EBook Compilers
EBook Compilers are the software tools that turn your ideas and content into an EBook you can market and sell.
Broadly speaking, EBook compilers can be divided into the following groups:
HTML Compilers
This is the format that is going to be most relevant to most people, most of the time, so it's dealt with in more detail below. Read on ...
Proprietary Compilers
There are several competing formats for ebooks, some based on specific hardware devices, others cross platform but requiring special reader software.
File Distributors
Not really compilers at all, some systems simply take a collection of files and compress them into a file for distribution. The problem is that they are vulnerable to copying and modification when they are expanded on to your users' system.
I have personal (practical!) experience of two different eBook compilers.
Firstly, what they have in common:
Compile HTML Files
Both these products are "HTML compilers". This means you create your eBook as a set of one or more standard web pages, with all the files in one directory or folder. The benefit of this is that you can take advantage of most of the layout facilities that current HTML gives you - and you can proof-read the eBook in your web browser before you ask the eBook compiler to turn it into something you can distribute.
Produce .EXE Files
Both eBook compilers produce your finished eBook as a self-contained file in the form of yourtitle.exe. This means you only have one file to store and distribute, and it protects your material by keeping it all wrapped up within the .exe file. The downside is that only PC users can read your eBook.
Built-in IE Browser
Well, it's built-in - and it isn't. Both these eBook compilers require your reader to have Microsoft Internet Explorer installed on their PCs - they don't need to use it, just have it installed. Your eBook has a light built-in browser that uses the IE engine to present the eBook. This keeps file size down as it doesn't have to contain all the browser features, yet means you can be pretty sure that the layout will look the way you intended it to when your reader fires it up on their PC.
Multiple Security/Payment Options
Although the actual choices are different, both these eBook compilers let you choose how you will allow access to your eBook - free, password protected, locked/unlocked areas, and so on.
Now, what differences are there between them?
Free Trial Version
The publisher of Activ E-Book doesn't really want you to buy his eBook compiler until you have tried the free version. In fact, you can use the free version to produce and distribute small eBooks - subject to some restrictions and containing a promotional sales message of course ...
E-Branding
EbookPaper" was the first of these eBook compilers to include "E-Branding" - and it is still the simplest way to embed variable text in your eBook that can be modified later by your readers. This has many uses - for example, I have a footer on every page of "Practical DotCom Business" that can be "E-Branded", so my readers can pass on copies of the eBook with their details on every page. This gives them useful exposure and creates a viral marketing tool for me.
Alternative uses of e-branding include customization for affiliates, tailoring publications for different markets, and many others - limited only by your imagination, as they say ...
More recently, a new version of Activ E-Book has been released with a number of features - including branding, scripting, and advanced multimedia support - that reinforce it as my eBook compiler of choice.
