Comparing Different E-Book Readers
Before publishing your e-book, become familiar with at least one e-book reader, and preview your own book to ensure that it displays correctly. You can also see how the device operates and how to purchase e-books directly from the relevant online store.
If you don’t already own an e-book reader, consider buying for your own use one of the devices I describe in the following sections. Doing so is a helpful way to test your e-book, and you gain crucial experience in seeing how readers interact with online stores and with the books they sell. I recommend the Kindle because it’s the most popular and it has a 3G version (handy for travel). Any other brand of black-and-white e-reader gives you a similar reading experience. A basic e-reader costs about $120. All the major e-reader brands use some form of e-ink technology, which means that the display is designed to mimic the experience of reading on paper. This means that e-readers are much easier on the eyes than reading on a computer screen.
Whichever e-reader you have, sample (or buy) at least a few e-books on it to gain a sense of how e-books look, what information is best placed at the start of your e-book to form part of the sample, and what sort of material is currently popular in your genre or niche. In Chapter 2, you can read success stories about independent authors who have sold hundreds of thousands of e-books.
Amazon Kindle
The Kindle is the most popular e-book reader on the market — millions of these devices have been sold worldwide. Several different Kindle models are available, including the Kindle Fire (a tablet computer), the Kindle DX (a larger version of the original Kindle), and standard Kindles with — or without — these features:
Keyboards
Advertising
Wireless only
Worldwide 3G
In addition to being sold via Amazon, the Kindle is sold in certain stores. Because many Kindle models have worldwide 3G access, readers can buy and download books from almost any location; cheaper versions are Wi-Fi only. Check how your e-book’s Amazon page looks on the Kindle itself, because not all buyers purchase from the Amazon site on their computers. The description of your book, for example, displays on only a few lines on the Kindle. You may also find that your e-book looks slightly different on the device itself than it does on your computer.
Most users now have standard Kindles rather than the Kindle Fire or Kindle DX, so preview your e-book and its sales page on the standard model.
Barnes & Noble NOOK
The NOOK, produced by Barnes & Noble, is a direct competitor to the Kindle. Like the Kindle, it comes in several different forms:
NOOK Simple Touch: A basic, Wi-Fi–only (no 3G), black-and-white reader with a touchscreen
NOOK Color: An inexpensive tablet computer
NOOK Tablet: A tablet that is pricier than the NOOK Color and has extra features
One key difference between the NOOK and the Kindle is that the NOOK reads EPUB files and the Kindle reads MOBI and AZW (the Amazon proprietary format) files.
Although a reader can purchase books directly from the NOOK Simple Touch, the device must be connected to a Wi-Fi network in order to do so.
Kobo eReader
Like the NOOK, the Kobo e-reader (produced by Kobo Books, an e-book-only retailer) uses the EPUB file format. The Kobo comes in these flavors:
Kobo Wi-Fi: A black-and-white e-reader with Wi-Fi but no 3G
Kobo Touch: A touchscreen Kobo, also in black-and-white and also Wi-Fi only
Kobo Vox: A tablet Kobo
Kobo e-books have no digital rights protection, so you can read them on any compatible e-reader (any device that can view EPUB files). Kobo focuses on the social experience of reading, and Reading Life (which integrates with Facebook and lets readers achieve “awards” in a gamelike fashion) keeps its customers engaged, with free reading apps for computers, smartphones, and tablets.
Sony Reader
The Sony Reader comes in one of three colors (red, black, or white), and it claims to be the world’s lightest e-reader. It has a touchscreen and Wi-Fi but no 3G. Like the other major e-readers, it has a black-and-white e-ink display.
Sony doesn’t produce a tablet version of its Reader device. Like the Kobo and the NOOK, the Sony Reader uses EPUB files.