How Digital Publishing has Enhanced Education

Innovations in digital publishing have created a veritable science-fiction for consumers and students. Textbooks and magazines have given way to learning mediums that can be accessed through mobile devices at one’s fingertips. Digital content now allows for a more immersive and accessible learning environment for students.

When a student was doing research in the past, they had to manage a variety of outside factors. They had to be cognizant of library hours, the availability of subject matter experts, and have a good working knowledge of the library system as a whole. Now, students have the world at their disposal with built-in search engines and mixed media e-delivery tools. These tools, coupled with inexpensive, high-speed, and widely accessible internet, provides instant accessibility to subject matter experts worldwide and their knowledge.

Many manufacturers have been developing inexpensive computers to facilitate the delivery and consumption of e-content. Companies like Intel, HP, Dell, and Toshiba have manufactured devices specifically for consumers in the field of education to better utilize digital content. An example of this is seen through the Chromebook’s presence in K-12 schools. Further, Amazon’s Kindle has made educational materials accessible to a general consumer market.

Beginning with the release of Kindle in 2007, consumers saw a new way to access written content. They could now purchase most novels and online magazines at home. The benefits of e-publishing became quickly apparent to the education community. This resulted in a large number of publishers beginning to focus on e-textbooks.

Publishing companies that specialize in digital content delivery and customizing dashboards specific to educational fields are entering the market and shaping the ways that students learn. (Top eLearning Content Development Companies.)

One such company is Cengage. Cengage, Inc. is an online textbook supplier. Something useful about this company is that they allow students to pay a single fee which grants them access to a large number of educational resources.

One of Cengage’s most popular tools is Cengage Unlimited, which provides students with access to over twenty-two thousand (22,000) e-delivery titles covering seventy (70) disciplines for educational material. This cost and time efficient tool saves students hundreds of dollars and hours of research. To put this in perspective, a student at a typical four year school like Troy University, which has 200,000 volumes in its physical book collection, can utilize Cengage Unlimited and potentially carry up to 11% of Troy University’s physical library on their laptop.

Alleviating the need for students to be in the same location as a physical book has also made learning available to students at any time and location. To address this new learning model, college campuses are being reconfigured with open-air study environments, high-speed Wi-Fi, and extended hours in various buildings such as libraries. Further, a student can attend classes carrying a laptop instead of toting a stack of textbooks around campus.

Another benefit of e-textbooks is that revisions of e-books can be accessed without the purchase of brand-new editions. With the licensing arrangements offered by many e-publishers, students receive many of these updates with no additional costs.

Students are also being exposed to new digital mediums as early as elementary school. This early exposure to digital media has transformed learning. As students move through elementary school, highschool, and matriculate into university, they are more adept at the use of these tools and are more open to exploring them as they become available.

This shift in learning trends has provided students with the ability to delve deeper into specific topics and interests in a way that prior generations would not have been able. Students may utilize assigned e-texts, as well as easily accessible online content to enrich their learning experience. Digital publishing also gives publishers the ability to intersperse different styles of learning content inside a specific learning segment; thereby, maximizing the learning for the student.

Digital publishing in the field of education has transformed the ways that students learn and has made significant improvements in both the lives of university students as well as educators. Limitless opportunities have been enabled for students and educators to tailor education content in a variety of ways to maximize the learning experience. With the ability to access information in the blink of an eye and customize the delivery of learning material, digital publishing has created an unprecedented, accessible, and efficient learning environment.

Copyright Issues with e-books

In the realm of copyright laws one of many ongoing issues is the ownership of products. For example, the “first sale” doctrine suggests that once one legally buys a product, they own it. Thus, lending and selling of a purchased product without the copyright owner’s permission is legally okay. This idea seems simple enough, but it becomes complicated when one involves the consumption of e-books.

The Vernor v. Autodesk case is one which reflects that, often, the copyright law domain is one that is not always black and white. Timothy Vernor, a reseller of online software, tried to resell Autodesk’s product on eBay. Vernor was under the impression that he because he bought the software, he was legally permitted to resell the product. The confusion arose when Autodesk claimed their Term of Use did not imply that a purchaser of their software owned the rights to the software.

According to EFF.org (Links to an external site.), “Autodesk’s position is that its software is ‘licensed’ rather than sold, and thus the first sale doctrine doesn’t apply (it only applies to copies you ‘own’ not those you merely lease).” In 2009 the district court ruled that Autodesk sells product but does not license them. Thus, according to the Copyright Act, Vernor was legally allowed to resell Autodesk’s software. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed this ruling.

The Vernor v. Autodesk case is extremely relevant for the e-book publishing world as it was one of the frontrunners in the emerging world of copyright laws. When consumers would buy books, they would inevitably buy the physical copy of a book. While the Vernor v. Autodesk case was specifically pertaining to digital software, it set precedent for other digital products like e-books.

The emergence of this case caused others to be wary of their rights when it came to digital property. Today, libraries are still trying to protect the right for consumers to borrow e-books. According to CNN (Links to an external site.)“for the first two months after a Macmillan book is published, a library can only buy one copy, at a discount. After eight weeks, they can purchase ‘expiring’ e-book copies which need to be re-purchased after two years or 52 lends.”

This decision is advantageous for publishing companies, but is it for libraries? Libraries buy (Links to an external site.)about 45% of Macmillan e-books. When libraries buy books in print, they have every right to do whatever they please with the product. To many readers, and libraries, it seems unnecessary for to have to continue to buy the same product more than once.

As a publishing company, these decisions make sense; they need to make a profit so they can not only sustain a business, but also pay the writers of the books. If they were to allow libraries to buy one copy of the e-book and own the rights to it, publishers would not make as much money. Even though libraries are forced to continuously repurchase the same books, they are still receiving a better deal than an individual buying an e-book. Publishing companies allowing their e-book to be lent out 52 times allows the libraries to pay less money than if they were having to buy a new copy every time someone wanted to check-out an e-book. This is advantageous for both the library and the publishing company.

The new world of digital technology makes the world of copyright law more difficult than it has been in the past. Due to the emergence of e-books and software platforms like Autodesk, sustaining the rights of the writers and software developers has caused new issues. It is because of this technology that new laws have come forth.

Even though the “first-sale” doctrine suggest that if one buys a product then they own the rights to that product, there are stipulations to this rule. Buyers of e-books cannot lend that e-book to someone else and still have access to it on their own computer. This is violating the author of that e-book’s rights. This is because when buyers are purchasing e-books, they are not merely buying the book to own. In reality, e-book consumers are purchasing a licensing agreement. The word “buy” can be misleading to some purchasers because many may believe they own the book. Instead, they own the rights to read that e-book. Consumers cannot resell, lend, or make copies of e-books because of this agreement.

The question lingers to many about who these licensing agreements benefit. These agreements would suggest that purchasers of e-books have the possibility of losing their rights to the books under certain circumstances. Kindle’s Terms of Use (Links to an external site.)says:

“Kindle Content is licensed, not sold, to you by the Content Provider. The Content Provider may include additional terms for use within its Kindle Content. Those terms will also apply, but this Agreement will govern in the event of a conflict. Some Kindle Content, such as interactive or highly formatted content, may not be available to you on all Reading Applications.”

Due to agreements like this, e-book readers may believe publishers are not treating their readers fairly with their licensing agreements. The problem arises when one compares the rights that the purchaser gets when buying the traditional print book against buying e-books. The “first-sale” doctrine makes sense with traditional books. Once you buy the book and resell it, they no longer have the product. This, however, is not true for digital e-books. If someone sends an email with an e-book attached, the receiver of the email will now have the book as well as the original owner of the e-book.

The realm of copyright law and licensing agreements is set in place to protect the rights of all those involved in the creating and consuming of e-books. Without these laws in place, writers, as well as their readers, could be taken advantage of.

The 2019 Digital Book Awards and Conference

Digital Book World posted their finalists for the 2019 Digital Book World Awards on August 12. The awards will be given on Tuesday, September 10, between 5:45 and 7:15 p.m. in Nashville, Tenn. The finalists for every category of the 2019 awards can be found on Digital Book World’s website.

Whether the nominees were published digitally, or if the book was published digitally at all after a physical release, each of these categories has something related to digital publishing. Through cursory research of the books in each Best Book category, it is difficult to see if these books are being featured in this awards ceremony for their particular contribution to digital publishing, or if they are merely showcasing some books that have e-book options. Most books have both an e-book option and a physical novel, even on their specific publishing company site.

Some exceptions to this do exist such as Ayesha At Last by Uzma Jalaluddin. It is available through Harper Collins Canada on the site Rakuten OverDrive, where you cannot purchase the e-book, but find out if it is at your local library. There is clearly accessibility in mind by aiding in locating it for free. At Amazon, it can be purchased through Kindle, or paperback for ninety-nine cents cheaper. Another exception is Civilian by Deonte Osayande, through Urban Farmhouse Press.

The goal of the Digital Book World and awards does appear to be more about highlighting the digital aspects of a shifting world, which still includes print publication. In the 2019 conference, a breakout track included will be Print Book World: “Best practices in the print publishing world, with specific attention paid to the emerging, yet very under-discussed, world of augmented print books utilizing micro digital technologies.” Even while recognizing the world of print publication, they are focusing on it in a digital light.

On DBW’s website, the CEO of Score Publishing, which owns the Digital Book World, wrote an article entitled “Barnes & Noble: How Can We Miss You, If You Won’t Go Away?”. Within it, Bradley Metrock writes the following:

One of the persistent topics of discussion at a conference like Digital Book World is the relationship between digital books and print books. We’ve all endured the absurd ‘print is dead’ trope, and have collectively reached the understanding that print books will always be with us, even as digital books become more and more ubiquitous and evolved.

Despite the critiques of Barnes & Noble, along with physical book locations in general, there is the recognition of the market still present for print publications.

Digital Book World will hold a pre-conference on September 9, including workshops that feature topics such as Book Marketing for Independent Publishers and Leveraging the Colibrio Reader Framework.

On September 10, there will be several speakers and events, featuring people from Simon & Schuester and panels featuring Amazon Alexa. The final event will be the awards dinner for the announcement of the Digital Book World winners.

On September 11, the day following the awards ceremony, there will be more speakers and attention paid to some of their breakout tracks, which were not covered previously at DBW Conferences, such as the Marketing Book World and Academic Book World.

The final day, September 12, will focus on Building Direct Connections with Readers and the political side of digital publishing, closing with a keynote presentation from the US Army: Our Nation’s Newest Publisher.

Click here (Links to an external site.) for more information on the speakers and presentations available at the 2019 Digital Book World Conference, and here (Links to an external site.) to find available tickets to attend.

From Traditional publishing to Digital Publishing for Authors

As a result of the emergence of digital publishing, today’s writers have had to find a way to expand their brands not only through printed publications, but also through the internet. As consumers have started to use iPads, e-readers, and phones for reading, primarily due to an easier access to a wider variety of works, there have been some writers who have chosen to use digital publishing in order gain more freedom, money, and readers globally.

While there are authors who prefer traditional print publication because they feel that digital takes away from the reader, others have ventured out into using e-books as a part of digital publishing in order to connect to a wider audience. According to Joanna Penn’s article “10 Reasons Why Authors Love E-books,”authors have been gravitating towards e-books due to the growth in sales – the idea being that if the sales of e-books are rising, then so are the number of readers.

Penn points out that e-book readers buy more books as well. She states that as an e-book user, she now reads three times more books than before she became an e-book reader. (For more on Penn’s article, visit her website here).

In fact, e-book prices are one of the primary factors that draws in the attention of authors and readers. When the consumers see cheaper books, they feel as though they are getting a deal based on the price of the same book in print.

Authors such as Joe Konrath and Barry Eisler have also found interest in the pricing differences when dealing with digital publishing compared to print publication. The possibility of gaining more money was an eye opener to many authors who were only using traditional publishing.

For example, Eisler began publishing e-books to expand his audience globally, bringing him more sales on his books. In Jason Pinter’s article “Barry Eisler Explains Self-Publishing Decision,” Eisler explains his motives for going into self publishing using digital, stating that

If I don’t earn out the legacy contract, the only money I’ll ever see from it is $142,000 per year for three years. Even if I do earn out, I’ll only see 14.9% of each digital sale thereafter. But once I beat the contract in digital, even if it takes longer than three years, I go on earning 70% of each digital sale forever thereafter. And, as my friend Joe Konrath likes to point out, forever is a long time (The Daily Beast).

Eisler saw the possibility of more money from the digital sales even if he had to lower the prices for his novels in the beginning, realizing that, with time, he would be able to gradually up the price of his works.

E-books have also drawn authors into the digital world through self-publishing, where authors are given more control than they would have with traditional publishing. For instance, Amanda Hockings made over a million dollars using digital publishing. She started off small, selling her book for only 99 cents – until she sold over a million books.

According to Steven Spatz’s “Amanda Hocking Made Millions By Selling 99-cent Books — And You Can, Too,”

Her success is a product of hard work, great writing, and smart decision making… one of the best things about being a self-published author is you get to call the shots. That includes establishing the most appropriate price point for your books, along with shaping your larger strategy for obtaining readers. You’re not beholden to the logic or corporate limitations of large publishing houses (Writing Cooperative).

Having previously been denied by publishing companies and agents, Hockings took matters into her own hands. She turned to digital publishing, which allowed her to slowly but surely build her audience as she wrote more novels.

While Hocking books were sold as e-books for 99 cents, when she began to up her prices, consumers were willing to pay more as she had built a stable and interested audience base. Digital publishing gave her a way to share her novels with readers around the world when other publishers and agents rejected her.

Unlike traditional publishing, digital publishing has allowed authors to be able to be the authority in all aspects of their books, with e-books providing the opportunity for authors to publish digitally without the need for a publisher and agents.

As digital publishing progresses, it will create a bigger platform for other writers who would not otherwise have a chance. Due to its marketability, digital publishing is also cheap for writers to use. Overall, the authors who use this method gain the advantage of getting more money and opportunities with their writings, and authors who have been accustomed to using the traditional publishing have seen the advantages that comes with digital publishing and may begin to follow suit.

Overall, digital publishing has created a pathway for many known (and unknown) authors to advance in their careers and share their works with a wider audience.

Choosing the Right Platforms for eBook Production

Writing an eBook can be hard, like writing any book. It takes time to develop the story and commit it to paper. But then it enters a whole new era of life at the design and revisionary stages. A big part of publishing an eBook, or even a print book, is the actual making of the eBook files. There are many different types of files, half as many publishing platforms, and a hundred more writing and converting platforms. If the book is being published traditionally, the publisher will likely take care of all the designing and formatting, but if it’s not, it’s up to the author. It can be daunting to navigate the world of coding software without any guidance. The first step is deciding which file type, or types, will be most effective. Then, based on the file type, a conversion platform can be chosen. If it’s early enough in the process, a writing software will have to be chosen, too. Each choice is important and should speak to the needs of the author and eBook.

File Formats

There are four main types of files that eBooks are trafficked in: ePub, Mobi, PDF, and iBooks. The best format depends on the audience and the material. ePub is the best option for many because it reaches the widest audience and is available on the most devices, even newer Kindles. ePub can display either fixed text- for eBooks with heavy image or video embedding- or reflowable text. ePub files are essentially a ‘website in a box’, as it contains all kinds of files inside that allow the reader to navigate the text, images, links, etc.

The Mobipocket eBook files, or MOBI files, started as a proprietary file and was then adopted for the Kindle. Its files technically have a smaller audience because not all devices support MOBI files, but Amazon is the biggest eBook distributor worldwide. To help safeguard against piracy, MOBI displays both reflowable and fixed, and it by default has DRM, or digital rights management.

Next, having the smallest audience is iBook. It is only compatible with Apple products, which is not a problem if that is your target audience. The main distinction of iBook is the difference in CSS extension. Also, iBook does not afford the same interaction as Mobi and ePub.

Then there is the PDF, or the portable document format, which is a proprietary file of Adobe. PDFs are a frequent medium in the business world because they are great for fixed text. The audience sees the page exactly as the author does. It affords some interaction with links and has great results with pictures. However, PDFs often create reader problems, such as the text being too small. They are good for newsletters or short, free website extras. But these files generally aren’t ideal for eBook stores. They are very user-friendly, however, and rarely require a conversion platform.

Writing Platforms

The desired file format will influence the writing platform. Many people use Microsoft Word or Google Docs. The benefits to these platforms are clear: most people are familiar with the interface, it can export directly to PDF, and they’re good for dictating. Unfortunately, these are the only benefits. Both platforms have formatting issues and will require a conversion platform that can do some major heavy lifting for organizing, formatting, and designing.

One of the most popular author platforms is Scrivener. Of the purchase-necessary platforms, Scrivener comes in the lowest at $40. It is one of the few platforms designed for long term writing, is easily navigable, supports files of any type, and focuses on organization. It can be intimidating but contains features like the Corkboard for storylining and research, the Outline for quick editing and writing, and the Progress Bar where goals and progress are set and tracked. Scrivener will show pages side by side from different places in the book for easy description, editing, or fact-checking. It also tags metadata automatically. While Scrivener is hailed the ultimate author platform, it only exports to PDF, and so requires conversion software. Lastly, it does not enable collaborative editing and has a sharp learning curve.

An online author platform, Reedsy claims a distraction-free writing environment with collaborative editing. It publishes to ePub, Mobi, and PDF which makes it a great conversion platform as well. It focuses on an available ‘professional market’ where authors can link with editors and beta-readers directly but doesn’t handle any code manipulation. Consequently, this wouldn’t be a good designing platform. But it is free, and comes with an instructional blog, so it is great for new writers or authors only looking to produce one work.

iBook Author is another option for writing, but it quickly gets complicated. There is an Apple Pages extension separate from just iBook Author. IBA only exports to iBook; AP only exports to ePub. The two are not interchangeable and cannot be switched between. Not to mention, neither offer any advanced content design options. They can function as writing platforms, although they are probably used more for conversion.

Converting Platforms

Then there are the conversion platforms. These platforms convert documents from PDFs- or Docs or Word- and turn them into publishable files in ePub, Mobi, or iBook formats.

Reedsy has a separate conversion site that is somewhat popular. It supports heavy image editing, document styling, and additional document add-ins and exports to PDF, Mobi, and ePub. Like the writing platform, it is fully online and supports reflowable text and fixed text.

InDesign is a proprietary editor belonging to Adobe. It is great for working between Adobe programs like Photoshop or Illustrator. It is not cheap but comes in the Adobe license package. It is very in-depth and allows for great modification but can also lead to great confusion. InDesign handles images well and works in XHTML and CSS already formatted for ePub. It is great for the pros but has some drawbacks. Specifically, if images aren’t properly anchored, they can be pushed to the back of the eBook, it wasn’t designed for long term writing, and it is difficult to navigate. Lastly, InDesign only exports to ePub.

Another software conversion platform is Pressbooks. It is fairly cost-effective for authors on a budget and exports both ePub and Mobi. It has great brand support and was specifically designed for eBook-stores with print on demand options. The downsides of this platform are that it barely supports images, the templates are better suited for fiction writers only, and the design options are severely limited. Still, if the eBook is an image-free, fiction novel then Pressbooks will do nicely.

Similar to Pressbooks, Vellum comes with a larger price tag. It was designed for eBooks and only runs on Macs. Vellum is an efficient and simple platform. This platform is perfect for an eBook that is already complete and in need of conversion on a Mac.

Sigil is a software conversion platform that lets the author, or designer, deal directly with coding in the interface. It runs on all processing systems and only publishes to ePub. It offers full text translations and an easily navigable outline, as well as metadata editing. All in all, Sigil is a fully supported, but strictly conversion software.

Finally, Calibre is a free platform that converts nearly any input file into almost any output file. It exports to ePub, Mobi, Docx, and even TXT. Because of the lack of actual design or editing interface, Calibre is a more effective tool for readers building an online library, and not necessarily for an author publishing an eBook.

There are even more platforms available for writing, editing, and converting. While these platforms fit almost every author’s preference, no one should stop looking for their ideal one. Most of these platforms offer student and academic discounts, and frequently have sales and free trials. Some are better for pros, looking to publish frequently and with little effort. Some are better for the busy writer on the go, who wants to craft their eBook by themselves. Writing, designing, and coding eBooks can seem intimidating, but with all the platforms available, publishing online has never been easier.

Edited to remove repeated paragraph