The 5 Ws of Ebooks
By Deanna Mascle
Anyone browsing the internet for information quickly encounters
ebooks. Sometimes those electronic books are clearly identified by
name and intent but other are so cleverly disguised a reader
may not even realize they are actually a book and not a web site or
some other electronic document.

What exactly is an ebook? An ebook is simply an electronic book.
Many today are found in pdf (or portable document format)
but you can also find various word processing documents being used
as as well as programs and text files that serve as ebooks.
There are also some unique programs that create in a format
specific to that program.

Ebooks (just like their print relatives) are documents containing
words in a convenient package. Ebooks do also have the ability to
secure or protect access which means sometimes you can't print an
ebook or copy it while others can be copied and shared easily.

While many professional publishing companies now create electronic
as well as traditional books, many are now created by
individuals or small organizations. The readers who use are
just as varied as those who create them. You can find electronic
books in physical and electronic libraries and book stores as well
as throughout the internet.

Ebooks are used to share information, teach, entertain, and sell or
promote -- just as are their print counterparts.

Ebooks have many advantages over print books. They are much more
inexpensive to produce and can move from idea to finished product
much more quickly



as well. This also makes much easier and
more cost effective to keep updated. In addition, allow
greater interactivity with the reader and the internet.

However print books still retain the advantage in some areas. Some
ebook formats are restricted in use to specific types of computer
programs, web browsers or operating systems. Also, while computers
and electronic devices are pervasive in much of the modern world
there are still areas where a print book is more convenient or
feasible.

For internet marketers can serve a variety of purposes.
Ebooks can be created and packaged as commodities to sell, but for
many internet marketers that are given away are a much more
powerful tool. Creating useful that share free information
that is attractive to a specific target audience can be a powerful
viral marketing tool.

Creating an useful free ebook can help provide valuable advertising
for any internet marketer by establishing credibility and expert
status which may well lead the reader to then visit the author's
web site and/or sign up for a newsletter. Some are created
with a "soft sell" approach to achieve that goal while others use a
"hard sell" approach and go for a sale within the book itself. If
you create an ebook that includes valuable information that can be
freely exchanged with others then it can, and will, be circulated
around the internet and continuously work to promote its creator's
web site and products.

Ebooks can be a very valuable internet marketing tool.
Deanna Mascle has been conducting business on the internet since 1999. She shares her internet marketing tips and tutorials in her newsletter Establish Your Epresence. Learn more at Establish Your Epresence at EstablishYourEpresence.com