Obviously, your print book isn’t the right format for sharing video clips. The best you can do is list the link to that super awesome video about the llama eating the boy’s head in the Appendix and hope that the reader is motivated enough to look it up later.

There are some options for including videos in the ebook world however. The simplest is to include a link to the video hyperlinked in the text. When the reader clicks on the link, he or she will be taken to where the video is hosted. After watching, she or he can click back to the book and continue reading.

A second option is to embed your video into the ebook. When the video is embedded, it will seem to the readers that they are watching them in your book, but in reality they are watching them on the page you are linking to, like YouTube or your website.

You should check copyright restrictions for videos that you wish to include that are not your own and include appropriate credits. Embedding videos also adds to the file size of your ebook. Amazon charges delivery fees on some international marketplaces based on the file size of your ebook. If you optimize your videos, the file size will be smaller.

Some ereaders don’t have the capability to view videos, like the Kindle Paperwhite. On the other hand, Kindle Fire and iPads are fully able to incorporate video and audio as part of an ebook reading experience. These new and improved books are often called enhanced ebooks. If the ebook has things the reader can do, such as complete quizzes, or make the bunny jump out of the hat with the touch of a button, the text has graduated to the realm of interactive ebooks. Many children’s books have been designed to be interactive.

In order to create an enhanced or interactive ebook, you’ll need some special software. Some programs allow you to import your book file into the new software and add the interactivity. Other programs require you to write directly in the software program for it to work. Amazon also has an enhanced ebook software program embedded in the Kindle Create system. Amazon calls them Print Replica eBooks.

I have yet to create an enhanced or interactive ebook, so the how-to is a bit beyond me at the moment. If you’d like a good overview of the dos and don’ts check out the article: How to create an interactive enhanced ebook: a step-by-step guide.