A friend of mine got a Kindle fire for Christmas (as I’m sure millions of others did to). One of the things she discovered is that the Kindle Fire does NOT recognize or open eBooks that are in the .ePub format. Personally I think its strange that Amazon would not include ePub format in the kindle reader as ePub books seem to be one of the most common eBook formats (at least based on what I see when surfing the web). My friend was disappointed as she already had a large collection of ePub formatted books that she was hoping to load on her Kindle Fire.
So that’s where todays post starts, “How to do get the Kindle Fire to recognize an ePub book”? Lets start with the following, “What eBook formats can you read on the Fire”? The answer is ……….(Insert Drum Roll here)………List from Amazons (LINK) Kindle Fire Page (http://www NULL.amazon NULL.com/Kindle-Fire-Amazon-Tablet/dp/B0051VVOB2)
Content Formats Supported
Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively, Audible (Audible Enhanced (AA, AAX)), DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, non-DRM AAC, MP3, MIDI, OGG, WAV, MP4, VP8.
Of the formats listed – Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively, DOC, DOCX, are the eBook formats. So what do you do if you want your ePub file on the Kindle. You need to get conversion software for eBooks that will allow you to convert your ePub file.
The one that we found is called (LINK) Calibre (http://calibre-ebook NULL.com/). (From the Calibre site)
E-book conversion
calibre can convert from a huge number of formats to a huge number of formats. It supports all the major e-book formats. The full list of formats can be found here (http://manual NULL.calibre-ebook NULL.com/faq NULL.html#what-formats-does-app-support-conversion-to-from)
The conversion engine has lots of powerful features. It can rescale all font sizes, ensuring the output e-book is readable no matter what font sizes the input document uses. It can automatically detect/create book structure, like chapters and Table of Contents. It can insert the book metadata into a “Book Jacket” at the start of the book.
The best part about the Calibre software is that its FREE! You can download the Calibre software on their (LINK) download page (http://calibre-ebook NULL.com/download) . Calibre is available for Windows, Mac, Linux and also in a portable version, which means you can put the files on a USB drive and run the program on any pc without actually installing the program.
How to convert ePub to Mobi (preferred by Kindle)
Its actually very simple
- Download and install the software. During the installation process, you will be prompted to select what type of eReader you have.
If at any point in time you need to select another device, DON’T WORRY! In the application, under preferences you will find “Run welcome wizard” which will allow you to pick a new device.
2. Now that the software is installed –> Open the Calibre software. You should see a list of your eBooks. (I only have 1 on the pc currently, your list should be longer)
Now just highlight the book you wish to convert, and press the Convert eBook icon.
You have the option of highlighting more than 1 book at a time, then selecting the arrow just to the right of Convert books and then selecting “Mass Convert”. So you don’t have to spend all day converting, for those with large collections.
3. On the next window, you will see on the top left “Input Format”, in that box select ePub (or whatever format your file is in) and then on the top right you will see “Output Format”, in that box select mobi.
There are other advanced features on the page (which you are more than welcomed to play with), but for most people just changing the top left and top right boxes is all that will be required. Now click ok and the bottom right and your book(s) will be converted.
4. Lastly, once the file(s) are converted, just connect your Kindle to the computer using the USB cable that should have been provided with your device and transfer those converted files to your Kindle. You should now be able to enjoy your eBooks on your kindle.
2 NOTES ABOUT THIS POST:
(1) I mention Kindle Fire in this post because that is what we were working with, but the Calibre software can convert files so that all Kindle devices NOT JUST THE FIRE will read the files. So you can use this if you have something other than a Fire.
(2) This Calibre software is free, but the developer does ask for donations. Remember there are many sites out on the web that do NOT have corporate backing that work purely on donations. If you visit one of these sites, or use software offered by one of these groups and you get a benefit, please remember to donate, that’s the only way any of these sites/software can survive.