Fun fact: the new Kindle Scribe does not allow you to handwrite notes on any eBook. No scribbling in the margins or circling words or highlighting passages. The best you can do is write something inside a stickie note, where it remains hidden until you open it up with a stylus tap. This will not do.
I bought the Kindle Scribe not just because it’s a snazzy new gadget and I like to read eBooks, but because of its stylus and handwriting feature. I used the stylus to great effect on a friend’s movie script, which I’d sideloaded to the device using the “email-to-kindle” method. I was able to jot down all kinds of notes anywhere I wanted and it was super helpful for our discussion afterward. However, I had been doodling on a PDF version of my friend’s script, and didn’t realize this capability would not transfer over to my own unfinished eBook titled CHAINED BIRDS: A CRIMEMOIR, that I had uploaded for editing purposes.
Now keep in mind I could have uploaded a generic PDF version of my double-spaced, times new roman 12 pt font, kaka-looking manuscript. If that’s all you want to do, read no further and simply sideload your file via the “email-to-kindle” method linked to above. But, if you’re like me, and you want to see a pretty eBook version of your completed MS or WIP (short for manuscript and work in progress people, stay with me), then the hack I discovered may just be for you.
Part I of this achievement involved me splurging on the book formatting software Vellum, mainly because I like to geek-out with apps and graphics as a distraction when I hit writer’s block or need a break from chapter writing. I love Vellum and found it easy to use, and am not being paid to say this — I just genuinely adore it. Even though I’ve only completed a few sample chapters of CHAINED BIRDS, I found it extremely satisfying to load my MS into Vellum, play around with the formatting, and have it churn out a gorgeous ePub rendering of the book I could read on my Kindle. (Vellum also formats books for print and is used by self-pubbers and others to send to POD (print-on-demand) services.)
But I wanted to do more than just read what I’d written so far on my Kindle Scribe. I wanted to mark it up with notes and text and save a tree in the process. But this is not possible with an ePub version. And, unfortunately, Vellum doesn’t output a pretty PDF version for eReaders.
But not to worry! Someone out there more brilliant than I figured out a hack, so here it is. I recommend reading this post by Google engineering manager Roman (no last name) titled “Kindle Scribe: Writing Directly on the Page and Margins for Sideloaded Books.” The hack involves converting an ePub file to PDF using the free software Calibre, and Roman’s post gives step-by-step instructions on how to achieve this. The end result is a fairly identical ePub-looking PDF that you can scribble on in your Kindle Scribe. Roman notes that he uses Calibre for all his eBook management purposes, and you can surely use Calibre to create your ePub version first instead of Vellum. I have only tinkered with the conversion feature of Calibre as described by the mysterious Roman.
So there you have it. Happy file conversion and Kindle Scribe editing to all the other writer-geeks out there!
Carla Conti is a true crime journalist, storyteller, and prison reform advocate. Look for Chained Birds: A Crimemoir, her true crime memoir and exposé on federal prison abuse, corruption, and prison gang culture in 2024.
