Earlier, we talked about how to read an eBook even if you don’t have a Kindle or other eReader.
In light of the Ultimate Bundle sale going on today, I thought it would be appropriate to give some tips on how to organize an eBook library. I am not naturally organized, so this, like everything, is something I’ve had to develop over the course of several months.
Make folders.
The above screen shot is a little sneak peek at how I’ve organized my 2013 The Ultimate Homemaking eBook Library. I’ve created a folder with the library’s title, and I’ve then created a folder for each category of the library.
Much like in a brick-and-mortar library, I have organized the books according to their topics.
My computer automatically organizes the various folders in alphabetical order, so as long as I know the topic of the eBook, it is very easy to find!
To create a folder:
1. Right click with a mouse or click once with a track pad while on your desktop. A little box should pop up with options, and “New Folder” should be one of those options.
2. Click “New Folder.” The new folder should immediately appear on your desktop.
3. Click the title of the folder (found underneath the folder) twice to highlight it, so that you can then rename the folder.
4. Add as many folders as you wish, and drag and drop those folders inside of other folders, until you have your library!
Store your books in the sub-folders of your main library folder.
As you can see in the screen shot above, I have a set of eight “Motherhood”-themed eBooks stored in the “Motherhood” folder of my larger “The Ultimate Homemaking eBook Bundle” folder.
You may choose to make one folder on your desktop simply “eBooks.” From there, you can create various libraries based on themes. And you can create as many subcategories as you want!
In my “Pregnancy/Baby Care” folder, for example, I have subfolders for “Pregnancy,” “Childbirth,” and “Baby Care.”
Be sure to store duplicate copies of your eBooks on another electronic device!
Life happens, and computers crash (been there!) or get stolen or lost. I highly recommend storing your eBook libraries in more than one place. Some options include:
- on your husband’s computer,
- on a jump drive, or
- on a file-hosting website, like Google Drive or Dropbox. (These two sites also allow you to share files with people, but please be aware that sharing eBooks is illegal, as they are copyrighted material.)
If you are a hard-copy kind of reader anyway, you may just want to print a copy of your eBooks out and store them in binders (or get them bound at an office supply stores). If this is the case, then you can organize them on a bookshelf in the same manner in which you organize any other books.
But even if you do this, I strongly recommend that you still save copies of our eBooks on your computer or elsewhere.
What about saving eBooks on Kindles and other eReaders?
I personally do not know a lot about Nooks and the like, but it is very easy for me to save my eBooks on my Kindle. Obviously, any eBook I buy in Kindle format will automatically be loaded onto my Kindle. But I very frequently send my PDF eBooks to my Kindle to read as well.
There is a way in which you can hook up your Kindle to your computer to transfer the files, but I personally use my Kindle email address. All I have to do is send an email to the address Kindle assigned to me via this site, and make sure I have attached my eBook to the email. PDF eBooks will show up in the “documents” section of a Kindle.
I haven’t figured out how to organize my books once on my Kindle, though! I prefer to keep them organized on my computer and use my Kindle for both reading as as a place to store my back-up copies.
How do you keep your eBook library organized?
I was forced to hone this eBook organization skill because one of my primary responsibilities as the Ultimate-Bundles co-organizer is to recruit and collect all of the resources! Without some semblance of an organized eBook library, there may not be sales at all!
Chara @ Stitching Hearts Together
The email to my Kindle info is BRILLIANT! I have tried loading via a cable to computer many times and it never works right! 🙂 Now I can stop trying that method! 🙂
Chara
Stacy @Stacy Makes Cents
Will you do mine when you are here? LOL
Kari
It is very easy to organize your books on your Kindle. If you will tell me which Kindle you have I can share how to do it. It just takes a few easy steps.
Kari
I don’t know why it put a link with the word Kindle. I did not do that.
[email protected]
I would love to know how to do this. I have a Kindle Keyboard.
Diane
The way to organize on the Kindle, at least on my Kindle Kindle (versus the Kindle Fire) is by setting up “collections”. What is nice is that you can put books into more than one collection (a boon if a book crosses the types you’ve set up).
Kari – Is there a way to organize them on the Fire as well?
April Emery
You can also use a program called Calibri. It’s free. I use it to get all my ebooks to show up in the books section on my e-reader. I have a tutorial on how to transfer books into Calibri and then onto your e-reader http://www.holistichomemaking.org/2012/10/how-to-transfer-pdf-files-e-books-from.html
Grandma Loy
I use a plug-in called Send to Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/gp/sendtokindle/pc to transfer all my PDF eBooks to my Kindle Fire. It has a checkbox that allows a backup of the eBook to be stored in your Kindle cloud. I like that feature and don’t know if that happens if you email an eBook to your Kindle. I do have one eBook on photography that is too big to do that way. Just thought I would throw that information out there. It takes a third party application to organize eBooks on the Kindle Fire. Shame on Amazon for not including it. There are several available for around 2.99. Looking forward to purchasing the bundle on Monday even though I do not need the books in some of the categories.
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