I know this is a pretty basic question, but I was checking through search traffic for eBooks and eBook production, and this is a surprisingly high reoccurring organic search term. We also get quite a lot of inbound queries on eBook formats, ePub, mobi, enhanced etc – so we thought we would put something together on it.
Thanks to Catherine Twibill, our Content Acquisition & Design Manager, for this explanation:
An eBook, or electronic book, is simply a book but in electronic form. The information contained in the book is exactly as it would be in the printed version. So you are reading the same book, delivered by a different method. An eBook will usually be formatted exactly the same as if you had the actual printed book but you instead read it from your eBook reader, eg Kindle, Sony Reader or ipad.
There are 2 primary file types for an eBook. An ePub file which can be read on the majority of reading devices, and a .mobi file which can be read on a Kindle. Any print book can be converted to an eBook from an electronic file. Contact us for the best solution for your book.
Some advantages of an eBook include :
• They're easily readable. Most readers offer zoom functions, letter resizing, and so forth. They are easier to read and lighter to hold, you can choose the font size so you don’t need to source a large print version of the book.
• Accessibility: The internet is open for business 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! When you want to get a new read, you just go online and download it straight to our device in less than a minute.
• They're easily portable. You can carry hundreds of books on one device.
• They are environmentally friendly: no paper, no ink.
• Note-taking is much more powerful, and the notes you write can be found and referenced quickly and easily. And they don't have to be permanent.
• Lighting conditions essentially become meaningless. Many readers incorporate display lighting allowing you to read whenever and wherever you like.
• Ebooks are never out of stock or out of print. This can be of huge advantage both to the reader and the publisher. It could cost several thousands to bring or keep a backlist or out of print title back in to print. That doesn’t even take in to consideration the cost of storing and distributing the title. An eBook is relatively cheap to produce, and with the right distribution service, it is available worldwide, forever, to hundreds of millions potential customers.
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