“Beam me up, Scotty…”
A friend asked me just recently about purchasing my book ‘Paradox – The Angels are here.
She said, “Can I put it on my iPad?? (so not tech savvy!!!)”
Trust me, had she asked me that question a year a go. I would have shrugged my shoulders and grunted, “hu?” Then thought where is my computer wizard and very savvy friend Henry when I need him?
I didn’t know very much about the electronic media either. Zilch, zero, nothing, nil.
However, a few months back when I decided to use the electronic media to publish my book, I realised it was time to learn. So after much deliberation and research I bought the Kindle (mobi file) from Amazon and LOVE it.
I thought the transition from the traditional printed matter to an electronic device would be hard to get used to, but not at all and now that is my preferred way to read a book.
I love that it can store hundreds of books, and that it can read to me! That is a huge bonus! I can even download the book to my phone (HTC Desire) if I want…. so I did. Absolutely amazing. I never have to be without a book ever again….
I would never have the audacity to call myself tech savvy. I will leave that title to those far more worthy. Like my friend Henry.
Today though, I could confidently tell my friend, “for your iPad you will need to download the ePub format at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/27156 .
Of course there are a ton of ebook sites out there now where you can download electronic books. Smashwords is just one and the one I chose to publish on along with Amazon.
Here is a table comprising of the various formats available for the range of eReaders out there.
Online Reading (HTML)
Online Reading (JavaScript)
Kindle (.mobi)
Epub (open industry format, good for Stanza reader, iPad, others)
PDF (good for highly formatted books, or for home printing)
RTF (readable on most word processors)
LRF (for Sony Reader)
Palm Doc (PDB) (for Palm reading devices)
Plain Text (download) (flexible, but lacks much formatting)
Plain Text (view) (viewable as web page)
And here is where you can find my ebook, along with many other must have ebooks.
Amazon for kindle and android phones
Barnes & Noble – Nook
Compare top 10 ebook readers
I hope this blog has been helpful to you and has made you, like myself a little more tech savvy in the field of electronic readers.
Please feel free to add your own personal opinions on ereaders and such. I am only more than happy to learn all I can on the subject. Especially now that my wizard friend Henry has moved interstate.
Further reading:
E-Readers and the Future of Picture Books By Jerry Griswold.
Electronic media – not just sci-fi gibberish anymore. « Paradox – The Angels Are Here
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