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By David Rothman

Billboard for Mike Banks' book

Perhaps e-books will be a hit when they’re finally popular enough for even E originals to be touted on billboards on I-75 South, across the Ohio River from Cincinnati. A coauthor of Crosley: Two Brothers and a Business Empire That Transformed the Nation, a p-book, is Michael Banks, who wrote for the TeleBlog on Amazon and e-books.

Hmm. A little connection? Can’t you imagine a Minority Report-type scenario in which the billboard changes, as you whiz by—according to what Amazon perceives as your most likely e-book purchase in the near future? Just try to keep your eyes on the road.

Mike, by the way, is author of a forthcoming book on blogging, to be published by Wiley, one of whose publishers, Joe Wikert, is a big fan of the Crosley bio.

And speaking of graphics…beyond billboards…

Check out Designing E-book Covers, in the Book Design Magazine blog, and Joe Wikert’s reaction to it. Also see A better way to do e-books, in the design blog. Here are some noteworthy observations from the blog:

“We would like to call for e-book authors not to request an e-book cover that resembles a printed book. You don’t need that. If you want that, then we’ll design it for you but think about why you feel the need for it. What you need, as with any cover, is a compelling design. Indeed, with an e-book you also need a very well designed Web page. Far too many e-books are promoted from poorly designed Web sites.

“Also, we would like to see more e-book authors pay attention to the layout and formatting of their interior pages. There is a lot that can be done in PDF. And e-book authors should also provide a preview of a few pages to prospective buyers. With just a little more work, by making a quality product, a quality e-book, you surely can sell more than if you just go for the quick buck from the unsuspecting, naive consumer. Let’s see more quality from e-books.”

 
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