Metadata in Downloads - Title and Author but not Fandom?

[meridian_rose]

I love AO3 and I especially love the download feature so I can grab longer works and put them on my e-reader. Free bedtime reading for the win! I generally download in epub format and am overall satisfied with the results with one small caveat.

The metadata for a downloaded epub contains the fic title and the author name. However I'm in a lot of fandoms and tend to upload a lot of fic to my ereader in one go a few times a year rather than occasional updates regularly. Then I often have no idea, when I come to read some of my recently uploaded fic, which fic is which – ie which fandom, without opening several new fics until I find the one I want.

I'm currently saving an epub as fictitle-fandom-author.epub, then opening the downloaded epub in calibre, adding the fandom to the title metadata, and converting to an epub (ie making a copy of the epub with the new title) so when I look on my reader I can see the amended title.

So: Title becomes Title-Fandom and displays as
Title-Fandom (by) Fic Author on my ereader.

There has to be an easier way to do this? Could this be a possible adaptation to the download feature? Maybe an opt-in one?

Comments

[samjohnsson]

To answer your second-to-last question, it would require completely replacing the current code that generates the downloads completely—the current program used is, in computer terms, ancient. It's a very desired feature, but there hasn't been a pair of hands with knowledge and time to gut, replace, and test-to-destruction the new code yet.

As for opt-in, the file is created and stored when the work is first downloaded. To have a "choice" of epubs means creating and storing twice as many files.

Possible workaround?

[starwatcher]

.
Does your e-reader allow you to sort your fic into folders or collections? If so, fandom collections might help you.

If not, toss this suggestion in the trash where it belongs.
.

[amalthia]

Hi,

Have you considered using Calibre's plugin "Fanfiction Downloader?" I ask because this plugin will download the stories directly into calibre, keep the metadata, and you can sideload hundreds of ebooks from Calibre directly onto your reader. There are plugins to manage collections for Kobo and Kindle devices. You can also with metadata plugin boards change how the titles of fic display on your device. For example, when I view a title on my device I see "title -- word count -- reviews." It's a complex program that can do a lot if you're willing to try, and a community of people willing to help answer questions.

Best Regards,
Amalthia