Voluntary Publishing Standards for eBooks

By Viktor Edward Oey

July 20, 2001

With the advent of ebooks, it’s important to look at the publishing standards of traditional books and how it should be applied to these new "electronic books." Why? Because of image. Right now anyone can create an ebook merely by writing a document, saving it digitally, calling it "an ebook" and then selling it on the Internet. This is not in the best interests of the industry and the reading public. If ebooks are to enjoy the same interest and sales as "the printed book," then the public needs to perceive digitally created books as enjoyment or interest reading and as a real book, NOT a computer file.

Let’s first take a look at the standards of a printed book. What identifies every book in print whether still available or not is the ISBN number. ISBN stands for International Standard Book Numbering. Every book in print or being printed has a unique ISBN number comprised of 10 digits. The digits are separated into identifying groups that include a country code and publisher ID. The ISBN number is referred to by all bookstores, giving the information needed to order a book copy. As a consumer, you don’t need to know the title or author if you wanted to order a book. All you need is the unique ISBN number. The ISBN remains unique, even if a book is no longer in print. It is never re-issued, very much like the Social Security number in the United States and the Social Insurance number in Canada.

Before ebooks, all printed books follow a number of voluntary standards. The ISBN number, a CIP (Cataloguing in Publication) reference, a front and back cover, inside title page, copyright page, relevant table of contents and index, page numbers, author and publisher name, author profile, introduction. With the exception of the CIP availability, all other standards should be included in the presentation of an ebook.

One of the most important of these voluntary standards is the ISBN number. All ISBNs are registered with a governing agency in over 150 countries, linking the publisher, title, country and author. The ISBN adds credibility to a book. Ebooks need to establish credibility as a book, therefore attaching an ISBN number gives recognition for a digital book as a legitimate product in the publishing industry and confidence for the buying public.

Whenever possible, every book should have a CIP entry. The CIP recognizes the book’s subject material and further adds to the books professionalism. CIP references are not issued by the publisher, but by a governing agency in the host country. Publishers can however make suggestions on the subject titles. For the United States, it’s the National Library of Congress, in Canada, the National Library of Canada, and for Australia it’s a service of the National Library of Australia. Publishers are usually required to submit all or part of the book contents in order to have the CIP entry established. The National Library of Australia now makes CIP references available for electronic publications.

The value of voluntary standards is in the marketing of books. It’s for this reason they are so important. The reading public trusts and recognizes standards such as ISBN and CIP. Ebooks need to establish that same trust and recognition in order to increase their market share, especially with the world wide distribution advantage that digital books have over printed books.

Paper will never be out of style. At least as long as we have it and until everyone in the world has a computer. People will always buy and read printed books. It’s a standard they are used to. That standard includes a front cover, back cover, etc. For people to accept ebook reading more easily, ebooks again need to follow the standards of print books in terms of content and format such as a front and back cover, copyright page and so on.

With anything new, the participation and creation of voluntary standards at the very beginning determines the level of acceptance by people. The PDF format is the first standard set for ebooks. While there are other formats available, PDF is still the most widely used. One reason for this is because PDF was the first standard used and accepted.

The creation of a printed book starts with a manuscript that goes through a vigorous process before it even goes to print. In the end the public is given a product they know has gone through major effort in order for them to buy it. That makes it worth buying to individuals. Ebooks need to establish that same public acceptance, otherwise digital books will suffer the same shadow perception that has plagued self-published books even today, that being "an amateur job not worth buying and reading."

By setting voluntary standards for ebook creation such as ISBN registration, format guidelines (front/back cover) and content guidelines (inside title page, copyright page, TOC, etc), acceptance is established in the very beginning. Use of voluntary standards creates a marketing brand. The public knows that effort was made in the creation of an ebook through editing and design. That effort is rewarded with a person willing to invest their money in buying an ebook.

Voluntary standards for ebooks should not only include the creation of an ebook, but also the marketing. What is a marketing standard? It’s the ability for a potential reader to browse a book. When you go into a bookstore, you can see the book, look at the pages, feel it, read excerpts and know who the publisher is. All these available senses are part of what sells a book.

Ebooks need to establish that same feeling of senses. How? By setting voluntary standards of display. If you look at any book website, what do they show? Well many of them show the title and price only. Sometimes an excerpt but often too limited. Sometimes a table of contents but no excerpt.

What you don’t see is how the book looks, even in PDF format. That means a person doesn’t even see what they are buying. A person cannot be expected to buy an ebook based on a title or author alone. And especially at a price set using print book rules.

Every ebook publisher serious about delivering quality ebooks to the public should participate in a voluntary set of EBOOK MARKETING STANDARDS (similar in concept to a PRIVACY STATEMENT that establishes trust). Such a standard should include presentation of a full PDF version of the ebook for viewing, with the actual content pages edited accordingly so that the entire book isn’t revealed (although in some cases it can be if it’s better for marketing). As well a price structure based on ebook distribution and creation, not print costs.

Books, especially ebooks need elements of trust. Printed books already include such standards as a publisher identity and an author profile. A web presence establishes further trust by allowing a potential buyer to communicate. Ebooks should include these elements in the form of respective websites as part of the Ebook Marketing Standards. Even self-published ebooks should have their own publisher identity.

Because of the apparent ease of creating an ebook (a person only needs word processing, a simple graphics tool and Adobe Acrobat), voluntary Ebook Publishing Standards need to be identified so that consumer accepted ebooks are created all the time. Voluntary participation in ebook standards should include:

  • ISBN registration
  • EBOOK FORMAT & CONTENT STANDARDS
  • EBOOK MARKETING STANDARDS

The reason I say VOLUNTARY is because voluntary standards do not need to be enforced, only ACCEPTED. With acceptance comes willing participation. When people participate, it becomes a part of their lifestyles. By using and promoting voluntary Ebook Publishing Standards, ebook reading will become more and more a part of our lifestyle.

Copyright © 2001 Viktor Edward Oey


About Viktor Edward Oey
Viktor Edward Oey is a writer/author with books in the areas of beginner’s computer, humour, paper strategy, business, and relationships. His motto is, "writing anything that’s fun!" His one outstanding character trait is his "always" positive attitude as reflected in 50 articles available on his website. His passion is strategy.

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