Quote:
Originally Posted by Arkadian
@BR and mrmikel,
my reason for getting a pdf as well is simply because I don't expect large numbers of my readers to actually own an e-reader, so they would be able to read my e-book (whin, BTW, is there to complement my niche site) on their computer. If they owned it I don't expect them to select that option.
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Arkadian:
Do you think that your readers (human) are so non-tecchie that they would balk at downloading free e-reading software? Like ADE, or Nook for PC/Mac, or an easy-peasy one, Firefox ePUBReader?
Granted--for notetaking, the PDF may be better, IF (big "if!") your readers have something like Acrobat pro, which will allow annotation, but if they are just plain-old people, they won't have that. The ability to resize, read, etc., in something like ADE is certainly just as desktop-friendly--and just as FREE--as any widely distributed PDF reader.
Just a thought. (And, of course: one may read PDFs with it, as well, no?). I personally have no bias against PDF's, per se, as instruments for non-fiction adn reference books; I use them all the time, myself, for manuals. But if your thinking is being swayed by the idea of 'desktop reading,' don't forget that both ePUB and MOBi have free, widely available, EASILY installable desktop readers that are easily found/accessible. Hell, I've been known to even PACKAGE the installers and send them to clients.
FWIW, that's my $.02.
@mrmikel:
Quote:
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Being able to be read on everything occupies Hitch's attention full time and overtime, as an e book maker.
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...and then some. And even then--we are not always 100% successful. When we do complex books, I know that they will work on all the MAIN readers, in the US--Kindle, ADE, iBooks, Nook, Sony--but I don't always know (hell, don't always
believe) that they will work on, say, Marvin. Or X for Chrome. Or Bluefire. Mantano. It's a never-ending crapshoot, and all you can do is try to make your CSS fairly unbiased, and pray. A Lot. (And only warrant your work for the devices that are the biggest part of the market for which you are making them. For example, when we do UK authors, we test extensively on Kobo and Sony, rather than Nook, for obvious reasons. And that's where we tell the client that the books will work.)
It's a constant issue, and truly: I wish that the Consortium had addressed THAT, conformity, across platforms, before they decided that "multimedia" was just what they HAD TO DO. {sigh}.
Hitch