eBooks, What Format Do You Do?

[dmccoy1693]

I'm considering putting some of my current/upcoming products in eBook format in addition to pdf. But... There are ALOT of formats out there and I'd be crazy to try them all at once. So, you tell me, what do you use or plan to use in the near future?

Edit: Mind you, when I say PDF, I specifickly mean you read PDFs on a mobile device.

Also if you buy eBooks online where do you get them, other than DriveThruRPG/RPGNow?

 

[mach1.9pants]

Well I use an iRex DR1000S but 'cos I have mostly gaming books I have mainly PDFs, to be honest I don't even know what formats are best for novels.

So I am not much help LOL

 

[Nifft]

What I use now: PDF. Why? It's all they sold.

What I actually want: anything that works nicely on both my laptop and my iPhone, the iPhone being the more difficult target.

Cheers, -- N

 

[dmccoy1693]

the iPhone being the more difficult target.

Amazon Kindle and the Palm eReader have free Iphone dedicated reader apps. I believe that .prc/.mobi can be read by other readers on the Iphone. I recommend downloading an eBook reader and trying them out on some freely available books if you're not yet sure what format you'd like it in and come back and say what you'd like.

 

[dmccoy1693]

I gotta admit, so far I am confused by the results. I've read more than a few threads on these boards over the years where someone is saying PDF's are terrible for my Iphone/palm/windows mobile/etc device, give me this other format. Yet so far pdfs are leading the charge.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I've read more than a few threads on these boards over the years where someone is saying PDF's are terrible for my Iphone/palm/windows mobile/etc device, give me this other format. Yet so far pdfs are leading the charge.

#1 rule of marketing: The strongest predictor of success is being first to the market. The first product to enter a given market has the best chance of capturing the market because it has no competition.

Of those formats, I'm not sure if they were actually first, but PDFs have been around a while.

 

[caudor]

There is a subcategory of eBook formats that use technology based on eInk. This includes the Amazon Kindle. eInk is a presentation that is very light on battery use and as far as I know, only exists in grayscale right now. I think the intent of eInk is reading of novels and books with little or no tables or illustations.

I bought a couple D&D pdfs before I stopped to reconsider whether they are worth it given the current capabilities of readers that support the pdf format. The Kindle DX caught my eye, but I can buy a lot of D&D books for that price. Plus I like color.

Anyway, I'm waiting to see what future color pdf reading device takes the market. I suspect it will be at least a couple years before we see something suitable for our D&D books.

 

[drothgery]

Amazon Kindle and the Palm eReader have free Iphone dedicated reader apps. I believe that .prc/.mobi can be read by other readers on the Iphone. I recommend downloading an eBook reader and trying them out on some freely available books if you're not yet sure what format you'd like it in and come back and say what you'd like.

The Kindle format is just mobiPocket + DRM; the Kindle can definitely read mobiPocket, and I suspect the iPhone app can, too.

 

[Nifft]

I gotta admit, so far I am confused by the results. I've read more than a few threads on these boards over the years where someone is saying PDF's are terrible for my Iphone/palm/windows mobile/etc device, give me this other format. Yet so far pdfs are leading the charge.

Presumably there are a bunch of people like me, who know about PDFs, and want something better, but who don't know which of the formats works best for their device of choice.

When I asked what format would work best for my device of choice, I got this:

I recommend downloading an eBook reader and trying them out on some freely available books if you're not yet sure what format you'd like it in and come back and say what you'd like.

... so yeah. Apparently even those who want to publish eBooks know how well the different formats work on various devices.

Basically, you'll only see votes from people who know a format and like that format, and the best-known formats have a big advantage there.

Cheers, -- N

 

[dmccoy1693]

Fair point, Nifft. But look at it from my angle for a second. It doesn't matter to me which format to publish in. If people overwhemingly say Kindle, I'll learn the procedure to publish in Kindle. However if the palm format is the format of choice, I'll spend the money to get the palm publishing software and learn that. I don't deliver a particular a particular format; I deliver content in whatever format there is a sufficient market for.

Myself I don't own an Iphone. My first smart phone arrived yesterday (Win Mobile device). So I'm cannot test the Iphone software and tell you which one is better for that particular device. There are free readers out there for the iphone and free books for most of those readers. Best advice I still give is download a reader or two and testing them out.

Some Links:
Kindle for Iphone
Palm EReader for Iphone
Stanza ePub reader for Iphone