It’s no secret that e-books are slowly taking over the publishing industry… and for the past few weeks, we’ve touched base on the latest craze in the world of electronic books—enhanced e-books.

To recap, what in the world is an enhanced e-book?

Instead of just black and white numbers and letters printed on the page, or embedded since we’re talking electronically, enhanced e-books also include multimedia files (PDFs, images, videos, and audio files) within the e-book itself.

With this explanation, some may still be asking what in the world an enhanced e-book is… and that’s okay; they’re not alone.

Previously, we used these three examples:

1. Say that Abby the Author hand-drew art that she wants to include in her story, giving the book another form of visual appeal.  She can do this now.
2. Say that Rocky the Rocker wants to include some of his popular hits within the text of his autobiography for the reader, allowing his fans to actually hear the music instead of only reading the lyrics.  He can do this now.
3. And say that Cathy the Cook wants to include actual video footage of herself preparing meals in the kitchen inside her e-cookbook, instead of only listing the recipes for her chefs-in-training.  She can do this now.

Sounds cool, right?

We think so.

But how do we get started?

Last week, we talked about the most basic file type for enhanced e-books, images, and PDF files.  Today, we want to begin the discussion of the next two—audio and video.

Before we dive in, know that adding audio and video to an e-book can be very tricky, and there are a few “rules” a writer should consider prior to inserting these files into his or her e-book.

Rule #1 – Not all readers/devices support audio and video

What??  That’s right; older devices in the Kindle and Nook family will not play multimedia audio and video files.

Ugh…  So which devices do?

In general, the iPad (ePub format), the Nook (ePub format), the Kindle Fire (KF8 format), and the Kobo VOX (ePub format) are the devices that will play audio and video files.

This rule may play a major role in an author’s decision to use audio and video because most writers want to create a single e-book file that can be used with all readers; but as we’ve learned over the last several posts, this is becoming almost impossible and creating a file for each reader is becoming more of “the norm.”

Rule #2 – Not all file types will work

If the author has moved past the first rule and is ready to produce files for each reading device, he or she will need to consider the rule of file types.  There are a ton of different video file types users are familiar with today (AVI, MOV, WMV, etc…).

But for the most part, M4V (MPEG-4) files for video formatted with H.264 is the best file for all devices, including the iPad.  This format compresses nicely with regards to file size and works with the video controls (including the ability to control sound, full screen choice, and forward/backward/and pause features) of video-supported devices.

For audio, the best file is the familiar MP3 format.  This file format is universal to all players and allows audio controls (similar to video controls) for playback.

Come back next week when we continue our series about multimedia as a part of publishing and discuss the third and fourth rules a writer should consider prior to deciding whether or not inserting audio or video is right for his or her e-book.