Short presentation on ebooks for IPNE 2012

1. Used under CC from http://www.flickr.com/photos/kesta/2639982875, last accessed 10/22/10

3. State of the Market
• Association of American Publishers
– Adult eBooks: $99.5M in Jan 2012; $66.6M in Jan
2011; +49.4% increase
– Children’s eBooks: $22.6M in Jan 2012; $3.9M in
Jan 2011; +475.1% increase

4. Two Options

5. What is EPUB?
• A digital container for text and images
that allows the content to reflow based
on the size of the screen.
• A standard managed by the International
Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF).
• A structured document that used XML,
XHTML, and CSS.

6. Adobe Reader Mobile SDK
• Non-platform specific
• Supports both EPUB & PDF
• Manages DRM
• Robust Language Support
• Used with Adobe Digital
Editions and most e-readers

7. ADE Devices

8. Apple Products
• Read EPUB & PDF
• Uses iBook app
• Allow video in EPUB
format
• Full-color
• Also allow other
readers (Kobo, Nook,
Kindle, etc.)

9. Mobi vs. ePub
Mobi ePub
• Used exclusively on • Used by almost every
Amazon Products. other e-reader.
• Format owned by • Format managed by IDPF
Amazon. organization.
• Kindle format is .mobi • Text conforms to the set
with DRM added. of standards developed
• Limited display by group.
functionality. • ePub3 current version- no
• KF8 launched 2012 for reader fully supports.
Fire.

10. What about Kindle?
• Uses AZW and KF8, both proprietary
formats based on Mobi format.
• AZW based on older HTML
standards from 90s.
• KF8 is modern HTML5-based
format for the Fire.

11. Usability and E-readers
• Modeled after the print book.
– Linear text divided by the physical limitations of
screen size.
– Searchability: fill-text or index.
– Organization is by table of contents.
– Footnotes, margin notes: end notes
– Images and Tables

12. Options
1. Automated Conversion Program
– Closed systems
– Introduce errors
• ePublishers
– Handle complete process
– Expensive
• Do it Yourself

13. Print Workflow

14. Program Workflow

15. Ebooks in Workflow

16. Ebooks in Workflow

17. I hate to see people not
having fun… just
because they don't
have the right tools--
which is not to say they
need the prettiest, best,
most expensive tools.
They just need the tools
that are right for them.
~Alton Brown
Image from foodnetwork.com, http://www.foodnetwork.com/alton-brown/bio/index.html, last accessed 9/7/10

18. Free Tools
• Coding
– Notepad++ (PC)
– TextWrangler (MAC)
– iBooks author (MAC)
• Creating/ Zipping
– Sigil
– Calibre
– ePub Zip from MobileRead
• Quality Checking
– Adobe Digital Editions
– EpubCheck
– Kindle Direct: Gen & Previewer

19. Distribution
• Amazon Direct- 65% or 30% of price
• PubIt! (Barnes and Noble) -65% or 40% of
price
• iBooks- 30% of price
• Aggregators
– Smashwords, Lulu, Ingram, LibreDigital

20. Used under CC from http://www.flickr.com/photos/kesta/2639982875, last accessed 10/22/10

21. Rental/ DRM/ Cross-Platform
• Retail price: purchase or a rental?
– Purchase? Can I use it across any device?
– No? Then it’s a rental.
• All devices promote DRM to manage device
libraries.
• Richard Stallman- Danger of Ebooks
•

22. Poetry

23. From the poem Un coup de dés jamais nábolira le hasard, poème

24. The Other Elephant
• “Non-traditional” books (on-demand titles
produced by reprint houses specializing in public
domain works and by presses catering to self-
publishers and ”micro-niche” publications) are
estimated at 2,776,260 titles for 2010.
• This number is a 169% increase over 2009--
which nearly tripled 2008’s output (Bowker).

25. Resources
• Twitter: #eprdctn
• Liz Castro
– EPUB Straight to the Point
– Pigs, Gourds, & Wikis
• Mobile Reads Forum
• IDPF
• DefectivebyDesign.org

26. Contact
• John_rodzvilla@emerson.edu
• John.rodzvilla@gmail.com
• @rodzvilla
• Rodzvilla.com