ABOVE: The cover of Venice for Rookies, which is available in formats for computers, smartphones, and e-readers such as Kindle, Kobo, and Nook.

Although we publish the Web's leading travel-planning site about Venice, Venice for Visitors, we're also big fans of guidebooks--if only because outrageous data-roaming charges often make it impractical to browse the Web on a phone or other mobile device while you're walking around a foreign city.

Of course, guidebooks have weaknesses of their own: They're often out of date (many guidebooks are updated at two- or three-year intervals), and they can be a nuisance to carry around, especially if you're on a multi-city trip. That's why e-books can be appealing:

• An e-book lets you store the contents of a guidebook on your laptop, mobile phone, or tablet, and...

• If the e-book is both written and published by the author, there's a good chance that the guide will be updated more often than a large publisher's printed guidebook (or its electronic edition) might be.

A good example of a self-published e-book from an author who's devoted to her topic is Venice for Rookies, by Bianca Reyes.

Ms. Reyes, a former event coordinator for the International Monetary Fund, decided to write her own electronic guidebook to Venice after moving to the city in 2008. The resulting e-book draws on her twin passions--Venice and budget travel--and contains 170 pages of useful information on everything from restaurants and bars to self-guided walking tours.

As you can see from the following snippet, Bianca Reyes is an engaging writer with a sense of humor:

Ms. Reyes is also an author who believes in delivering value for money, as you can tell by browsing this list of topics in Venice for Rookies:

Venice for Rookies is available online at www.travelrookies.com, from Amazon, or from iTunes.

The price is US $9.99, or about the same as you'd pay for e-books from mainstream publishers. Formats include PDF and EPUB or MOBI with or without photos.

(A chart on the Travelrookies.com Web site will help you select the right format for your laptop, tablet, smartphone, Kindle, Nook, Kobo, or other device.)