A conventional printed book nowadays has a digital equivalent. Electronic book or commonly known as e-book is one of the popular digital media of the modern days. With the surging popularity of internet and information technology and the conventionality of personal computers, e-book has become a popular mode paving the way for electronic literature.

What can be read on printed books can also be accessed on a wider screen. E-book can be viewed using a personal computer or an e-book reading device. The e-book device that can be found these days is the one introduced by Amazon.com. E-book can also be accessed in some wireless devices such as mobile phones, PDA and mobile mini computers.

E-book has certain advantages to readers and likewise to producers of e-books. For readers of e-books, it would be much easier to store a hundred or a thousand of e-books in one CD as opposed to keeping printed books in several shelves which can consume an area of physical space.

Some readers are likely to find e-books to be more convenient than conventional books. Those who have difficulty reading on printed books because of smaller texts can be benefit from an e-book’s feature to be easily adjustable in terms of text size and font face. In addition, it is possible to read e-books in total darkness or in low light. The light of the computer screen can be relied in reading e-books while the back-lit of a wireless device is the factor. Further, one can take advantage of text-to-speech software that can be utilized to convert e-books to audio books.

Readers can find reading on e-books to be much more comfortable than to hold and read pages in a paperback. An e-book can be viewed on a wider screen that can be considered by many to be just one page when an e-book is read. This allows the e-book to be read in many angles.

Replicating an e-book can cost almost nothing. Copies can be made with just a few clicks and in great quantity as needed or desired.

A literary work found in a digital device or equipment can be stored in certain devices and can be distributed rapidly. Industrial nations and in some developing economies where Internet has become ubiquitous, the distribution of e-books is not anymore a problem. One can distribute a copy of an e-book to a colleague or friend from a distant location.

Another advantage of the presence of e-book is that bookworms may no longer have to go to a bookstore to buy a copy of the new or old works of their favorite authors. Searching the e-books on the Internet may only be the thing to do to get access to the coveted works of the favorite authors.

The use of e-books may eliminate the possibility of paper wastes and could even omit the cost of using inks and other needed materials to produce a published book. While conventional books are prone to wear and tear, e-books eliminate this disadvantage.

For the writer and producer of e-books, the process of making literary works using the digital devices may not take that longer. Writers can benefit from cross-reference capabilities and search using the digital means to produce e-books.

Moreover, when producers of e-books are done with their books, the distribution of the works can not take much longer. A writer can market his works at online stores where he can benefit from the sales of paid downloads. The quantity of e-books to be reproduced may be unlimited. If the e-book is protected by a copyright law, book authors can earn royalties indefinitely.

One major drawback of the presence of e-books for authors is that their works can be easily modified, hacked and distributed without their approval.

Another setback is that, when a different format is used in making an e-book, other readers cannot gain access from it if the format is not available on their computer or wireless device.

Though it has certain drawbacks, e-books have become more convenient and increasingly conventional to readers who have access to the Internet.