How to update KindleGen to 64-bit for Mac Catalina (and above)

[davstrom]

Today, I found out that my version of Storyist for my Mac could not generate a Kindle ebook (.mobi). Turns out I needed to replace my 32-bit KindleGen with 64-bit. And it turns out that Amazon no longer has a direct link to KindleGen. So I googled a bit, and found out how to get the KindleGen in Kindle Publisher. Here is what I did.

1. Download and install the latest Kindle Previewer from Amazon.
   https://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000765261
2. In the Applications folder, control-click the Kindle Previewer 3.app and select Open Package Contents from the pop-up menu.
3. You will see a folder called Contents. Copy it.
4. In your Applications folder, create a folder called “Kindle Previewer 3 app contents”. (Or whatever you like, but this name tells it like it is. And no quotes in the folder name, of course.)
5. Paste the Contents folder into the “Kindle Previewer 3 app contents” folder. (You can find kindlegen in there if you like, I have the path in the next step.)
6. Go through the process of exporting a Kindle (mobi) file in Storyist. When you get to Step 3: Enter Kindle options, change your KindleGen Location to:
   /Applications/Kindle Previewer 3 app contents/lib/fc/bin/kindlegen
7. Click Next to continue exporting your Kindle file.

[christian]

thanks @davstrom for the helpful post. this is exactly the information i was looking for about the Kinlde Previewer and the location of KindleGen.

You don't need to copy the app's Contents Folder. you can access KindleGen directly from within the Previewer.

1. open Package Content from Kindle Previewer App in Finder

2. navigate to "/Applications/Kindle Previewer 3.app/Contents/lib/fc/bin"

3. click in Storyist to choose the location of KindleGen

4. drag the kindlegen file from finder into the storyist-file-dialog

5. mac os changes the location automaticly to the folder inside from Kindle Previewer.