How To Present Large Ebook

[avermat]

So I am about to release a pretty large Ebook. I have built it like an offline website. People will view it in their web browser and select different pdf files they want to read/print. It has printable pdf files of various topics found on our website. The total file size is fairly large: 16mb - 30mb depending how many pdf files we include.

I'm not sure how this should be packaged. Originally we planned on just zipping the file. After wondering how many people actually know what to do with a zip file I started looking elsewhere - like making it an exe file.

My questions:
Would a zip file be a proper format and would it work with mac? Or do I need to zip it in a different way for mac?

Is it possible to make an application file which would install these folders onto the computer after they download them? Would that make the file size any less?

Just curious what people's general thoughts are on the best way for this to be downloaded.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[trooper27]

I think an exe file would be better - easier to operate with.

[ytswy]

zip will work fine on a Mac.

exe file might make people suspicious (of viruses) and would be Windows only.

[pageoneresults]

The total file size is fairly large: 16mb - 30mb depending how many pdf files we include.

That's a big chunk to download.

Have you done any research into the eBook programs that are available out there? There are many and they offer a variety of options.

[Grandmas Cookies]

a large e book requires a decent sales letter. Bare in mind that if you don't organize your content well and if you don't have an eye catching headline you don't stand a chance. I've seen how the change of a single word or rearrangement of a sentence can really make a difference.

[andye]

When you're making a PDF, you can control the resolution and compression level on the images within the PDF.

This would be a better way to reduce the file size (versus zipping the pdf), because the end user wouldn't have to do anything to uncompress it.

[jtara]

I don't understand why you want to complicate things by building web pages around a bunch of PDfs.

PDFs already HAVE (or can have) a table of contents and an index. By breaking it up into multiple PDFs, you significantly reduce usability, since then it isn't possible to search across the entire thing, won't have a unified index (unless you build it yourself in the HTML), etc.

The only possible benefit I can see is the ability to update parts of the document over time without having to re-download the whole thing.

I dunno much about creating PDFs. Can a PDF link to another PDF? If so, you can have your cake and eat it to. Ditch the HTML.

[JohnRoy]

agree with ytswy