Many have yet to discover that Amazon has its own App Store. Similarly, many do not know that you can actually list ebooks as apps on Apple’s App Store or Google’s Play Store. There are many decisions to make that will affect your goals significantly; the tools to use, the app stores to target, deciding between paid vs free, ads vs no-ads, etc.

As a successful case study filled with lessons learned, we are showcasing Clearer English, a series-based ebook app to teach conversational English to foreigners. Matt and John, the founders behind Clearer English, have taken a long journey to end up using Kotobee to create their educational language-learning ebook apps.

Matt and John established Clearer English in early 2015, and have been actively teaching thousands of users through their apps on the Apple, Google and Amazon app stores. They strongly believe that publishing their content to the various app stores is the best way to effectively reach as many users as possible, and it seems to be working perfectly for them.

Their apps are beautifully designed to tell stories, ask questions and engage readers in fun ways to effectively increase their linguistic skills, even on the go. So let’s ask them how they did it.

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A widget is an application that can be added to an interactive ebook allowing users to perform certain functions or access services as part of their reading experience. Each widget is designed to add features to the ebook and increase the ebook’s interactivity and usability.

There are several forms of these widgets that we have, by now, all become familiar with, including embedded slideshows featuring images from external websites such as Flickr. Other common widgets that feature regularly on device-readable pages include:

• Social media sharing, where users can share articles or items via platforms such as Facebook, Twitter or any other social media pages;
• Note taking capabilities, which let users add revision notes to their texts, which can be saved within the text itself;
• Quiz creators, which allow authors to develop quizzes and other test formats at regular intervals throughout the ebook.

There are many other widgets that are just as important to potentially include in your interactive ebook, and which can vastly improve the user’s experience. We think the following five widgets are the most important widgets you should include in your ebook.

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With the rise of ebook readers, EPUBs have become the stars of the show, endlessly flaunting their flexibility for reading on multiple devices. But are EPUBs and PDFs really that different from each other?

Both PDFs and EPUBs can be read via ebook readers and on computer devices – but because they come from relatively distinct backgrounds, the ways in which readers can view them are slightly different. Below are five pointers to when EPUB manuscripts trump their PDF counterparts, and why you should really consider publishing your ebooks as EPUBs.

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“Back to school” is a phrase we’re used to hearing this time every year. As the start of the new academic year rolls over, we’re presented with a handy list of events; book fairs, conferences, workshops and retreats that promise to cover all our literary needs.

Whether you’re a publisher, educator or writer, you’ll find something to tickle your fancy in this month’s compilation of 14 events for writers and publishers.

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Getting readers engaged has always been a challenge for authors and writers. Today, more than ever, there is plenty of competition between written materials whether ebooks, magazines, or even blogs amongst themselves as well. Now add visuals such as movies, series and TV shows.

With the fast pace of today’s life, readers have become more impatient than ever. If nothing grabs the reader’s attention and engages them, emotionally or intelligently, they will move on to the next interesting thing they find in no time. The average reader no longer has the patience to go on reading something that does not challenge them or make them think. They always want the book that keeps them engrossed into the reading process.

In other words, if the first few pages do not get the readers hooked, they (most probably) won’t keep going with the rest.

Luckily, that does not have to always be the scenario. There are, indeed, a few tips and tricks that could help the reader stay engaged and active hence, never give up on what they’re reading.

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With their colorful, moving graphics and ability to engage readers with information, interactive ebooks are confirming their place as the next generation of reading materials. It isn’t just about giving readers much more opportunity to engage with the information at their fingertips. It’s about making use of the technologies in our everyday lives to alter the way we learn and communicate with the world around us.

But the technologies involved in creating the most effective interactive ebook can sometimes get overwhelming. You’ll need to make sure you’ve got an effective grasp of all the technologies needed, whether it’s restructuring the layout and format to creating stand-out graphics and animations.

There are many mistakes that you see over and over again in interactive ebooks. The following 8 tips have been set out to help you avoid making the sort of technical mistakes in your interactive ebook that can ruin the reader’s experience.

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Modern education is no longer about asking the right questions. Instead, it has pretty much become commonplace to see educators handing learners the right answers on a silver platter.

Questions as a critical part of any learning experience have become a lost art – especially when education (and with that, learning new information) has shifted to solely passive listening.

Interactive ebooks have helped us come a long way in dealing with the information we find in front of us, especially when it’s about keeping it in our heads. When it comes to understanding what we read, the art of creating questions and incorporating them into an ebook has the benefit of making that information sink in with readers.

What better way to keep students on their toes and help the information stick than to include quizzes and self-assessments in your ebook?

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Thinking is so complicated. The very idea of thinking cajoles us into a state of confusion. What is it? Where does it come from? Why do you have great thoughts one second, then terrible ones the next? Why does thinking give us such inspiring experience but also drives us insane with possibilities of suffering?

Is there a way to channel these random thoughts and alternate moods to, somehow, harness that energy and direct it towards your writing?

This article is second in the series “Zen of Writing”. The previous piece spoke of the tools needed for writing, the next will be about how to be resourceful with the timing of your writing.

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August is that time of the year where everyone is preparing for the new academic year, and with that comes a barrage of interesting discussions of emerging trends. Between book fairs, publishing events, conferences and writers’ retreats, we list 10 top events in August 2017 that matter to authors and publishers across the globe.

This brief article will help you plan your month around what events you want to (and can) attend, as well as where to find more info on each event.

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When shows such as “The Dragon’s Den” or “How I Made My Millions”  started gracing our TV screens, watchers got a taste of just what it takes to start up a business. They also showed us just how ordinary people can become successful entrepreneurs and business owners given the right opportunity and the right business plan.

As a potential entrepreneur looking for your next big opportunity, you might not think that book publishing would repay the dividends you are looking for. But the continuing popularity of ebooks in our techie age does mean that there are potentially large opportunities in ebook creation, conversion and publishing that can be reaped given the right idea at the right time.

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