threepress: open source software for publishers

To coincide with the first launch of ePub books by a major publisher, I’m happy to announce the open beta of Bookworm, a web-based reader for the ePub ebook format.

Unlike most other ePub readers, Bookworm allows for full use of stylesheets and images, which is especially critical for technical books which include HTML tables and code samples.

Bookworm is free for us and open source under the BSD license; the code is part of the threepress project and is available here on Google Code.  Currently it should be considered beta software — this is especially true as new publishers begin to release ePub-formatted books in varying methods.

Please be patient if you encounter errors — detailed error reports are automatically emailed to me, but user bug reports are always helpful too.

There will be several major updates to Bookworm in the coming weeks, including:

1. Optimized layouts for mobile readers (including the iPhone)
2. Search within book content
3. Methods for sorting and managing one’s library
4. 100% compliance with the IDPF guidelines for ePub reading systems (in regards to XHTML 1.1 content)

For more information on Bookworm, please see our About page.