We want to sell eBooks

[Book Depository]

We are pretty new to eBooks so please be gentle with us.

We recently released over 11,000 free eBooks on our site but we want to be able to sell them too (all the free eBooks are in PDF format).

As many of you are already using the various readers you are by far the best people to talk to about any issues you have had.

Having scoured this forum a bit yesterday it's clear that most of you seem to convert formats to fit your readers and also know where to buy certian formats for your needs.

One thing I can say is that we are going to provide every possible format we can for as many readers as we can.

This is where we get stuck and need your help to make it easy.

Many posts and threads to follow...

[snowcandy]

I've been purchasing paperback books from your online store and have always loved the fast shipping and low prices. It's great to see that you guys have decided to venture into the eBook market and I'm definitely hoping to see more formats for the eBooks on your site! :)

[mtravellerh]

Originally Posted by Book Depository

We are pretty new to eBooks so please be gentle with us.

We recently released over 11,000 free eBooks on our site but we want to be able to sell them too (all the free eBooks are in PDF format).

As many of you are already using the various readers you are by far the best people to talk to about any issues you have had.

Having scoured this forum a bit yesterday it's clear that most of you seem to convert formats to fit your readers and also know where to buy certian formats for your needs.

One thing I can say is that we are going to provide every possible format we can for as many readers as we can.

This is where we get stuck and need your help to make it easy.

Many posts and threads to follow...

Hello and welcome to MobileRead!

I just had a look at your free books (Dodo books). They are nicely formatted and easily loadable. Thanks a lot for that iniative!

There is a problem with the page format, though. As you might know, an average reading device has only a 6" screen, that is 9x12 cm and a 800x600 resolution! Your format might just be readable on that but the fonts will be rather small. To comfortably read those book, you will have to either read in landscape mode which can be quite awkward or reflow the PDF which takes away the layout. Both of those solutions are not optimal.

Furthermore, the book I was downoading was lacking a cover. is that true for all those books?

Most owners of reader devices like books in reflowable format, ePub and Mobipocket (prc and mobi) being the most popular. You will find more valuable info about those formats in our Wiki and in our forum. Of course, we will love to help you along wherever we can. There are never enough books around! Please feel free to ask every question that comes to mind!

Most of us do not like DRM books as it handicaps the usability and flexibility of the books.

[kennyc]

Yep. Welcome and see mtravellerh's post above. I personally avoid PDF like the plague because it just doesn't work well on an e-reader unless it is specifically formatted for the screen size etc.

Epub is the emerging standard (Sony and B&N are going there) many smaller sellers already support it. I would suggest that this format is the direction to take for future success.

Thanks again and Enjoy!

[Book Depository]

Thank you for the nice welcome. It's going to a pleasure to be here.

Originally Posted by mtravellerh

There is a problem with the page format, though. As you might know, an average reading device has only a 6" screen, that is 9x12 cm and a 800x600 resolution! Your format might just be readable on that but the fonts will be rather small. To comfortably read those book, you will have to either read in landscape mode which can be quite awkward or reflow the PDF which takes away the layout. Both of those solutions are not optimal.

Thanks for the feedback about the PDF's. Their format is down to the publisher rather than us. If the publisher makes the PDF's correctly then I am sure this could be resolved.

Originally Posted by mtravellerh

Most owners of reader devices like books in reflowable format, ePub and Mobipocket (prc and mobi) being the most popular.

I guess this will be the most popular format when we start selling then.

Originally Posted by mtravellerh

Please feel free to ask every question that comes to mind!

Well here is the first set of questions which have already had some valuable answers:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63847

I'll post more links as the questions come in.

[Book Depository]

Originally Posted by mtravellerh

Furthermore, the book I was downoading was lacking a cover. is that true for all those books?

Sorry, missed this bit.

I think the covers are not included in these as it was decided that you would be reading the book rather than looking at it.

It's a good point though, thanks.

[Book Depository]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Yep. Welcome and see mtravellerh's post above. I personally avoid PDF like the plague because it just doesn't work well on an e-reader unless it is specifically formatted for the screen size etc.

Epub is the emerging standard (Sony and B&N are going there) many smaller sellers already support it. I would suggest that this format is the direction to take for future success.

Thanks again and Enjoy!

Thanks Kennyc.

We are going to be providing all the formats we can for any book we can so that as many people can get as many eBooks as they want.

I hope that each book will have more than one format and hopefully all in ePub but I can't promise.

[zelda_pinwheel]

welcome to the forum ! i also noticed your free ebooks although i haven't downloaded any yet. it's always great to see another source for ebooks.

i'm sure you'll find a lot of people all too happy to answer questions here and help you out with anything you need. i see you have some excellent info in this thread already, and in fact i second it all. the point about the covers is well-made ; they are important even on an ebook, and we appreciate them a lot. some of us like to browse our ebook libraries in cover view (whether on the pc or a dedicated device) and it's rather sad when there isn't one. in fact, when i get a book which has no cover, i often make one myself, if only with a photo, just to have something nice to look at. ebooks are very convenient but they should be *nice* books too.

see you around the forum ! please feel free to ask all your questions.

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by Book Depository

Sorry, missed this bit.

I think the covers are not included in these as it was decided that you would be reading the book rather than looking at it.

Not really, at my eReader I can see the covers at the library, so I look at them.

[Terisa de morgan]

Welcome. As a Spanish reader I've bought (and still buy) a lot of books at your web (and some girls I know at other forum too). I hope you offer the same good service for e-books. And talking about formats, ePub can be a good format for a newbie, but for former readers, who still use their PDAs, usually Mobipocket is better.

[neilmarr]

Good to see you here, BD. You've been selling my own wee house's titles (treebook and ebook) forever, so it's like greeting an old friend.

The problem has been with many smaller publishers that we set up early for ebooks (much, much earlier than the big boys) when they were still almost exclusively read on computer screens, for which PDF format was perfect. But since mobile phones and ebook-dedicated reading devices exploded onto the scene, PDF just doesn't hack the job any more.

At BeWrite Books, we're now working backwards through our entire catalogue to convert to other formats. As others here have mentioned, ePub seems to be setting a standard, but we must still provide alternatives even to that.

The problem is that it ain't as simple as pushing a button. Your other publishers must (like us, if they're serious) go back to the Word source material from which their PDFs were created, completely re-format, test and proof read. It's no mean task when you're talking many, many titles.

Best wishes and good luck. Neil

[Book Depository]

Originally Posted by Terisa de morgan

I hope you offer the same good service for e-books.

I'm glad to say we are aiming for the same great service for eBooks that we offer for our hard copies. We wouldn't have it any other way.

Glad to have a customer who is looking forward to eBooks as much as we are.

[JSWolf]

If you use ePub, Mobipocket & eReader, you'll cover all the readers out there currently. And then you won't need PDF.

[Book Depository]

Hi Neil.

Yes, we are finally here and trying to make eBooks more fantastic than they already are. Making them available to as many people as possible is definately something we are proud of achieving.

It deifnately looks like ePub is the first format you should be trying to master first then.

Good luck converting your back catalogue. I'm sure we'll be selling them on our site when they are available.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by Book Depository

Thanks for the feedback about the PDF's. Their format is down to the publisher rather than us. If the publisher makes the PDF's correctly then I am sure this could be resolved.

Originally Posted by JSWolf

If you use ePub, Mobipocket & eReader, you'll cover all the readers out there currently. And then you won't need PDF.

You should talk to your publishers about providing multiple formats, or providing you with source material so you can generate the multiple formats.

There's nothing wrong with keeping PDF... it is still the most prominent reading format, especially on desktop and laptop machines. It should be tagged PDF, though... a tagged PDF can reflow, allowing it to be read on most devices. If multiple formats are a problem, I would default either to tagged PDF, or to ePub.