First things first: eBooks are a digitized version of a book's text, graphics and photographs. In its digital form, an eBook can be downloaded to any computer - from a desktop to a palmtop. Although futuristic television shows, such as Star Trek: The Next Generation, often illustrate for us a paperless world in which small, handheld devices carry entire libraries of information, that vision hasn't exactly caught up to our present-day society.

So, why would we want to use eBooks? What possible benefit could this technology offer us? Actually, quite a bit.

Advantages of eBooks

While moving beyond our lifelong comfort-level with printed books may take some doing, eBooks have the potential to open up a whole new avenue of accessing the information we want, when we want it. Let's think about this. How many times have we all tried to find a piece of information we remember reading in a printed book? We ended up flipping through countless pages, over and over again, scanning paragraphs and searching for the targeted words. Yet we think nothing of conducting intricate searches on the Internet for the most minute, specific item.

"For any type of work or research, both personally and professionally, the ability to filter through information quickly and accurately to find what we want is essential," stated Mary Westheimer, CEO of BookZone, the oldest and largest publishing community on the Internet.

Nonfiction books, especially, are among the first, prime candidates for this emerging segment of the publishing industry. "Think about it," Westheimer continued. "You could be considering your retirement portfolio, looking over investment options. Suddenly you remember reading something about, say, Roth IRAs, and you go directly to your computer. On the hard drive, you have a book on managing finances and your future. Within a minute, you've accessed the book, conducted a search on 'Roth IRAs' and you're reviewing the list of pros and cons. It's fast and easy."

Along with having immediate and trouble-free access to information, eBooks also offer a brand-new option for packaging and obtaining that information. As Westheimer pointed out, "Since they're in digital format, eBooks, unlike their printed counterparts, can offer consumers the option of buying only the information they want. Remember that information about Roth IRAs? I could purchase just that chapter on Roth IRAs for a fraction of the cost of the entire book - and get only the information I want, on my computer, at my fingertips and completely searchable. As a veteran of the publishing industry, I truly believe that consumers will welcome this viable option to satisfy their information needs."

In addition, we can enjoy access to new releases more quickly than with traditional print publishing. "In traditional publishing, it can take a year or more for a manuscript to go through all of the processes involved with print book publishing, not to mention the ever-increasing costs of paper," confirmed Westheimer. "With eBooks, this same information can be published much faster and distributed more cost-effectively - allowing the savings to be passed along to readers."

Another benefit of this new technology is the development of reasonably priced, portable and handheld devices that make eBooks highly transportable. Instead of packing a stack of books to take on a trip, a palmtop computer could hold several eBooks at once, making vacation travel, for instance, much less of an arduous load to haul.

Saving Our Forests

While eBooks are much cheaper and can also be available up to one full year sooner than their printed complements, let's not overlook the positive impact eBooks could have on our environment. As our society becomes more concerned with issues of recycling and forest-conservation, the bottom line is that electronic distribution can help preserve our natural resources.

Take Stephen King's recent eBook release. Four hundred-thousand copies of about 60 pages each (not including a much heavier paper stock to produce a full-color cover) means that, in its debut on the Internet, the eBook, Riding The Bullet, saved more than 24 million pages in its first 24 hours, which roughly equates to 6,700 trees. With the rapid disintegration of rain forests worldwide in the last half of the twentieth century, eBooks offer an attractive, environmentally conscious alternative in helping to create and maintain a better-balanced, natural world.

Future of eBooks

Given our predilection for "the printed word," what is the future of eBooks?

"It's a fascinating innovation," commented Westheimer, "that offers a growing number of benefits to publishers and consumers alike. I see the first wave of book genres to adapt quickly to eBooks will probably include reference materials, trade and vertical books, along with educational and how-to books and booklets. This type of information used frequently by us all will offer the first bridge between the publishing worlds of traditional and electronic. I don't believe that eBooks will replace printed books any time soon. In fact, one of the benefits of eBooks is that they are actually the next step in Print on Demand, which produces books 'just in time.' POD might well have even greater impact on the publishing industry than eBooks. These technologies provide incredible opportunities for growth and development in the publishing industry."

For more information, contact:

Catherine Coughlin
Strategic Media Alliance
(805) 523-1525
MobileLady@aol.com