Publishing an eBook online is without a doubt one of the most lucrative things you can do to make money on the Internet. But you need to think about the format of your eBook. If you choose the wrong format, you might never make money, or you might not make money for very long.
What are formats, and what do you need to think about when using them? A format is just the type of file that will hold your information. There are many different types of files on your desktop computer, and each type is usually opened by a different type of programme. For example, there are plain text files with a ".txt" extension, ".doc" files that are usually opened in Microsoft Word, ".htm" files that can be opened by any web browser, and so on. Text and word processing programmes use a wide variety of formats.
In the same way, the information in your eBook needs to be presented in a way that your online audience can open and read. Formats like.doc,.txt,.htm (or.html), and.pdf (for Adobe's widely used Acrobat Reader) can be read by almost everyone. But when making this choice, you need to think about more than just how easy it is to read. You should also think about piracy and copying without permission. If your eBook is really great, with a title like "How to make a million dollars in two weeks by watching TV," you should know that information pirates will want to steal it.
Your eBook is your intellectual property, and you should do everything you can to keep it safe. If not, people can just share their eBooks on the Internet or send them to their friends via email. You want to make sure that everyone who reads your valuable content has paid for the right to do so. Because of this, the best thing to do is publish your eBook in one of the many proprietary formats that will turn it into a file that only the person who bought it can open.
There are a lot of programmes that can turn your eBook into a safe format. I can't even begin to list them all, but you should look for a format that will turn your eBook into an executable (.exe) file that can't be cut, copied, or pasted from. Use your favourite Internet search engine to look for "ebook creation software" or something similar, and then click on as many links as you want until you find the format you like best.
It's up to you to keep your content safe because no one else will do it for you.
