An ebook is a digital version of a printed book. It is made up of text, images and other resources that can be transferred from a computer to a handheld device such as a tablet or smartphone. This content can then be read by selecting text on the screen and viewing images through on-screen graphics and video.
Creating an ebook is a lot easier than you would think. All you need is a computer, a mobile phone or tablet, and an internet connection. You will also need to consider what kind of electronic device you are using to read the book. Are you using a Kindle, Nook or other tablet type? If so, you should consider getting an e-reader because all of these gadgets will show you beautiful formatted books. (As an added bonus, you get to choose your own covers for your ebooks.)
Once you have your book ready to go, you can upload it to a number of ebook distributors that will create a Table of Contents, formatted books and offer marketing support for your new publication. Remember to register your ebook with the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) to ensure that your work is credited to you as the author.
Why A Table of Contents is Important
Every book has a Table of Contents. Tables of Contents help readers navigate through a book and find the information they are looking for easily. They also help the author provide an overview of the content in the book so that the reader does not get lost while reading. Since everything is linked to each other in a Table of Contents, the reader is guaranteed to find all the information they need easily.
Tables of Contents are also an important part of a PDF file. When you create a PDF file, you must include a Table of Contents to let the reader know what is in the document. If you do not include a Table of Contents, the reader may find it difficult to navigate through your document because they do not know where to look for certain information.
How to Write a Table of Contents
Tables of Contents are very easy to create. You can use a piece of software called a Table of Contents Generator to make creating your table much easier. These tools will automatically create the Table of Contents for you based on the information you provide in your book. You will just have to follow the steps to enter the data and make any necessary corrections. When you are done, you can save the file and easily upload it to a PDF distribution service to make an e-book. You can find Table of Contents generators at MyEBookStore.com and LetTouch.com.
The Data Layer of an Ebook
Most ebooks have some sort of data layer that holds the various bits of information used in the book. This data layer can be built within a wordprocessing document or accessed separately through a database or csv files. It is important to keep this data separate from the book’s narrative because you may want to re-use the content in the future.
An example of this would be an e-Book about wine. You could research all the wines used in the book and store them in a database. If you then decided you wanted to write a second book about food and wine, you could pull the data from the first book and re-use it. This would make the second book much easier to write because you would not have to start from scratch.
Storing and reusing data in this manner is called data mining. Storing large amounts of data in this manner can cause the book to become very large. This is called bloatware and is generally discouraged because most people do not have the storage to spare. It is better to keep your data separate until you actually need it.
Formatting Your Ebook For Digital Readability
When you are creating your ebook, you must make sure that it is easy to read for all platforms. You can use a tool called PDF Expert to help you with this. When you are finished, you can upload the file to any number of digital storefronts to be sold. When someone purchases the book, they will receive a PDF version of the book that can be read on any device.