EPUB is a file format for electronic books invented by the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF). The IDPF is a trade group of companies in the digital publishing industry. There are more than 200 members in the organization from countries around the world.

The current EPUB format is 2.01. Over time, the IDPF has been working to update EPUB. They recently released a preliminary version of a specification for EPUB 3, which is intended to replace the current version 2.01.

EPUB is important to publishers and authors because it has become an industry standard. Most online stores that sell e-books require the use of the EPUB format. Also, most electronic reading devices are compatible with EPUB books. One big exception to this is Amazon. Amazon Marketplace sells eBooks in AZW format and Amazon Kindle does not read EPUB books. This does not mean that the EPUB standard should be ignored. Instead, it means that ebooks must be published in EPUB and AZW format.

The EPUB 3 standard includes a number of improved features compared to the current EPUB 2.01. For example:

• EPUB 3 will include support for embedding audio and video files. It will allow the use of video and audio tags from HTML5.
• EPUB 3 is based on the latest versions of CSS (CSS3) and XHTML (XHTML5).
• EPUB 3 will allow mathematical formulas to be displayed on reading devices as content. Previously, formulas were displayed as images.
• EPUB 3 will include significant enhancements to accessibility features. These features can be beneficial for most users. For example, audio features can be useful when someone gets into your car to drive.
• EPUB 3 will allow resizing images at the same time as resizing fonts.
• EPUB 3 will allow the synchronization of audio with text.
• EPUB 3 will include enhanced scripting features that will enhance the reader experience.
• EPUB 3 will include support for global languages.

The practical effects of EPUB 3 features will be significant. There will be a huge increase in multimedia books that contain rich media content such as video clips, audio clips, and interactive features such as radio buttons. Authors of educational books may include assessment tests that track reader responses. Multi-column layouts will be easier to display on different devices. A reader will be able to click on a footnote number, and the footnote will appear in a popup instead of taking the reader to a different page.

Future eBook reading devices will offer better capabilities to allow them to take advantage of the new features of EPUB 3. Over time, multimedia eBooks will become the norm. This will open up new opportunities in interactive advertising.

Now is the time to start thinking about these changes. It is important to be at least one step ahead of the competition. In fact, expert eBook publishers are already implementing a number of multimedia features, even with today’s EPUB 2.01 format. As the EPUB 3 format gains ground, these features will become common.

For e-books already published in the current format, converting them to EPUB 3 is optional. All EPUB 3 reading devices will support EPUB 2.01 books, so no conversion is necessary. On the other hand, some publishers will want to take advantage of the additional features that EPUB 3 offers. EPUB 3 features will change what readers expect from e-books, and conversion to EPUB 3 may be a necessity for certain types of books. , such as children’s books, to remain competitive in the marketplace.

Converting ebooks to EPUB 3 format is not an easy task, especially if the books contain multimedia content. It is important to have the necessary technical knowledge to do the job well. Additionally, each eBook must be physically tested on all applicable reading devices. These tasks are best left to a professional eBook conversion company.