Choosing an eBook Compiler

What is an eBook compiler?

You've written and revised your ebook, hired an artist

who has produced outstanding graphics, and now you're

ready to actually put together your ebook. What you

need to make an ebook is software called an ebook

Compiler.

There are many different compilers to chose from, but

first, you need to know exactly what an ebook Compiler

does. Here is the simple explanation:

An ebook compiler is a software program that converts

either text pages or HTML text into a single

executable file or an ebook.

If you or someone you hired has created a file with

graphics in HTML, you will need an HTML ebook

Compiler. This type of compiler requires a working

knowledge of the HTML tag language. You can also use

software to do this for you, such as Microsoft

FrontPage or Macromedia Dreamweaver.

How do you choose an eBook Compiler?

There are a large number of ebook Compilers available

on the market, all with glowing sales copy and tekkie

language. It can get very confusing and overwhelming

very fast without some simple guidelines to help you

figure out which compiler is right for you.

Choosing an ebook Compiler depends on a number of

factors:

1. How did you create your pages? Did you use HTML or

PDF format? There are many more compilers available

for HTML, but you can find some very good compilers

that will covert your PDF files into an ebook.

2. Consider how easy the program is to use and the

thoroughness of the software's instruction manual. It

is absolutely necessary that the compiler you buy have

an instructional manual, documentation, or online

"wizards." If it doesn't, your chances of figuring out

how to correctly use the program are compromised, and

the time required doing so is going to be significant.

Many manufacturers of compilers offer a free trial

version so you can play around with it and see if it

suits your needs. Download the trial version and

ascertain that it actually does what it claims to do.

3. Security features. If you plan to sell your ebook,

check out the security features of the compiler

software carefully. Security features should include:

prevention of the reader from modifying text, access

only to the pages you assign or by entering a

password, different ways of generating passwords such