achlipala/frap

Book on amazon Kindle?

Opened this issue · 7 comments

brando90 commented

I was wondering if there were any plans on releasing it there. Thanks!

achlipala commented

I've certainly thought about various more traditional methods of releasing the book contents, but I haven't taken any concrete steps toward them. Do you happen to know what goes into a Kindle release, if you already have a PDF/LaTeX?

elfi commented

There is a free tool called Kindle Create from Amazon. PDF and DOC(X) are supported input formats.

achlipala commented

Thanks for the pointer. I suppose the issue here is that, if I ever do want to publish even more traditionally, Kindle rights might be a carrot I can use to entice publishers, so there unfortunately may be some kind of zero-sum logic here.

elfi commented

If you do not wish a proper Kindle release in the Amazon store, any Kindle user can still easily upload the PDF to his/her Kindle device. It is as simple as sending the PDF to a dedicated email address. However, sadly, this process has two major limitations:

  • you can choose the upload the PDF as it is and then the result is just unreadably small, or
  • you choose an automatic conversion to the Kindle native format -- which fails on anything but a simple PDF content. There is no control or an error message.
brando90 commented

If you do not wish a proper Kindle release in the Amazon store, any Kindle user can still easily upload the PDF to his/her Kindle device. It is as simple as sending the PDF to a dedicated email address. However, sadly, this process has two major limitations:

  • you can choose the upload the PDF as it is and then the result is just unreadably small, or
  • you choose an automatic conversion to the Kindle native format -- which fails on anything but a simple PDF content. There is no control or an error message.

but Adam's book does exist as a PDF. Is it not possible to make it into a readable kindle format?

For me my main issue is that due to some vision issues, I cannot read a pdf on a normal screen for too long and kindle devices have proven to be a nice work around for me. Plus, it would be awesome to support Adam's work by paying him too of course, which I'd be more than happy to do. I do have the physical copy but as a academic in training I keep travelling and it's hard to keep the book at all times with me too.

brando90 commented

Kindle rights might be a carrot I can use to entice publishers, so there unfortunately may be some kind of zero-sum logic here.

I am curious, what does that mean? Is it not possible to publish it with MIT press in kindle? Why is it zero sum?

achlipala commented

Right: if an officially blessed Kindle version becomes available for free, then the chance to sell an authorized Kindle version is no longer on the table for a publisher.