Electronic Book (E-Book)

Definition - What does Electronic Book (E-Book) mean?

An electronic book (e-book) is a digital publication that can consist of text, images or a combination of both. An electronic book can be read on a proprietary digital device (an e-reader) or on a computer, which requires special software.

Techopedia explains Electronic Book (E-Book)

E-books originated mostly as technical manuals for products but the format now covers just about every form of publishing. Some authors who are rejected by regular publishers self-publish their work electronically due to the low-cost of production. Major publishing companies also offer e-books as an alternative to hard copy publications.

Some e-books use a proprietary format such as those designed for Amazon's Kindle tablet. The alternative is an open format such as Adobe's PDF that is readable across most any e-reader.

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