Content Management ebooks

eBook Content Management Strategies

The decision to publish both a print edition and an ebook edition is a content management strategy. Readers have different buying preferences. Some readers like printed books and others like ebooks, and some even want both. Some people want to read ebooks on tablets, some want to use phones, some use particular brands of e-reading devices. As a publisher of content, you must decide if you want to reach some or all these categories of readers. That decision is your strategy and different goals sometimes require different approaches for how the content is prepared.

ebook strategies
To save costs, the printed edition can be B&W, while the ebook is full color.

For example, you may decide to offer a black and white print edition of a book to save money on print, but then offer a color ebook edition. In the planning stage the source file needs to be prepared in color and then converted to black and white.

Content Management ebooks

eBook Advantages

My personal preference is usually a printed books and I’ll detail why in a later post. For now, I want to point out how ebooks do provide some useful advantages—starting with the author/publisher point of view, which concern production advantages that save time and money. Here is a list:


What are eBooks?

types of ebooksI know this is starting really basic, but just for those who are wondering.

An ebooks is an electronic version of a book, often of a book that exist first as a printed book. Ebooks can be read on a computer or handheld device designed specifically for this purpose, provided the computer or device has the necessary software for the format of ebook being used. Sometimes people use the term “ebook” to refer to a dedicated device used for reading electronic versions of books.

Publishing SWF ebooks

SWF eBooks and How to Use Them

Content can be exported to SWF ebooks and, in most cases, simply dragging the SWF ebook onto a browser screen is all that is needed to read the ebook.

SWF ebook design
This interactive SWF ebook was one in a series created for Behaviour Tech LLC. The ebook is one in four training volumes, each featuring interactive quizzes and instructional videos.

SWF stands for “small web format.” There are a number of programs that export to this format, such as Flash and InDesign. This format allows a high level of design and functionality—including interactive quizzes, video tutorials, music, etc. It is essentially vector based animation, which allows designers to create very compact and fast files that include animation and interactive features such as rollovers, pop-up images or texts, and more.


Welcome to Design For Books!

Welcome to DesignForBooks. This is our first post. In the following weeks we’ll be adding new posts with helpful tips for authors and independent publishers.