The concept of eBooks has been around longer than you may think! The first mention of a portable reading device was made in the 1930’s in Bob Brown’s manifesto, where he stated reading should find a new medium, “A simple reading machine which I can carry or move around, attach to any old electric light plug and read hundred-thousand-word novels in 10 minutes if I want to, and I want to.”^[5] That’s also around the same time paperback books debuted. Though it sounds a little like our modern day e-readers, it was not until the late 1990s that a device specifically for reading digital books was introduced. It was followed by the well-known Amazon Kindle eBook launch in 2007. In 2010, Apple released the iPad, iBooks, and its iBookstore on iTunes, selling half a million eBooks in less than a month.^[4] Google's eBookstore also launched, and Amazon reported that, for the first time, eBook sales surpassed hardcover book sales. The rise of eBooks is no joke! Fast forward a decade, and Statista reported that 191 million eBooks were sold in 2020 in the United States alone.^[5] Though print books remain a popular reading format, there's been an uptick in the number of Americans who report reading eBooks, which has increased from 25% to 30% in recent years. In ages 19–29, popular ages for those starting families, the percentage of those reading eBooks is already 42%, according to research published in 2022.^[6] The bottom line for anyone providing education services is to ensure you offer eBooks to meet this population's learning preferences!

This is the most widely supported and user-friendly eBook format, compatible with most e-readers and devices, except Amazon Kindle. EPub files have the extension .epub. This type of eBook allows for reflowable content, meaning the user can control their reading experience. Some typical user features include:

The features depend on both the content provided by the publisher in the eBook and the capabilities of the e-reading platform you're using. It's worth noting that even if you have two books from different publishers on the same platform, they might offer different attributes and functionalities.

PDF (Portable Document Format) is a widely used format for eBooks, especially for graphic-heavy content like illustrated books, comic books, and textbooks. Unlike EPUB, PDFs have a fixed layout, so the text and images don't adjust to fit the screen. The extension for PDF files is .pdf. Have you ever opened and viewed a PDF on your phone? Reading them on a small device with pinching and zooming is certainly possible. However, this format is better suited for larger screens like tablets or computers.

MOBI is Amazon's proprietary format, primarily used for Kindle devices and the Kindle marketplace. It's not as common as EPUB, but it's essential for Kindle users. The extension for MOBI files is .mobi.

AZW is another proprietary format Amazon uses for Kindle devices. AZW3 is an updated version of AZW, offering more features and flexibility. These files have the extensions .azw and .azw3, respectively.

Life Events remains your trusted partner as technology advances the opportunities for learning and sharing information in new ways. Our commitment to innovation and a transformative approach to health education sets us apart. Learn more about Life Events' library of maternity print books, eBooks, and apps on our solutions page, or get in touch if you're interested in custom-branded eBook library solutions. Experience the difference with Life Events, where innovation meets education, and where the future of health information is not just digital but also incredibly accessible and enriching.

Can you see the fantastic benefits that eBooks have over printed books? There's a lot to unpack and discover for yourself there. Let's discuss setting up an eBook library. You can go out to numerous platforms, search through thousands of books, look at the book's rating, read the reviews, and decide whether or not a book is worth purchasing. Then, buy a book on the topic you wish and read it on the platform you’ve purchased it from. Ready for another topic? You’ll need to start the entire process all over again. That's a lot of work! And, after completing all that due diligence, there's still no guarantee that the book's content is up-to-date or accurate.

What if you could curate a specialized content library for your clients to provide them with evidence-based content on a specific genre, all accessible in one library? And, make the access unlimited—forever? By offering digital resources, you can save time, better prepare your clients, and establish greater trust with them.

What if I told you all of that is possible right now? It is—and it can be really easy. That's precisely what an eBook library can do. An eBook library is a collection of books, all in one place, on one platform. When a user accesses their digital library, there are multiple books already preselected for them to read. 

You can certainly create your custom library from scratch (write, publish, and repeat), and we'll have an article about that for you coming up soon. There are services available designed to take on all the work and remove the headaches from the process. These services can save you several months or even a year or two of development time, enabling you to launch and provide high-quality content for your clients promptly. If you're interested in seeing what that looks like, check out the Life Events Inc. e-bookstore. They have an eBook library specific to maternity topics, from which readers can choose from an assortment of books. It will give you a great idea of what is possible and get you excited about eBooks.