Don't ship large ePub/Mobi ebook files
Do you sell ebooks directly on Gumroad or on your website? Don't ship large ePub or Mobi files, they may make it impossible or impractical for readers to load the files in their reading apps.
Here's an example of an ebook I bought on Gumroad and available in PDF, ePub, and Mobi format. I'd like to read it on my Android phone and tablet.
My ePub reading app, Google Play Books, is ubiquitous on Android. It can sideload files up to 100 MB, but the ePub version of the book has a size of 105 MB.
I can't use the Kindle Android app via Send to Kindle because the book's Mobi file is 33 MB. Gmail, along with most other email clients, can't send attachments over 25 MB. For larger files, Gmail sends download links that don't work with Amazon's automated Send to Kindle system, which can't click links. Also, Gumroad doesn't provide a Send to Kindle button for the file the author supplied.
This leaves the PDF file. However, I can comfortably read it only on the desktop.
Whenever possible, keep your ePub files under 100 MB and Mobi files under 25 MB. I'm not familiar with Apple Books but I guess it places similar size restrictions on sideloaded ePub files.
Thanks for this reminder. As a reader, I definitely tend to just avoid books that are too big altogether because it’s off putting having to read on desktop. I use mobile almost 80% of the time for reading. As a soon to publish writer (e-book) this is useful to remember :)
I also use mostly mobile for ebook reading. But I want a book to synchronize across all platforms because I occasionaly read on the desktop (e.g. books with source code and wide code blocks).
Exactly the same! Especially when the source code is clickable and linked to a Github and you want to check it out on console.