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E-Book Compilers
NOTE: This page is about E-Book Compilers for personal
computers. We do not discuss software for creating e-books for PDAs,
HandHelds etc.
If you're going to create an E-Book, at some point you will need an E-Book Compiler.
An E-Book Compiler is a program that takes the source files (the content of your E-Book)
and compiles them into an easy-to-distribute format.
Commercial quality E-Book Compilers cost from just US $30 or less, up to several times that.
There are lots of choices, and price is not always a guide to quality! For example, our program,
Activ E-Book Compiler has
been independently rated as one of the most feature-rich E-Book Compilers, but it is
also one of the cheapest - costing just US $29.95.
Rather the looking at every single compiler - this chapter will tell you some of the
choices, and on what factors, if it was me, I would base a decision.
Royalties?
Some of the E-Book Compiler vendors might charge you not
only their compiler software, but also additional royalties for
each E-Book that you distribute.
(perhaps after an initial allocation of copies that you
are allowed to distribute "free" before you purchased their compiler)
We do not charge authors any royalties, for e-books created using
our own E-Book Compiler software.
If you use other software, we recommend that you check what, if any, royalty policies apply.
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Different Types of Compilers
There are three main kinds of Compilers that I have come across:
- HTML Compilers
HTML compilers convert HTML files (like you have on a web site) into an easy-to-distribute format,
often self-contained Windows programs.
An HTML compiler may be a good choice if any of the following apply:
- You generally expect your E-Book to be read on the computer screen.
(Not all HTML e-books print well or easily)
- You want to take advantage of the "special"
features used on web pages, or that some HTML Compilers allow to
be also used in e-books
(for example: CGI forms to subscribe to a mailing list).
- You want a good search facility (most HTML compilers allow users to
search quite easily and powerfully).
- You have experience designing web pages.
(creating your e-book is likely to be a similar process to creating web pages)
- You want to easily reuse information, in HTML format, in your E-Book on your web site, or vice-versa.
(as HTML is the input to an HTML compilers, you may be able to reuse
at least some of it in an e-book, with little or no extra work)
- You want to take advantage of some particular feature
that your chosen HTML Compiler provides.
Depending on the compiler
used, you might have access to Rebranding (for viral marketing of
free e-books), additional programming interfaces ("API"),
modifying the toolbar appearance, advanced scripting features, etc.
All the HTML Compilers that I have encountered, fall into subcategories:
- "True" EXE Compilers based on Internet Explorer's engine:
These convert your HTML (and usually any associated graphics etc.) into self-contained programs. The big advantage is
that your E-Book is probably relatively secure, is totally self-contained, and is likely to have a very high degree
of compatibility with pages seen on your web site.
In my opinion, this is the best approach as your E-Book will look as you expect it, and probably support all major Internet
Explorer features.
The only disadvantage is that only users with the correct Windows installation will be able to view your
E-Books - but fortunately this includes the vast majority of web surfers. (in most cases including
Activ E-Book Compiler, the user does not
need to have Internet Explorer as their default browser, but they do need various parts of Internet Explorer
pre-installed).
Many of the more expensive E-Book Compilers, as well as our own
Activ E-Book Compiler
fall into this subcategory.
- "True" Compilers based on their own engine:
These convert your HTML (and usually any associated graphics etc.) into self-contained programs. Like the compilers
based on Internet Explorer's engine, they can usually offer relatively high security and easy distribution.
The advantage of this approach is that a few more percent of web surfers can read these E-Books.
(example: these extra people might include those with, say Windows but Internet Explorer not installed at all)
The potential disadvantage is depending on the compiler and your HTML content,
you might encounter compatibility issues.
B
A compiler developer who creates their own HTML engine, might
support only a limited subset of HTML tags and features. Or they might
support them differently from how Internet Explorer does.
Microsoft
have put a tremendous effort (lots of time, money and very clever programmers, etc.) into developing
Internet Explorer -
so it could be tough challenge for an
E-Book Compiler vendor
to try to match all this work by developing everything
themselves from scratch.
- Other HTML Compilers:
I have sometimes come across compilers that are primarily just compression/decompression
programs. They simply compress HTML files into a self-extracting executable, and then
use the user's normal web browser to view them.
In my opinion:
Aside from any features that some might lack (Search?),
the problem with this approach, is it
may not look at as neat and professional,
and depending on the compiler in question,
might even require the user to manually clear
up files once they've finished reading.
- PDF Compilers
PDF is a file format created by Adobe that can be used for E-Books
(and distributing other types of documents too).
I like to think of PDF as something akin to "electronic paper": kind of
like an intelligent image of a document.
By intelligent, I mean you can navigate around it on screen, see a table of
contents in PDF, etc.
To read a PDF file, a user will need to have installed the Adobe Acrobat reader.
(there may be other PDF readers but I've never yet seen one).
A PDF compiler may be a good choice if any of the following apply:
- You generally expect your E-Book to be printed.
(PDFs print easily and well)
- You want the E-Book to always have an exact appearance as specified by you.
(PDFs look like the original document)
- You do not need the "special" used on web pages
on that some HTML e-book compilers support.
- You do not have experience designing web pages.
(creating PDFs doesn't generally require knowledge of how to create a web page)
- You do not want to reuse the same HTML-format information in your E-Book on your web site, or vice-versa.
(as you may have to go through an extra step to convert HTML to PDF, or vice-versa)
- You do not need a good search facility inside your ebook
- You need to convert a lot of paper or word processor files to E-Books.
(Adobe has a range of powerful tools for converting into PDF).
- You have a sufficient funds to afford whatever PDF tools that you need.
- You want to reach an audience who can't read HTML compiled E-Books - for example Macintosh users.
If you are going to create PDF files, you will need the PDF authoring tools.
The PDF file format, was created by Adobe, and they provide software
publishing in this format:
I believe there are also other PDF authoring tools on the market from
other companies. As I have not investigated them, I can't comment on
what they might offer.
- Other Compilers
There are also E-Book Compilers that convert other file formats such as plain text, or RTF, or proprietary
formats into E-Books.
The pricing and features in these compilers may vary widely, so I can't really
offer much advice...
Except to say, if using a proprietary file format to write your text in,
it might be a good idea
to check, early on, that you will be able recover your information from the system (without
retyping it all), if you decide to switch software later.
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