Thread: Dilemma
View Single Post
Old 01-04-2008, 11:09 AM   #104
6charlong
friendly lurker
6charlong ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.6charlong ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.6charlong ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.6charlong ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.6charlong ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.6charlong ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.6charlong ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.6charlong ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.6charlong ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.6charlong ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.6charlong ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
6charlong's Avatar
 
Posts: 896
Karma: 2436026
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: US
Device: Kindle, nook, Apple and Kobo
Quote:
Originally Posted by DMcCunney View Post
I think you underestimate the work involved in putting out an ebook.

Assume the original manuscript is a Microsoft Word document. Then ask which ebook formats you want to issue the book in. PDF? LRF? AZW? Mobi? HTML? Something else?

Each is going to require modifications to the original manuscript to generate the ebook format, and I can almost guarantee that doing it right won't be the work of a few minutes.

Dennis
Niko, supposing that the publisher doesn't have a digital copy of an edited book, I bet the author does.

I expect that soon enough, publishing houses trying to remain in the book business business will format publications using epub, then insist that eBook reader manufacturers supply them with a translator (from epub to a format readable by their device) if they want to have books published for it. And yes, a two-way Xpress translator (Xpress to epub and epub to Xpress) would be all good.

My point being that the tools to make ePublishing viable already exist or are within reach, and none of the problems are even very difficult or expensive. The barrier to moving book publishing into the 21st Century remains DRM.
6charlong is offline   Reply With Quote