An eBook or electronic book is essentially a book that has been created in or converted to an electronic format so that it can be read directly from a computer screen or handheld reader.

EBook Formats

EBooks are available in various formats. The most common are PDF and Windows executable, although others include formats for specific computer programs and handheld readers.

PDF stands for "Portable Document Format" and is widely regarded as the best format for any document designed for Internet transfer due to the small size of the files and fact that it will look as the writer intended on almost every computer. PDF files are also compatible with Macintosh systems. To view PDF files you will need to install the free Adobe Acrobat Reader

EXE files are usually HTML files (web pages) compressed into a single file. This file is executable, which means you don't need any extra software to read the eBook, although most require you have Windows 95 or above and Internet Explorer installed. The main problems with this format is the fact that, like a web page, the page may look different on some computers (depending on screen size, resolution, etc.) and also, this format is not compatible with Macintosh systems.

Advantages of EBooks

EBooks have several advantages over printed books, including:

Traditional paper books are prone to tearing, damaged spines, discolouring and missing pages amongst other things. EBooks on the other hand do not suffer from any of these problems and most can be printed out so you can still curl up in your favourite chair for a good read.

If you are enjoy reading, over time you will collect hundreds, if not thousands of books. The problem is what you do with them. Some people turn a spare room into a library while others have no option but to fill up boxes and put them in the attic or shove them under the bed, which often explains the tearing problems already mentioned. EBook files are really quite small and you can quite literally fit over 1,000 eBooks onto one CD!

Visually impaired people usually have difficulty finding books with large text and often miss out on titles they would love to read. Most eBooks and eBook programs have the option to increase or decrease the text size until you find a size that is comfortable to use.

A minor, although important advantage of eBooks is that you don't have to spend hours searching through book stores to find the book you want.

Some eBook titles are not available in printed format. The introduction of eBooks has given new authors a way to publish their work without the extremely high publishing costs of printed books.

Purchasing eBooks can often save you money because without the high costs of publishers and the overheads of shop rent, authors and resellers alike are often able to offer their eBooks at a fraction of the cost of their printed counterparts.

When you purchase a manual or guide in printed format, over time it can become outdated. Although some lesser quality eBooks also suffer this problem, some authors include a link in their title which enables the reader to get the latest version free of charge. On top of this EBooks can also contain links to external web sites, giving any reader with Internet access an almost unlimited amount of information from one small file.

EBooks are fairly new at the moment, so you will probably find that not all of your favourite titles will be available at the moment, but new titles are being added all of the time and hopefully, in time almost every printed title will be available in eBook format. jaf-media.com mainly offer business and marketing titles.

A further attraction of eBooks is that many can be resold giving a lot of individuals the opportunity of starting their own online business selling eBooks.