The publishing industry is crazy. Figure it out here.
Myebook.com - fast, professional ebooks in your browser, but is that how you want to read?
Here at Gredunza we're always on the lookout for interesting new technology in which to highlight independent reading and research, which is why myebook.com sparked my interest. The basic idea, similar to how Scribd used to work, is that you upload a PDF of your work and it is displayed in book format, flip-style pages and all, full screen, for free.
The upside of this service is that the tech is pretty impressive. Pages flow, zoom, and flip incredibly fast, and it makes even a white paper look more professional. It's a thousand times better than scrolling through a PDF, in my opinion.
The downside is that it appears reading it like a book is the only real option. You can't download the PDFs (though you can share and embed them), and you can't annotate (though you can comment, somewhere, somehow). Also, unlike how Scribd now works, you can't set a price. The PDFs are free to view to all.
Having said all that, does anyone really enjoy reading scanned PDFs on your computer screen? I find it easier to just print out the odd article that I get off a digital magazine and then read that, rather than panning and scanning back and forth. I absolutely read magazine articles when they are reformatted to fit the web (blog-style, all in one column), but these straight-port magazines sort of bug me.
The upside of this service is that the tech is pretty impressive. Pages flow, zoom, and flip incredibly fast, and it makes even a white paper look more professional. It's a thousand times better than scrolling through a PDF, in my opinion.
The downside is that it appears reading it like a book is the only real option. You can't download the PDFs (though you can share and embed them), and you can't annotate (though you can comment, somewhere, somehow). Also, unlike how Scribd now works, you can't set a price. The PDFs are free to view to all.
Having said all that, does anyone really enjoy reading scanned PDFs on your computer screen? I find it easier to just print out the odd article that I get off a digital magazine and then read that, rather than panning and scanning back and forth. I absolutely read magazine articles when they are reformatted to fit the web (blog-style, all in one column), but these straight-port magazines sort of bug me.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by K Sawyer Paul on -
You're looking for epub. It's a file format type that the Sony Reader and other open ebook readers prefer, since the text is coded in a way that allows wrapping to any screen, size, or purpose (you can make them all strobe-lit, if you want, say). The only "problem" with epub is it's impossible to nail down with DRM, making it incredibly shareable, which the "industry types" generally frown upon.
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Permalink Reply by Maddison Barksdale on -
Personally, I don't like E books. They kind of suck the enjoyment out of reading for me. I probably wouldn't publish an E book either, most sites like you said don't let you set the price.
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