How do I sell access to view ebooks online to Smart Phone, Ipad, & Kindle users?

Hi folks,


I hope all is well with everyone.

I’ve recently completed an ebook that I will sell as a download. The ebook will be protected by file-locking security (probably through a service called Virtual Vault). This service, and all other file locking services I’ve researched only work on PCs, or with some Macs that can run windows. This leaves A LOT of potential money on the table.

There are a lot of people these days who’d rather read ebooks via other devices like their I-Phones, Androids, I-Pads, or Kindles instead of just on their PCs. I would really like to have something to offer these customers as well.

So my plan is to sell the downloadable ebook, then as an upsell item--------sell access to view the document online through a membership site set up. I would like for them to be able to view this document but block everyone from copying, downloading, or printing from this web page.


Here are the ideas I’ve come up with so far:


1.Make the web-page password protected through a program like Wishlist Member.

2.Maybe make the book viewable through a PDF-type view that allows them to search or scroll for their convenience (this would be a cool option to have, if I could still somehow protect the document from being copied and pasted via Internet Explorer’s “select all” feature).

3.Find a way to only allow access to the page through certain “registered” devices (Do I-Phones, Androids, Kindles, or I-pads have “IP addresses” that could be captured to somehow deny or allow access to my web-page? I have no idea.).


4.Lastly, if I do find a way to do this, what would be the most affordable way to manage bandwidth in order to ensure that my web-page traffic doesn’t crash my site? Bear in mind that they won’t be doing any downloading, just viewing, searching, and scrolling.


Of course, I know that there’s no way to ever completely protect a file from being copied in some way and given way for free eventually-------but I’m trying to maximize the scarcity of this product as much as I can initially. And I also want to make things convenient for potential customers who prefer reading ebooks using smartphones and other devices.

Has anybody here done this, or do you have any suggestions on how I might accomplish this?

As usual, I’d appreciate any input you may have on the subject.


Thanks.


VU365

 

Hello again.


Does anybody have any input on this topic? Or perhaps, could maybe point me to another resource that could help educate me on this?


Thanks.


VU365

 

To be honest VU365

the costs of DRM largely prohibit smaller scale parties from effectively implementing it. Perhaps one solution would be some custom iPhone / iPad / Android apps, but to be honest, that's probably more expense than necessary.

In all honesty, I'd do what you can to make it easy to buy your product and not worry too much about what your users do with it. People have this uncanny knack of being able to bypass DRM / copyright restrictions pretty much all the time..

 

Thanks twoD.

At the end of the day, it may all come down to me having to make a decision whether or not to put my book out as an act of "fear" or as an act of "faith". I recognize at some point that I have to have more hope that there'll be enough people buying it to overshadow the effects of people trying to steal it.

 

To be honest VU365, if I was you I'd focus almost entirely on building the best sales process I can. You'll always be able to police the piracy to some extents manually by requesting that files uploaded to rapidshare and megaupload get removed and it'll save you hundreds of dollars in DRM.

One of the great thing about not using DRM is that the pirates themselves may very well become future customers. If your product has affiliate links embedded, then regardless - you'll profit from everyone.