"Follow the instructions to install KindleGen"?

[Kiwichick]

OK, my apologies for such a basic question in a forum like this, but …

I am trying to compile a book for Kindle, clicked Compile, choose Kindle .mobi as the output format, and Scrivener tells me I need KindleGen. OK …

It says “follow the instructions in the KindleGen page on the Compile dialogue.”

Am I missing something? My Compile dialogue only says format as: and compile for: and no other options.

Am I looking in the wrong dialogue or something? Help!

I have found KindleGen and downloaded it, just need to figure out how/where to add it to Scrivener.

Many thanks in advance …

[WriterNYC]

I’m not an expert but let me see if I can help.

Now that you have KindleGen downloaded make note of where it is saved on your computer.

Go to the compile window in Scrivener.

Select Kindle as your output.

“KindleGen” should pop up in the left sidebar. Select it.

Click the “Choose” button and navigate to what folder your KindleGen download is saved in.

Select KindleGen and you should be able to compile now.

[Marta]

@WriterNYC

I’m not an expert but let me see if I can help.

Now that you have KindleGen downloaded make note of where it is saved on your computer.

Go to the compile window in Scrivener.

Select Kindle as your output.

“KindleGen” should pop up in the left sidebar. Select it.

Click the “Choose” button and navigate to what folder your KindleGen download is saved in.

Select KindleGen and you should be able to compile now.

Uhmmm. this may be a silly question, but… you said you downloaded KindleGen. Did you also install it?

apologies if you did this but forgot to mention it.

[MimeticMouton]

@Kiwichick

My Compile dialogue only says format as: and compile for: and no other options.

You should see a blue arrow to the right of the “Format As” pop-up menu; clicking that will expand the panel to show all the options relevant to the target compile file format (print, PDF, .doc, and so on). When “Kindle” is selected for the “Compile For” format, a “KindleGen” option will appear in the left sidebar, and clicking that will open the panel where you can associate your installed KindleGen file with Scrivener.

I thought that this panel opened automatically after the error message you received when trying to compile without KindleGen linked in Scrivener, so I’ll double-check and flag that if it’s not working. Are you running Scrivener 1.2.3? (You can check in Help > About Scrivener.)

[MimeticMouton]

Just to follow-up, I did log a report that the compile panel isn’t being properly expanded after this error message to show you the KindleGen pane, so that should be added in future. Sorry for the confusion there, and thanks for the catch!

[Kiwichick]

You should see a blue arrow to the right of the “Format As” pop-up menu; clicking that will expand the panel to show all the options relevant to the target compile file format

Jennifer, this was the bit I was missing! Thank you so much

[magicfingers]

@Marta

Uhmmm. this may be a silly question, but… you said you downloaded KindleGen. Did you also install it?

apologies if you did this but forgot to mention it.

It’s one of those rare “command line” programs that doesn’t have–or need–an installer. Just unzip the directory and put it somewhere, anywhere. It comes with some docs and a few other things. All that is needed is to remember where you put it…

[Marta]

@magicfingers

@Marta

Uhmmm. this may be a silly question, but… you said you downloaded KindleGen. Did you also install it?

apologies if you did this but forgot to mention it.

It’s one of those rare “command line” programs that doesn’t have–or need–an installer. Just unzip the directory and put it somewhere, anywhere. It comes with some docs and a few other things. All that is needed is to remember where you put it…

Do you put it in C:>program files>
or on the desktop?
thanks,

[magicfingers]

@Marta

@magicfingers

@Marta

Uhmmm. this may be a silly question, but… you said you downloaded KindleGen. Did you also install it?

apologies if you did this but forgot to mention it.

It’s one of those rare “command line” programs that doesn’t have–or need–an installer. Just unzip the directory and put it somewhere, anywhere. It comes with some docs and a few other things. All that is needed is to remember where you put it…

Do you put it in C:>program files>
or on the desktop?
thanks,

C:\Program Files is a logical place to put it, though if you have an “Amazon” sub-folder I’d put it there (i.e., in C:\Program Files\Amazon\Kindlegen). I wouldn’t put it on the desktop unless you like to put programs there. It’s a console-only program, so if you try to run it by double-clicking it nothing interesting will happen.

[Marta]

@magicfingers

C:\Program Files is a logical place to put it, though if you have an “Amazon” sub-folder I’d put it there (i.e., in C:\Program Files\Amazon\Kindlegen). I wouldn’t put it on the desktop unless you like to put programs there. It’s a console-only program, so if you try to run it by double-clicking it nothing interesting will happen.

Thanks!

[Antonia]

@MimeticMouton

@Kiwichick

My Compile dialogue only says format as: and compile for: and no other options.

You should see a blue arrow to the right of the “Format As” pop-up menu; clicking that will expand the panel to show all the options relevant to the target compile file format (print, PDF, .doc, and so on). When “Kindle” is selected for the “Compile For” format, a “KindleGen” option will appear in the left sidebar, and clicking that will open the panel where you can associate your installed KindleGen file with Scrivener.

I thought that this panel opened automatically after the error message you received when trying to compile without KindleGen linked in Scrivener, so I’ll double-check and flag that if it’s not working. Are you running Scrivener 1.2.3? (You can check in Help > About Scrivener.)

Hi, I just downloaded Scrivener 1.5.3.0 for Windows (am running it on Vista), and am trying to get it to locate KindleGen. I’ve done as directed in the quote above, but although in the Compile box I’ve chosen “Compile for: Kindle(mobi) Book (mobi.)” It is not followed up with a “KindleGen” button in the sidebar or anywhere else I can find, so I don’t know how to get Scrivener to locate it. Any help would be hugely appreciated!

[Tom_Dye]

I think this is how I did it.

Step one:
Download KindleGen here:
amazon.com/gp/feature.html?i … 1000765211
Unzip the file and make a note of where you unzipped the kindlegen.exe file to.

Step two:
Try to compile something in mobi (select ‘compile for:’ kindle mobi) . A complile window will open. You may need to click on the down arrow icon to open the compile window in advanced view.

Step three:
Click on the KindleGen icon in the lefthand pane of the compile window, which will take you to the ‘Choose KindleGen Path’ window.

Step four:
Click on the ‘choose’ or ‘change’ button to browse to and select your kindlegen.exe file downloaded in step one.

[Antonia]

Got it!! Thank you, Tom, you’re a star! Very much appreciated! 8)