8 ms·

Why doesn't the author just put up the PDF for sale on this site? I'd pay ~$20 with Paypal right now for the PDF, straight to the author.

by Maro 8y ago

mrleinad 8y ago
Probably there's some contract attached to it that says he can't do that. Otherwise, yeah, he should go down that road.
- dpwm 8y ago
  I doubt that, since his distributor is Google Play. It's not a standard term on e-book platforms and I can't see why any author would go for exclusivity on Google Play.
ThinkBeat 8y ago
I agree. Do you think he is worried about people sharing it? Might just put a watermark on it.
jf- 8y ago
Author needs to add a patreon link to the article.
erikbye 8y ago
Anyone with experience selling content on SendOwl? I have bought digital goods from sellers using its service a couple of times, as a customer it was hassle-free.
izacus 8y ago
You can easily click on the Play Store button and pay for the PDF there. Is that really too hard?
- w0utert 8y ago
  But then I assume Google will take a cut. I would much rather pay the author directly and get nothing but a download link for the PDF. How much of my money goes to Google if I order the PDF there?
  - sbarre 8y ago
    Google takes a cut for the service of handling all the payment complications, including fraud prevention, refund requests, charge-backs, etc.. It's not like they are doing nothing.
- Maro 8y ago
  That's what I'll do, that's what I did on the Wolfenstein book from the same author. My point is not about UX hardness or my expenses or anything like that. My point was: it's crazy there's no better way for me to get a book.pdf, and for him to get my money (a digital download and some row changes in databases). Can't you just send xyz@gmail.com money on Paypal? At the cut that Amazon takes, if people send him $20, and half the people then "chargeback", and he just automatically sends the money back, he's still way ahead. Obviously the author is a smart guy so it can't be this simple, I'm just wondering. Sidenote: The fact that "Bitcoin" is not the obvious answer is social/product proof that "Bitcoin" didn't work.
  - andrepd 8y ago
    >Bitcoin is not the obvious amswer But maybe Ethereum or Litecoin or Monero is?
  - PretzelPirate 8y ago
    I don’t understand your side note. Bitcoin is a payment network, not a distribution network so it would still require technical/manual investment from the author. From what I’ve heard, there are some decentralized distribution platforms being created on other blockchains, but ignoring those I can’t see a reason to consider a payment network as a solution to a distribution problem - what the author needs is a distribution system that will serve his pdf in exchange for payment, and likely wants to treat payments as an abstraction. It would be trivial to build a system using Bitcoin or other blockchains that would generate a unique download link to the book, but then the author would have to be tech support for any customer that ran into problems.
    - Maro 8y ago
      With a known, credible blogger-author like in the OP, he could just specify a bitcoin address, and I'd send him the money, and I'd trust him to then email me the book.pdf, it doesn't have to be a fancy tit-for-tat blockchain transaction.
      - PretzelPirate 8y ago
- garaetjjte 8y ago
  In case of Wolfenstein book, PDF from Play Store looks bad. It seems that fonts are included as bitmaps (not vectors) and it renders pretty ugly.
  - Synaesthesia 8y ago
    It really does look terrible - I wish I could have a more convenient way to read it on phone.
dpwm 8y ago
It's probably something the author has thought of. As soon as you take payment you enter into a world of pain. Stolen credit cards, suspended Paypal accounts, technical support, requests for different formats. Perhaps the author prefers making books to maximizing the amount of money he makes?
- andrepd 8y ago
  I think you're overestimating the amount of "hassle" that would bring. There are payment processors that simplify that end, and the difference in profit would be so massive that I think it would be worth it.
  - wolfgke 8y ago
    > I think you're overestimating the amount of "hassle" that would bring. There are payment processors that simplify that end, and the difference in profit would be so massive that I think it would be worth it. But do they also accept payment methods that are common on other countries. For example, in Germany credit cards are often frowned upon and many people have no credit card; instead SEPA money transfer and SEPA direct debit (the latter strongly preferred) are the common ways to pay in the internet.
    - freeflight 8y ago
      That used to be an issue, but by now PayPal and CC are so common, you can even use PayPal to pay for gasoline at Shell stations [0]. Overall it's also more of a problem in physical retail, Germans who do a lot of shopping online usually have no issue at all with paying by CC/PayPal, often getting a prepaid CC just for that. But it's not like you are missing out on some massive part of German customer base because paying online with SEPA is usually more hassle than paying online with PayPal, so most people prefer the later. Particularly due to the fact that most "quick" online SEPA payment schemes involve giving a third party access to your banking account [1]. Which shouldn't be an issue, as most actions that involve sending money still require a TAN, but some banks have relaxed these rules, allowing smaller amounts to be transferred without supplying a TAN [2]. It's not difficult to see the potential problems here: If Sofortüberweisung ever has a breach, there's the very real possibility that the data could be used to trigger massive amounts of fraudulent money transfers. [0] https://www.shell.de/autofahrer/smartpay.html https://www.shell.de/autofahrer/smartpay.html [1] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sofort%C3%BCberweisung https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sofort%C3%BCberweisung [2] https://www.comdirect.de/konto/tan-freiheit.html https://www.comdirect.de/konto/tan-freiheit.html

Why doesn't the author just put up the PDF for sale on this site? I'd pay ~$20 with Paypal right now for the PDF, straight to the author.

by Maro 8y ago

Why doesn't the author just put up the PDF for sale on this site? I'd pay ~$20 with Paypal right now for the PDF, straight to the author.

mrleinad 8y ago

Probably there's some contract attached to it that says he can't do that. Otherwise, yeah, he should go down that road.

dpwm 8y ago
I doubt that, since his distributor is Google Play. It's not a standard term on e-book platforms and I can't see why any author would go for exclusivity on Google Play.

ThinkBeat 8y ago

I agree. Do you think he is worried about people sharing it? Might just put a watermark on it.

jf- 8y ago

Author needs to add a patreon link to the article.

erikbye 8y ago

Anyone with experience selling content on SendOwl? I have bought digital goods from sellers using its service a couple of times, as a customer it was hassle-free.

izacus 8y ago

You can easily click on the Play Store button and pay for the PDF there. Is that really too hard?

w0utert 8y ago
But then I assume Google will take a cut. I would much rather pay the author directly and get nothing but a download link for the PDF. How much of my money goes to Google if I order the PDF there?
- sbarre 8y ago
  Google takes a cut for the service of handling all the payment complications, including fraud prevention, refund requests, charge-backs, etc.. It's not like they are doing nothing.
Maro 8y ago
That's what I'll do, that's what I did on the Wolfenstein book from the same author. My point is not about UX hardness or my expenses or anything like that. My point was: it's crazy there's no better way for me to get a book.pdf, and for him to get my money (a digital download and some row changes in databases). Can't you just send xyz@gmail.com money on Paypal? At the cut that Amazon takes, if people send him $20, and half the people then "chargeback", and he just automatically sends the money back, he's still way ahead. Obviously the author is a smart guy so it can't be this simple, I'm just wondering. Sidenote: The fact that "Bitcoin" is not the obvious answer is social/product proof that "Bitcoin" didn't work.
- andrepd 8y ago
  >Bitcoin is not the obvious amswer But maybe Ethereum or Litecoin or Monero is?
- PretzelPirate 8y ago
  I don’t understand your side note. Bitcoin is a payment network, not a distribution network so it would still require technical/manual investment from the author. From what I’ve heard, there are some decentralized distribution platforms being created on other blockchains, but ignoring those I can’t see a reason to consider a payment network as a solution to a distribution problem - what the author needs is a distribution system that will serve his pdf in exchange for payment, and likely wants to treat payments as an abstraction. It would be trivial to build a system using Bitcoin or other blockchains that would generate a unique download link to the book, but then the author would have to be tech support for any customer that ran into problems.
  - Maro 8y ago
    With a known, credible blogger-author like in the OP, he could just specify a bitcoin address, and I'd send him the money, and I'd trust him to then email me the book.pdf, it doesn't have to be a fancy tit-for-tat blockchain transaction.
    - PretzelPirate 8y ago
garaetjjte 8y ago
In case of Wolfenstein book, PDF from Play Store looks bad. It seems that fonts are included as bitmaps (not vectors) and it renders pretty ugly.
- Synaesthesia 8y ago
  It really does look terrible - I wish I could have a more convenient way to read it on phone.

dpwm 8y ago

It's probably something the author has thought of. As soon as you take payment you enter into a world of pain. Stolen credit cards, suspended Paypal accounts, technical support, requests for different formats. Perhaps the author prefers making books to maximizing the amount of money he makes?

andrepd 8y ago
I think you're overestimating the amount of "hassle" that would bring. There are payment processors that simplify that end, and the difference in profit would be so massive that I think it would be worth it.
- wolfgke 8y ago
  > I think you're overestimating the amount of "hassle" that would bring. There are payment processors that simplify that end, and the difference in profit would be so massive that I think it would be worth it. But do they also accept payment methods that are common on other countries. For example, in Germany credit cards are often frowned upon and many people have no credit card; instead SEPA money transfer and SEPA direct debit (the latter strongly preferred) are the common ways to pay in the internet.
  - freeflight 8y ago
    That used to be an issue, but by now PayPal and CC are so common, you can even use PayPal to pay for gasoline at Shell stations [0]. Overall it's also more of a problem in physical retail, Germans who do a lot of shopping online usually have no issue at all with paying by CC/PayPal, often getting a prepaid CC just for that. But it's not like you are missing out on some massive part of German customer base because paying online with SEPA is usually more hassle than paying online with PayPal, so most people prefer the later. Particularly due to the fact that most "quick" online SEPA payment schemes involve giving a third party access to your banking account [1]. Which shouldn't be an issue, as most actions that involve sending money still require a TAN, but some banks have relaxed these rules, allowing smaller amounts to be transferred without supplying a TAN [2]. It's not difficult to see the potential problems here: If Sofortüberweisung ever has a breach, there's the very real possibility that the data could be used to trigger massive amounts of fraudulent money transfers. [0] https://www.shell.de/autofahrer/smartpay.html https://www.shell.de/autofahrer/smartpay.html [1] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sofort%C3%BCberweisung https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sofort%C3%BCberweisung [2] https://www.comdirect.de/konto/tan-freiheit.html https://www.comdirect.de/konto/tan-freiheit.html