Welcome to the exciting new world of electronic books (e-books).
An e-book is the electronic or digital equivalent of the printed book.
An e-book is commonly offered by a publishing company such as The Digital Word for distribution (as an e-book), whereas e-text is distributed in plain text on the Web, or in the case of academic works, in the form of discrete media such as compact discs.
Some e-books are produced simultaneously with the production of a book in a print format, though in many instances the printed version may not be put on sale until later. E-books are often produced from pre-existing hard copy books. In most instances, such as with The Digital Word, only the e-book form is produced.
Michael Hart, the Founder of Project Gutenberg, is often thought of as the father of the eBook. No other single individual has contributed more to the public's acceptance of the electronic book format.
All books published by The Digital Word are published in pdf, a file format created by Adobe Systems, initially to provide a standard form for storing and editing printed publishable documents. Because documents in .pdf format can easily be seen and printed by users on a variety of computers, they are very common on the World Wide Web. But since they are designed to reproduce page images, and the text cannot be re-flowed to fit the screen width, PDF files designed for printing on standard paper sizes are hard to view on screens with limited size or resolution.
Adobe has addressed the issue of people viewing PDF files on smaller screens as are found on PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants). Adobe's Acrobat Reader for the PDA now has a re-flow facility. Unfortunately, certain settings need to be in place at the time the PDF document is created for it to be re-flow-able, which means many existing PDF documents won't benefit from this new feature.
There are many advantages to e-books. They take up little space. Approximately 500 average sized e-books can be stored on one CD. This compares to print books taking up many shelves in a book case.
E-books are easy to read without a great deal of light being necessary, and text can be enlarged on screen, if need be.
E-books also cut down on the use of ink and paper, are much more environmentally safe, and do not wear out over time.
Yes, there are disadvantages, as with all things. Printing may sometimes be restricted, hardware or software that is upgraded and replacing older materials may be incompatible with that used to store the e-book. Some readers do not wish to stare at a computer screen.
But these same issues were raised when audio books began, and we know how that industry has built itself up. There are clearly more positives than negatives to e-books, but each consumer will decide for himself which is the best process. The cost factor cannot be ignored. Hard copy books continually increase in price because of the cost of paper, publishing and distribution. That cuts into the amount of money the author receives.
E-book publishing is cheaper and provides a greater financial reward to writers because the e-book publisher takes only half or less to do all the marketing and presentation of the e-book.
There is also one really BIG advantage to e-books, one the publishing world doesn't talk about very much. It's also one of the reasons why The Digital Word was founded.
There are many excellent writers who have materials they have worked on for years that they wish to share with the world. The publishing industry has become a minefield to traverse, with few writers being successful. Isn't it wonderful that e-book publishing gives authors and artists an opportunity to sell their writings without going through the process of rejection after rejection, pink slips in the mail all the time, and becoming discouraged at ever again wanting to write.
Do not be dissuaded for fear that Oprah won't ever know about your book. If the book has merit, she and everyone in the media will know and reach out to you.
E-book publishing as its own industry is growing in the double digits yearly, according to the quarterly reports put out by International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF). Among the first Internet-only publishers of new e-books were Boson Books, Hard Shell Word Factory and Online Originals, all founded in the mid-1990s. Each pioneered different aspects of what has since become common practice amongst e-book publishers, e.g. the support of multiple formats including PDFs, the payment of much higher royalty rates than conventional publishers, and the online presentation of free samples. Hard Shell Word Factory set the first professional standards for commercial e-books and pioneered author-friendly contracts. Online Originals was the first e-book publisher to win mainstream book reviews (in the London Times) and a nomination for a major literary prize (the Booker Prize).
Since the late 1990s, the many newcomers to e-book publishing have included most major print publishers. At the same time, many established e-publishers started to offer print versions of some of their titles. Thus the line between the two is fast blurring.
E-books have their own bestseller lists, including those compiled by IDPF and Fictionwise. They even have two yearly awards for excellence in e-books. The longest-standing and most inclusive of these is the EPPIE award, given by EPIC since 2000.
WELCOME to The Digital Word, your new experience in the world of e-books.