The Sony Electronic Book Authoring System (SEBAS) is a software package which creates Electronic Books (EB) compatible with the Sony Data Discman. The process is described in detail in Bonime's "Sony Data Discman: Authoring for the New Platform."
After text has been converted to ASCII format and corrected for spelling, grammar, and so on, it is tagged with SGML codes and linked to graphics and audio. A batch process reads the SGML tags and converts the document to EB format. After the creation of a standard directory tree, the result is mastered. This may be done either at a Sony facility (for a fee) or internally with formatting software (sold by Sony), output software (sold by Sony), and blank CD-WO media (sold by... Sony). SEBAS itself costs $9,000, and requires the signing of not one, but two agreements. The first consents to non-disclosure of SEBAS technology; the second contains the royalty structure.