A Web PDF Book Converter
In the comments Stephen Duplantier pointed me to Issuu.com as a tool for PDFs. Here is what he said in email:
I live in Costa Rica and publish my oversize journal for Central America, Neotropica, using Issuu.com.
Issuu.com converts PDFs into page-turning (or static one-at-a-time) magazines or books. The page turning is theatrical, but elegant. Fancy page-turning isn’t necessary, and issuu has an option not to display the magazine that way. I suppose it substitutes for the feel of a magazine while we are in this transitional time.
The service is free, and they also have a for-pay version that has some advantages — mainly the removal of the sidebar ad listings of similar publications that are shown on the main site.
E-books on issuu is mainly a web experience. But a WiFi iPad could display the issuu-converted magazines or books quite well. This is a good provisional hybrid solution: let issuu store and display the files (and absorb the high traffic “expense” of PDF downloads) yet you can embed them in a website optimized for display on an iPad. You would get the benefits of some limited interactivity and high-end feel (page turning, embedded links to youtube videos/music, and of course links to 3rd party sites) for no iPad development time/costs. It takes some people a little time to get used to using it, but once they have the knack, it is easy.
I believe Issuu.com is located somewhere in Scandanavia or maybe Holland. There uptime is near perfect and the response time never lags because of any server queuing.