Ebooks have taken the world by storm. In the past few years, the headlines have been filled with news about several new ebook readers that have been selling like crazy. It has been a long time since so many people have been this excited about reading. It's easy to understand why; ebooks are a huge step forward, allowing virtually anyone the ability to publish an ebook. Many people are a bit confused as to what makes a piece of writing an ebook.

What is an Ebook?
The short definition for an ebook would be any written work that could be printed, such as novels, textbooks, or any other conventional book, but is stored in a digital format. Since most things are written on computers these days to start with, that means that there are really no limits to what an ebook is. If the idea or information can be captured on a PC, it could be distributed as an ebook.

While any electronic text document could be called an ebook, there are usually some distinctive factors that set an ebook apart from any written document. Some ebooks come packaged with a proprietary reader. These types of readers make navigating through the information simple. The drawback to ebooks published with their own software is that the software can be buggy or not work on all computers.

Many ebooks now come in the Portable Document Format or PDF. This file format was developed by Adobe with the ability to read a document on a wide variety of computers being the goal. PDF files have become the standard for documents to be read on multiple computers. The software to read the files is easy to install and also offers navigation tools. While PDFs are not the only kind of ebooks, they do compromise a lion's share of the market.

Adobe, and third party distributors, have tools that make it easy to convert nearly any kind of text document into a PDF. Microsoft Word is probably the most common word processor in use. It is simple to export a Word document into PDF format or into an HTML format for online ebooks.

Getting an ebook has the wonderful, added benefit of instant delivery. When you go online to buy a traditional, printed book, you have to wait for delivery. Getting an ebook, puts the information you want in your hands instantly. You can find the book you're looking for, pay for it online and be reading it in a matter of seconds. With a free ebook, you could literally click on a link and have the information in seconds. Ebooks are truly a revolutionary step forward for readers and publishers. Need some help with writing or publishing your ebook, contact Freelance Writing Desk [http://www.freelancewritingdesk.com/]