FanFictiondownloader is a portable application that can be run from any Windows computer provided that the free ebook management software Calibre is installed on the computer. You need to add a story link at the top, usually by copying and pasting a link from the FanFiction website to the application. A click on check scans the web address and displays the available chapters in the program interface.

The program fills out the available chapters, the name of the story and the author. It is possible to select specific chapters for download, or keep the default settings which download all chapters.

Various output formats are available, including epub, pdf, lit, html or txt. A click on Download fanfiction downloads the story and converts it into the selected output format.

It is necessary to configure the program before first usage. A click on Menu > Configuration opens the settings. Here it is mandatory to configure the output path and the path to the ebook management software Calibre. This is the biggest limitation of the program; The program will lock during download if you do not configure these paths first.

Once you have set the paths you can start downloading stories from FanFiction.net and several additional properties like FictionPress.com or Mugglenet.com.

The two biggest usability concerns right now are the missing search and the dependency on the free Calibre software. FanFiction users on the other hand may not mind the limitations as the program allows them to download stories from the site in various formats. While it is possible to do that manually as well, it would mean more work as they would have to download chapters separately, join and convert them.

FanFiction Downloader is available in an early beta version which makes it likely that the developer will eventually make the program more comfortable to use. Interested users can download FanFictionDownloader from the developer website.

That is where Calibre comes in. This amazing ebook tool is a cross-platform ebook manager that not only allows you to manage your ebook library, it also allows you to convert your own books (papers, documents, etc) into a format that your ebook reader will read. No matter if you have a Kindle, NOOK, Sony eReader, or whatever…you can convert those documents into useable forms for your device. Let’s take a look at just how this process is done with Calibre.

Formats in, formats out

Calibre can format into and out of the following formats:

• Input Formats: CBZ, CBR, CBC, CHM, EPUB, FB2, HTML, LIT, LRF, MOBI, ODT, PDF, PRC**, PDB, PML, RB, RTF, SNB, TCR, TXT
• Output Formats: EPUB, FB2, OEB, LIT, LRF, MOBI, PDB, PML, RB, PDF, SNB, TCR, TX

You will notice the input format does not include .doc. That is intentional as the .doc format is fairly inconsistent with it’s standards. It has been my experience that the .rtf and .pdf formats are the best for input.

Preparing for formatting

I won’t go into detail about managing your books in Calibre. But I did want to mention how metadata is edited. By editing the meta data of your books you can change/add the following:

• Cover image
• Title
• Title sort
• Author name
• Author sort
• Rating
• Publisher
• Tags
• Series
• ISBN
• Comments
• Date
• Published date

Figure 1

In order to edit the metadata of your book simply right-click your book and select Edit Metadata > Edit Metadata Individually. When you click that the metadata editor will open (see Figure 1).

You can also do a bulk edit of metadata. When you are editing in bulk you will edit the metadata of one book and then click the Next button. If you are editing only a single button, edit the data and then click OK.

Once you have edited the metadata, you are ready to convert.

Converting

Figure 2

To convert your file into an eReader-friendly format go back to the main screen, right-click your book, and select Convert Books > Convert Individually. Of course you can convert in bulk as well. When the conversion window opens (see Figure 2) you will notice numerous tabs in the left pane.

The most important of these tabs is the Page Setup tab. From that tab you can choose the page format for the document. As a general rule, when you select the Output format (from the top-right drop down) the correct page setup will be configured for that output. But if you have very device-specific formatting you would  need to visit that tab and configure the output document correctly.

You can convert your file from any of the tabs. All you do is select the output format type (upper right drop down), edit the metadata (if you haven’t already haven’t done so). And then click OK. Depending upon the input and output type, the process can take some time. But in the end your newly converted file will be in the ~/Calibre Library directory and ready to transfer to your device.

Calibre provides the means to import ebooks that are stored on the computer system. It will display information like titles, authors, sizes, publishers and ratings in the default view mode. This can be changed to view the ebooks by cover or by tags instead.

Missing information can be edited manually or by pulling information from an Internet server that can retrieve information based on author, title or ISBN. The ebook management software is compatible with many file formats including the popular pdf, lit, mobi, cbz, cbr, txt and various others including zip and rar.

The ebooks can be launched and displayed in the default viewer of the selected file format from within the program’s interface. It is furthermore possible to convert single or multiple ebooks into different formats and sync them with electronic devices. Supported ebook readers include Amazon’s Kindle 1 and 2, Apple’s iPhone, SONY PRS 500/505/700 and Cybook Gen 3.

Another interesting feature is the ability to fetch RSS news feeds which are then made available in epub format by default with the option to convert it into a different format.

Calibe can run a (protected) server application that provides access to the ebook library from all computers with a web browser and Internet connection.