IMO much depends on the subject matter of the e-book.
Books have
personalities.
And the visual design should reflect that.
You would not want to use the same dimensions/fonts/layouts for everything. Because a book of poetry, or a collection of essays, would greatly benefit from a design quite different from one which might otherwise be perfect for a technical handbook.
(Note: this is considered
very old-fashioned in some circles.
)
One challenge will be to anticipate which hardware platform the e-book will be read on. Because hardware will not only have a huge impact on the aesthetics of the design - it will also, to a large degree, dictate what's
possible. An e-book that looks good (and is doable) on an iPad won't be the same as one destined for a Kindle or standard computer monitor. Especially when it comes to font metrics, geometry, and the treatment of whitespace.
Despite arguments (and wishful thinking) to the contrary - one size does
not fit all when it comes to e-books. So you'll also need some idea of which platform you're most likely to be read on. If I were to hedge, I'd go with designing for the iPad and Kindle at this point in time.
But to address your original question, right now I'd have to say my answer is:
None.
I have not seen
any e-book layout that I thought was 'good' as in "visually pleasing" or "pleasant to read."
But that's a fairly typical occurrence whenever a new presentation format gets introduced.
The 'best' of the lot were merely readable. The remainder ranged from mildly annoying to completely unbearable. There was nothing in the experience to make me feel the print book is threatened by anything other than the book industry's desire to go "totally electronic" as soon as possible.
Eventually, we'll discover what works and see format standardization set in. Once that happens, book designers will finally have something static enough to
design around.---
So...
What sort of subject matter will you be
e-authoring?
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+1
) and some painful ones (ME - whatever where they thinking?). Glad I didn't have to see that headache again. I still get nightmares. Surprised he didn't do WFWG however, since that was the Win3 most "smart money" went with.
)
) I've ever had a project fail on me was when I went into one without a clear set of goals and a definition of what would constitute a successful completion.