Well, I've printed the Kiseido Digital Bookshelf and don't mind it. Whether the book is cheaper than pdf depends on publisher. For the bookshelf, it's cheaper to get the pdfs even if you could get the books.

It's worth noting that the Kiseido books work well on devices like tablets because of the small page size. Robert, you might want to consider that; the page size, and the font size, of your first book are not as small.

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I bought your first book, which I likely wouldn't have done in PDF unless it was significantly cheaper.

What I have in mind are two things. First, the ability to click on a link, so that reading is not necessarily linear. Second, the ability to have pop-up windows for such things as definitions, short examples, or footnotes.

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Page size I am writing on A5 to keep the option of printing a book. Big font is 11 pt, example comments maybe again 10, diagram captions 9. I have chosen a different stone diameter though to make reading diagrams in PDFs easier.

I am not sure with what you compare "not as small". Aren't Kiseido books typically of about the same size? Some Ishi Press books were significantly smaller - so small that I would have to double numbers of pages, which is impossible for printing:)

Robert, thank-you for the options.

Nowadays I purchase digital copies whenever possible, so this is the format I would purchase your book in. As for digital format, I think that beginning with .pdf is a good start--perhaps you can add some more options as time permits. And for the price of a digital copy, please choose whichever amount you think is fair to yourself and buyers. I trust your judgement. Good luck : )

I think SmartGo books are settling on a cheaper price than paper equivalents, or at least some are. The Go Consultants is $7.99, Killer of Go is $9.99, The Heart of Go Series are $8.99/9.99 (vs. up to $27 in print!).

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The more I think about ePub and dynamic fonts the less I like it. It means that the author cannot show related and comparing information (like correct versus failure diagram) in the same row, unless he prohibits free text flow and introduces static elements again. IOW, 7" tablets or, ugh, smartphones are not the best choice for reading quality books.

I'd probably buy the pdf if it was cheaper - for me there's more of a risk it won't get read as a pdf so I would want a paper copy of I were paying the 'full' price. That said I'd be more likely to buy that pdf as an impulse buy since you get it instantly.

edit: I picked other, because I'd prefer both but paying less for the pdf.

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I am John. John-I-Am.

The risk is very low for PDF/A or PDF with a similarly basic file format functionality. If there is still any problem, then changing the PDF viewer (or updating it) and getting one without major bugs is easy enough. I have seen some PDF viewers having problems with Japanese fonts (unicode?) or interactive contents outside the PDF/A scope.

The Kiseido books are the smaller Ishi sized pages. Have you bought any of them? You should have a look; they work very well on different sized devices.

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My blog about Macs and more: Kirkville

The first typical Kiseido book I could find in my shelves, Making Good Shape, has A5 size (same as my books) and margins in mm top 8, bottom 10, outer 12, inner ca. 13. My books have greater margins: top 15, bottom 12, outer 14, inner 20. You claim the opposite but maybe you mean ONLY smartgo books, which I have not seen yet? I have meant printed books.

I would (and do) buy electronic books in the ePub format. I have not, and may not be as easily convinced to, bought something in PDF, because I never quite liked that format and find it more inflexible. I prefer it for the precise reasons (fonts) why you don't like it. But hey, you asked and you are the one wanting the customer's money (admittedly, that's inconvenient).

The books they sell digitally include All About Thickness, which is "Ishi" size, and Kato's Attack and Kill, which is the smaller size, like Lessons in the Fundamental. I think Breakthrough to Shodan is bigger, but I don't have that one.

Of course, you could have found that for yourself:

http://www.kiseidodigital.com/kdb.html

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My blog about Macs and more: Kirkville

I think he meant "risk" in a psychological (rather than technological) sense. I feel that way--a physical book taking up space on my desk or shelf is a constant reminder that I should read it. A file on my computer is easier to forget about. So for me, an e-book (in any format) has to be discounted for that risk (among other things).

Especially this is true of things requiring work to read, like instructional Go books. A PDF novel I might put on my phone and read on the bus, but not a joseki textbook. I think a reference book wouldn't have this problem, though.

yup, sorry for the ambiguity I meant I'm more likely to forget about it if it's just sitting on my computer rather than a physical thing I can carry around in my bag etc. I haven't really gotten used to reading books on my tablet pc either. I agree PDFs can be read on pretty much any computer.

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I am John. John-I-Am.

While I do not plan ePub any time soon, I am curious how it works. Currently I have some dense A5 whole page tables only with text in the cells. Increasing the font would mean that the table exceeds the screen in all four directions. How would such a table be viewed on a small screen? Another problem I see is comparing information in successive rows of two diagrams each, one left one right, and explaining text ("in the left diagram [...] "in the right diagram") in between. In other words, such layout comfort supporting the reader's understanding of contents would have to be destroyed and the text altered to allow also for flowing diagrams and texts in only one column. Is that how ePub works?

Regarding how stuff will look on a small screen: if it's PDF and it does not fit, my reader will zoom to fit to page, which means it becomes unreadable for too small fonts. Of course zooming is possible, but then you have to pan around the page, and again not everything fits on the screen at the same time. And i suggest you try doing that with an ebook reader, because screen redraw is not exactly instantaneous on eInk displays. Imagine scrolling through this thread when each screen refresh takes a second and you have to scroll vertically and horizontally to read each post.
This means ePub (or other formats that allow appropriate pageturns) are the only real option.

So i agree with your sentiment that small displays suck, especially when you optimized the layout for a fixed size, which is pretty nice.
Regardless of that, sticking to PDF is not a solution and will result in a worse experience than a format that allows the page layout to change.

So it seems that easy layout go books can be written for every file format while for advanced layout go books small screens are hardly a serious option for both authors and readers.

I just voted for the good old book.

I read very often in your newest book Joseki/Strategy, but that is nothing i want to do via a normal screen. With an ereader like Kindle it would be perhaps a little bit more acceptable. But i often browse through the book. An ereader is too slow for this.