Less than a century ago poems were handed around on torn pieces of paper, stories were told by firelight, and textbooks were re-bound to preserve their lives.
Now we have electronic publishing.
Even if your book is printed on paper with a hard-cover binding, it still depends on electronics. The words of the book need typesetting software. The design needs electronic formatting. The printers are computer driven.
These improvements have shortened the time line from concept to bookshelf and have improved the appearance of even poorly written books.
The content of books has also changed from words with your imagination filling in the details, to words supplemented by audio and video inserts, links to related Websites, and graphics that move, zoom and shrink in striking patterns.
Publishing is getting exciting, but not necessarily better. The twin of variety is confusion, and too many websites and online publications are a jumble of competing elements.
You’ll want to use sound and video for your online books that need to show or demonstrate someothing visual. Beyond that, words are what communication is all about.
If you’re running a long series of blogs on a given topic, try completing your project with a book formatted for printing. Whether you print it or make it available on line, it will be easier and faster to read, and much easier to understand.
Griffith Publishing
