Digital magazine on company website

phyllisj9 · 08-06-2011, 01:17 PM

My company is interested in distributing our magazine for e-book readers. I've got some basic knowledge about creating epubs and mobi files. I'm curious: Is it unusual to offer a magazine directly on a company website in these formats? We don't sell our magazine (it's free for our members), so I don't see much point in trying to go through Amazon or B&N or some other reseller. But I don't know how common it is to just have epub and mobi files available to download on a website. Do you see that often?

Also, is it usual to create e-magazines the same way you would create e-books? I ask because I notice Kindle magazines look like they have a different layout than books. Even the device Menu options become different when you open a magazine ("Go to" no longer appears in the Kindle menu). So perhaps that's a completely different process. I guess I could create it however I wanted, but I wonder if there is some common way of going about this (?).

Suggestions appreciated!

Thanks, Phyllis

Giggleton · 08-06-2011, 01:35 PM

I've seen many websites that offer ebook downloads in exchange for an email address, mostly marketing type materials.

As far as layouts are concerned, the layout you are referring to is the Kindle newspaper type layout, Amazon reserves this layout for ebooks distributed through Amazon, although it is possible to create this style of layout in your own ebooks...

phyllisj9 · 08-06-2011, 01:49 PM

Thanks Giggleton. I guess it wouldn't be too strange to post our magazine directly on our site then. Interesting about the Kindle newspaper layout. What format is it, do you know? It looks like it might be a more robust format than mobi though I could be wrong. I think I could mimic a fair amount of the layout, though not the 2-column Table of Contents (unless maybe that's a table) or the footer that doesn't resize with the type (although maybe that's an image). Hm, maybe I could. I know epubs would support more of it.

I wonder what's involved in distributing a free magazine through Amazon. I imagine that can be done though they'd probably charge our company when it's downloaded. Dunno if that's worth pursuing or not!

Thanks for your input,
Phyllis

phyllisj9 · 08-07-2011, 08:45 AM

Oh I think I figured it out -- still epub, just with some kind of new template built around it. Interesting. I'll just mimic the style the best I can as it doesn't look like you can offer magazines for free on Amazon (even if you pay them, they still insist on charging the person downloading it).

phyllisj9 · 08-07-2011, 09:09 AM

Or maybe that's done in frames (just noticed the Mobipocket documentation says it supports some type of frames). Wow, so much try to figure out!

exscentric · 08-07-2011, 12:46 PM

Christian Computing Magazine and their spin off for Video offers directly from their site in .pdf or you can read online or from their email notification it is available. They started as a paper publisher but are now totally digital.

Colleges offer catalogs etc. from their site.

Nothing out of the ordinary in my mind to do what you are considering.

You might even offer a .txt option for those that don't mind not having the pictures and formatting.

Do consider if you haven't the bandwidth this will increase - if you have your own server, no problem, but if you buy hosting space you might have a limit.

08-06-2011, 01:17 PM	#1
phyllisj9 Member Posts: 18 Karma: 12 Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Washington, DC Device: none	Digital magazine on company website My company is interested in distributing our magazine for e-book readers. I've got some basic knowledge about creating epubs and mobi files. I'm curious: Is it unusual to offer a magazine directly on a company website in these formats? We don't sell our magazine (it's free for our members), so I don't see much point in trying to go through Amazon or B&N or some other reseller. But I don't know how common it is to just have epub and mobi files available to download on a website. Do you see that often? Also, is it usual to create e-magazines the same way you would create e-books? I ask because I notice Kindle magazines look like they have a different layout than books. Even the device Menu options become different when you open a magazine ("Go to" no longer appears in the Kindle menu). So perhaps that's a completely different process. I guess I could create it however I wanted, but I wonder if there is some common way of going about this (?). Suggestions appreciated! Thanks, Phyllis

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08-06-2011, 01:35 PM	#2
Giggleton Banned Posts: 1,687 Karma: 4368191 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Oregon Device: Kindle3	I've seen many websites that offer ebook downloads in exchange for an email address, mostly marketing type materials. As far as layouts are concerned, the layout you are referring to is the Kindle newspaper type layout, Amazon reserves this layout for ebooks distributed through Amazon, although it is possible to create this style of layout in your own ebooks...

08-06-2011, 01:49 PM	#3
phyllisj9 Member Posts: 18 Karma: 12 Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Washington, DC Device: none	Thanks Giggleton. I guess it wouldn't be too strange to post our magazine directly on our site then. Interesting about the Kindle newspaper layout. What format is it, do you know? It looks like it might be a more robust format than mobi though I could be wrong. I think I could mimic a fair amount of the layout, though not the 2-column Table of Contents (unless maybe that's a table) or the footer that doesn't resize with the type (although maybe that's an image). Hm, maybe I could. I know epubs would support more of it. I wonder what's involved in distributing a free magazine through Amazon. I imagine that can be done though they'd probably charge our company when it's downloaded. Dunno if that's worth pursuing or not! Thanks for your input, Phyllis

08-07-2011, 08:45 AM	#4
phyllisj9 Member Posts: 18 Karma: 12 Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Washington, DC Device: none	Oh I think I figured it out -- still epub, just with some kind of new template built around it. Interesting. I'll just mimic the style the best I can as it doesn't look like you can offer magazines for free on Amazon (even if you pay them, they still insist on charging the person downloading it).

08-07-2011, 09:09 AM	#5
phyllisj9 Member Posts: 18 Karma: 12 Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Washington, DC Device: none	Or maybe that's done in frames (just noticed the Mobipocket documentation says it supports some type of frames). Wow, so much try to figure out!

08-07-2011, 12:46 PM	#6
exscentric Addict Posts: 379 Karma: 1033424 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: WY Device: Kindle keyboard	Christian Computing Magazine and their spin off for Video offers directly from their site in .pdf or you can read online or from their email notification it is available. They started as a paper publisher but are now totally digital. Colleges offer catalogs etc. from their site. Nothing out of the ordinary in my mind to do what you are considering. You might even offer a .txt option for those that don't mind not having the pictures and formatting. Do consider if you haven't the bandwidth this will increase - if you have your own server, no problem, but if you buy hosting space you might have a limit.

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