Are there any tools or projects for generating AZW files?

Question

The Kindle has lit a personal interest in reading my various content on it, but generally I've been unsatisfied with the conversion tools available and the lack of cohesive documentation on the formats. My question ...

Do you know of any resources, tools, and/or projects for generating AZW files?

I've come across a fair amount of information on PRC/MOBI files (Mobipocket) and its source, Open eBook, but there are certain navigational capabilities that I have not found how to duplicate. Specifically when you're reading a Kindle-provided blog, you can skip entire posts by pressing right or left on the stick.

Answer 1

I use Stanza to convert Microsoft doc files to AZW, and Calibre to modify the meta data. I still have not figured out how to make a TOC that works, despite the fact that the docs for these tools advertise ways to accomplish this task. I have also not succeeded in including images.

When I figure out how to do these things, I will check back. (I was hoping someone else had answered your question!)

Answer 2

You can create .mobi books using Kindlegen. It uses html to create the ebook with support for TOC and the skip chapter functionality

Answer 3

I'm working on a Ruby library for packaging HTML files as MOBI docs.

http://github.com/josh/kindler

Answer 4

If you're using kindlegen, you can create a .ncx file that describes your document structure and table of contents. You include an item in the manifest:

<item id="My_Table_of_Contents" media-type="application/x-dtbncx+xml" href="KUG.ncx"/>

and (this is a key bit, an astute reader will realise what I forgot to do) include the id of the table of contents in the toc attribute of the spine element:

<spine toc="My_Table_of_Contents">

(The above snippets are from the Sample document included with kindegen. Links to specifications for these files can be found in Sample/Guide.opf.)

After doing this kindlegen should include in its output something like:

Info(prcgen): Building table of content     URL: /path/to/KUG.ncx

If all of the above has been done successfully, you should be able to see the "chapter" tick marks on the Kindle navigation bar, and use the left/right buttons to skip from chapter to chapter.

Answer 5

If you have an ePub file, using Calibre, simply connect your Kindle to your computer; Calibre will detect your Kindle and send the converted .azw file directly to your Kindle. See this site which describes this in detail.

If you do not have an ePub file, Calibre will assist in converting your .doc or .odt file to .epub.

Answer 6

You definitely need to try Calibre. Ebook conversion to dozens of formats, many more features. I use it to convert documents to my Kindle. Strongly recommended.