Frequently Asked Questions (and Answers) about eBooks
1. What is an eBook?
2. How do you read an eBook?
3. Why should I publish an eBook?
4. Is there a market for eBooks?
5. What are the most popular eBook
formats?
6. What are the advantages of eBooks?
7. What should I know about Digital
Rights Management?
8. What are the drawbacks to publishing
an eBook?
1 . What is an eBook?
eBook is short for electronic book. eBooks are
any type of book that you read in electronic format.
Most eBooks give you the ability to search, bookmark
and annotate. The term denotes the content, not the
device you use to read the book.
2 . How do you read an eBook?
There are many reader devices available. The most
popular are:
a. Your computer or Laptop
b. Dedicated eBook readers like Rocketbook, or the
new Sony reader
c. PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) such as Palm Pilot
or Pocket PC
d. Cell phones (smart phones) are now available
3. Why should I publish an eBook?
New avenue: eBook publications are one of many
ways to reach readers. Many authors consider eBooks
a new, different marketing outlet for their books.
New readers: eBooks give you access to a whole
new group of readers. If you have already written
a print book, an eBook provides you another outlet
for selling. If you are a new author, eBook publishers
are more willing to take a chance on well written,
obscure or cutting edge books.
New medium: eBooks let the author use their
creativity to produce new literature. The rules are
much less rigid. Want to write a serialized story?
How about an illustrated book? Thinking about putting
out special reports?
Longevity: Once you have an eBook published
it will be available for as long as you want it to
be. Backlists are a non-issue. You are not obligated
to do an expensive print run just to satisfy a small
audience.
4. Is there a market for eBooks?
YES! Earlier skepticism by journalists, authors
and industry insiders is being eroded daily. eBooks
are making steady inroads with readers. The technical
and commercial obstacles are fading away. By now,
most publishers believe that a thriving eBook market
is here.
Currently, eBook readers have fewer choices than those
reading hard covers or paperbacks. They love to read
digitally, but can’t find enough available choice.
Make your books an option in this limited marketplace.
Nobody is getting rich YET, but statistics for the
3rd quarter of 2004 show that 140 publishers received
revenues of $3,237,000 in that quarter (up 25% from
same period in 2003) and sold 419,962 units (up 11%
from same period in 2003).
Several well known authors (Steven King, Orson Scott
Card) have been experimenting with eBook publishing
for years. Established authors can afford to experiment,
and they are looking for new readers. Independent
presses and new authors see eBooks as a way to gain
visibility and find readers. eBooks ARE reinventing
reading.
Most of the major publishing houses are releasing
“popular” books in eBook format. If you
are Bill Clinton, Jane Fonda, Dan Brown or Danielle
Steel you can expect to see your book released as
an eBook.
5. What are the most popular
eBook formats?
Acrobat (PDF): Developed by Adobe, the
PDF (portable document file) is currently readable
by just about everybody on almost any device.
MS Reader: The Microsoft reader file is the
reading/viewing/imaging software used on Windows or
Windows CE equipment (Pocket PC).
eReader: This reading engine was created for
Palm and Palm compatible PDAs.
MobiPocket: A proprietary reader that can be
used on both a Palm reader and a Pocket PC.
Open eBook: The emerging standard that uses
the same basic markup language for books that is used
on the Internet.
6. What are the advantages of
eBooks?
Portable: The average person can only carry
a limited number of books, but hundreds of books can
be carried on an eBook reader or on removable storage
media.
Intelligent: Change the font size, highlight
points of interest, search text and link information.
Current: eBooks can be very easily updated.
It is simple to correct mistakes, add cautions or
update statistics.
Accessible: Paper books present a huge problem
for readers with disabilities but eBooks can be adapted
on the screen or read from an embedded audio track.
7. What should I know
about Digital Rights Management?
Digital Rights Management (DRM) refers to the technical
methods used to control or restrict the use of digital
content.
Currently there is a debate about the usefullness
of DRM. Proponents maintain that DRM is necessary
to prevent piracy and increase profits. With DRM,
eBooks are locked into one or more proprietary formats.
Closed and dedicated hardware or software restricts
usage to authorized readers.
Those on the other side feel DRM is unnecessary and
limits access, functionality and sales of eBooks.
They maintain that no matter how you secure an eBook
it can always be pirated. Instead of treating customers
as loyal, honest consumers, DRM is viewed as hiring
an armed security guard to follow customers around
a store.
We agree with Tim O’Reilly that “Obscurity
is a far greater threat to authors than copyright
infringement, or even outright piracy.”
THE DPP PRESS POSITION:
We aim to help honest people stay honest. DRM
is only the wrapper around the content of the
book and DPP Press will take reasonable steps
to guard copyrights. Books are sold with DRM-Lite
technology and a strong copyright statement. In
the end, innovative marketing (not DRM) sells
books. |
8. What are the drawbacks
to publishing an eBook?
Many people think that the quality of eBook writing
is lacking. Unfortunately, in the early stage of eBook
publishing, a number of individuals promoted themselves
as eBook publishers, where in fact close to illiterate.
The writing was poor and the editing was non-existent.
This hurt the early acceptance of eBooks. In 2006,
we are seeing mainstream publishers and new independent
presses publishing quality eBooks and changing this
perception every day.
Becoming an eBook publisher can be a daunting prospect
for authors, self-publishers and independent press
owners. Most do not have the equipment, the workforce
or the technical savvy to support electronic publishing.
Over and above the technology barriers, there is the
question of the time and energy. How do you maintain
your current paper books and distribution channels,
while learning about document technology, new software
and eBook formats.
eBooks require new sales and marketing techniques
and a familiarity with the Internet, viral marketing
and blogging. This is a difficult and costly redirection
of focus and strategy.
It takes a lot of time to digest all this information,
let alone become proficient. This is why DPP Press
exists!
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