Last Updated on June 25, 2021 by David Wogahn
Last week USA Today covered an IDC report that said sales of personal computers—including Apple Macs—dropped a combined 13.9% in the first quarter of 2013. And while 350 million units were sold in 2012, there were 700 million Smartphones shipped along with 120 million tablets during the same period. This has huge implications for business publishers that produce PDF “eBooks”. Many of these PDF eBooks are used to educate sales prospects or deliver training information to customers and employees. Imagine trying to read a PDF on a 3.5″ iPhone screen or even the Galaxy S3's 4.8″ screen.
Step 1: Redesign your PDF as a Kindle Mobi and EPUB
Obviously the first step is to convert your PDFs to eBooks. I've published on this topic here, here and here, or call me about how we do this for publishing and business clients. (If your PDF is simple you might be able use a free conversion tool which I talk about here.)
Step 2: Install free eReading software
Just like you need free Adobe Acrobat software to open a PDF file you need free eReader software so you can open the eBook file. The good news is that there are lots of good, free choices. They come as apps and are available for virtually all devices. Here are some of the most popular for reading eBook files:
- Amazon Kindle
- Barnes & Noble Nook
- Apple iBooks (only works on Apple devices)
- Bluefire Reader
- Aldiko Book Reader
Search your device's app store for ‘ebook reading apps'.
Step 3: Get the mobi (Kindle) or EPUB file on your device
The easiest way is to email the eBook to yourself using an email address accessible from your mobile device. Save it, open the app, and then look for the file in the saved location.
If you are using Kindle eReading software you may know that every Kindle app has an associated email address like this [yourdevicename]@kindle.com. You can find your Kindle email address in your Amazon account under Manage Your Kindle>Manage Your Devices.
If you are using an Apple iPad you get the option (see image) to open the eBook file in the eReader you have installed.
All this may sound a little confusing at first but it is no different than opening or distributing a PDF file. There are no licensing fees or file distribution limitations. Perhaps best of all, you can now also sell your eBook on Amazon or one of the other stores. This is a great marketing opportunity in and of itself.
Ready to make your content readable on millions more devices? Call me about how we help businesses design, produce and distribute PDF eBooks as Kindle and EPUB eBooks.
