Motown Writer's Network

Ebook Education 101

What are ebooks?

Electronic books (ebooks) are simply books without the paper.  They come in fiction and nonfiction, big and small and everywhere in between.  How, pray tell, do you read if they don't use paper?  There are a number of different ways:

On your computer or laptop

Ebooks are available in a variety of file formats - HTML for reading on Internet Explorer or Netscape PDF for reading on Adobe Acrobat, RTF for rading on any word processing software, TXT (plain text) for reading on may different software programs.

On your Palm Pilot

You'll need to install ebook reading software on your Palm Pilot in order to read ebooks.  One such program is Mobibook, available for free download at: http://www.mobipocket.com.  Once you install the software, you are able to read electronic books in PRC file format.

On your E-reading device

Rocketbook http://muvomedia.com/ and Softbook http://www.softbook.com are two of then ew ebook reading devices already on the market.  Download ebooks off the Internet and read on these handy protable, backlit devices.

On paper

You can even print e books out to read them, if you prefer.

Ebooks are generally much cheaper than print books - ranging in price from $3.50 on up.  They are kind to the enviroment.  They feature new and original authors and stories.

Electronic publishing is an emerging industry.  You'll find electronic books available at large websites like Barnes and Noble, Powells.com, Amazon and from electronic publishers such as XC Publishing (http://www.xcpublishing.com), Word Wrangler (http://www.wordwrangler.com), Dark Star Publications (http://darkstarpublications.com), Book Locker (http://www.booklocker.com) and many more.  ebooks are available by download on the Internet, on CD or diskette.  In addition, there are thousands of FREE ebooks available online at websites such as: Project Gutenberg, http://www.gutenberg.net/

Check out these websites:

eBooknet http://ebooknet.com

ePublishing Connections http://www.epublishingconnections.com

Writing-World.com

author and resource unk

To see if you're ready to ebook-it check out the many articles on Fiction Factor!  A great website that offers a lot of suggestions about online and Ebook.  Also make sure you are subscribed to PW Daily.

Current Articles about e-books:

Detroit News (02/28/02)