Website is online store for CAD e-books

An upFront.eZine Publishing product story

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Dec 20, 2002

A new website deals exclusively with e-books on topics in computer-aided design.

upFront.eZine Publishing has launched the eBooks.onLine website to deal exclusively with e-books - books in electronic formats such as Adobe's popular PDF.

E-books are delivered through email, ftp download, or on CD, and then read on computers or handheld devices.

The new webstore is to focus exclusively on computer-aided design.

"We are filling a need found at no other online bookstore.

We are specializing in the category of CAD e-books," announced Ralph Grabowski, Group Publisher, upFront.eZine Publishing.

"And we're helping self-published CAD authors get exposure in the market." Because they are published electronically, e-books are updated more quickly than traditional paper-bound books, which can spend one to three months in production before becoming available in bookstores.

In contrast, updates to e-books are available overnight.

In addition, corrections can be added dynamically, without needing to wait for the next print run, often a year later for many paper-bound books.

The new e-book "Inside General CADD Pro", for instance, benefited in two ways: the e-book was developed with feedback from beta testers; and the e-book became available shortly after the first release of General CADD Pro software.

The low cost structure of e-books allows out-of-print books to remain in-stock forever, unlike paper-bound books.

eBooks.onLine is rereleasing old CAD texts as e-books, starting with "Inside Generic CADD 6", first published in 1992 under the title of "Learn Generic CADD 6 in a day".

In addition to carrying e-books published by parent company upFront.eZine Publishing, eBooks.onLine carries e-books self-published by authors.

"By swapping space on each other's Web sites, we increase awareness for this fine selection of books," said Grabowski.

For instance, Odin Cary's series of books on Architectural Desktop are listed at eBooks.onLine, with links to his website.

When working with traditional publishers, authors receive typically just a couple of dollars on each paper-bound book, which often has a retail price of $39.95 or higher.

Half the profit goes to the bookstore; the distributor and publisher pocket the remainder.

Additionally, authors lose control of the copyright.

By self-publishing, in contrast, authors receive a much better return on their investment in time, while retaining ownership of their intellectual property.

While e-books are not popular with the general reading population, they have gained acceptance with technical readers, who are familiar with the time-saving benefits of on-line help and searchable PDF files.

The revised e-book "Tailoring AutoCAD", for instance, is a technical reference that benefits readers by being searchable for any phrase; readers are not limited to phrases listed in the index and table of contents.

Traditional paper-bound books take days to deliver; e-books are downloaded in minutes.

If customers prefer, the e-book can be delivered on CD, and arrangements can be made to print the book (minimum quantity 50).

Because e-books are formatted to the office-standard 8.5 x 11in paper size, readers can print copies of e-books, if they so chose.

Payment is made instantly through PayPal, the international Internet payment system, in five currencies.

If customers prefer, payment can also be made by check in three currencies.

Prices start at $19.95 - half the price of an equivalent paper-bound book.

Shipping by e-mail and FTP is free.