James Kaiser

Great news!

My Grand Canyon and Yosemite guides are now available as ebooks for the iPad. Just type “james kaiser” into the iTunes store search box, and you’ll see them pop up under “Books”

Note: These ebooks are specifically designed for the iPad, NOT the Kindle, Nook, or other tablets. Hopefully that will change in the coming months, but for now you need the iPad.

The decision to make my ebooks available only on the iPad was mine and mine alone. So why have I intentionally scorned the legions of devoted Kindle and Nook fans? Turns out, that’s a complicated question, which I’ll try to answer here without getting too geeky and technical.

First and foremost, let me say that I’m really excited about the future of ebooks. The ability to offer high quality travel information through a multi-media device is nothing short of revolutionary. Imagine a travel guide that includes not just words and photos, but also audio and video. The potential is limitless. We’re not quite there yet, but as devices and technologies improve, we’ll get closer and closer. (Brief side note: I think there will always be a market for physical books, but that’s a whole other discussion.)

Unfortunately, the current ebook technology is VERY new, and VERY rough around the edges. Problems abound. I know, because I’ve spent the past several months teaching myself the software and code, and testing it out on multiple devices.

For the time being, only the iPad offers technology that I consider appropriate for my guidebooks. Here, in a nutshell, is why…

The Kindle – I have a Kindle, and I love it. But it’s a terrible device for any book that includes color photos (my books), and which require constant page flipping (my books).

Furthermore, Kindle uses the proprietary mobi format, not the open epub format, which I personally think is the future of digital publishing. By using a proprietary format, Amazon is essentially saying, “You need to use our tools, and only our tools, to make your ebook for sale on the Kindle.” Although they offer a free epub to mobi converter that works great for text-only books, it’s a blunt, bloody tool for converting graphically rich epubs with complex layouts (my books) to the mobi format.

There are rumors that Amazon is readying a new, color ereader for Xmas. There are also rumors that this new ereader will accept epub files, not just mobi. For now, these are just rumors. But I sincerely hope they’re true. If so, I will make my books available on the new color Kindle the day it comes out. Believe me, I would be THRILLED to offer my ebooks to millions of Amazon customers.

The color Nook – Barnes & Noble is the undisputed giant of physical book retailing. I love shopping there, and they sell lots of my books, which are two big reasons why I want to see them succeed. However their color Nook is just not well-suited to my ebooks.

Although Barnes & Noble, like Apple, uses the open epub format, it displays complex, graphics-rich epub files in an unpredictable way compared to the iPad. Just as web browsers display web pages differently, ereaders display ebooks differently. Only with the color Nook, the difference is BIG. Again, for books that are entirely text, this is a non-issue. But for graphics-rich books like my own, it becomes very problematic.

I wish it was different. I wish I could offer my books on the color Nook and help Barnes and Noble continue to thrive in the digital age. But until the color Nook starts displaying graphically-rich epub files in a manner consistent with how those files were originally designed, I do not feel comfortable offering my ebooks on the color Nook. Again, hopefully this will change in the not-too-distant future. As soon as it does, I will be the first in line to offer my ebooks on the color Nook.

So there you have it. My two cents on the ebook industry today, from the perspective of a writer/photographer/publisher who makes graphics-rich, layout-intensive ebooks. Given the speed with which technology changes, I’m confident that the issues I’ve outlined will be overcome in a very short time. Remember, we’re still in the Stone Age of ereading. But we won’t be for long.