The idea, explained Fatbrain CEO Chris MacAskill, is to allow books that are 10-100 pages long to be distributed for a profit. This is a way to get shorter works to market quicker. The company believes that longer titles are not suited to eMatter because most consumers won't want to read that much on a screen, but that improving screen and printer technology could change that. MacAskill emphasized that the present uses for eMatter are many.
Large publishers can use it as a promotional tool or to sell novellas and individual stories.
Some foreign sales, currently prohibited by high import and freight charges, will be facilitated. Magazines and newspapers can offer entire issues through eMatter. And authors can dispatch revisions and addenda in a secure and profitable way. Fatbrain's security measures were developed, in separate partnerships, with Microsoft and Adobe. Authors and publishers will be able to issue material as Microsoft Word documents or Adobe PDF files.