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SigilBear · 03-01-2017, 08:41 PM

Can anyone point me to some good discussions or articles focusing on the differences between websites and ebooks, with particular emphasis on how people choose one or the other?

A little background: I started writing and creating websites long ago. I also self-published a couple books.

My websites were doing pretty good; I was getting 20,000 hits a day and earning $500 a month about fifteen years ago - and that was in January; my traffic doubled in the spring.

But I then got hit by a barrage - the dot.com bust, technical problems, etc. My biggest problem was that I simply over-extended myself; I was writing about a wide variety of topics and created one project after another that was never truly finished. To put it in perspective, consider Wikipedia's infamous "stubs," which mark the inevitable unfinished page.

One thing I like about ebooks is that they help me focus on something and finish it. Also, I think ebooks are in a sense more respectable. Any clown can create a website or a blog these days. Of course, the same can be said of ebooks. However, I think most people have a little more respect for books. That may be largely due to the fact that books were traditionally vetted by publishing houses, which made sure they were properly researched, edited, etc.

Merely being able to say that your book has an ISBN number and is in the Library of Congress may carry a little weight.

But I really like the idea of developing ebooks and websites together, using them to support and promote each other.

Another thing of interest... Some people in these forums have commented that they wouldn't buy a book if the same information online.

How true do you think that is? [Edit: I mean, in general; do you think most people feel the same way?]

You could probably find 500 published books about elephants and several ebooks focusing on elephants at the same time. And there are websites that focus on elephants. They obviously fill various niches.

My tentative thoughts: Given the choice between a website that covers topic A and an ebook that covers the same topic, I would favor an ebook 1) because of my general perception that books (including ebooks) are a little more "professional," and 2) I'd be able to read it even when I'm offline.

I would also expect the navigation to be a little better, and I wouldn't be bothered by dead links, pop-up ads, etc.

On the other hand, there are certain things that would draw me to a website, including a greater variety of technical things you just can't do with ebooks.

It would be interesting to write a manuscript and publish it as both a website and an ebook and see which one gets the most attention.

Anyway, can anyone point me to some really good articles you've seen that address some of these things?

03-01-2017, 08:41 PM	#1
SigilBear Banned Posts: 244 Karma: 2112680 Join Date: Jan 2017 Device: iBooks	Ebooks vs Websites Can anyone point me to some good discussions or articles focusing on the differences between websites and ebooks, with particular emphasis on how people choose one or the other? A little background: I started writing and creating websites long ago. I also self-published a couple books. My websites were doing pretty good; I was getting 20,000 hits a day and earning $500 a month about fifteen years ago - and that was in January; my traffic doubled in the spring. But I then got hit by a barrage - the dot.com bust, technical problems, etc. My biggest problem was that I simply over-extended myself; I was writing about a wide variety of topics and created one project after another that was never truly finished. To put it in perspective, consider Wikipedia's infamous "stubs," which mark the inevitable unfinished page. One thing I like about ebooks is that they help me focus on something and finish it. Also, I think ebooks are in a sense more respectable. Any clown can create a website or a blog these days. Of course, the same can be said of ebooks. However, I think most people have a little more respect for books. That may be largely due to the fact that books were traditionally vetted by publishing houses, which made sure they were properly researched, edited, etc. Merely being able to say that your book has an ISBN number and is in the Library of Congress may carry a little weight. But I really like the idea of developing ebooks and websites together, using them to support and promote each other. Another thing of interest... Some people in these forums have commented that they wouldn't buy a book if the same information online. How true do you think that is? [Edit: I mean, in general; do you think most people feel the same way?] You could probably find 500 published books about elephants and several ebooks focusing on elephants at the same time. And there are websites that focus on elephants. They obviously fill various niches. My tentative thoughts: Given the choice between a website that covers topic A and an ebook that covers the same topic, I would favor an ebook 1) because of my general perception that books (including ebooks) are a little more "professional," and 2) I'd be able to read it even when I'm offline. I would also expect the navigation to be a little better, and I wouldn't be bothered by dead links, pop-up ads, etc. On the other hand, there are certain things that would draw me to a website, including a greater variety of technical things you just can't do with ebooks. It would be interesting to write a manuscript and publish it as both a website and an ebook and see which one gets the most attention. Anyway, can anyone point me to some really good articles you've seen that address some of these things? Last edited by SigilBear; 03-01-2017 at 10:53 PM.