CONVERTING FANFIC INTO FILES SUITABLE FOR AN E-BOOK READER LIKE KINDLE

1) Download, install, and open Calibre

2) click on the "Add Books" icon in the upper left corner and add your txt or pdf fic files to the Calibre library.

3) once the fics are in your library, highlight all of the books or just the ones you wish to convert, then click the "Convert Books" icon in the upper left next to the Add Books button.

4) In the upper right drop-box, select "Mobi" format. There are lots of options to customize your converted files, but you don't need to mess with them. Just click ok, and your batch of fic will convert.

5) There is a folder on your hard drive where all your fic will be stored once you have added it to your Calibre library. If you aren't sure where it's located, you can highlight any fic in the Calibre library and click the "Open Containing Folder" icon. You can move mobi files from here onto your Kindle.

6) If you want to edit the format of the fic at all, I think you can do that using Calibre as well, but I prefer to first use Calibre to convert to ePub format, then use the free WYSIWYG editor program Sigil to play with any formatting issues and then convert that file to mobi.

Anyway, Calibre is a super user friendly program, and I think it's a great way to keep track of your fic library. You can add covers and other info, which is nice, I think. The only beef I have with it is that the guy who wrote it updates the program constantly, and I get sick of downloading updates all the time, but at least it's well supported, right?

Thanks to Sra for providing these instructions on the Lost & Found Message Board 12/21/11. An email pat on the back would be a lovely "thank you" for such easy-to-understand directions.