eBooks

Stopping People From Illegally Sharing Your Work

The other day, I realized that one of my main books had been shared illegally on the Internet. Anyone could just search for it and find it the first page of Google, and download it without paying.

Luckily, I was able to contact the owner of the website and sort out the situation.

But some other times, I’m not so lucky and there’s not much I can do to prevent some unscrupulous people from sharing my copyrighted material.

If you’re thinking of writing and selling your own ebooks, you’ve probably wondered about this issue. How can you prevent people from illegally sharing your work?

Before I answer this question, let me give you my point of view on copyright issues.

I am 100% behind the strict enforcement of copyright issues, which applies for any work an artist has created, including music, patents, software, movies, entertainment, books, etc.

These works represent the sweat of many, many hard-working people who deserve to get paid for what they do.

Over the last decade, there’s been a strong movement against copyrights, by Internet “Pirates” who have encouraged and enabled the illegal sharing of copyrighted material under the guise of humanitarian motives.

These anti-copyrights bums believe that copyrights have never been any benefit to “society” and serve to enrich a few at the expense of creativity.

To that I say: Complete nonsense!

The profit motive is an important factor in what drives human innovation and creativity. If artists and thinkers cannot make a living at what they do, they will go back to a boring job and never get to fully express the range of their abilities.

When an artist or innovator creates something that didn’t exist before — and that something can enjoyed in any form by many people in a way that improves and enhances their lives, they should be able to charge WHATEVER PRICE they want for it. And they should be able to be in total control over the distribution of their work.

People who complain that a certain book costs “too much”, that a company is “robbing” people by selling an item at a certain price, or that they shouldn’t have to pay for it, have a complete false of entitlement.

They live in a world where that “something” did not exist. Suddenly someone creates it, and wants to charge them X amount for it. No one is forcing them to buy it. If they don’t want it, they can say no. They can go back to the world they lived in before, in which that “something” did not exist.

If they want to enjoy it however, and enhance their lives, even if it’s just for a brief moment, why is that too much to ask that they pay their toll to the artist/innovator, who made it all possible in the first place?

Because of the law of competition, prices never can stay too high that their true worth, as long as other people are coming along to offer their own answer to the same problem.

All of that to say that it is 100% moral to protect copyrights, and 100% immoral to advocate the destruction of the copyright system.

If people enjoy the instant gratification of downloading something immediately, there are now plenty of options to do so legally. For example, I’m a big fan of Amazon’s Kindle for eBooks, or Apple’s iTunes for movies and TV Shows.

That being said, should you fear for your eBooks and products?

I’m actually not as worried as some people are when they first get started.

While you do not want your eBooks to be made available on file-sharing websites, there’s nothing you can do about people making copies and/or sending it to their friends.

Some people want to control everything by creating password-protected versions of their eBooks, or lock it in a special kind of software that can only be read using a key that can be disabled at anytime.

I find those restrictions too much of a hassle to create the type of experience your clients are after. If you try to make it too difficult, you’ll make the same mistakes the music industry made when they first started selling music, and actually encourage people to download your programs illegally.

I suggest selling your eBooks as simple, unprotected PDFs.

However, make sure that your download page does not show up in the search engines. There’s a simple line of code you can add to any download page that will make it “invisible” to Google. Most webmasters can do this for you.

Do not worry too much about protecting your work, since it’s not going to be a concern of yours until you become much more popular.
Once you’re well-known enough to be shared all over the web, it’s actually a good sign!

I personally don’t try very hard to protect my front-end products (by that I mean the entry-level eBooks that I sell), since they are just an entry point to the rest of my product line. Even if someone downloads them illegally, they can still be interested in the other products I have for sell!

However, if I see my books being distributed without my permission, I will intervene by contacting the owners of the website and getting the files pulled down, which has always worked.

At some point, I even had someone selling my eBooks on eBay, keeping all the profits and without my permission of course!

There’s also a big problem with file-sharing websites like Pirate’s Bay, that enjoy undeserved support from the public and who will probably remain unpunished for a long time. Of course, when one website closes down, a new one opens up the next week!

The best strategy for BitTorrents and similar unstoppable file-sharing schemes is to ignore them. The people who download (steal) your programs there wouldn’t have been your customers anyway.

If you’d like to know more on protect yourself from illegal downloads, make sure you subscribe to the Do What You Love Success Group, where next month I will be sending out a complete report on the subject, filled with tips and ideas to be ahead of the curve, but more importantly to know where to spend your attention, and where it’s a waste of time.

To subscribe, go to: www.dowhatyouloveuniversity.com/new.html

The following is a short excerpt from my monthly Do What You Love printed newsletter, exclusive to my Do What You Love Success Group members. To find out more about this newsletter and how to become a member to read the latest in-depth issue immediately, click here.

I recently got an eBook from Marlon Sanders, a great Internet Marketer that I’ve been following for many years. His program is called “The Writer’s Secret” and it’s basically one eBook that tells his philosophy for selling eBooks.

Marlon claims that he can usually release a new eBook to his list every 1-2 months, and that eBooks are his main source of income.

The eBooks he sells are often turned into different products and are not called “eBooks”, for example, he has several tutorial-types of programs called “Dashboards” that are basically web pages with little icons where you can follow a step-by-step plan for starting your online business. Each icon takes you to a web page where you can read about the particular step. He also has some video tutorials along the way.

How different is that from an eBook with video bonuses? It’s only the presentation that makes it different, and the branding!

Instead of calling these products, “eBooks”, Marlon calls them “Dashboards” and sells them for $79.95.

Marlon also sells actual eBooks such as the Writer’s Secret that I bought, or his popular Amazing Formula products. Again, it’s just an eBook but in order to boost the sale, he’ll often offer a series of webinars for about $300 for people who want to go more in depth.

Again, the webinars offer essentially the same information as the eBooks, but in a different format and live, which has more value.

One of Marlon’s reasonings for selling eBooks is that his market (Internet Marketing) is filled with people who only sell very expensive products, seminars and coaching programs. The price point is over at least $1000 for these products.

So Marlon differentiates himself by selling lower-cost eBooks and makes his money on the back-end with upsales.

In my own market, I found that most people sell relatively low-cost books and DVDs, so I’ve differentiated myself by selling higher-priced and higher-end programs such as big online courses.

However, I still find that eBooks SELL and as long as they are bundled with other forms of media and are not just labeled as an “eBook”, they can prove to be an important income generator for you.

The main advantage of eBooks for me is that they are pretty easy to create.

When I think about writing an eBook, I imagine myself relaxing on my bed with my laptop or even sitting outside and typing calmly as I hear the birds singing in the trees.

When I think about creating a DVD product or organizing a live seminar I imagine myself toiling at 110 degrees weather carrying big rocks to build a never-ending pyramid for a Pharaoh , while being whipped by the slave-master.

Well, not exactly! But the idea of creating a big event or a DVD program does NOT fill me with joy and anticipation.

On the other hand, I find writing easy and something I can do anywhere without stress.

Writing a couple thousand words a day is no big deal, and at that pace you could easily write and sell a new eBook every other month.

Of course, writing takes experience and that experience comes with practice. But if you can touch-type and you have a great idea, writing a 30,000 words eBook is really not that much trouble.

So, how many eBooks are you going to release this year?

In the last two weeks, I’ve been following very closely the launch of the Apple Tablet, unoriginally called “iPad”.

Unless you’ve been living under a cave, you know that there’s been a lot of hype around this tablet computer. In fact, one columnist at the Wall Street Journal said that “the last time there was so much excitement around a tablet, the 10 commandments were written on it!”

———————–
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In a typical Apple way, the marketing and anticipation around this product has been incredible. If you want to study how to launch a product, try to reproduce what Apple is doing in on a smaller scale, and you’ll be very successful!

iPad is launching on Saturday in the USA, and I must say I’ve never been as excited about a technology product as I am for this. I won’t be able to get one before the end of the month, but I can’t wait!

And more importantly, I’m very excited about where the eBook market is going, and I now believe that if by the end of 2010 you don’t have at least one or two eBooks for sale, you’d be a complete FOOL and you will be missing the boat in a major way. But more on that in a moment.

Why iPad Will Be a Game-Changer

A lot of people don’t really see how Apple could be successful launching what is essentially a “giant iPhone” and why this product is going to be revolutionary.

When I told a friend of mine, who’s also an Internet Marketer, why I was going to get an iPad, he predicted that Apple would fail with this product. He said, “I don’t really see the point of iPad. Try to sell it to me! You won’t be able to. It can’t everything a computer can, and it can’t fit in your pocket like an iPhone.”

My friend thought the only reason I would buy an iPad is because I tend to buy almost every product Apple makes.

Yet, I also believe my friend to be absolutely wrong and I’m 100% convinced the iPad will be a huge success.

First, why would you or anyone need a big multi-touch screen?

In a few words, it’s for the intimate experience you will develop with this device.

The iPad is essentially going to fill a need that isn’t filled by any other device at the moment.

It will serve as a content-consumption hub and practical mobile computer you can take anywhere.

People are going to use it to share photos with their friends, watch movies, write notes, surf the web on their couch — and do all these things that they could be doing using a computer, but in an experience that’s much more intimate and enjoyable.

The iPad is essentially a blank slate. The apps are going to make the device, just like the apps on the iPhone turned a “cool phone” into an indispensable device for many people.

eBooks and the iPad

One thing that people are going to do on the iPad is to read eBooks.

A few years ago, I thought that eBooks would soon be dead and be replaced by more exciting forms of media such as video.

And I was wrong!

Instead of dropping, eBook sales have increased! With the introduction of Amazon’s kindle, eBooks are more popular than ever.

But the problem with eBooks is that most people don’t really have any kind of device to read them.

The Kindle is supposed to be a solution for that, but Kindle has been designed for avid readers, not for the average person.

I own two Kindle and love them for reading non-fiction books and novels. It’s truly a great device and with the e-ink technology, you can read it in bright daylight and for long periods of time.

The Kindle only does one thing well: display text-heavy non-fiction books and novels. For other forms of documents, such as PDFs or documents containing a lot of maps, the Kindle is a terrible device.

The pages don’t refresh very fast, and images show up in black and white and are not always easy to use.

I thought for example that I could use the Kindle to avoid bringing travel books when I go on a trip, but because travel books contain a lot of images and maps, reading them on a Kindle is a poorer experience than on the book.

The Kindle is a revolution for readers everywhere, but the problem is that most people don’t read a lot.

The average person reads less than one book in a year, if they read at all.

They might buy eBooks or books once in a while, but never read them cover to cover.

So for the vast majority of people, the Kindle is simply not an attractive device.

Enter the iPad, with its gorgeous screen, multi-touch technology, blazing speed processor — a device that people can use to watch movies, browse the web, answer emails, share photos, and do a LOT of other things, in addition to occasionally reading eBooks.

NOW you have a device that can reach the masses, and where YOUR eBooks and other electronic content can be consumable.

A columnist recently said, “If you like your kids, get them an iPad. If you LOVE them, get them a Kindle”.

In other words, the iPad will be a great distraction and entertainment device, while the Kindle remains a reading device with more educational value.

Even though eBooks are popular, about 50% of my readers still prefer to pay more to get a hard copy of an eBook, even if in addition to the higher cost they have to pay for shipping.

But if they had an iPad, they would probably opt for the digital version, knowing that they can read it easily on that device, comfortable in their lazy chair.

I think it’s going to take a year or two for people to realize it, but the iPad is going to create a revolution in the computer world. You’ll start seeing people who might even ONLY get an iPad and no other computer, because it’s so easy to use and they don’t need to do much other than browsing the web, watching videos and sending emails.

Of course, right now the device is a little expense. The early adopters like me are going to get it first, but in a year or two, the price is probably going to go down to at about $299 for the entry-level model.

And by then, tens of millions of people will have a device they can use to read YOUR ebooks.

I’m seeing at the moment in my business that eBooks are easy to sell (especially if they contain additional multi-media bonuses such as videos).

eBooks are also easier to create than other types of information product.

If you’re NOT selling your eBooks yet, you NEED to get started. Are you going to sit there and miss the boat, or capture this opportunity and start earning a living on the Internet?

The best way to get started is my course “How to Write and Sell Your Own eBooks in 24 Hours or Less”:
http://www.fredericpatenaude.com/writeyourebook.html

Special iPad Offer:
If you order within the next 48 hours, get a 30% discount on the course! Use the coupon code IPAD

About a year ago, I predicted that eBooks would become an increasingly big market within a few years.

I now believe that we’re approaching a “tipping point” that will throw us in the eBook era a lot faster than I expected.

The main player in the industry at the moment is Amazon.com, who a little over 2 years ago (in November 2007) introduced the Kindle, an eBook reading device.

Although they won’t reveal exactly how many Kindles they have released, it seems that the device and the sales of eBooks are doing very, very well.

Why?

Currently, the “hottest” sector in the technology industry is in the growing field of eBook reading devices using electronic ink.

Amazon proved there could be a market for these products, and now major players in the field are coming in.

In January, we’ll see the introduction of a revolutionary eBook reading device by the company Plastic-logic, who apparently has found a way to create a device with a plastic screen (rather than glass, which is what the Kindle uses).

What does it mean? We’re soon on our way to a *pliable* device that will give users the true tactile sensation of a book.

I can easily see that within a few years, we’ll have a device in our hands that we’ll use to read eBooks and other material, but also take notes, highlight with a pen and manipulate objects on the screen, as is currently done with the iPhone.

Speaking of the iPhone, one of the hottest applications for this smartphone is the Kindle app, which allows you to read eBooks you’ve purchased from Amazon.

Obviously, Amazon doesn’t want to have the monopoly on the device. They plan on making money selling eBooks, rather than the actual device.

This is an opposite strategy from Apple, who doesn’t really make a profit from its iTunes store, but instead uses it to boost sales for iPods, iPhones and computers.

Another tip why we’re quickly moving in the eBook era:

Apple.

The biggest rumor at the moment in the technology field is that Apple is apparently going to release a “revolutionary” tablet computer, one that could be used for reading eBooks (among other things).

This device is one of the most talked-about rumored release in the technology field since the original iPhone.

If Apple gets onboard the eBook wagon in a major way, then the game will be truly on and it will just be a matter of time until eBook sales outsell printed copies.

- Another major turning point-

Amazon is now offering an “international” version of their Kindle. It is on sale in most countries of the world, including Canada.

I previously had to bend the rules and get a friend to send me the two Kindles that I own, and then find a workaround to buy the eBooks on Amazon (because they only allowed US credit card owners to buy eBooks).

Now, the eBook store on Amazon seems to be opened to most countries.

The only thing that we’re still waiting for is a good selection of books in other languages, and books from international publishers. Right now, small publishers wishing to sell eBooks on Amazon must be from the United States. That’s the reason why my eBooks are not yet available for the Kindle.

-Another major tipping point-

Since I own two Kindles (the first generation one and the Kindle DX), and I prefer not carrying a ton of books with me, I try to always buy the eBook version of any book I want if I can.

Even though hundreds of thousands of books are available on the Kindle, I still couldn’t find at least 50% of what I wanted, and had to buy them in regular book format.

I noticed how in just the last few weeks, the selection of books for the Kindle has dramatically increased.

For example, many Lonely Planet and other travel guides are now available. Travel guides are a category of books most people would definitely prefer to have an as eBook in order to save space and weight when traveling.

So what’s happening?

Major publishers can no longer ignore the eBook revolution. Enough of their customers own Kindles and are asking them “when are you going to get your books on the Kindle”.

Once the market is open to international publishers, then the fire will truly catch on.

-What does it mean to you?-

At this point, it’s no longer possible or wise for entrepreneurs to ignore the eBook market.

EBooks are no longer this fringe market, and a great majority of consumers now actually prefer to buy eBooks than hard copies.

If you’ve wanted to write and sell your own eBooks, now has never been a better time.

Eventually, the market will get crowded. But if you make your eBooks available soon (within the next year), you can position yourself very nicely not only on the Internet, but on the Amazon store as well.

If you can’t wait to get started with this adventure of earning a living with your own eBooks, then the best way is to sign up for my course “How to Write and Sell Your Own eBooks in 24 Hours or Less”.

I’ve written over 30 eBooks over the years, and I will teach you exactly how to do it in just 24 hours of activities. And if you don’t want to bother with the technical details, we even have a “We Do It For You” program where we take care of those details for you, such as the creation of your website.

Find out more and sign up at:
http://www.fredericpatenaude.com/writeyourebook.html

NOTE: Registration for the “We Do It For You” program is almost full and will be closed shortly.

Yours for health and success,

Frederic Patenaude