of each chapter after conversion.
2. Save the complete file (.doc format).
3. Go to Free ePub Converter.
3a. Under Step One, choose Browse. A pop-up box will come up for you to choose the file you want to convert from your computer. Select your file and click on Open. You can supposedly select up to 5 files to convert at once, but I always do them one at a time.
3b. Wait a moment for the site to find the file, then click on Upload Files. It will show you its progress.
3c. Step 2 will come up. Enter the title of the story in Title and the author's name in Author. If you don't do this, you can still convert the file, but my Kindle doesn't like untitled files or files without author names, and they kept getting lost. Leave encoding on Auto. Then click on the file type you want to have (for Kindle, choose MOBI). It doesn't show you its progress, just that it's still working by means of an animated bar. This step can take quite a while, up to several minutes for large files, but usually for shorter files it's done in 10-20 seconds.
3d. When it's ready, Step 3 will come up. Right-click on the highlighted file name and choose Save Link As... If you have your e-reader already plugged into your computer at this point, you can download the converted file right onto your e-reader. Otherwise, save it to your computer and you can move it to your e-reader later. There's also an option to download a ZIP file, I suppose if you want to save space on your hard drive, but I've never used that because you'd need to unzip it before putting it one your e-reader anyway.
And you are ready to read!
So, you can imagine that I love AO3 and authors who provide PDFs or e-reader format versions of their fics. But sometimes I want to read a story that's only posted on LJ or ff.net (the latter, thank goodness, only very rarely: most good writers know to archive their works in multiple places). But neither LJ nor ff.net have the capability currently to provide a single-file version of multi-chapter fics in an e-reader format. I know there are automated programs you can download that will supposedly do it for you, but I tried out a couple for ff.net and they inserted tons of nonsense symbols and blank lines, which made reading a nightmare. Also, there are many sites out there that will convert files to any format you like, but most of those sites either ask for registration or want you to submit the file and then they email the conversion to you, both of which offend my sense of internet privacy.
So, this is the method I have found that works best for me, even though it involves a bit of work:
1. Copy-paste the text of each individual chapter into a Word (.doc) file. Make sure to use the Paste Special...Unformatted Text option. Otherwise I usually end up with like a page of code at the start of each chapter after conversion.
2. Save the complete file (.doc format).
3. Go to Free ePub Converter.
3a. Under Step One, choose Browse. A pop-up box will come up for you to choose the file you want to convert from your computer. Select your file and click on Open. You can supposedly select up to 5 files to convert at once, but I always do them one at a time.
3b. Wait a moment for the site to find the file, then click on Upload Files. It will show you its progress.
3c. Step 2 will come up. Enter the title of the story in Title and the author's name in Author. If you don't do this, you can still convert the file, but my Kindle doesn't like untitled files or files without author names, and they kept getting lost. Leave encoding on Auto. Then click on the file type you want to have (for Kindle, choose MOBI). It doesn't show you its progress, just that it's still working by means of an animated bar. This step can take quite a while, up to several minutes for large files, but usually for shorter files it's done in 10-20 seconds.
3d. When it's ready, Step 3 will come up. Right-click on the highlighted file name and choose Save Link As... If you have your e-reader already plugged into your computer at this point, you can download the converted file right onto your e-reader. Otherwise, save it to your computer and you can move it to your e-reader later. There's also an option to download a ZIP file, I suppose if you want to save space on your hard drive, but I've never used that because you'd need to unzip it before putting it one your e-reader anyway.
And you are ready to read!
