Why should print titles be converted to digital formats?

The digital publishing ecology is now a well developed system which allows an author or a publisher to leverage the static content contained in a print format to a dynamic content, which in turn may be very efficiently managed, both for print, as well as digital editions. The e-publishing ecology consists of many role players:

• authors;
• publishers;
• standards for maintaining and managing contents in an enterprise situation for productivity and efficient quality assurance; 
• standards for ebooks;
• conversion service providers;
• digital rights management systems;
• ebooks distribution systems;
• standards for sharing distribution metadata;
• online search systems;
• online catalogs;
• online bookstores;
• transparent royalty systems;
• secured online payment transactions;
• hand-held dedicated ebook reading devices. 

Each of the above is a developed system by now. Technological advances in all the above areas are firing a growth in sales of digital books, though which the traditional print publishers could benefit by having a deeper reach with their customers. Look for the industry statistics here.

Which are the popular ebook formats that one should consider for conversion?

A consensus on a common standard for the ebook standard has benefited the industry immensely. EPUB has emerged as a common standard followed by the industry and which is maintained by the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF). It is a packaged set of XML documents, metadata and other media that make up a digital book.

PRC or MOBI is another format for digital books which is followed by Mobipocket, an Amazon(.)com company.

PDB or PML (Palm Markup Language) is yet another format used for ebooks for eReader on Palm.

What are the devices used for reading ebook formats suggested above?

• Laptops/ Desktops
• Smart Phones (e.g., Mobipocket's supported platforms)
• Dedicated eBook Reading Devices:
  • Sony PRS-700 Personal Reader System
  • Amazon Kindle 2
  • Amazon Kindle DX
  • Astak - EZ Reader
  • Bookeen - Cybook
  • Cool Readers - Cool ER Reader
  • Elonex - Elonex EBook
  • iRex Technologies - iLiad
  • LBook - LBook V5
  • Neolux - Nuutbook

  The number of dedicated ebook reading devices is increasing and they are mostly based on eInk technology and ePaper with a high-resolution screen and a low-power consumption technology that consumes power only when a page is turned. Therefore, providing readers with a paper like reading screen and larger battery life for their portable ebook reading device.

What software these devices use for rendering the ebooks?

The above mentioned devices use mainly two software:

• Adobe Digital Editions; and
• Mobipocket Reader.

The reader software are normally pre-loaded on the above devices. For reading ebooks on laptops/ desktops, one may download from the above download links.

How Digital Media Initiatives can help me?

Depending on your requirements, BookCode can support in two ways:

1. Helping you with conversion to the EPUB and PRC or MOBI formats and extending support with metadata preparation and uploading to the major distribution channels;
2. Assisting you in establishing a seamless XML workflow in your production department based on international standards that shall help a publisher in content management, digital publishing and print publishing management, revision management and increasing your productivity on a continuous basis.

Please get in touch with Sales for discussing details of premium XML workflow services for the seamless print and digital publishing solutions.

Do ebooks and print books look alike?

Please note that ebooks are free-flowing text with other book elements that needs to adopt to varied sizes of the screens of the reading devices. So they can not have the rigid and precise layout of a print book. They have many variations as compared to print books, such as:

• Multiple column layout is converted to a single column;
• There are page numbers connected with book elements, and they may freely flow and assume a page number on a reading system, based on the reader's choice of font-size;
• There are no fixed font-size in ebooks and this choice is given to the reader to change the font-size according to his/her needs;
• There are no fixed font-type either in ebooks, since they either take a default font-type of the reading system or as chosen by a reader;
• Images are resized to get adjusted in an ebook;
• Cluster of images or overlapping images are placed in a linear order;
• Tables may be converted as images;
• Mathematical equations are converted as images;
• Side-bars are converted to quotes in-between the running text;
• Index giving key words and page numbers are removed, since ebooks have in-built search functionality;
• Footnotes are converted to endnotes, placed either at the end of each chapter or at the end   

How much a Conversion to EPUB and PRC may cost?

The pricing depends on the following parameters:

1. Source Format:

   • Print-PDF;
   • Print Book;
   • MS Word;
   • HTML;
   • Adobe FrameMaker;
   • Adobe InDesign CS3.

   Please note that Print-PDF format is one of the best formats to work with as a source file, since it allows a visual understanding of how the book looks in its print form. It is also helpful in Quality Assurance as an authentic source file that has been accepted for the print.

2. Complexity of the title:

   • Multiple Columns,
   • Side-bars,
   • Tables,
   • Images and Illustrations,
   • Foreign Characters/ Entities,
   • Footnotes/ Endnotes,
   • Internal Links,
   • External Hyperlinks.

3. Scope of Work:

   • Conversion to DocBook XML for future keep and content management;
   • Conversion to EPUB;
   • Conversion to PRC/MOBI;
   • Conversion to PDB for Palm eReader;
   • ONIX XML for Metadata for distribution;
   • Support with distribution through different channels.

4. Revisions and Enhancements requested after the ebooks production:

There may be cases when an ebook has been produced, enhancements and revisions might be requested. If these changes fall under normal quality assurance process and if they are minor in nature, they are not charged. However, significant changes carried out subsequent to the production are charged separately.

Prices are quoted based on the above parameters. Please get in touch with Sales for quotes by providing details of your conversion project and a sample typical file in PDF.