Ebooks are great things but the knock on the *.exe variety is well founded.
They are Platform snobbish. And, as a result, kind of self defeating...

I use Windoze myself and prefer to read documents in HTML format. This is a very straight forward page layout standard which can be read on any platform (like you're doing now). And can contain references and annotations one click away. Plus the file size is very small.

PDF's are a very, very cool thing. Again, cross platform, meaning the file/document/book looks the same viewing it from a Mac, UNIX, DOS or VAX (etc). PDF's (created by Adobe) contain many handy features to make the documents truly unique. And they can also contain hyperlinks to the Net. Interestingly, all Internet browsers now support PDF plugins.

The line is blurring.

And reading seems to be changing.

Sn!per

The one problem I have with HTML e-books is that they very often can prove a total PITA to print hard copies of. I've had many where I've had the edges of the text clipped because it didn't fit on the page and was laid out in a way that wouldn't automatically reflow to fit.

--A

Another major problem is e-book delivery. If I want to e-mail the e-books to my customers, anyone with Office 2000 Service Pack 2 (a patch from 2000, so its lilkely that its installed) will have the file rejected. Allowing them to download it is normally a bad thing to do for security.

--Andi

Obviously if you do it in PDF you get soft & hard copy ability. You can send people your book via email attachments, or print out dozens of copies to sell at the next magic convention. This just makes sense to me...


Just thought of another bit of advice for those going the publisher route... don't succumb to writing *three* books for profit reasons and filling them with enough good content for *one* book plus lots of low quality tricks! Ryan Swigert mentioned this in his lecture. Three isn't always the magical number!!

Hi,
We don't know each other but I must warn you - I have typed up and edited a few books on topics other than magic and first off you must stick to one specific topic and not throw in a whole library of different topics. Second - as I noticed elsewhere mentioned, if you don't have a name or a very good connection then it is extremely difficult to get a company to publish your work, although it is possible if you do some research and find out about so-called "start up" companies who tend to send you forms and other info that they need to assess. It sounds more promising and gives you hope.

For those of you who want to publish a hard copy book, check out http://www.Iuniverse.com. It looks promising!

Hello everyone,
For the person that said they would probably print several copies of their electronic magic book before they went to conventions, I'd probably agree. But I would also have it available on CD Rom and price the printed version slightly higher to reflect the extra cost involved.
I have been busy putting the old system back together after a crash (lost 1 hard disk, keyboard, mouse etc) and doing electronic books.
I think they have a future
If anyone has questions about that area and emails me or lets me know they've put a question here, i will try to give relatively un-biased information.
My sites will be up by January 1 2003 on GMBWebWorks (wonderful service) and I hope that my next "for the public" ebook will be released by then.
I am also revising Card Mondor's autobiography - no changes but to use what I have learnt since I put it together. Maybe more photos. It will be available as an electronic download only.
I am spending more time at the keyboards than doing Magic over the last several months but Aladdins will definitely be in place again after January 1.
I just have to get some sle-e-e-e-p.
Have a happy and safe Christmas season.
mcafe@ezyebook.com

I know nothing about computers

so from the outside of computerland this is what i would like to see.

A. physical books
B. Cd-roms that are easy to navigate
C. Downloads in a simple printable format.

The main thing is that the price is refleted in the format. I think its a bit much to charge 40 dollars for a e-book

And as far as Cd-roms go i think there main value is for
reference material - like phoenix, and pabular
Or with Video supplements in them of essential slights maybe

Matt

Anyone who has produced magic ebooks or cd roms interested to swap well-designed own creations especially in pdf format? mail me privately.

Wow; everyone seems to be BIG on the E-book deal. I personally spend enough time ebaying and posting that when I get ready to read for long periods of time, I prefer to grab a book and sit in my favorite chair. Nuff said though, the question is about publishing and how to do that.

Loose sleep and start writing now. Don't ever tell your family and friends that your book will be done by x date; because it takes longer than you ever imagined. (And if it comes quicker for you than it did for me than, I hate you. LOL).

Next, think about the publishing side. You can call, write, and beg a publisher to consider you and maybe you'll get lucky. But even if you do get lucky; you are an unknown risk with no bargaining power. Which means more than likely you'll get "screwed" and end up giving up way too much of the profits to the publisher.

The other option is, publish it yourself. This DOESN'T necessarily mean you have to print it yourself. As a matter of fact, I would recommend letting a pro do the printing. It's what will seperate your book from the amatuers'. (Sorry to everyone who's toes I stepped on).

The down side to this is that when you are going through a printing house you'll probably have to print a lot to get a reasonable deal; so you're really on the line when you sign a check for a few thousand bucks. So, of course at this point it goes without saying you'd better off really, believing in yourself and your book.

And finally, here's a book that has helped me out more than I can say: "The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing" by Tom & Marilyn Ross. All your questions will be answered.

Actually, even if you're a "name", you won't make much money selling a book to one of the "big guys". It's just not a high-profit industry, so they don't have much to offer as far as rights fees and/or royalties go (and you don't typically get royalties in this industry, which given the size of the market is probably a better deal for the author in most cases, since these books don't sell in huge quantities).