How to Use Calibre to Download & Organize Fanfics

Originally posted here: https://tozka.dreamwidth.org/125899.html

I found an instructional post I started writing in 2021 before I got overwhelmed and quit. I think it's still pretty useful, despite being fairly barebones, so here it is: how to use Calibre to download fanfics (from AO3 and other archives)!

Calibre: ebook management/library system, available for all operating systems for free. Essential for anyone who has a huge ebook (or fanfic) library and needs to organize it.

Necessary Calibre plugins

1. FanFicFare: the thing that'll let you download fanfics automatically from a number of sites.
2. Generate Cover: the thing that'll let you automatically generate covers specifically for your fics. Useful for when you load it onto your ebook reader, if you have it set to cover view.
3. EpubMerge: the thing that'll merge multiple EPUB files together into one book (handy when downloading non-AO3/archive-generated files)

Optional additional plugins

• Quality Check
• Find Duplicates
• Reading List
• Count Pages

EDIT: Optionally, download Easy Fanfic Library (and Calibre) and it'll have FFF and EpubMerge already, plus how to set up your library to import info from AO3 PLUS the personal.ini updates to make the data look good. I'm already too deep into my own style of archiving to try it, but this is a good option for y'all who haven't started yet.

Download and install Calibre following these instructions.

Add Custom Columns by following these instructions. While Calibre has a tagging system, text in Custom Columns is a little easier to use for stuff we're doing later on. I also find them easier to sort through when organizing my library.

Recommended Columns

• Fandom - Comma separated text
• Pairing
• Rating
• Warnings
• Word Count

Optional:

• Chapters
• Pages (for using Count Pages plugin)
• Kudos

Series, author, title, date added and publication date will already be in there as standard columns. You may want to add a second Series column for those authors that do a lot of inter-series crossover stuff.

I also have some other columns to help me keep track of what I've read or not read, if a work is complete, and if something is bookedmarked.

Set up FanFicFare using these instructions.

At the very least you'll need to add your AO3 login info. This is necessary to download fics that are only viewable if logged in. If downloading from other sites that need logins, add those too. I'll be using AO3 as my example site, so just tweak your settings as needed.

Match FFF options to your Custom Columns. Here's what mine looks like (click to enlarge):

Customize personal.ini to make it do what you want. I cobbled mine together from like 5 other people's settings and it's still not 100% right but it does basically what I want, which is download a streamlined set of data.

[archiveofourown.org]
exclude_metadata_pre:
 freeformtags,warnings==Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
 warnings==No Archive Warnings Apply
 warnings==Graphic Depictions Of Violence
 warnings==Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
 warnings==Additional Warnings In Author's Note
 genre==Other Additional Tags to Be Added
include_subject_tags: category, ships

custom_columns_settings:
 kudos=>#kudoscount,r
 bookmarked=>#my_bookmarks

add_to_replace_metadata:
	category=> (- All Media Types|- Fandom|\(Movies\)|\(Movie [0-9]+\)|\(Comics\)|\(TV\))$=>
	characters=>\(mentions of\) =>
	characters=> \([Ch]haracter\)=>
	characters=> ?\((cameo|briefly|if you squint|sort of)\)=>
	characters=> - Character=>
	characters=>^Other mentions$=>

	ships=>(.*)[/&](.*) \(?[Ff]riendship(?: only)\)?=>\1 & \2
	ships=> - Relationship=>

	ships_CHARS,characters=>^OC(s|)$=>Original Character
	ships_CHARS,characters=>^OFC(s|)$=>Original Female Character
	ships_CHARS,characters=>^OMC(s|)$=>Original Male Character
	ships_CHARS,characters=>^Original (.*)Character(\(s\)|s|)$=>Original \1Character

What I usually do is just pull links from my bookmarks pages using Get Story URL from Webpage, but you can also download from author's pages, collections, search results, etc.

FanFicFare > Get story URLs from web page > insert AO3 link and let it run.

I always download as individual stories vs anthology but it's up to you.

Note: using this download options means series bookmarks get skipped. To download those, you'll need to open the series page separately and stick that URL into the “Get Story URL from Webpage” thing.

ANOTHER NOTE: FFF downloads fics very slowly to not overwhelm the AO3 servers and get kicked off. If this is your first time downloading your collection then expect it to take a while. Also lately AO3 has been rate-limiting downloads so you might get error messages. Just try again later.

I usually leave this to when I'm really bored and want to tidy things up.

What's involved:

1. Merging tags (getting rid of duplicates or just streamlining it, since I just want all DCU fics tagged as that and don't personally care what's Superman and what's Batman, for instance)
2. Deleting extra Relationships (on AO3 itself it's very nice to see every iteration of a relationship, but in my Calibre library I only care about the main pairing(s) or the main relationship if it's a Gen fic)
3. Deleting extra author notes that were in the tags (they get sorted alphabetically when they're imported and it's pointless to keep them)

AO3 groups similar tags together through tag wrangling, but FFF/Calibre has them as separate tags. Also, every relationship tag will be downloaded, even friendship ones. Depending on your feelings about tags, this can be wonderful or very annoying.

Example:

• Merlin
• Merlin - Fandom
• Merlin (BBC)
• Merlin (TV)
• Merlin (TV) RPF
• Merlin BBC
• Merlin FPS

I don't need all that, so I just rename everything to Merlin (BBC).

Same thing with pairing tags:

• Merlin/Arthur
• Merlin/Arthur Pendragon
• Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)

I rename everything to Merlin/Arthur since I'll know it's the BBC version anyway from the fandom tag.

Furthermore, the full tags are preserved in the EPUB itself, so if I really need to know about a secondary pairing in a specific story, it'll be in the file anyway. In my actual library collection, I need to be able to sort through my tags quicker than that.

idk how to do the cleanup IN FFF (see: cobbled together personal.ini problems) so I have to do mine post-download but technically you're supposed to be able to merge that stuff while it's downloading.

Things to consider: how do you search for fanfics? By fandom or by pairing?

I almost always just want a specific pairing, so I'm fine combining multiple fandoms into one header. For instance, all the Marvel movies are under Marvel Cinematic Universe because I only ever look for Bucky/Steve or Bruce/Tony and idc which version of the universe they've come from.

However, some fanfics are crossovers with the comic books, so you still might want some to be listed under specific fandoms– especially if you're looking for fics written during a particular movie/comic era. You also might want to keep pairing names generic, and have specific fandom tags. For instance, Merlin/Arthur could cover BBC Merlin AND historical King Arthur stories.

Another example: Star Trek universe fics vary widely in settings and style, so I DID keep TOS/AOS/etc. as separate fandom tags. But all the RELATIONSHIP pairings are under one name, to make it easy to sort.

Mess something up? You can download the metadata again.

1. Mobileread forum's Calibre section (the developer hangs out here)
2. r/Calibre and r/AO3
3. kitkatt0430's tutorial with photos (Tumblr)

• How to Use Calibre for More Than Just Books
• Archiving Fandom
• Plus Fanfic Recommendations