You have chosen a subject for the contents of your e-book. You have also taken all the preparatory steps including preparing an outline for it. You have also written the contents of your e-book in a fairly quick time within the time schedule fixed by you. Now,it is your turn to achieve your chosen objective of publishing an e-book.

The e-book format you should use:

 There are mainly two formats like Acrobat e-book reader and Microsoft Reader.E-books are most abundant in PDF format. Apart from Adobe e-book Reader and MS Reader, there are also Palm Reader, Gen.ster and Mobi Pocket etc

Generally E-commerce experts recommend Acrobat e-book Reader, Microsoft Reader and Palm Reader for large scale production of e-books meant for the commercial market.

However, when you write business reports, niche and how to e-books, then your choice should be PDF and compiled HTML.

However, when you have e-books on HTML compiled as .exe file, they have got some advantages as well as disadvantages.

The advantages of HTML compiled as .exe file are:

They are easily distributed, easy to make and the compilers are cheap or free.

The disadvantages of HTML compiled as .exe file are:

1. However, HTML cannot be controlled according to your wish, since it is dependent upon the user’s web browser and the way the user has configured it.
2. The user may not have the fonts you have used.
3. Some HTML features may not show up currently on older browsers.
4. HTML compiled as .exe files are widely suspected of carrying viruses.Hence, people are hesitant to open, unless they are very sure of their source.
5. HTML compiled as .exe files can be opened by window users only and not by the users of Mac, Linux and PDAs etc.

Since the disadvantages of HTML compiled as.exe files outnumber the advantages, generally it is not preferable for large scale production of e-books.

The best and most recommended format for the e-books is Adobe Portable Document Format or PDF in 8 ½” x   11” page format, which can be easily printed out.

The advantages of Adobe PDF:

1. Adobe distributes free Acrobat Reader Software for Windows, Mac, Palm OS, Pocket PC, various flavors of Unix and others.
2. PDF can be designed using precise desktop publishing tools to look and be seen by the user in exactly the way you want it.
3. Fonts may be imbedded so they can be seen whether the user has them installed on his computer or not.
4. PDF  e-books can be protected against alteration as well as password protected against opening by unauthorized individuals.

Disadvantages of Adobe PDF:

 Those who don’t have Acrobat Reader in their computer and newbie may have problems with Acrobat PDF.

Since the advantages of Adobe PDF far outweigh its disadvantages, Adobe PDF should be preferred for creating your e-books. 

 Adobe Acrobat 6.0 is the most recent Acrobat program to convert your text and graphics into PDF.

Acrobat comes with Acrobat Distiller that takes you MS word or other text and converts it with any hyperlinks and graphics into a top-notch PDF document. Besides, your e-book copy protection is also available using PDF Acrobat. In version 6.0, once you have prepared your e-book in PDF format, choose Document > Security > Restrict opening and Editing. There, you can select the level of security required to read the document.

Before converting your content into PDF, you should choose an appropriate e-book template with a professional look and feel.

Many writers do not know how to publish an e-book using Adobe Acrobat 6.0 or printing or formatting an e-book. This involves a desktop publishing skill.

While publishing an e-book the ideal formatting of an e-book is 6” x  9”.

However, in the case of a very short e-book having only 10 to 15 pages, you can have your e-book formatted in to 7” or 7.5” x  9” and for the e-books with more pages the ideal size of formatting should  8.5” x  11”.

Once you publish your e-book, you have become a published author and now you have to seriously think about how to sell your e-book.