Learning About e-Books
What Is an e-Book?
An e-Book, or electronic book, is a digital content service that provides digitized books made by applying internet standards such as HTML and XML. Instead of reading a printed book, users read it on their PC or a dedicated device through a viewer.
It is also called an electronic book and is known worldwide by various names, such as online book, file book, and digital book.
It also includes books with digital functions such as digital text, audio, and video that can be read, viewed, or listened to on computers or mobile devices through wired or wireless information networks.
Types of e-Books
- Simultaneous publication as a printed book and eBook
- eBook-only publication
Components of an e-Book
- Dedicated device
- A device that downloads eBook content so it can be read while moving around.
- Examples include Kindle Fire and Kyobo eBook devices.
- Production tool solution
- A tool for producing book content as an eBook.
- Viewer
- An interface that lets users read eBook content on a device, such as a flash book viewer.
- Security solution
- Core revenue-related components such as DRM and watermarking.
- Content
- Content to be published as an eBook, such as novels and specialized books.
- The core parts of an eBook are content such as text, images, and graphics.
- This may be the content of a book, or it may include many formats such as comics or picture books.
Advantages of e-Books
Electronic books, or e-Books, have many advantages, which is why many people prefer them.
The following are the main advantages of eBooks.
From the Reader’s Perspective
- Portability
- eBooks are stored in digital form, so many books can be stored and carried on one device.
- They can be read easily on various devices, such as smartphones, tablets, and eBook readers.
- Storage space
- Unlike printed books, eBooks do not take up physical space.
- Therefore, many eBooks can be stored and kept.
- Interactive features
- Some eBooks include multimedia content and provide a more interactive environment.
- Interaction with readers is possible through audiobooks, embedded videos, links, and similar features.
- Convenient search
- Because eBooks are stored as text, specific content can be found quickly through search.
- Reading experience
- Some eBook readers let users adjust screen brightness, font size, background color, and other settings for a comfortable reading experience.
- Purchase convenience
- They are cheaper than printed books.
- It is possible to buy only the needed parts.
- Online purchasing can save time.
From the Publisher’s Perspective
- Environmentally friendly
- Using eBooks saves resources by avoiding paper and reduces environmental pollution caused by printing.
- Reduced production costs, including raw material costs
- Reduced distribution costs
- Reduced inventory burden
- Easier content updates
History of e-Books
1940s: The concept of electronic books
- The concept of electronic books first appeared. Popular science fiction at the time described eBooks as bulky and difficult-to-handle devices.
1960s: Early forms of electronic books appeared
- Devices that displayed electronically stored text were developed.
- However, these devices were not commercially successful.
1970s to 1980s
- Electronic books developed alongside advances in computers and display technology.
- The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) attempted to standardize electronic books by developing a standard called Data Point Standard (DPX).
- However, electronic books still did not spread to the general public.
1971: Project Gutenberg
- The history of eBooks as a reality began when Michael Hart started Project Gutenberg, which aimed to collect human knowledge, store it as electronic information, and distribute it.
- This project converts classics and other works whose copyrights have expired into eBooks and distributes them. Its goal was to create a virtual library where anyone could read digitized books for free.
1990s
- With the spread of the internet and the development of web technology, the concept of eBooks expanded.
- Many people began reading and sharing documents through computers and the internet.
- During this period, eBooks were mainly provided in text form.
1998: Rocket eBook
- NuvoMedia, a Silicon Valley venture company in the United States, released the Rocket eBook.
- After that, various devices were released, including SoftBook Press’s SoftBook and Everybook’s Everybook.
July 2000: Stephen King
- Stephen Edwin King sold one of his novels as a download.
2004: Sony
- In 2004, Sony released Librie, a dedicated eBook device using electronic ink technology developed in 1990.
- However, because it was an eBook device made for Japanese, it did not expand into the global market.
2006: Sony
- Sony returned to the U.S. market and released an eBook reader that improved on the device released in 2004.
- With the improved eBook device, the global market began to commercialize.
2007: Amazon Kindle
- Amazon opened the full-scale eBook era by releasing Kindle based on a vast catalog of 600,000 titles.
- The appearance of Amazon Kindle changed consumers’ perception of eBooks.
- Various devices also appeared and were developed around the time Amazon Kindle was introduced.
After the 2010s
- The eBook market grew further with the spread of smartphones and tablets.
- As companies such as Amazon, Apple, and Google entered the eBook market, various eBook platforms and services appeared.
- The eBook market also began to include various forms of digital content, such as audiobooks.
e-Book File Formats
The main standard document file formats for eBooks are PDF and EPUB.
When created as EPUB, it is easy to adjust text size or style according to the screen size of the device, and it is also convenient to read and clip content.
PDF: A Document Format Born for Digital Printing
eBook companies, publishers, and readers experienced inconvenience and confusion throughout the process of creating, distributing, and using eBooks. As a result, the publishing industry began discussing the need for standardization for eBooks.
However, standardization was not easy, so large companies promoted their own standardization efforts. Adobe is a representative example. Adobe, a company specializing in graphics software, has continued to use its digital document format PDF, or Portable Document Format, as a standard file format.
PDF is a document file format developed by Adobe Systems in the United States for digital printing, and it has been one of the most widely used formats in the world until recently. It can be read or printed on almost all operating systems, including Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac, Unix, and Google Android. Because the fonts, images, graphics, and document layout of the original document are preserved, it is popular in publishing and printing. Unlike EPUB, where font use is limited, PDF can use almost all kinds of fonts, and many PDF creation tools have been developed.
In Korea, PDF is also chosen as the eBook file format for materials such as academic papers. Because such materials often include difficult elements such as footnotes, special characters, extended Chinese characters, and measurement symbols, PDF is the most efficient format for obtaining the same result as a printed paper document. It has the advantage of preserving the existing typesetting layout.
EPUB: A Document Format Freely Implemented on All Devices
PDF is a widely used file format worldwide, but it is difficult to read on small device screens such as smartphones and has a large file size. After long discussion and development, EPUB 2.0, an internationally standardized file format, was established. Although various other eBook file formats are still used, EPUB is expected to become the most common eBook file format because of its technical environment and advantages.
To edit EPUB eBooks, a separate editing program is needed. The most widely used one is Sigil. Sigil was developed as part of an open source project in cooperation with the Linux community, which promotes “free software and open source development,” and it is available free of charge to users and developers. For users with experience working with HTML, it is not difficult to learn. Even users with no HTML experience can use it intuitively and conveniently.
Thanks to the efforts of the Linux community, which emphasizes sharing and participation, the Sigil program continues to receive updates and information resources. Because EPUB is based on web technology, its technical extensibility can be considered unlimited. Apart from Sigil, effective production tools are still not very well developed. Paid editing programs sold as products can be used to create EPUB eBooks, but they often include many unnecessary code fragments or create errors that are difficult to fix.
How to Sell e-Books
When the EPUB file is complete, it can be uploaded to an eBook platform and distributed.
- Google Play Books
- Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing
- Apple Books
- Others
- UPaper