I am not sure how many of you here have come across Art books. I had seen quite a few when I was a bit more than a kid at one of my parent's friends house. Then, it had been just a sense of wonder with which I had thumbed through the pages.

Time passed, and I could not give much of my attention to the hobby of art. Those days when I went through the Art Books were almost forgotten, until lately when I came across a review on 'EXPOSÉ 4' Ballistic Publishing at a random website. Reading through that review, led me to the actual selling page of Ballistic Publishing. Going through the page gallery, I looked through the different pages I would get if I bought that book. And to my surprise, I saw many artworks that I recognized. These were some of the artwork by veterans at the art forums I frequent. And this was the time, I remembered those days I would go through all those art books at that almost derelict home library.

This time though, I have a bit of different perspective in terms of these Art Books. I wonder how exactly the copyrights and the contracts are handled by the different parties - the publisher as well as the various different artists that contribute with their artwork. How does the business model tick?

Moreover, lately - I too have been thinking in similar terms. I had been chatting with co-AstaHoster, m^e, and we were discussion over giving freebies of artwork away at our blogs. For example, at my blog, I write about Design and Art, almost as frequently as I write about other topics. And I naturally thought, I could put my 'digital' brush to use and give something for my visitors.

What does this have to do with that Art Book by Ballistic Publications, you may ask.

Well, I was thinking, how would a business model of a digital art book in the online form run? At least theoretically, how would it work? Could it work at all? Too many questions and I know there is Google Search Engine that might answer me - but you see, I am a bit lazy.

If any of you can shed more light on it, that would be great. May be another perspective?

Note: No. I am in no way affiliated with Ballistic Publications. There might as well be other publications, but this was just the one that I came across that sold digital art books. I am still contemplating on buying it - the hard cover EXPOSÉ 4 costs $60 (ok $59); quite a large sum where I live in.

Well, in a sense there are many online galleries that could be described as a sort of digital art book. Are you thinking of one that actually has turning pages and such? There are some flash sites out there doing that and I think even some free tutorials about building them. I am guessing though that you are maybe trying to figure out other forms in which this digital art book could manifest itself in the online world.

Hmmmm. foolakadugie, not exactly. I mean, you did give a new perspective that I did not think aboout.

I was more on the terms where, I would work on compiling the artworks of an artists (or more than one artist), based on a theme and then make a PDF document out of it. These PDF document would, in priciple be similar to the traditional artbooks.

I was wondering how the business model works out in terms of traditional artwork book (for example, the 'EXPOSÉ 4'). In terms of different nuances - one for example would be on what lines the copyright contract would be between the artists and the publisher.

I understand that the business model works for traditional art books - I just want to understand how the work and their intricacies.

On the other hand, I was also pondering over whether the same model would work in terms of e-Artbooks. Would people buy it or not? Or would we require to do some changes in the way how it works?

I suppose it might be approached similarly to the process of making a physical art book. I think it might also depend on who is being featured and wether all the artists agree to the same term or if the copyrights/royalties/etc need to be dealt with on an individual basis. Some lesser known artists may just like the exposure and not require compensation.

I suppose people would buy it if the art interested them. People buy other ebooks, so I don't see why they wouldn't buy an e-artbook, as long as they KNOW about it and see some samples or listing of the art/artists included.

I receive a free subscription to a PDF magazine regarding design and video production, etc (Creative Cow). Sometimes they also mail me a physical magazine too. I think they make their money, or at least break even, with their advertising. The magazine hasn't been around for long, but the website has been quite established for a long time. Even so, the magazine seems to be getting a decent number of readers.

here in this Topic we shall give links for books and records code snippets etc that will be useful for development of fellow Programmers. Add Reply soon i will add some ebooks' links ...more

http://www.mzworld.com Http://www.mzworld.com/ebooks List of Free E-books OS Programming Programs etc http://www.ce ...more

I'm sure most of you read ebooks during weekends or late at night when you get some time before going to bed. I also prefer to read the ebooks during this time. I don't prefer kindle or other special ereader devices because i carry mobile with me all the time. So i thought it was worth getti ...more