Betting on Mobile Phones and PDFs

I'm betting my writing future on the assumption books and articles will mostly be read on mobile phones and (to a lesser extent) tablets.
 It's a no-brainer! Everyone has a smartphone and that is no exaggeration. According to the International Telecommunications Union, there are currently nearly seven billion mobile subscriptions worldwide. That is the equivalent of 95.5% of the world's population. By comparison, tablet sales so far in 2014 account for 270.7 million units.
 Every major report by statistical organisations, declares smartphones are read more than any other device, because they are always available. They're there in your pocket or purse, immediately ready to be read in the doctor's waiting rooms, commuting to and from work on the train, or just while enjoying a quick coffee break. Add to that, the ability to store hundreds of titles on them and, it's easy to see, smartphones and ebooks are a marriage made in heaven.
 The same cannot always be said for tablets or dedicated ebook-readers which are often too large to fit into a pocket or purse and more likely to be left behind.
 All of the major ebook retailers, including Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Oyster and Scribd etc., report that it is their Android and iOS app for mobile phones that gets most traction. These companies all know their customers are mostly using smartphones to buy and read digital books.
 But having to first download an app before a customer can read a book, and having to leave your website to do so, is risky business - the reader may never return to make the purchase!
I'm betting my writing future on the assumption books and articles will mostly be read on mobile phones and (to a lesser extent) tablets.

The good old PDF

 Enter the good, old, PDF format that works on any device and can be read with software that almost always is preloaded on digital devices.
 Everyone knows what a PDF is and what to do with it but trying to explain the differences between Epub and Mobi formats - or something even more exotic - can quickly kill a sale.
 A PDF is simple: download it, read it!
 But what of the criticism that PDFs display horribly on small screens? True - if the original document is not specifically formatted and designed to be read on small screen devices.
 Format a PDF as an A4-sized document and it becomes a nightmare to read on a small screen. But, if it is done right, from the get-go, the reading experience becomes slick, clean and pleasant. And it will display perfectly on laptops and PCs by simply "zooming out".
 Both "Hobson's Choice" and "Stories from the Heartland" are PDFs formatted to be read on mobile phones and tablets but also work perfectly on Amazon Kindles and other ebook-readers.
 If you'd like to see how a mobile-formatted PDF reads on your cellphone, tablet, ebook-reader, laptop or PC, you can download free samples of both "Hobson's Choice" and "Stories from the Heartland."