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naivetteTo preface, I sometimes use Pocket in lieu of sideloading the epubs onto my device, because Kobo has a function to connect to your pocket account and download your saved articles. For other ereaders like Kindle or Nook, you will have to sideload the epub, or use Send-To-Kindle. For android-based ereaders, you have a lot of freedom so you probably don't need my guide other than to see what tools I mention for compiling epubs.
Web Novels
I use these methods mainly for sideloading online fan translations of web novels. There are two ways of compiling the epubs to do this, using two different extensions. One is WebtoEpub, the other is EpubPress.
I always try WebToEpub first, as it creates a Table of Contents with the chapter names, making your life easy. It works on most websites, and there is a method to set it up to work even on sites that it doesn't have presets for. You just have to navigate to the page with all the chapter links, then click on the extension to start the process. You can pick which chapters you want to download, and setup the metadata. This will save it to your computer.
If WebToEpub isn't working, or there are multiple translators for a single book, I prefer using EpubPress. You just have to open the individual chapters up in tabs, and it will collate all of tabs into a single epub file that you can download. If you use kindle, you can then have it email it directly to your kindle. This is the vastly easier method that's more beginner friendly, but if it doesn't work, there's no settings you can tweak to make it work.
I have a Kobo, so I use Calibre to format the metadata and send the epubs to my ereader. If you're feeling lazy, you can use send.djazz.se as well, which is using the send2ereader program.
Of course, if you're fine with reading things chapter by chapter (or the fan TL posted the entire TL on one page), you can use Pocket if you want. However, lots of fan translation sites tend to have some method of "anti-copy", which prevents Pocket from working. The success rate on this varies. You can attempt the "J-Novel Prepub" method detailed below, if Pocket doesn't work, but it's a lot of manual copy/paste at that point.
Fanfiction/Archive Of Our Own
I don't use Fanfiction.net anymore, but you can use https://fichub.net/ to download from there. Then just send it to your ereader.
Archive of Our Own allows downloads, so it's simple enough to just download the entire fic. However, for shorter fics where I don't want to bother, I just add it to my Pocket account as an article. Just make sure that the url is appended with ?view_full_work=true&view_adult_work=true before you add it to Pocket so that the text shows up. This will prevent the adult works from having the pop-up (preventing it from being read in Pocket), and also display the whole fic for multi-chapter stories.
If I want a long, multi-chapter fic as a kepub on my Kobo, I download the epub file and then send it using send.djazz.se.
J-Novel Prepubs
I don't subscribe to J-novel, but I do pre-order the digital volumes so that I can read the pre-pubs before the volume release, and get the drm-free epub file later. This method requires the Absolute Enable Right Click and Copy extension and the Pocket extension. Please keep in mind that I am doing this with prepubs that I have bought! Support the industry when you can!
Web Novels
I use these methods mainly for sideloading online fan translations of web novels. There are two ways of compiling the epubs to do this, using two different extensions. One is WebtoEpub, the other is EpubPress.
I always try WebToEpub first, as it creates a Table of Contents with the chapter names, making your life easy. It works on most websites, and there is a method to set it up to work even on sites that it doesn't have presets for. You just have to navigate to the page with all the chapter links, then click on the extension to start the process. You can pick which chapters you want to download, and setup the metadata. This will save it to your computer.
If WebToEpub isn't working, or there are multiple translators for a single book, I prefer using EpubPress. You just have to open the individual chapters up in tabs, and it will collate all of tabs into a single epub file that you can download. If you use kindle, you can then have it email it directly to your kindle. This is the vastly easier method that's more beginner friendly, but if it doesn't work, there's no settings you can tweak to make it work.
I have a Kobo, so I use Calibre to format the metadata and send the epubs to my ereader. If you're feeling lazy, you can use send.djazz.se as well, which is using the send2ereader program.
Of course, if you're fine with reading things chapter by chapter (or the fan TL posted the entire TL on one page), you can use Pocket if you want. However, lots of fan translation sites tend to have some method of "anti-copy", which prevents Pocket from working. The success rate on this varies. You can attempt the "J-Novel Prepub" method detailed below, if Pocket doesn't work, but it's a lot of manual copy/paste at that point.
Fanfiction/Archive Of Our Own
I don't use Fanfiction.net anymore, but you can use https://fichub.net/ to download from there. Then just send it to your ereader.
Archive of Our Own allows downloads, so it's simple enough to just download the entire fic. However, for shorter fics where I don't want to bother, I just add it to my Pocket account as an article. Just make sure that the url is appended with ?view_full_work=true&view_adult_work=true before you add it to Pocket so that the text shows up. This will prevent the adult works from having the pop-up (preventing it from being read in Pocket), and also display the whole fic for multi-chapter stories.
If I want a long, multi-chapter fic as a kepub on my Kobo, I download the epub file and then send it using send.djazz.se.
J-Novel Prepubs
I don't subscribe to J-novel, but I do pre-order the digital volumes so that I can read the pre-pubs before the volume release, and get the drm-free epub file later. This method requires the Absolute Enable Right Click and Copy extension and the Pocket extension. Please keep in mind that I am doing this with prepubs that I have bought! Support the industry when you can!
- Open up an empty google drive document
- Navigate to the J-Novel prepub you want to read
- Set the reading settings on J-novel to "scroll"
- Enable the "Absolute Enable Right Click and Copy" extension
- Highlight the text using your cursor, then use CTRL + C to copy the text
- CTRL+V paste it into your blank google doc
- Share your google doc with link sharing
- append the end of the google doc share link with /mobilebasic, your url should look like this https://docs.google.com/document/d/[really long document ID]/mobilebasic
- Add the document to your Pocket as an article
- It will show up on your Kobo ereader if you are signed in with Pocket.
- If you don't have Kobo/Pocket, you can simply download it as an epub from the google doc, and sideload it to your preferred device.