Gene Therapy: Embracing E-books
To begin with, you don’t need to concern yourself with platform or format issues unique to Kindle or Mobipocket. In general, if you are creating .epub-compliant files, they will be accepted for conversion to use on both platforms. Otherwise, you can send PDF or XML files, and they will be adapted for the two platforms at no cost to you. If you have already been furnishing PDFs for Amazon’s “Search Inside” feature, once you sign the contract, Amazon can adapt these files for its e-readers. Kindle will also accept hard- copy books for scanning. Publishers also have a chance to check out the Kindle or Mobipocket versions before they go on sale.
Eugene G. Schwartz is editor at large for ForeWord Reviews, an industry observer and an occasional columnist for Book Business magazine. In an earlier career, he was in the printing business and held production management positions at Random House, Prentice-Hall/Goodyear and CRM Books/Psychology Today. A former PMA (IBPA) board member, he has headed his own publishing consultancy, Consortium House. He is also Co-Founder of Worthy Shorts Inc., a development stage online private press and publication service for professionals as well as an online back office publication service for publishers and associations. He is on the Publishing Business Conference and Expo Advisory Board.