About eBooks

There's been a lot of buzz in recent months about eBooks, but the basic concept of the eBooks is still relatively misunderstood. So let's break it down to the very basics: An eBook is simply an electronic version of a book.

E-Books don't necessarily have to be viewed on a dedicated "reader" like Amazon's Kindle or the Sony Reader, although that's a great way to read them. In fact, most eBooks are read now as PDFs on a computer -- Mac or PC. In other words, if you are reading this page, then you already have everything you need to read an eBook.

Big Timber Media's goal is to keep e-books as accessible as possible. As such, we specialize in selling PDF eBooks. However, we do offer eBooks in a variety of formats, but we're trying to keep a potentially complex concept simple. So, here's a quick primer on the basic readers and formats, and how you can use them.

File formats
There are several, but the most common are PDFs, ePub files, and Mobi (Kindle) files.

PDFs are the most common, because they can be viewed on any PC or Mac using a free, downloadable reader. They are also the most versatile, especially in an educational environment. Classroom teachers can load them into their own computer and use a projector to show them to a class or display them on a SmartBoard. Or, if suitable licenses have been purchased, a copy of the PDF could be supplied to each student in a class. PDFs are also great for home use and can often be displayed on smartphones.

ePub files are becoming the standard eBook file delivery. The primary benefit of an ePub file is that the content reflows based on the device on which you are viewing the book, and it still looks "right," without lots of scrolling up and down or side to side. The Sony Reader is the most prominent mainstream reader to adopt the ePub format.

Kindle-formatted files (Mobi) are great for reading text-heavy books that do not rely on graphics. Novels, for example, are great on the Kindle. The primary drawback of the Kindle format is that its files aren't transferable and generally can only be viewed on one device—the Kindle. At present, Big Timber Media does not offer Kindle files for sale.