Help me figure out how to organize my Kindle(s)

[sholio]

I don't know how to keep my Kindle tidy. HALP. How do other people do this?

I've had an old-timey Kindle for a number of years now, and recently treated myself to a new Paperwhite. I didn't realize it wouldn't port over my folders when I downloaded my stuff from the Amazon cloud, so now everything is a giant pile of books, and it also didn't get my fanfic (but I didn't expect it to). I'm also still kind of using the old one and not terribly consistent about which Kindle I send stuff to when I buy a new book, so at this point my old and new Kindle are BOTH hopeless messes.

My biggest problem with organizing stuff on Kindle is that you can't nest folders, unless they've added that functionality on the new one. I really, really want to be able to have a top-level Fanfic folder, and then sort it by fandom. (The problem with fanfic, that you don't have with books, is that you actually have an important sorting metric other than title and author. I don't just want all my fic in a big heap, especially when fanfic titles/authors are super unhelpful half the time anyway. I want to be able to look at just the fic for a particular fandom, and delete fic for old fandoms that I will likely never read again.)

I also would like to be able to sort my books in a finer-grained kind of way than just "all the books" or even (as I did on my old Kindle) sorted by genre. Like I want to have a folder of favorites, and unread books, and books to toss if I'm running out of space.

On top of that, I don't want folders to take over my view, so that newly bought books still show up on the front page. This was why I limited my number of folders on the old Kindle to just a few (and cursed the inability to nest folders on a regular basis).

So can I do any of this? Are there secrets to Kindle book sorting more advanced than folders? Is there some way to sync/back it up to my computer while I'm at it?

How do you organize yours?

Comments

[vicki_rae]

The default home screen is worthless and a total mess with books and fanfic all mashed together. I pretty much only use either Collections view, or Books view, or Docs view. I really miss the days when the collections view had collections followed by just those works not in any collection.

Caveat that I'm using the Kindle Voyage ereader which should have the same view options as the new Paperwhite. Hopefully? But this is Amazon, so.

I'm convinced no one at Amazon in kindle design or software design actually uses any Kindles. Everyone spent years asking for folders and Amazon was all gee that sounds like good idea, we'll work on it. And when we finally got folders, they always listed in the order most recently opened. Amazon was totally baffled that people wanted folders that alpha sorted by folder title. That took even more years top get. *headdesk*

4000+ books and fanfics. Lots of fandoms. Hundreds of folders. I use a naming convention that avoids the need for nested folders AND the folders give me all the second sorts I need. I'll write something up and post when it's done. Possibly tomorrow.

[rmc28]

Unhelpful reply: I don't bother. I put effort into sorting and tagging my books and fic in Calibre (in particular the plugins for downloading AO3 series as a single ebook), but on the Kindle itself I just make copious use of Search. (And every so often nuke the lot and start again with like the next ten books / long fics I want to read.)

[sheron]

Oh my god, this has officially eliminated kindle from my possible future purchases. I'll stick to my tablet with Windows on it, thanks.

I guess I could prefex everything with 'fandom - author - title' naming convention but what a pain! Err....Good luck.

[oracne]

I think the Kindle designers think you read one book at a time and just delete things when you're done. I have folders by genre, which sort of works. There's one folder just for fanfic and novels that would be re-reads.

[schneefink]

I want an ebook reader where I can use tags to sort my books! It would be so convenient.
Currently I have folders for book genres, folders for fandoms where I saved many stories, and a folder for "various fandoms"; and then one folder "Unread" so I know where to find the new stuff. At least I can put books in multiple folders otherwise I would be even more frustrated.

[winter_elf]

You can make folders??? I have the kindle App - not an actual kindle - and OMG- just a huge podge of books with no organization :(

[starwatcher]

.
It may depend on what device you're using for your app. I use an iPad, and make folders just fine. But, as Sholio says, no nested folders. :(
.

[sally_maria]

If you don't use Calibre, I definitely recommend it - though I don't know whether it makes it easier to organise things actually on a Kindle.

I have a Kobo, which has "collections" rather than folders, and Calibre can make tags into automatic collections. So it's not nested, but it can find either all the fanfic, or fanfic from a particular fandom, or however you want to tag it.

[cathexys]

I keep everything organized on my computer and just use the Kindle as is. I hate it and it's frustrating as hell, so I wish I could be more helpful than just commiserating...

[rachelmanija]

There is no good system. I use separate folders (collections) for all the ways I want to sort, but since you can't do nested folders I end up with a ginormous home screen. Also, as you note, folders aren't helpful for finding fanfic unless you've memorized the titles. I have collections like "fanfic - X-Men" and "fanfic - Sholio." (Actual collections.) I didn't quite think this through as I now have to page through a bazillion "Fanfic - [x]" folders every time I go to Collection view.

[starwatcher]

.
I use an iPad with kindle app instead of kindle, so not sure if this will work. But I prefix my folders by their content: b- for book title folders, ff- for fanfiction folders, and w- for author folders. I have lots of folders, but I can line them up: a- Romance Historical, a- Romance Modern a- Romance Shifter, ff- Sentinel, ff- SGA, w- Dick Francis, w- Ellery Queen, etc.

You might, for example, be able to search by ff- and see all your fanfic folders lined up. I'd try it, but who knows?

I've started making a doc with title/author/genre, which I'll upload via Send to Kindle, but it'll take me a month or more to complete it. But then I'll be able to scan down the doc and remind myself what I have. OTOH, I'll have to update it consistently. Hmm, maybe I'll just keep the doc on my laptop.

I think maybe the best bet would be to go to Amazon.com, select 'Your Content and Devices', and scan down that list to remind you what you have. Then you can search by author or title. Hunh! Why didn't I think of that before? I'll have to try that.
.

[badgerbag]

I have this dream where there would be a usable web interface for the Kindle and you could organize stuff on it in a sensible drag and drop way. OMG.

I've been considering keeping everything in Calibre and wiping the Kindle completely and then only putting back the to-be-read things.

[badgerbag]

Tagged, I mean, in Calibre, as sally_maria suggests. Even more ideally maybe it would all dump into LibraryThing too. Well, I can dream!

[thelostglove]

Ugh...as you're probably gathering, there's not a great way to do any of this and the level of control you get is pretty proportional to how much hassle you're willing to tolerate.

I stick to Collections or Books view, which keeps my library on one screen. Non-fanfic is divided into Currently Reading, Fiction, Non-Fiction, Unread, and Samples (a holdover from my last Kindle, probably superfluous now) though I probably have some fanfic in Unread.

I have weird privacy issues, so all fanfic files are herded into one folder called "Archive" and if I want something in particular, I sort by title or author or just use the search function. This isn't a good system but it basically works for me, though if I ever get over myself I'll divvy up collections by fandom. Why, why we still don't have subfolders, I cannot fathom.

I don't bother syncing to my computer and have never gotten good at Calibre; I mostly keep it tamed through Manage My Kindle on Amazon.

Good luck, I'm always out of sorts till my Kindle's back in action.

[brightknightie]

When I opened the comments on your post, I was so hoping that someone knew a better way... and it sounds like no one does. ~sigh~

I read very few fandoms, but even so, bumbling with the top-level collections/folders is suboptimal. I used to have a pretty good naming system, but the auto-send from AO3 now always overrides that from my PC.

It's gotten to the point where my Kindle is mainly for one-read use: newspapers, magazines, books I don't expect to return to.... and the works of Susan Garrett, but only because they don't all exist as zines.

[amalthia]

I have a Pocketbook and I'm able to view Genre's. Of all the ebook devices, I think Sony had the best on board organization system. I know Calibre has collection management plugins for Kindles. I don't know how they work since I've never had a Kindle, but those plugins are updated often.

[tippergreen]

Oh goodness. I just finally took the plunge and signed up for Kindle Unlimited, and now I'm scared! I'm a little worried my old paperwhite is about to become overwhelmed...