# Renaming books already on my Kindle



## EvMB

I have a lot of files on my kindle – the majority are just text documents and are short stories I’m reading through and are filed under the ‘Collection’ of their respective author.

My issue is this – some of my files display on the kindle as; e.g. 

“The Night is Long, then a space and then the author's name:

The Night is Long                    authorname
Windy Days                            authorname
The Moon is Round                  authorname
The Sun is also Big                  authorname

Others display like this (2nd example 'Windy Days'):

"The Night is Long – authorname”  - the title then a dash and the authorname so a list might look like this:

The Night is Long                    authorname
Windy Days - authorname
The Moon is Big                      authorname
The Sun is also Big                  authorname


Is there any logical reason for this?  I’m wanting them all to look like the first example.  I’ve tried renaming them through Calibre and also Kindlean but can’t seem to fix this issue.  It's purely because I want them all to look the same.


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## Betsy the Quilter

You say the majority are text documents?  So you're not getting them from Amazon?  (Not that Amazon has always been consistent in naming conventions.)

Someone who does a lot of name changing with Calibre will be able to offer suggestions, I'm sure.

Also, just so we know, which Kindle do you have?

Betsy


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## EvMB

Betsy the Quilter said:


> You say the majority are text documents? So you're not getting them from Amazon? (Not that Amazon has always been consistent in naming conventions.)
> 
> Someone who does a lot of name changing with Calibre will be able to offer suggestions, I'm sure.
> 
> Also, just so we know, which Kindle do you have?
> 
> Betsy


Hi Betsy,

Yes the majority are short stories by friends in txt format. I have a fair few books from Amazon as well. There's nearly 2000 files on the kindle now and I'm just waiting for my 10th Kindle replacement (yes 10th) to arrive in the next few days. Which is why I want to sort this out so I can make the new kindle all pretty!


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## readingril

I've never tried renaming files on my Kindle through Calibre, but I have fixed title / authors through Calibre's Edit Metadata option and added
again to my Paperwhite, deleting the ebook that was named incorrectly.


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## Dragle

EvMB said:


> Yes the majority are short stories by friends in txt format. I have a fair few books from Amazon as well. There's nearly 2000 files on the kindle now and I'm just waiting for my 10th Kindle replacement (yes 10th) to arrive in the next few days. Which is why I want to sort this out so I can make the new kindle all pretty!


It seems to me that if the ones you want to rename are just text files, you should be able to plug your Kindle into the computer via USB, then you can browse and rename the files with your computer's file browser. I base this on the fact that when I put my NaNoWriMo novel (a plain text file) on my Kindle, it appeared on the list with a title the same as its file name, without the .txt extension.


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## EvMB

To be honest I haven't checked to see what format the files are; I've got:

azw, azw3, epub, lit, mbp, mobi, original mobi, tpz and txt.  I guess I should have a look at which format they are.  Will do that and see.  I add all my new files with Calibre so they're named correctly before I add them.  Seems to make no difference.


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## Linjeakel

I think the easiest way to get it right is to download and use Amazon's own Send To Kindle feature which will send any compatible personal doc to your Kindle and will also put it in the cloud so it has all the same advantages as any books bought direct from Amazon.

More importantly in this case, you can specify before you send it exactly what the title and authorname are, so it will display exactly as you want it.

EDIT: After you've installed 'Send To Kindle' just right-click on your document on your PC, choose 'send to Kindle' and you get this box - that's all there is to it. I never send docs to my Kindle any other way now.


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## Ann in Arlington

I was going to suggest the same thing as Linda.  As an added bonus, when you send it that way, it is archived at Amazon and will always be available to any device you have in the future.

I don't think just renaming it via the computer's file management while the kindle is connected as a drive will work. . . what's displayed is not entirely based on the file name but on some embedded 'metadata'.  So you've got to fix that.  I understand Calibre should do it, but I have no experience with that at all. 

I like the Send to Kindle.   It's easy and neat.


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## Dragle

Obviously renaming using the file browser will only work for plain .txt files. Ebook formats need to have the metadata edited, which can be done in Calibre.  Send to Kindle looks like a great solution. Unfortunately there isn't a Linux version for me. I do have the Firefox plugin though,which is great for sending web articles.


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