The Truth About eBooks:
Devices, Formats, Pirates (Oh, My!)
Speakers
Kirk Biglione, Principal, Oxford Media Works
Samir Kakar, CTO, Aptara
Joshua Tallent, Owner, eBook Architects
NOTE: The hashtag for today’s webinar is #dbw
Digitalbookworld.com | @digibookworld | #dbw

The Truth About eBooks:
Devices, Formats, Pirates (Oh, My!)
Agenda
• Introductions: Guy LeCharles Gonzalez, Director of Audience Development,
Digital Book World
• Presentation: Samir Kakar, CTO, Aptara
• Presentation: Joshua Tallent, Owner, eBook Architects
• Discussion: Kirk Biglione, Principal, Oxford Media Works
• Announcement: Next Webinar 11/11 @ 1pm EST
• NOTE: The hashtag for today’s webinar is #dbw
Digitalbookworld.com | @digibookworld | #dbw

The Truth About eBooks:
Devices, Formats, Pirates (Oh, My!)
Digital Book World
Unlike other events that focus primarily on the latest content delivery technology,
Digital Book World is designed specifically to help consumer book publishers and
their trading partners assess the challenges and opportunities presented by the
digital age.
Digital Book World will be held January 26‐27, 2010 at the Sheraton New York
Hotel and Towers in New York City, offering practical plans for realizing revenues
tomorrow, and beyond, for executive management, acquisition editors, sales
professionals, marketing managers and agents.
Digitalbookworld.com | @digibookworld | #dbw

The Truth About eBooks:
Devices, Formats, Pirates (Oh, My!)
Today’s webinar will get past the hype and focus on the
key opportunities and challenges presented by eBooks:
• The plethora of devices and formats: Where should publishers and
authors focus, and what, if any, are the best practices for, and pros and
cons of each?
• DRM: The 800‐pound gorilla of the eBook debate. Is it the only option,
and does it really discourage piracy?
• "When is a book no longer a book?": What are the differences between
eBooks, iPhone apps and digital books?
• What are the most important skills publishers should be cultivating in
order to prepare themselves for the digital future?
Digitalbookworld.com | @digibookworld | #dbw

The Truth About eBooks:
Devices, Formats, Pirates (Oh, My!)
Kirk Biglione
Kirk Biglione is a consultant, writer, and technologist. His diverse media background is
perfectly suited to the new era of convergence. In addition to his extensive Internet
experience, Kirk has also worked in radio and the music industry. Over the past decade
he has helped scores of businesses and government agencies develop and improve their
online presence.
He frequently speaks on new media related topics and is a co-founder of Medialoper
(http://medialoper.com), where he contributes regular commentary and new media
analysis. Kirk has become something of a reluctant DRM expert.
oxfordmediaworks.com | @kirkbiglione
Digitalbookworld.com | @digibookworld | #dbw

The Truth About eBooks:
Devices, Formats, Pirates (Oh, My!)
Samir Kakar
As Chief Technology Officer, Samir Kakar is responsible for Aptara's technology vision,
its Content Technology Solutions practice, and oversees the company's global IT
infrastructure. Since joining in 1993, Samir has been instrumental in developing Aptara's
technology portfolio technology and processes in support of key customers such as
Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, Amazon, and Random House.
Samir’s technology portfolio includes Aptara’s eBook Production Platform and the
patented web-based fast-publishing solution, PowerXEditor.
aptaracorp.com | @aptara
Digitalbookworld.com | @digibookworld | #dbw

The Truth About eBooks:
Devices, Formats, Pirates (Oh, My!)
Joshua Tallent
Joshua Tallent has been an eBook developer for 7 years, and is an expert on formatting
eBooks in the variety of formats on the market, including Kindle/Mobipocket and ePub. His
book, Kindle Formatting: The Complete Guide, has been praised as the most helpful
and thorough explanation of the detailed process involved in formatting great-looking
eBooks for the Amazon Kindle.
eBook Architects, his eBook conversion, consulting, and process development business,
provides services to the breadth of the publishing industry, from big companies like
LibreDigital, Adobe, and Rand McNally, to individual authors and small publishers.
ebookarchitects.com | @jtallent or @ebookarchitects
Digitalbookworld.com | @digibookworld | #dbw

The Truth About eBooks:
Devices, Formats, Pirates (Oh, My!)
October 21, 2009

What Every Publisher Wants…
Deliver the right information to the right people at the right
time in the right format
Meet the ever changing expectations of the consumers with
the advances made in information technology
Make the move from print to dynamic, online products
Monetize content in as many ways as possible
Create new revenue streams & publishing channels
Drastically cut cycle times & production costs
Stay nimble in the face of uncertain future competition
2 Confidential. Not for distribution.

What is an eBook?
An eBook is the digital media equivalent of a conventional
printed book. Such documents are either read on personal
computers or on dedicated hardware devices known as
eBook devices or eBook readers.
Key advantages
simple navigation for easy access to previously viewed pages
instant access to the content
powerful search function
environmentally friendly, no trees are destroyed
3 Confidential. Not for distribution.

Some Devices
4 Confidential. Not for distribution.

Formats, formats and more formats
Input formats eBook formats DRM formats
MS Office .LIT Microsoft Reader
OpenOffice Mobi Adobe Adept
InDesign AZW eReader
Quark PDB Mobi
PDF FB2 Apple FairPlay
Hardcopy PDF
DNL
XML RTF
BBeB and many
HTML others…
Others EPUB
HTML
RB
CHM
OEB
5 Confidential. Not for distribution.

Challenges of Present eBook Formats
Multiple formats, hardware devices…which is best?
Cost of trying a new format and the risk of competition
Conversion costs due to a staggered production model
0 4 5 6 10
Manuscript
Ready “P” Book E-Book Companion Elearning
Released Released Website Course
Released Launched
Processing challenges
Accuracy of content
Text formatting, fonts and alignment
Figures / images / charts
Tabular content
Math
6 Confidential. Not for distribution.

Challenges of Present eBook Formats
Consumer expectations
interactive
audio
video
animations
available (anywhere, anytime)
multi-device
participative (“I matter and so does my opinion”)
cost (micro-payments)
7 Confidential. Not for distribution.

How XML Can Help
High-Quality
Multi-Channel
Output
Powerful, Laser- Dynamic, Flexible
Focused Search Personalization
Compatibility with
RSS and Web 2.0
Technologies
8 Confidential. Not for distribution.

XML & Publishing
Producing the same content or information in more than
one medium, simultaneously
Using a single source for cross-media publishing
Integrating production of text and graphics for print with
learning modules and animations for media
Editing the content once, publishing it multiple times
Advantages
reduced “time to market”
additional revenue channels
easier maintenance of data
consistency of data
overall cost savings
builds bridges between print & media world
9 Confidential. Not for distribution.

XML and Multi-Channel Publishing
DF
e r to P
XSL
XSL Rend
FO
FO
L-FO
to XS
XML
XML to EPUB
XML
to XM
L
wiki
blog
XSLT
Transformations
10 Confidential. Not for distribution.

XML & EPUB
The EPUB content standard allows publishers to produce
and send a single digital publication file through distribution,
and offers consumers interoperability between
software/hardware for unencrypted reflowable digital books
and other publications
".epub" is the file extension for EPUB reflowable digital
books and publications
EPUB acronym soup
container: OCF (Open [OEBPS] Container Format)
markup packaging: OPF (Open Packaging Format)
markup content: OPS (Open Publication Structure); XHTML
& DTBook
11 Confidential. Not for distribution.

Five Best Practices
Make ALL your content available digitally
Explore different business models and mediums
XML-first workflow is a MUST
Automation in digital workflows is critical
Quality assurance on actual devices is essential
12 Confidential. Not for distribution.

Samir Kakar
CTO
samir.kakar@aptaracorp.com
703.352.0001 x1127
13 Confidential. Not forfor distribution.
Confidential. Not distribution.

The Truth About eBooks:
Devices, Formats, Pirates (Oh, My!)
Joshua Tallent
eBook Architects

About Me
• eBook Developer for 7 years
• Author of Kindle Formatting: The Complete
Guide
• Founder of eBook Architects, an eBook
conversion, consultating, and development
company

Problems with automated
eBook development
or
Why you need an eBook expert

• Many publishers focus their efforts on one
format, usually ePub, and use that one file as
the basis of every other format they create
• Some retailers try to auto‐convert files from
one format into many (Smashwords,
Fictionwise, etc.)
• ePub is a good format, but it is not perfect
• There is NOT a 1:1 relationship between any
two eBook formats and no automated
conversion process is publishing‐quality

Common auto‐conversion issues
• Blockquotes
• Ordered Lists
• Unordered Lists
• NCX issues

Blockquote – ePub Code
<p>Regular paragraph. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet,
consectetur adipiscing elit. Morbi lacus lacus, semper id
mattis et, tempus eu lectus.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Blockquote with margin-top and bottom. Lorem ipsum
dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Morbi lacus
lacus, semper id mattis et, tempus eu lectus. Etiam mattis
pharetra dapibus.</p>
</blockquote>
<p class="noind">No-indent paragraph. Lorem ipsum dolor
sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Morbi lacus lacus,
semper id mattis et, tempus eu lectus.</p>
<p>Regular paragraph. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet,
consectetur adipiscing elit. Morbi lacus lacus, semper id
mattis et, tempus eu lectus.</p>

Blockquote – Kindle Code
<p>Regular paragraph. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet,
consectetur adipiscing elit. Morbi lacus lacus,
semper id mattis et, tempus eu lectus.</p>
<blockquote>Blockquote with margin-top. Lorem ipsum
dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Morbi
lacus lacus, semper id mattis et, tempus eu lectus.
Etiam mattis pharetra dapibus.</blockquote>
<p class="noind">No-indent paragraph. Lorem ipsum
dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Morbi
lacus lacus, semper id mattis et, tempus eu
lectus.</p>
<p>Regular paragraph. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet,
consectetur adipiscing elit. Morbi lacus lacus,
semper id mattis et, tempus eu lectus.</p>

Blockquotes
ePub
in
ADE

Blockquotes
Kindle‐
specific
coding

Blockquotes
Mobi
through
Mobigen

Blockquotes
Mobi
through
calibre

Ordered List
.roman {list-style-type: upper-roman;}
.alpha {list-style-type: upper-alpha;}
<ol class="roman">
<li>Roman numeral I</li>
<li>Roman numeral II
<ol class="alpha">
<li>Alpha A</li>
<li>Alpha B</li>
<li>Alpha C</li>
</ol></li>
<li>Roman numeral III</li>
</ol>

Ordered List
ePub
in
ADE

Ordered List
Normal
HTML on
Kindle

Ordered List
Mobi
through
mobigen

Ordered List
Mobi
through
calibre

Ordered List
Special
Kindle
formatting

Ordered List
LIT
through
calibre

Unordered List
<ul>
<li>main unordered list</li>
<li>main unordered list
<ul>
<li>sub-list</li>
<li>sub-list</li>
<li>sub-list</li>
</ul></li>
<li>main unordered list</li>
<li>main unordered list</li>
</ul>

Unordered
List
ePub
in ADE

Unordered
List
Normal
HTML on
Kindle

Unordered
List
Mobi
through
mobigen

Unordered
List
Mobi
through
calibre

Unordered
List
LIT
through
calibre

NCX file
<navPoint id="navPoint-1" playOrder="1">
<navLabel><text>Blockquotes and margins</text></navLabel>
<content src="3-sample1.html"/>
<navPoint id="navPoint-2" playOrder="2">
<navLabel><text>Nested ordered lists</text></navLabel>
<content src="4-sample2.html"/>
</navPoint>
</navPoint>
<navPoint id="navPoint-3" playOrder="3">
<navLabel><text>Nested unordered lists</text></navLabel>
<content src="5-sample3.html"/>
</navPoint>
</navMap>

NCX in Adobe Digital Editions
Kindle
mobigen
calibre

Joshua Tallent
512‐939‐3466
joshua@ebookarchitects.com
www.ebookarchitects.com
www.kindleformatting.com

The Truth About eBooks:
Devices, Formats, Pirates (Oh, My!)
Discussion and Q&A
Kirk Biglione, Principal, Oxford Media Works
Samir Kakar, CTO, Aptara
Joshua Tallent, Owner, eBook Architects
To submit questions, use the Question module on your control panel.
• The hashtag for today’s webinar is #dbw
Digitalbookworld.com | @digibookworld | #dbw

Thank You for Attending.
Next Webinar:
Marketing in the Digital Age: Batteries Not Included
Wednesday, November 11th @ 1pm EST
Digital Book World 2010
Digital Book World will be held January 26‐27, 2010 at the Sheraton New York
Hotel and Towers in New York City, offering practical plans for realizing revenues
tomorrow, and beyond, for executive management, acquisition editors, sales
professionals, marketing managers and agents.
Discount code: DBWWebinar
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