Dunno if I posted this here before, but I got a query, not the first, about what format the ebooks are in.
Here's what Smashwords offers -- and if you buy there, you can choose any or all of these.
Available Ebook reading formats:
| Format | Full Book |
|---|---|
| Online Reading (HTML) | View |
| Online Reading (JavaScript) | View |
| Kindle (.mobi) | Download |
| Epub (open industry format, good for Stanza reader, others) | Download |
| PDF (good for highly formatted books, or for home printing) | Download |
| RTF (readable on most word processors) | Download |
| LRF (for Sony Reader) | Download |
| Palm Doc (PDB) (for Palm reading devices) | Download |
| Plain Text (download) (flexible, but lacks much formatting) | Download |
| Plain Text (view) (viewable as web page) | View |
Amazon.com's version is .mobi, and B&N's is whatever B&N's is. There are a couple here on the site not available elsewhere and they are in PDF. I expect that most of the dedicated ereaders and computers out there can find something here that works for 'em.
Barnes & Noble uses the eReader format. My objection to using anything other than a larger publisher stems from the story of the eReader format. I used Mobipocket for books, then started using FictionWise, which switched to the eReader format right before getting bought by B&N. I just want to have my books in one place, and only a larger publisher can semi-guarantee that they will have the books that I want once the shake-up over formats and publishing is over. Sad, but true.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure there is going to be a single format any time soon. It's not like Sony v Betamax, only one or the other. There are still a couple of computer platforms -- Wintel and Mac, and while they draw closer, they haven't done a merge yet.
ReplyDeleteWord is the predominant wp program, but there are still a bunch of others that translate to and from it, and I'd rather work on the Mac's dedicated wp than Word because I don't need all the blubber that whale hauls around.
I think Amazon.com has the march, but Smashwords is as much of a feeder to the big epublishers as anything. And having a choice of which format you want has to be a plus in a lot of ways until the when-and-if that the formats do shake out.
Actually, I have a B&N Nook and all of my stuff is in ePub.
ReplyDeletePart of the reason I went for a Nook was better open format support than the others.
ePub all the way.
Although, if you use Calibre (free open ebook management) format issues mostly go away since it will gleefully flip your books back and forth between format for you.