eBooks or HTML or PDF

[Phantom]

Hey guys!

 

Here's a question for the masses and I'm really interested to see what people think...

 

I came across an article the other day on the web and saw that Barnes and Noble has an eBook publishing program for those who want to publish eBooks. I'm not sure on the specifics, but it sounded intriguing.

 

Well, two days later my free trial of MS Office for Mac expires and not wanting to spend 150 bucks (yes I am a cheapskate ) I went with the iWorks suite (Apple version of MS Office) and saw that I can export documents as an ePub format (or an ebook) and load it onto devices that accept ePub formats (Nook, Sony, iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad, to name some off the top of my head).

 

To top it all off I've come across LibreOffice (aka OpenOffice.org) and has export as PDF file... which means that any device that reads PDF's, can read that.

 

Well sitting here typing up another chapter (rather trying to... my muse has road lag lol) I was thinking, what if I published in HTML, like on GA, AND published in ePub and PDF and distribute that way to those who want eBook/PDF formats for on the go.

 

So, I bring it to you guys, what if your favorite author could do something like that? Would you be willing to download that onto a portable device instead of dragging a laptop or sit infront of a desktop to read something? What's you're take?

 

Eric

[DragonMando]

I use OpenOffice, so I've noticed the exporting as a PDF feature. I tend to really like it for stories when I'm offline. I've never used the other format.

[Mari]

it sounds good for completed stories

[Rilbur]

I prefer EPUB, or HTML, format over PDF. PDF has many advantages, but... frankly, it sucks. PDF is designed to replicate, page-for-page, whatever document / design you want. All the 'features' of an image file, without the excessive size.

 

What it doesn't handle is reformatting to fit the device you use. It's designed to take a document and put it on screen without any changes, or to print it and know exactly what will print with ease.

 

No thank you.

 

Anyway, just as a plug, I'm actually planning to provide E-Book, HTML, .doc, and probably a few more formats to my readers once I've finished cleaning up Guardian. (So close... just a few chapters left, and then doing all the final formatting, all too much of which is format-specific).

[Phantom]

Well... to follow up on what I was talking about with ePub tools:

B&N eBook Publishing Tool

 

Amazon Kindle Publishing Tool

 

Apple's Pages

 

 

Now here's another idea/tool to add to the mix...

 

I'm a huge fan of audiobooks, especially Podiobooks. Pretty much all you need to publish a book is a story, mic, recording equipment (there are many free ones i.e. Audacity) and a place to host them. Then comes the sticky part which deters people, the ability to host them. Here's a link on the iTunes site on Podcasting.

 

Personally once I get my story done I'm going to offer it via GA but also if it does well, give people copies via PDF and ePub, as well as allowing the GA version on here.

[option]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epub

 

you could have problems 'publishing' anything in epub format at the moment, as the software required isnt very developed

 

 

as for the B&N & Amazon tools, they are only usable if you want to sell the book via their stores

[soup]

I prefer HTML over PDF. Like Rilbur said, it's a bitch reformatting PDFs, they stay the same format so i'd have to zoom in etc. It's much easier for me to just copy the story onto a plain doc, save it as a HTML file and then when i open it on my phone the text shifts to accommodate the size of my display. Also, you can open HTML files on most portable devices now since almost everything has access to the net, but not all devices are capable of opening PDFs.

[Jay]

I use a tool called Calibre to manage my (non-DRM) ebooks. It is available for windows, mac, and linux and has the ability to convert formats and store multiple formats of the same book. It also allows me to manage the (again non-DRM) content of my nook. It supports many different ebook readers and formats. If you're interested in ebooks at all you should check it out.

[Phantom]

I'm not sure but I think there's an ePub add-on that you can use on both open/libre office and open office.

 

The only reason I bring up ePub is because it's becoming, if not already, the dominate ebook format.

 

Heres a good example of the three formats and the way I use them:

 

Doc: good for copying and pasting on websites with a built in text reader like GA, especially if you don't know HTML

HTML: it's good for publishing on websites as well. I use this for GA and way back when NIfty when I was writing.

PDF: I use this format at work when doing things like IHP's, progress notes, meeting minutes and the like. My job, state agencies and other places use this since it holds the formatting and usually the size is under 1meg. Also we can edit them as well with Acrobat.

EPub: more online bookstores and eReaders are allowing this as the default format and there are more tools online. So if your thinking of publishing, or distributing stories, you can do it easier for the portable market.

 

Also I like this discussion so far, leers keep it going!

 

Eric

[Lugh]

Eric,

 

I'm aleady doing this on my hosted page. It's a work in progress as I see what works and what does not, and not too many people have downloaded and given feedback, but there are more possiblities in the future. Right now I'm using the PDF format, I've looked into epub and other formats as well. We will see.

[Former Member]

Well for myself personally, with each of the publisher I work for, they offer eBooks in a number of formats. Whatever the buyer requires will be supplied.

 

On my publishing, editing and reviewing side, we require .doc .pdf or .rtf. But I've noticed more and more publisher not accepting OpenOffice documents.

 

If you use MS Office or Word, there's a free converter to .pdf called CuteWriter, and it's very easy to use. As someone else said, it is complicated to reformat .pdf's compared to html. though.

[pollin63]

I love the idea.

[DavisAujourdhui]

The hottest thing right now is Kindle...I have not setup my books in that format, but, other Authors I know say that they sell tons of their

books in Kindle. The big advantage is that you make more money from the sale of a Kindle format than the actual book. Many people buy both/

E-books again are very popular and is best in PDF format...There are so many free readers tools out their so PDF is the best format. Hope this

helps

 

Hey guys!

 

Here's a question for the masses and I'm really interested to see what people think...

 

I came across an article the other day on the web and saw that Barnes and Noble has an eBook publishing program for those who want to publish eBooks. I'm not sure on the specifics, but it sounded intriguing.

 

Well, two days later my free trial of MS Office for Mac expires and not wanting to spend 150 bucks (yes I am a cheapskate ) I went with the iWorks suite (Apple version of MS Office) and saw that I can export documents as an ePub format (or an ebook) and load it onto devices that accept ePub formats (Nook, Sony, iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad, to name some off the top of my head).

 

To top it all off I've come across LibreOffice (aka OpenOffice.org) and has export as PDF file... which means that any device that reads PDF's, can read that.

 

Well sitting here typing up another chapter (rather trying to... my muse has road lag lol) I was thinking, what if I published in HTML, like on GA, AND published in ePub and PDF and distribute that way to those who want eBook/PDF formats for on the go.

 

So, I bring it to you guys, what if your favorite author could do something like that? Would you be willing to download that onto a portable device instead of dragging a laptop or sit infront of a desktop to read something? What's you're take?

 

Eric

 

[option]

What I would suggest is if authors want to use a different format (not html) to allow people to download whole books, they agree on one format to use.

 

Then readers can download one piece of reader software, knowing that anything they download theyll be able to read.

It also makes it easier for authors, as others are likely to be using the same software to create the books, & so can help each other with any problems.

[DavisAujourdhui]

I have had great experience with Amazon Kindle...To many Authors I have talked with about Barnes and Noble say that they really do not

get much or any sales comming in form B&N at all. Many others have created, including me, have setup e-books in PDF format and sell

the e-books myself. You make more money and the clients can read off of most tools they have.

 

Do not forget one thing though that even though your readers are buying Kindle, B&N, e-book format at least half also want the book.

Have done many polls to see the reaction and found out that some people cannot be with out a copy of the book.

 

Thanks and hope this helps..

 

Davis

[Kia Zi Shiru]

On the writer website I frequent more and more people are publishing to Kindle and B&N rather than going by the "real publishers". Or they make sure they get the epublishing rights back from the publishing companies so they can publish to the e-format of their choice themselves.

I have found this article which does imply that more and more people want ebooks instead of actual books.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12305015

 

I think publishing non-protected epub might be one of the best options as a lot of ereaders can read those and those who can't can use software like calibre (as I do) to convert them within seconds to the right format of the other devices.

[Phoenix1977]

Kindle is great for authors in the US. In Europe it's all ePub by Adobe that is used. As far as I know we can;t even buy the Kindle reader or books or documents in Kindle format because a digital rights issue in the European Union.

 

On a more personal note, I reformated a story by a befriended author to ePub using Adobe's InDesign. The result is great but it took me months to convert the Word version to ePub. I shudder at the idea of having to do it for my own stories as well.

 

Oh, should anyone be interested in how it's done, you need Adobe's InDesign CS 5. How to do it, is explained by someone for Adobe on youtube: