Lingua Translations

Browse around the Internet, and you will definitely see how many websites are taking advantage of the literary wave of the future: electronic books. Some websites serve as online repositories of public domain material, offering novels and documents for educational and recreational purposes. Online retailers like Fictionwise and Amazon.com offer downloadable, electronic versions of top selling books, and aspiring writers are taking advantage of the medium to establish readership.

One eBook publisher specializing in erotic romance titles claims to sell thirty thousand eBooks a month! Other small publishers of eBooks are proud to mention how they first published authors who now rank among the hottest sellers today.

For the author struggling to get his foot in the door of the publishing industry, publishing through electronic means may sound appealing. Compared to most traditional print publishers, eBook publishers tend to offer a higher percentage of royalties on net sales and allow for more author input on promotion and cover art. Turnaround time between submission and book release may be shorter, as production may not be as involved. However, as with any industry, there are caveats to consider.

For all the benefits of taking your book to an electronic publisher, there are also disadvantages one needs to realize. Any author preparing to take a manuscript to an editor or publisher should be aware.

Limited distribution

There are 4 ways that you can publish a book:

1. Commercial Book Publishing

2. Self Publishing

3. Subsidy Publishing

4. Ebook Publishing

1. Commercial Book Publishing – This is the main way that authors have been getting published and can be very challenging. While there are thousands of publishing houses, today there are more writers than ever before.

A publishing house is a business and like all businesses they have a goal to create profits in an efficient manner. It is unlikely that you will be able to make contact with a publishing house if you don’t have a good literary agent.

Surveys show that only 1 out 400 applicants are accepted by literary agents for representation. The majority of literary agents prefer to take on clients that have previously been published.

To get published with a publishing house will take a combination of talent, timing and luck. You can be an very talented writer and have a wonderful book but if the publishing house just finished publishing a book that is similar to yours you may not be accepted – or if this is a “red hot market” then you may be lucky.

For these reasons it is important to do research and see what are the trends and what people are buying. An excellent resource for this type of information is Amazon’s Bestseller section.

E-books are basically electronic books and are the computerized equivalent of printed books. These books are read on the computer, laptop, PDA or on specialized hardware called the e-book reader.

When the concept of online reading was new, e-books attracted only a select audience who had very specific interests mainly dealing in technical knowledge. Gradually, as the concept of e-reading caught on, many e-book formats evolved. Some had the backing of major software companies whereas others like the adobe`s PDF format were encouraged by independent people.

The initial market of e-books lacked a common standard and this led to many e-book publishers marketing these books in the public domain. New authors who were struggling to find a readership base went online to get more exposure. This also led to illegal and unauthorized availability of books on the internet. But, with e-books having gained tremendous popularity, a consensus is emerging and exclusive hardware for e-books are being developed.

Some of the most used formats for e-book reading include readers like Adobe, Microsoft, Rocket e-book, Mobipocket, PDF and TK3. If your computer does not have the required software installed for e-book reading, the software will have to be downloaded and installed prior to reading any e-books.

Most of the software can be downloaded for free. The PDF is most popular because it has features like book marking, being able to save or highlight specific text and also take notes. The advantage is that unlike traditional books this does not require sheaves of paper or pen and can be done in a single electronic file.

If you want to start your e-book business, you should select the right e-book topics. Coming up with a topic for your e-book may be a challenge to you. But it is unnecessary to worry about it, for there are many topics for you to write about. You just have to choose a topic you know about. Here are some topic ideas for e-books.

Topic on parenting – you can share your parenting knowledge in an e-book. It is a great topic for an e-book. You can tell your questions between you and your children and then find answers to these questions. You also can write an e-book about things someone told you about being a mom, or dad. In addition, topic on home business is a good idea. Lots of parents are now looking for work-at-home opportunities and your information will be welcomed. Your e-book on how to work at home while caring for your children will certainly be in huge demand.

Topic on computer – you can share your computer knowledge in an e-book. In these days, many people are in trouble as to how to protect themselves from viruses and spy ware. You can write an e-book explaining some useful technique or recommending some anti virus software you have used. Besides, you can include your e-book some tips about upgrading the computer. Whatever you know how to do on the computer could be turned into an e-book.