In the first part of this article, Introduction to eBooks, I outlined some of the benefits of transmitting information in this format; the main points being quick and economical delivery via downloading, security of information and rapid package development.

EBooks can also benefit any online business in a variety of ways, the most exciting being the viral marketing potential. Here's a scenario:

You own an online fishing tackle store and want to extend your market reach without investing huge dollars in advertising. Using an eBook generator software package, you could rapidly develop a document that contained a series of solid fishing tips. Each page would have the layout and feel of your website, which would familiarize readers with your brand. (See the article "Branding concepts").

Each page of tips would also have a message promoting your online store, and encouraging people to pass the eBook on to others. But it doesn't have to be just promoted from your site. I'm sure that many other online fishing destinations would be happy to offer your free eBook from their sites as well, as it would benefit their visitors.

If the tips in your free eBook were well presented, it wouldn't be long before the book was popping up all over the world - creating traffic to your site as people investigated the source of the book. Your excellent fishing tips would create credibility with readers, and credibility translates into sales over time.

To further encourage web masters to host your free eBook, you could offer them co-branding options, which would contain a few ads about their own sites.

Creating eBooks is easy

So how long does it take to compile an eBook once you have your pages authored? Approximately 3 minutes, with the click of a few buttons. It's pretty straightforward with the software that we are currently using. And the cost of the software? The package we purchased costs $97, which is a very reasonable price considering the range of features and we can create as many eBooks with it as we like. We are not required to pay royalties on each book that is created.

In our search for economical software for creating basic eBooks, we examined many different packages. We settled on the EBook Generator software, developed by Armand Morin.

It wasn't just the package that impressed us, but the author's response times in pre-sale questions and his excellent after sales support. The features of the package include:

?Wizard for easy step-by-step creation of EBooks - A book can be compiled in a few minutes

?Compilation of an EBook as a solid .exe file - excellent compression.

?Compilation of EBooks with subdirectories.

?Source code protection (there is no "Save As" command) and other security features

? Icon customization (allowing using custom icons for your EBooks)

?Resizing of the compiled EBook to the preferred size.

?Button and Menu editor and a "co-brander" application

?EBook search function

? Excellent compression of the included HTML files in the EBooks.

?Supports Flash Files, Shockwave, JavaScript, DHTML, Audio, Windows Media, Midi Files

?Shareware option with registration key generation.

?Absolute expiration date.

?Custom About dialog and splash screens.

?Exclusive EBook Tracking Feature! LIFETIME eBook Tracking. Get statistics on the number of times your eBook is accessed!

?Free eBook generator software upgrades

?EBook Brander allows your promotion partners to brand elements of your eBook with their information

.. And many more software features...

Purchasing the EBook Generator software now means that you will qualify for free upgrades as they are released. As a bonus, you also receive a number of eBooks that will assist you in developing and marketing your products.