Numbering the books in my collection

[Teri R.]

Can anyone can tell me how to number the books in a collection?  I hate when I read a series out of order.

Thanks,
Teri R.

[Linjeakel]

Hi Teri, welcome to Kindleboards! 

On your Kindle itself, there's no way to sort books by series order - the only way to do it, is to use third party software such as Calibre, which will allow you to change the books' metadata.

There are two ways to do it in Calibre - either you can change the titles of the books so that they are called 01 then the title, 02 then the second title etc. so you could put them in a spearate collection on your Kindle and then sort them by title - or you can change the published date so that book one has the earliest date, book two the next date and so on. That way, when you sort by author, the books should appear in the correct order. You might think it's a bit of a bother to go to all that trouble, but I suppose it depends on how desperate you are to get things to sorted, so that you don't have to keep checking what the correct order is.

If you're not familiar with Calibre, check the link above and you can see an online demo. The software is free, so it won't cost anything to give it a go if you're interested.

There are some threads already on here about how to do stuff on Calibre, so you could search for help, or you could come back here if you have any further questions. Let us know how you get on!

[Teri R.]

Thanks so much.  Will give it a try.

~Teri R.

[Ann in Arlington]

Alternatively, you might try something like www.fictfact.com or www.shelfari.com.  You can use those websites as a sort of catalog for your library.  Shelfari is actually partially integrated with Amazon in that you can use your Amazon credentials to set up an account.  With either site, you can look up series book order and mark what you've read and keep track of what your 'next book' is.  This is useful if you don't want to go to the trouble of changing the 'metadata' with Calibre -- I personally find the program not particularly intuitive -- or if you don't keep ALL the books on your device.  You can always go to the web site to find where you left off in the series.

[Vicki G.]

Not sure where I've been.  Just recently discovered Fictfact and am in LOVE!!!  I'm reading several series and it's just too much to try to keep up with on the Kindle.  There is even an option to print out your "NEXT" list.  Doesn't get much easier than that.  Never could quite get into Shelfari although I do love their list of books in a series at the bottom of the book page - while you're shopping - just in case you forgot.