Freezine Epub
Above and Beyond the Page
Writers must be able to handle different layouts and designs beyond the Paper and PDF models.
Ebooks and Epublications in general
E-readers and other devices for reading e-texts
Many e-readers have a built-in light source, can enlarge or change fonts, use text-to-speech software to read the text aloud for visually impaired, elderly or dyslexic people or just for convenience. Additionally, e-readers allow users to look up words or find more information about the topic immediately using an online dictionary and encyclopaedia. Amazon knows who you are and where you are in your e-book as well as how long you spend on it and what words you look up. Your reading choices are informative to advertisers who will target you with informed choices in their advertising.
Reading Platforms
Of course, you can read on a desktop computer, a laptop, a tablet, and a smartphone. How are you receiving and reading newsletter? (It is possible that you download, print out and read on paper). Publications in general are increasingly digital. The Mensa Magazine, for example, is now online only. Newsletters will appear on the New Mensa Website in e-book forms using colour, movement, interactivity, and connectivity. Video in e-books is already available along with audio. The e-publication will become less of a paper and more of an app. It will become shareable, social, and flexible. Pro Writers need to know how to write for the web.
Layout Design Presentation
Writers have to think graphically beyond desktop publishing; they must think webpage: audio, video, slides, flipbooks, animations, and whatever else becomes available to them. Here, for example, is a 2-minute video trailer of a 1936 movie: THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME. Click on the Pic.
Writing Platforms
Apart from the workhorse MS Word and the free alternative LibreOffice how many of you use Google Docs for free? Also, don’t neglect Google Slides. These embed easily in web pages, with video. Tell a story in a set of slides and video embeds. Talking Pictures and Talking Text.
Slide Presentation
Ah! You declare: PowerPoint! (I’ve sat through a few of those … yawn). However, there are alternatives to PowerPoint – one of which is mentioned immediately above: Google Slides. You may want to check out Visme and others. Here is a 2022 list:
https://visme.co/blog/best-presentation-software/
Previously, I’ve mentioned the new kid from Neighbours Canva
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu19G4EP7Qw
This is becoming a serious piece of kit. Adobe has copied it in their new Adobe Express (which used to be called Spark).
https://www.softwareadvice.com/graphic-design/adobe-spark-profile/vs/canva/
Tell a story in a set of slides with audio, video, and animation. Do not poop with a PDF. The way to go is THE WAY OF THE WEB.
Thai Good and Evil Spirits
For Amusement Only
Here is a draft picture e-book created in Canva and published through their link to Heyzine Flipbooks.
It is an example of a flipbook page animation and includes a video inside the publication. Click on the Pic.
Be creative: GO ROGUE.
Steve Mongkut
