Ebook format readers

Contrary to short-form content like articles and videos, the content of an ebook is predicated on trust and evidence. A user who obtains or requests access to your ebook wants the full story, not just the bullet points. That includes all the content and testing you went through to produce the ebook.

An ebook can't be edited once it's been saved in one of the major file formats , so it's best to ensure you have an editable version saved in a program like Microsoft Word. But why would you want your ebook to be uneditable? Making ebooks uneditable ensures the content remains unchanged — both the format and the information — as it's shared between multiple uses.

Learn how to edit PDFs in this blog post. You can read an ebook on many different devices: iPhone, Android smartphones, a Macbook, PC, and e-readers such as the Nook and Kindle. The latter two devices are typically used to read novels in digital form. Nook and Kindle owners can store thousands of books literally on a single Nook or Kindle. But making an ebook can be overwhelming. Not only do you have to write the content, but you also need to design and format it into a professional-looking document that people will want to download and read.

With lead generation being the top goal for content marketing, however, ebooks are an essential part of a successful inbound marketing program. In this post, we'll walk you through the ins and outs of creating an ebook by, well, creating an ebook.

And if you're worried about your lacking design skills, fret not …. Ebooks can be saved in one of several formats. Depending on your end-user, though, you might find a use for any of the following file types:. PDFs are likely the most well-known file type.

The "PDF" extension stands for "Portable Document Format," and is best for ebooks that are meant to be read on a computer digital marketers, you'll want to remember this one. We'll talk more about how to save your ebook as a PDF later in this article.

This file type stands for "Electronic Publication," and is a more flexible ebook format. By that, I mean EPUB ebooks can "reflow" their text to adapt to various mobile devices and tablets, allowing the ebook's text to move on and off different pages based on the size of the device on which a user is reading the ebook. They're particularly helpful for viewing on smaller screens , such as smartphones as well as the Nook from Barnes and Noble. However, the MOBI file extension remains a popular ebook format with compatibility across the major e-readers except the Nook.

While the format comes with some limitations, such as not supporting audio or video, it does support DRM, which protects copyrighted material from being copied for distribution or viewed illegally. This is an ebook file type designed for the Kindle , an e-reader device by Amazon. However, users can also open this file format on smartphones, tablets, and computers. This format does support video, sound, images, and interactive elements, but it is only used for books written in iBooks.

It is not compatible with other e-readers. Remember: The goal of your ebook is to generate leads for your sales team , so pick a topic that will make it easy for a prospect to go from downloading your ebook to having a conversation with your sales team. This means your ebook shouldn't deviate much from the topics you cover in your other content marketing channels. Rather, it's your opportunity to do a deep dive into a subject you've only lightly covered until now, but something your audience wants to learn more about.

For example, in listening to sales and customer calls here at HubSpot, I've learned that creating ebooks is a huge obstacle for our audience, who are marketers themselves. So if I can provide not only this blog post, but resources to make ebook creation easier, I'm focusing on the right topic that will naturally lead to a sales conversation.

To get your creative juices flowing, here are some example ebook titles to consider. Note: Replace "x" with an appropriate number. You can also use our free Blog Topic Generator tool to come up with more ideas. Most blog topics can be made comprehensive enough to serve as longer form ebook topics. For this blog post, I'm going to use the PowerPoint version of template two from our collection of five free ebook templates.

Through each section of this post, I'll provide a side-by-side of the template slide and how I customized it. Below, you'll see my customized cover with my sales-relevant ebook topic. For help with writing compelling titles for your ebooks, check out the tips in this blog post.

The introduction to your ebook should both set the stage for the contents of your ebook and draw the reader in. What will you cover in your ebook? How will the reader benefit from reading it? For tips on how to write an effective introduction, check out this post. Some ebook creators say that an ebook is simply a series of blog posts stitched together. While I agree you should treat each chapter like an individual blog post, the chapters of your ebook should also flow fluidly from one to the other.

The best way to outline your ebook is by thinking of it as a crash course on the sales-relevant topic you selected. In my example of creating an ebook, I know I need to cover how to:. While my example has a few chapters, keep in mind that your ebook does not need to be lengthy. I have one golden rule for ebook length: Write what is needed to effectively educate your audience about your selected topic.

If that requires five pages, great! If that requires 30 pages, so be it. Just don't waste words thinking you need to write a long ebook. Get writing! Here, you can approach each chapter the way you might write a long blog post — by compartmentalizing each chapter into smaller sections or bullet points, as shown in the picture below. This helps you write simply and clearly, rather than trying to use sophisticated language to convey each point.

Be sure to maintain a consistent structure across each chapter, as well. This helps you establish natural transitions between each chapter so there's a clear progression from one chapter to the next simply stitching blog posts together can rob you of this quality.

These practices should hold true for all your other marketing efforts, such as email marketing, call-to-action creation, and landing page development. Want to make sure you're keeping your ebook exciting for readers? Here are some key tips to keep in mind:. Our downloadable ebook templates are offered in both PowerPoint and InDesign. For this example, we'll show you how to do it in PowerPoint, since more people have access to that software. You'll notice we only have one "chapter page" in the template slide three.

To create additional chapter pages, or any pages really, simply right click the slide and choose Duplicate Slide. This will make a copy of your slide and allow you to drag it to its proper place in your ebook via the sidebar or Slide Sorter section of PowerPoint. You can then customize it for any subsequent chapters. Ideally, our free ebook templates would magically match your brand colors.

The Libra 2 is fully waterproof, so you can read in the bath without worrying about water ruining your experience. Why you should buy this: The updated Kindle Paperwhite offers unrivalled value for money, thanks to top-tier features at a reasonable price. How could we not? Why should you be excited about USB-C? It means a faster charging speed, but the biggest reason to celebrate is because it potentially cuts down on the number of cables you need to have ready at any one time.

The display changes brightness automatically, and comes with a blue light filter for night-time reading. But if price is a real sticking factor, than the basic Kindle is also excellent — or, wait for a sales event, as Kindles are often heavily slashed in price during these events.

The battery is large enough that you should get around a month of reading from a single charge. This feature uses red and orange LEDs to illuminate the screen without the need for blue light, which can cause trouble sleeping.

Just like the Libra 2, the Kobo Clara HD is compatible with many more formats than Kindle e-book readers, giving you the freedom to purchase your e-books directly from the publisher, as well as dozens of other third-party retailers.

Over the years, Amazon introduced new types of Kindle devices, from the basic Kindle to the Kindle Oasis, which comes with more features, like water resistance and a blue light filter. Amazon also launched a line of tablets under the Kindle Fire branding — which confused many, as Kindle Fires are not e-book readers, but Android-based tablets. A Nook is an e-book reader from Barnes Noble, a large U. Like Amazon, the company also has a line of Nook Tablets that run Android, but the Nook originally launched as an e-book reader with an electronic paper screen.

A Kobo is an e-book reader from Rakuten, a Japanese electronic giant. These are lossless compression formats that reduce the amount of space required to store a document. Text, unlike music, can be compressed a great deal. These formats are considered to be containers in that they can hold multiple files.

In some case the ability to hold multiple files is more important than the actual compression. Don't confuse compression formats with eBook formats. Although listed by some eBook readers as a supported format, these readers have only the ability to extract the compressed file and to get to the file or files inside.

The reader must still support the actual underlying eBook format. Also, some eBook formats already include compression. Jump to: navigation , search.

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