The day after. This is a book design blog, so you’d expect me to write about iBooks, the dazzling ePub reader built into the iPad. But I’m not. (Well, I will a bit). And I’m not going to write about what features are lacking in iPad (first generation, after all) or if there’s even a market for this type of device: duh. And I’m not going to waste time debating the backlight. There are a lot more important things to do, such as figuring out how to design content for this new device. Notice: I said designing content, not designing e-books.

iBooks is a response to the market-driven phenomenon of people wanting to read hundreds of pages of text on a computer screen. Is that the best we can do, read text on a screen? Personally, I want to use an ultra-modern computing device for engaging with content in ways not possible merely with text. (Of course, I’m talking primarily about non-fiction here. I love literary fiction & the interplay of words, sentence after sentence, though I still prefer my novels in print. But that’s just a personal preference.)

And I’m not talking about enhanced e-books, which often mean no more than just some multimedia tacked onto the end. Adherents of e-books are constantly stressing the importance of breaking away from the concept of the printed page. Yet, the ePub reader on iPad uses a page concept & strongly reinforces the concept of the physical book (transplanted to the screen).

I’m interested in breaking away from the concept of the page & the physical book. But I’m not too interested in a lengthy stream of re-flowing text. The page, the physical book, & even the re-flowing text are all great in their own ways if you want is to read 80,000 words on a topic. But I seldom have that much time. But I am interested in learning. And don’t we read non-fiction because we want to learn?

Maybe I only need a stimulating 10,000 words arranged in even smaller, bite-sized chunks seasoned with imagery for obtaining an overview of a topic. A multi-touch screen allows me to interact with the content, furthering my retention of ideas. A playful, game-like component pulls me further into the narrative. (Remember, narratives don’t have to be linear or even textual.) I would buy such a product, a content app that started me along the journey of exploring an unfamiliar topic. I love to learn, I love to read. So what’s next: I would then purchase a more in-depth book on the topic (either in print or as an e-book).

Listen up publishers: you just sold me two separate products. Think about that.

How can digital media aid in learning about a topic in a visually engaging manner? That’s the challenge we should address in designing for the iPad. The iPad gets us a big step closer.

As I think about designing content for the iPad, I’m not thinking so much about ePub. I want to breakout of whatever constraints & restrictions imposed by the ePub rendering engine. The iPad provides a robust canvas. When I think of paid content on the iPad, I’m not just thinking e-books. I’m also thinking apps.

The app development environment for iPhone is superb and is the basis for the iPad SDK. There’s an NDA around the iPad SDK beta. So, no specifics here.

Here at sorodesign we are working to develop some apps for the iPhone & the iPad that revolve around content but are not at all what one would think of as e-books or even enhanced e-books. We’re experimenting. Designing for the iPhone & the iPad requires creativity. That’s exciting.

And what is required from all of us for devices like the iPhone, the iPad, & similar products from other vendors that will come along: new ways of writing, editing, designing, publishing, & reading.

When people say the word e-book they don’t always mean the same thing. The distinction among types of e-books is very important when it comes to e-book design.

In the world of big commercial publishing e-books are nearly synonymous with Kindle. (And I’m including related formats such as EPUB in this category.) These e-books are designed for use on dedicated reading devices or other portable devices (e.g., iPhones). The key concept here is re-flow: forget about pages, as in printed books. The e-book is a stream of text that automatically re-shapes itself depending upon the width and length of the screen. And forget about design, at least for now. Currently, designing this type of e-book is all about making the e-book look as decent as possible within the severe limitations of e-book reading devices.

E-books based on re-flow are here to stay. But I’m betting within a few years that the design capabilities for this type of e-book will improve. That will happen in the same way Web design has improved over the years. Or, possibly, perhaps re-flow e-books always will be the bare-bones version of books.

As long as people are happy to buy that format, why should publishers spend the money to make the content formatted any better when there’s always the alternative of PDF and even print for those who want a more typographic experience. The good aspect of all this is that consumers may be able to read books in whatever format they prefer.

Actually, with all the announcements coming out of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the capabilities for better looking e-books may be approaching even more rapidly than I expect. Then again, after working with technology for a couple of decades, I know that real change doesn’t happen as quickly as press releases are spit out by marketing departments.

The other common definition of an e-book is PDF, where what you see on the screen looks like the printed page. This works fine on a decent-sized screen (i.e., desktop, laptop, or even a netbook), but is painfully difficult on a small screen. From a design perspective, PDF offers the most flexibility and is the easiest to produce if you already have the book designed for print.

E-books based on PDF are here to stay.

A variation on the PDF e-book is the screen-oriented PDF: the content is designed to fit the screen and resembles a fantastic PowerPoint presentation more than a book. These screen-oriented PDFs are more like a brochure, usually less than 50 pages, and often given away for free. As with any type of PDF, the screen-oriented PDF offers a lot of options for the designer. Commercial publishing houses are not too interested in this format, but Internet marketers make a lot of requests for it.

Enhanced e-books are yet another category: text-based e-books supplemented with visuals and additional features such as audio or video interviews with the authors and other background information. Commercial publishers seem very interested in enhanced e-books for the value-added features, which in turn can result in a higher price for enhanced e-books. Of course, all that material also simply could exist on a Web site. But how do your charge for a Web site? Hence, back to e-books where there’s an easily recognizable price model for consumers.

And what about e-books and magazines that follow a cloud model? That’s worth exploring in a post all its own.

We’vet just finished the e-book guide 4 Perfect Days in Buenos Aires. It was a process full of questioning many things that are, should or could be different from printed books. (Another post will address why PDF and not some other format for this e-book.)
Here I’ll share some of the topics that we came across while working:

ORIENTATION: portrait or landscape?

By thinking that we are designing a ‘book’ the impulse is always to go with a known book format (portrait), but since the screen is landscape, it’d be useful to follow that format if the e-book is intended to be read on screen.
However, when we read a print book we are always looking at a landscape format from the moment we open the book: the double page. So finally, I decided to go landscape, but as double page to keep the book familiarity and avoid the feel of a PowerPoint presentation.

Should we use COLOR or B&W?

Should we do it full color? We can! So why not?

A full color e-book can be done for the same price and will be more attractive since it’s full of graphics… ok, let’s think about the audience: what if the people want to actually print it and take it with them? Remember this is a tourist guide!
WHAT TO DO? We decided to work on 2 versions: a screen version with images & full color for people to enjoy, read and look at while planning the trip; and a print version that is B&W with a simpler layout. So by printing 11 letter-size pages of the print version then the reader can have the complete text to go.
Here an example of the screen version and the print version:

One complicated part we encountered was a double page with an architectural walking tour that included buildings photos: in this case we just left the map in the print version with references (so people could find the buidings) without images and included the text of that section:

To keep the feel of the book, the print version has the same text orientation (landscape), so by slightly modifying the original grid it was ready:

TYPOGRAPHY: screen font or book font?

I wanted a font family that could be used for the whole project, including the print version. The Rotis family was the choice because of the maximum readability and many options to combine the different levels of hierarchies of headings and text. The main text is set in Rotis Sans Serif and the headings are Rotis Serif & Rotis Semi Serif.

With or without LINKS?

I find it useful when a multi-page document (e-book in this case) has anchors from the Table of Contents linking to the corresponding pages in the e-book. Also since this is an e-book all Web sites mentioned in the e-book are actual links embedded in the document.

COVER

To be consistent with the landscape look of the whole project, the cover was done in the same style, so when opening the document all the pages are the same size, including the cover.

Successful self publishing is a lot more than just converting a MS Word document to PDF.

Respected Web designer Mark Boulton of the UK has a great post on why he chose to self publish his new Web design book rather than going with a traditional publisher.

He makes a very important point about self publishing:

Luckily, I’ve got a good team around me – a designer, a project manager, a proof-reader, and an editor to shape the book (that was particularly helpful early on).

You can’t do this on your own…if you want to have any chance of producing a book that anyone wants to buy and read. The part about having an editor is especially important. Of course, we also think that having a good book designer is particularly important, too. And that part about having a project manager? It should come as no surprise that most authors are not very good at managing projects and deadlines. Editing, project management, proofreading, and book design are all functions normally provided by a publisher (along with distribution & marketing). If you’re going to self publish successfully, then you have to take on those tasks. And you have to be willing to absorb the costs of those functions.

About the financial aspects, Mark says

the financial potential of just one PDF book far outweighs the traditional process (if you have an audience that is).

The key to that statement is the audience. I’ve been following Mark’s blog for a number of years and he always has good insights. He has established authority in his niche. A problem that many authors have is that they wait to establish their Web presence until after their book is published, or at least not until they have a book contract. It takes a long time and a lot of effort to build an audience online. Authors need to start on that long before they start writing that book, particularly in non-fiction.

Everybody knows by now that authors have to take responsibility for promoting their books. You can’t just leave that task to the publisher. Of course, every author wants people talking about their book. Many of our clients mention that they want a viral marketing campaign. A lot of blogs out there talk about Internet marketing but one of the sites I enjoy the most is Web Ink Now by David Meerman Scott.

David has several books and some great free e-books on the topics of PR and viral marketing. His latest book is World Wide Rave:

A World Wide Rave is when people around the world are talking about you, your company, and your products. Whether you’re located in San Francisco, Dubai, or Reykjavík, it’s when global communities eagerly link to your stuff on the Web. It’s when online buzz drives buyers to your virtual doorstep. And it’s when tons of fans visit your Web site and your blog because they genuinely want to be there.

He’s come across a really great method for getting people on the Web to talk about his book. According to David, “Your challenge: Creating triggers that get millions of people to spread your ideas and share your stories.” ….and, so here’s me promoting the poster of David’s book in Buenos Aires.