Electronic Publishing

What does Electronic Publishing mean?

Electronic publishing refers to the many different ways that publishers or others can publish books, articles or other types of literature as digital content.

• Electronic publishing can be done in many ways. There are now standard conventions for  e-book publishing, where digital versions of authored books are distributed through proprietary e-reader designs like the Amazon Kindle or other designs by Barnes & Noble, Sony and others. There are also a range of digital magazines and publications available over the Internet or web-published to computers or mobile devices.
• Electronic publishing is a term that can be confused with desktop publishing. Desktop publishing is much more of a term for the technique of creating and designing materials in a digital work space. Electronic publishing is simply the new arm of the publishing world where literature is published, not in print form with physical pages, but in a digital form where it must be accessed in specific ways. The quickly emerging world of electronic publishing has brought its own payment models, consumer markets and professional roles, but the big controversy is whether electronic publishing will fully eclipse print publishing, or whether the two will continue to contend for readers. 

• Until recently, the only means of publication was through the medium of printing and paper distribution. The high cost involved in paper publications meant only written work that is able to appeal to a fairly large audience was published due to the economics of print runs and first copy costs. The cost of Publishing and the associated distribution and marketing costs also meant authors had no other viable alternative to relying on professional publishers to publish their work. 
• The developments in information technology since the early 1990 's offered the possibility of online communication and electronic distribution of research findings more cheaply, timely and equitably than Publications. At this point the academic and scientific community was ready to embrace and experiment with the new medium.