This debate has been going on since the start of the digital book revolution, and today we shall get to the bottom of it and decide on a definitive answer.
Personally, I use the spelling eBook, why? Because I think it looks classier and fits in with the whole Internet “e” think, like eCommerce, for example. However, this is just my opinion, and others do disagree.
The Oxford English Dictionary entry is spelled e-book, but when you go to the AskOxford site it is spelled ebook.
Merriam-Webster, on the other hand favors e-book, and The Chicago Manual of Style uses e-book in its index.
I couldn’t find a version in the Penguin Writer’s Manual.
So, if we listen to the standard sources, it looks as if e-book is the correct spelling. Or is it?
A scout around the Internet reveals that my spelling is very popular. There is even an online store called eBooks.com, and the ad for the Microsoft Reader uses eBook.
The MS Word editor doesn’t agree with me, and only recognizes e-book as a correct spelling.
But, I state my case again! There’s a Sony eBook Store and Barnes & Noble calls them eBooks, too. There is, however a problem with “eBook,” and I suspect this is why the OED and other academics stay away from this spelling. If you want to start a sentence with “eBooks” you will be ommiting the capital “E,” a cardinal punctuation sin.
Regardless of what the OED says, or the CMOS, I am inclined to follow those who make, market and distribute eBooks on a daily basis, because they are leading the industry standards. Academics aren’t always right, are they?
