Quote:
Originally Posted by Dabcar
without going down the PDF course
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Ultimately, you'll want to supply it in 2 or 3 (maybe 4) formats:
- EPUB
- EPUB2 (or EPUB3 designed with backwards-compatibility in mind)
- Kindle (MOBI/KF8)
- Just generate a "dual format MOBI" using Kindle Previewer. This includes a MOBI for old devices, KF8 for new devices.
- Do not touch KFX.
- PDF ("Recommended")
- Sadly, this is still one of the most common/well-known formats. (See note below.)
- HTML directly on the site. (Optional)
- If you design your EPUB properly, the HTML version can be derived from that.
You provide all the formats, and the user can choose whatever they're most comfortable with.
EPUB/MOBI are true ebooks, PDFs are "Print" focused, and HTML is used for very easy access (works in any browser/device, found via search engines, etc.).
I wrote about a lot of this last year in
"Workflow for simultaneous EPUB and PDF production?"
Also, see my 2013 posts in
"commercial software for Kindle/mobi from scanned math texts" (especially Posts #14+).
Overall, not much has changed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dabcar
We are hoping to make this as simple as possible for both us and the user [...]
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lol. That's a funny one.
If you're hosting books on your own site, get prepared for a massive amount of customer support.
* * *
PDF Note: ... in 2018, I digitized over 100 Economics books for a site, and guess what...
When only EPUB+MOBI+HTML were supplied, customer support was flooded with "Where are the PDFs?"... the vast majority of people STILL have no clue what EPUB/MOBI even is.
The sad reality is, PDFs are what people know... and "everyone can read it".
If I remember the stats correctly, >75% of ebook downloads were PDF.
(The site is geared towards high-school/college-age too... so I would've assumed more technically savvy.)
Side Note: It could also be that PDFs are "searchable" by search engines, while EPUB/MOBI aren't. Plus, when people are searching for book downloads, they most likely type in "Book Title + PDF".
* * *
And learning how to sideload? Don't make me laugh...
My recommendation:
Supply it in all formats possible, put it up for sale on Amazon/B&N/Kobo (all other stores), and if the customer has a problem, they can purchase the ebook from them (and let THEIR customer support deal with it).
PS. And I'm talking PROPER formats, not a crappy EPUB->PDF conversion via Calibre. Or Archive.org's fake "EPUBs" (auto-OCRed from PDF scans).