e-books - a sudden realisation!

It suddenly all became clear to me recently when someone described the creation of e-books as similar to the printing process in traditional publishing.

In traditional publishing the steps in the chain are:

• Author ... Editor ... Designer ... Publisher ... Printer ... Distributor

In e-book publishing the steps in the chain are:

• Author ... Editor ... Designer ... Publisher ... e-book creator (or file converter) ... Distributor

The only real difference between the publication of printed books and electronic books is the number of electronic versions that are required.

There are a number of e-book 'readers' or 'devices' (Kindle, I-Pad etc) and these devices all require e-book files to be created in a specific format. So, whereas a printed book is just the same regardless of where you buy it and where you read it, behind the scenes of an e-book the programming code differs depending on the type of device you are reading the book on.

Simple isn't it!

So simple, in fact, that the Green Olive Press is shortly due to launch its own range of e-books.

Watch this space!

International Standard Book Numbers (ISBNs)

In July 2010, Amazon.com announced that its ebook sales outnumbered sales of traditional hardback books - selling 143 ebooks for every 100 hardback books, and has done so for three months.

Ebooks are certainly taking the world by storm, but navigating the various platforms can be tricky for readers and publishers alike.

Did you know that publishers assign a unique International Standard Book Number (ISBN) to each publication? Well, publishers not only have to assign an ISBN to each ebook they publish, but also have to assign an ISBN for each version of the ebook created for every different ebook reader (or device) they want the book to be available on!

That's a lot of numbers!