My ebook is over 244 pages and 9MB compiled!!.It has lots of pics and illustrations. It's a book about fitness with pics of how to perform exercise etc. I have a high speed connection so it only takes me 1-2 min. Is this considered too big of a file for downloads?
I would say this is on the big size. If you can't make it smaller, I'd consider splitting it into 2 or 3 books. I know that I wouldn't like to download a 9 mb e-book on dial-up (3 X 3Mb would be okay for me)
I suspect the large size stems from the images. If you are prepared to do some work on optimizing the images using a paint program, you probably can dramatically reduce the size. Seehttp://www.ebookcode.com/tips/smallimage.htm
There are some more tips in the Reference section of the Help on e-book size
Quote: I'd consider splitting it into 2 or 3 books. I know that I wouldn't like to download a 9 mb e-book on dial-up (3 X 3Mb would be okay for me)
I suspect the large size stems from the images.
I guess 3 books would be better. Just that then I need a password for each book and I can't figue out how to get password for one!! Still reading up on it.
yes it has over 100 images...so I'm sure I could reduce them a bit.
I have just compiled an eBook that is 7.044 MB The problem is: when I open the eBook, the password protection feature does not work, it just opens without me having to enter a password and I have access to all pages. The key symbol remains active. Any ideas on this?
Hi, I've also been thinking about eBook sizes. The one I'm working on is a bit over 2MB - after compressing graphics etc - and I was worried that this might put people off. I cannot sensibly split the book, or cut bits out (it's a step-by-step guide).
I did a survey on my website where I asked what would people be comfortable downloading. The response varied form 'anything - no problem, I've got broad band' to '500kb max - I'm on an old system' - and since Activ eBook will be over 500kb with just one page, THAT'S a non-starter! It showed me the spread of computers to satisfy out there. It's a comfort to hear 3MB is considered acceptable already.
But then I reasoned another way: download speed and capacity is getting bigger. My 2MB now (and your 9MB) will be peanuts in the not too distant future, and I didn't going to compromise I wanted in the short term what I wanted to achieve.
And think of the eBook file size as soon as we put the video clips in. It's a problem now, but not for long I think.
Another thing to think about is why would anybody download anything? It's because they are motivated. So you need to get across that fact that it is really worth their while to download such a big file - quality as well as quantity. If it was a subject I was interested in, and you told me your eBook and especially your graphics were fantastic and I'll not see anything like it, or better, elsewhere - I'd start to understand, even welcome, a big file.
Last point: splitting may be a good idea financially: selling 3 smaller eBooks at £X can easily work out better than a big one at £2X.
Just thinking, sorry if it's a little off topic. Chris
Hi. I read your original posting, and I, too, have encountered the "huge file" problem. My e-book is almost 10 megs in size.
In CD form, it opens in about 10 seconds in my old Pentium I machine (with 80 meg RAM) , and in ABOUT 7 seconds in my Pentium IV (with almost 700 meg RAM). I've got about 110 JPEG pictures in the e-book (it sells as a tourist souvenir item).
The images average about 80 to 90 kb in size, and are in the form of resized and compressed jpegs. I do have a couple of other larger files (a large, full-screen map), so this added significantly to the overall size.
I have had the opportunity to send (online) a couple of copies to customers who had some difficulty opening the ebooks. It turned out in both cases that their problems were related to their PCs, and not the ebooks.
What you could do is include a comment to your buyers saying that "this ebook may take a few seconds to load", so that they will know what to expect. If the buyer is aware of this possibility, and still wants the product, then he or she may be more patient and understanding.
By the way, I also tell my customers that if they want the ebook to load faster, they could copy it to their hard disk drive, where it will certainly load within a fraction of the time it takes to open from a CD.
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Still reading up on it.