A PDF ebook can contain thousands of pages and the inbuilt hierarchical navigation system (known as bookmarks) makes it as easy to find a particular chapter or page as in a printed book. For this and other reasons, the PDF format is generally the professional's choice.

HTML ebooks are created by combining a set of HTML pages (i.e. web pages) into a single file. The resultant ebook can only be viewed on Windows computers, but since the majority of buyers fall in this group, most marketers do not consider this a major limitation. Unlike PDF (and other formats), HTML ebooks do not require any additional pre-installed software to read them. Most variants are dependent on Internet Explorer, but since this is installed automatically with Windows, the issue is of no consequence to most users.

A common feature of many HTML ebooks is the ability to customize certain pre-defined aspects of their content, even after creation and distribution. This is known as re-branding. It is very popular among online marketers, particular those producing promotional ebooks, because it enables the ebook medium to be used as a viral affiliate marketing tool.

On the downside, the need for multiple content files means that HTML ebooks are more cumbersome to create, making the format less well-suited to large authoring projects. Also, since HTML ebooks are directly executable by Windows, they are a potential source of computer viruses. Although there have been few incidents of virus problems originating from the ebook industry, the ever-present threat means that some prospective readers are wary of downloading ebooks in this format.

Copyright © Tim Coulter. All rights reserved.

Tim Coulter is a consultant and software developer who helps netpreneurs to harness marketing technologies.

He is also the author of "ClickBank - The Definitive Guide" The Ultimate ClickBank Tutorial & Reference Manual.

http://www.clickbankrevealed.com/