Are Your eBooks Available Off-line?
by Andres Munoz
It’s a valid question: Can I print your ebook offline and
read it at my leisure? This is the #1 question from eBook
buyers and more and more they are disappointed with eBooks
that don’t allow this simple feature. The number one
complaint with eBooks are those with very wide rules and
dark backgrounds that gulp the printers ink cartridges. Wide
rules, unconventional background colors, large fonts and
skimpy content are signs of a poorly designed eBook. These
pitfalls can be easily avoided with careful planning and
attention to detail.
eBook buyers demand a top quality eBook, they visited your
site read the copy and were enticed by all the benefits, so
enticed that they pulled out the credit cards and made the
purchase. As an eBook publisher, don’t you think you owe it
to your customers to allow for easy printing? Who has the
time to look at a 100+ page ebook or for that matter a 1000
page eBook on a monitor?
Sensible eBook design is top priority for all eBook
publishers and the printing capability must be taken into
consideration. If the eBook is a 150-page tutorial on ebook
marketing why are you going force the reader to print one
page at a time? The reader finds it incredibly annoying and
most eBook readers are not fooled by the hidden intentions
of using wide margin rules and thin content on each page.
The print capabilities should be improved because it’s
simply unrealistic to expect a customer to complete these
books by reading them on their monitor. Therefore, the
ability to print them out is valid customer request.
In addition there is no reason for oversized margins or
skimpy content. Your customers will take this into account
the next time you offer an eBook.
By far the best format for eBooks are PDF documents. A
simple click and the reader will have a printed version of
your eBook to read off line.
A perfect solution to HTML eBooks is POD services or Print
on Demand. You basically offer 2 versions of your eBook,
electronic or book bound. In the ordering process give your
customers the choice of a digital version or hard copy. If
your customer chooses a hard copy only one copy of your book
will be printed for each order. This is known as print on
demand you avoid all the hassles of stocking and shipping.
There are several print on demand services available and
they’re all relatively accessible to small time publishers.
A new POD service to emerge and promises to satisfy even the
most demanding customer is from www.ebook-printing.com They
offer a wide range of services at affordable prices. The
initial set-up fee can be easily recouped with just a few
sales of your eBook.
Some other print on demand services include
www.iuniverse.com, www1.xlibris.com and a few others. These
services make a great addition to your business model in
allowing you to offer a more flexible format of your
published work. Offering your customers
flexibility will increase your profits and strengthen your
image.
As an eBook publisher you must take into account every facet
of eBook production including printing.
Copyright © 2003 Andres Munoz
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Andres Munoz is the Editor of MyBiz eZine Newsletter where
he writes about the skills needed for successful internet
marketing and running an on-line business. To subscribe,
visit: http://www.mybusiness-resource.com/ Other articles
are available from Andres Munoz in his FREE eBook, "The
MyBiz Article Collection"
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