Ebook basics under the hood

18
Under the hood – Getting techie
  • date post

    21-Oct-2014
  • Category

    Education

  • view

    2.059
  • download

    2

description

How ebooks are put together. Explains the key technologies you need, HTML and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). Also shows how to build a quick, free website using Wordpress.

Transcript of Ebook basics under the hood

Page 1: Ebook basics   under the hood

Under the hood – Getting techie

Page 2: Ebook basics   under the hood

What is an ebook? Digital Publishing’s goal: Create once, re-use

many times To work effectively ebooks today need to:

Support reflowable text Ideally support scalable images (SVG) Be compact and contained in a single file Simple layout (often displayed in black and

white), easily readable Be in a suitable format for e-reader devices

Page 3: Ebook basics   under the hood

Under the hood

• Most ebooks today are built on a foundation of (X)HTML / XML, the language of the web

• Common formats today: mobi, azw, ePub, PDF

• PDF is adapting with announcement (Feb 09) of reflowable PDF aimed at mobile devices

• Digital Rights Management

– DRM or DRM-free? A key decision for publishers and the industry

Page 4: Ebook basics   under the hood

Under the hood - HTML/XML

Chapter 1

What is an Ebook?

An ebook is a book without pages.

HTML describes the presentation of your book (or web page). For instance:

Page 5: Ebook basics   under the hood

Your book is 'marked up' to show the e-reader how to display it

<html>

<body>

<h1>Chapter 1</h1>

<h2>What is an Ebook?</h2>

<p>An ebook is a book without pages.</p>

</body>

</html>

Page 6: Ebook basics   under the hood

This is what it looks like when viewed in the browser / e-reader

Chapter 1

What is an Ebook?

An ebook is a book without pages.

Page 7: Ebook basics   under the hood

XML describes the structure

<chapter>

<title>What is an Ebook?</title>

<paragraph>An ebook is a book without pages.</paragraph>

</chapter>

Page 8: Ebook basics   under the hood

Using CSS to style your document

CSS = 'Cascading Style Sheets' Apply a designated style to the underlying

HTML document The power of CSS comes from being able to

restyle an entire document by just changing its style sheet

– “Create once, re-use multiple times”

– Can allow the same content to be formatted to suit entirely different outputs – eg printer, PC, mobile phone

Page 9: Ebook basics   under the hood

So, this HTML

<html>

<body>

<h1>Chapter 1</h1>

<h2>What is an Ebook?</h2>

<p>An ebook is a book without pages.</p>

</body>

</html>

Page 10: Ebook basics   under the hood

Combined with this CSS ...

body {color: black}

h1 {font-family: “comic sans ms”, arial, 'sans serif'}

h2 {color: red}

p {text-align:center}

Page 11: Ebook basics   under the hood

Produces this style variation

Chapter 1

What is an Ebook?

An ebook is a book without pages.

Page 12: Ebook basics   under the hood

Metadata – data about the ebook

• As well as creating the book, we need to describe it for selling purposes

– Eg ISBN, author, price, availability, blurb, links to cover image, etc

• E-tailing is driving a need for standardised metadata as computers manage more of the process

• ONIX (ONline Information Exchange) is the book industry standard

– An XML standard, 31 core metadata elements

Page 13: Ebook basics   under the hood

Bonus: A free website in 5 steps and 15 minutes

No HTML coding needed

Page 14: Ebook basics   under the hood

Bonus: A free website in 5 steps

1. Go to WordPress.com

2. Sign Up for a free account then Login

3. Go to Appearances | Themes

– Choose a theme (site design) and Activate it

4. Go to Settings | General

– Add your site’s Title and Tagline

5. Go to Posts | Add New

– Write your first story and Publish!

Page 15: Ebook basics   under the hood

Add PAGES for static information

Page 16: Ebook basics   under the hood

Instant website (cont.d)

6. (Optional) Go to Pages | Add New

– Write pages for static info (eg Home, About Us, Contact Us)

7. Go to Settings | Reading

– For Front Page Display select A static page

– Choose a Page for the Front page and for the Posts page (ie your news/blog articles)

8. Save Changes. You’re done!

Page 17: Ebook basics   under the hood

So there it is … in case you’d ever wondered

Page 18: Ebook basics   under the hood

Thanks!

Martin Taylor

web: digitalpublishing.org.nz

email: [email protected]

blog: activitypress.com/ereport