Information about Ebook Formats
by Sylvia Engdahl
If you aren't reading ebooks yet, you don't know what you're missing! They aren't just for reading on phones or other small devices. Personally I find them much easier on my eyes than paper (even for my own books!) because the font can be enlarged to any size I want. Many people read ebooks on their desktop or laptop computers, but for fiction, when I want to relax in a comfortable chair, I use a netbook computer that rests on the arm. I chose this over an ereader such as the Kindle, Nook or iPad because I also want to write in a comfortable chair, and to have my books, photos and music, plus Internet access, all in one place in case I am ever confined to bed. But the dedicated readers are great for people who want to read while away from home.
Unfortunately, the formats in which ebooks are produced is not yet standardized, although a few steps are being taken in that direction. With so many new reading devices appearing on the market, standardization will become essential; but for now, there are five major formats to choose from, which are described in the box below.
- EPUB - open ebook format. Generally the best one if you plan to read on your PC or Mac (download the free Adobe Digital Editions reader or the free Barnes & Noble reader) or on the iPad or the Barnes & Noble Nook. It can also be used on many portable devices (download the free reader Stanza -- but please note: Stanza cannot display italics and some of my novels depend on italics to distinguish telepathic communication from vocal speech).
- MOBI - for Windows PCs and many PDAs, and can be imported to Kindles (download the free Mobipocket reader or Kindle for PC). At present this format cannot be read on Macs.
- PDB - for Palm PDAs, iPhones and others; can be read on PCs and Macs with the free download eReader, which has the advantage of offering backgrounds that are easy on the eyes. Many converters do not produce PDB files containing italics and thus cannot be used for my books, but the available versions of them have been created with one that does.
- LRF - for Sony dedicated ebook readers. Sony is now phasing out this format in favor of EPUB and the free reader Sony Digital Library will read both.
- PDF - for the standard Adobe Reader or preferably, Adobe Digital Editions. (Less desirable than the other formats since pagination is fixed rather than flexible.)
In addition to the above formats available from me, Kindle owners can buy Kindle editions of my Flame Series novels and Children of the Star trilogy at Amazon's Kindle store. All formats except PDB are also available at Smashwords.com (which offers free sample chapters) and it distributes its EPUB versions to several major outlets, including Barnes & Noble and Apple. However, the Smashwords editions are produced through automation, so although the text is identical to my own editions, their layout is not optimized for the different formats' reader software.
The electronic rights to my other novels are not owned by me, but ebook editions of Enchantess from the Stars can be obtained at Fictionwise.com and of Journey Between Worlds at the Kindle Store, Barnes & Noble, and several other outlets. I hope to obtain the rights to The Far Side of Evil soon.
If you have a qualifying disability you can obtain all eight of my novels at Bookshare.org.
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