ePub format

[rob bynum 230]

I just want to start by saying that Paizo is making some great strides in a very challenging market. The RPG tabletop gaming market is difficult at best at the moment and I applaud you guys for your efforts.

I wanted to ask if you had thought about offering your products in the ePub format in addition to PDF? This question comes directly from my current position for a major firm and their new focus on mobile devices. Many of our customers have added this format and found the ROI well worth it.

In a market full of Apple & Google mobile devices, and others gaining momentum, it would be nice to see a forward thinking company like yours be a pioneer in this field.

I for one would take definite advantage of it.

Sincerely,
Rob Bynum

[TriOmegaZero]

That would require some serious work, to reformat the text into a coherent readable layout. They can't just port it over due to the artwork in the products.

[Disenchanter]

There was a post that made me think Paizo didn't want to get into this market because of the licensing.... Let me try and find it.

EDIT:: Here is the post. And I was wrong, it was the format that they were reluctant with, not the licensing.

[Daeglin]

The positions I've seen them state in the past for their various lines are:

Planet Stories - they don't tend to own electronic rights, therefore no ePub

Pathfinder products - tend to be graphic intensive which they feel the ePub format does not do justice to, therefore pdf

Pathfinder fiction - they will own the rights, the product is suitable for ePub format, and they are awaiting Apple releasing further information about using its Bookstore. I seem to recall them taking issue with the deal Amazon offered publishers in the past, and were hoping that Apple would be different.

[rob bynum 230]

Disenchanter wrote:

There was a post that made me think Paizo didn't want to get into this market because of the licensing.... Let me try and find it.

EDIT:: Here is the post. And I was wrong, it was the format that they were reluctant with, not the licensing.

I completely understand the issues with formatting existing content, and that is a difficulty, but going forward new materials can be created with all the formats in mind without to much of a problem.

This would be a worthwhile endeavor for the company from what I've seen with other companies. I just don't want to see them left behind when other RPG companies start realizing this untapped potential as well.

[rob bynum 230]

Daeglin wrote:

The positions I've seen them state in the past for their various lines are:

Planet Stories - they don't tend to own electronic rights, therefore no ePub

Pathfinder products - tend to be graphic intensive which they feel the ePub format does not do justice to, therefore pdf

Pathfinder fiction - they will own the rights, the product is suitable for ePub format, and they are awaiting Apple releasing further information about using its Bookstore. I seem to recall them taking issue with the deal Amazon offered publishers in the past, and were hoping that Apple would be different.

Thanks Daeglin,

That answers a lot of my questions and concerns. From what I've seen ePub can be used even for graphic intensive projects if you have good developers. I hope they find the Apple standards compatable, it would be nice to see an RPG in a more varied format.

[Bats Kabber]

I would even pay additional money (re-buy) some books to have in an e-pub format. The PDF versions do not play well with e-readers. I'd really love to have a "quick reference" on my kindle at the game table, so if they had to shave out the graphics, I'd be ok with that.

[Dale McCoy Jr]

Bats Kabber wrote:

I would even pay additional money (re-buy) some books to have in an e-pub format. The PDF versions do not play well with e-readers. I'd really love to have a "quick reference" on my kindle at the game table, so if they had to shave out the graphics, I'd be ok with that.

It's the tables that are the problem. They're next to impossible to do right on epub/azw format.

[Beckett]

I have most of the novels and short stories in epub, and they are fantastic. Much, much better than the PDF, I think, but I can also understand that the art/stationary <which Paizo feels are more important> and charts would make that difficult, not to mention that there are many devices that all use their own formats, to choose from.

I agree, I love the epub, but I do not see it being used for products.

[Erif_Neerg]

The reason I'm interested in ePub is for scalable fonts. Yes, i can zoom in on pdfs but then i need to scroll over to the left and then to the right, left then the right, repeat till you have to scroll to the top of the next column. It gets pretty frustrating after a while.

Also, ePub (when done correctly) breaks down files and makes it easy on a phone or tablet. A 96mb file like core book can be frustratingly slow to flip threw.

I do understand the limitation of tablets in ePub but as someone who just wants to read threw the main set of rules, i can look at them later (in the actual pdf file)