Ebooks can be more than digital copies of paper books

The rapid growth of ebooks and ebook readers offers exciting opportunities to improve the book as a product. Publishers can enhance books with additional multimedia and background material of interest since the marginal cost of additional bytes is low relative to more printed pages. With ebooks the possibility exists to offer many more versions of the book, which cost prohibits in a print run. Authors or publishers can include things like maps and reference material. MacMillan announced they will sell a premium ebook version that includes extras that add value and context such as author interviews and reading guides.

"Macmillan, one of the nation's largest publishers, said it will issue books it expects to be best sellers in an enhanced electronic-book format, starting in the first quarter of 2010. The special editions, which will include author interviews and other material, such as reading guides, will carry a list price slightly higher than the hardcover edition. (Hardcover books typically list for at least $25, while e-book versions of best sellers can go for as little as $9.99.) The new e-books will go on sale on the same day as the hardcover. After 90 days, the special edition will be replaced by a standard e-book. ... "Our goal is to give the consumer what they want, when they want it, at a fair price," said John Sargent, chief executive of Macmillan, whose imprints include St. Martin's Press; Farrar, Straus & Giroux; Tor and Henry Holt & Co. Mr. Sargent said the company, working with its authors, will adjust the number of special editions it publishes based on market response." - from WSJ

Ibiograph does the same with our DayLife personal memory books - automatically adding valuable content that would be prohibitively costly in time or money in the print world. Once produced, your custom Ibio books can be printed, shared, or saved.