The 200 Page eBook is Dead

by Martin Neumann on February 24, 2008

I’m back from my mini hiatus and raring to go. And let me say that’s it’s been a real interesting time in the information products world these last few months.

We all in the industry saw it coming … and here it is.

The long and winding (and dull) 200, 300 page eBook is on its death bed.

In it’s place is a swath of multimedia offerings.

The information products industry is changing and maturing. Today’s e-products are a mash up of screencasts, audio files, short pdf files and whatever else one can package together.

Bite-sized information is what the market wants, and with ever increasing broadband penetration, the market wants to see, hear and read.

My suggestion if you’re currently writing a 200 page eBook is … to stop!

Spend some time online and see what internet marketers are up to lately.

Screencasts are the in thing - both in marketing a product and as part of one.

Audio has also taken a strong hold in the industry. The perceived value of such simple to produce media is extremely high and much more importantly, the market is willing to pay for it.

Now that’s not to say that the eBook is completely dead and buried. I believe they can be used in short, bite-sized packages to complement your multimedia offerings - but the core of your products should be the different types of multimedia.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I started ePublishingDaily with a focus on eBooks - I’m very happy to say that that focus has expanded.



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  1. 5 Responses to “The 200 Page eBook is Dead”

  2. By Amin on Mar 1, 2008 | Reply

    I couldn’t agree more. But although the emphasis has shifted to a variety of different content formats, the eBook is still fundamental to online publishing. While audio, video, and interactive media certainly compliments paid information well, the eBook is still far from dead.

  3. By Deborah on Mar 4, 2008 | Reply

    Martin,

    Welcome back! And thanks for visiting me over at Websites People Read.

    As a writer I tend to cringe when someone says pages of words aren’t needed - but you are right; particularly in an e-book. I have a friend - also a writer - who writes books he calls “skinny books” no filler, no fluff - just right to the point.

    I’m a big fan of lists. I recently discovered a site called Tipsbooklets which offers advice on how to turn knowledge into a form of an e-book but it is basically a list of tips.

    Deborah

  4. By Jon on Mar 15, 2008 | Reply

    Excellent article !! Nice o know about e-products…

  5. By Jim Logan on Jul 9, 2008 | Reply

    If you have nothing to say of any interest or value, 1 page is too many. And wrapping that same content in a multimedia form won’t make it any more valuable.

    A 200 page book is inherently no more or less valuable than a 10 page book - although you expect more in 200 pages.

    I don’t think length or formatted delivery matter much. Great and well communicated thoughts and ideas will be consumed no matter how they’re offered.

    Food for thought.

  6. By Martin Neumann on Jul 28, 2008 | Reply

    just a testing

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