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Are you not afraid that people may send each other the .pdf file without paying ?

by leoplct 13y ago

sergiotapia 13y ago
Cheaters will always cheat, and let me tell ya: I've spent more money on Leanpub than I have anywhere else with "proper drm". :) I guess developers have an honor code towards their fellow software developers.
- bloodorange 13y ago
  I agree. I have never paid for ebooks before I came across Leanpub. If my game/book was being copied without me being paid for it, I'll be happy that people like it so much. It only means that more folks will see it and at it will pay off in better sales eventually. I'm not inclined to dig it out right now, but if it interests you, do check out what Neil Gaiman said about his books being copied in a similar manner.
RobAley 13y ago
As an author on Leanpub (http://www.leanpub.com/php http://www.leanpub.com/php) and one who's book has made it onto at least one torrent tracker site, I can say that if your book is worth pirating, it will be, and by trying to protect it with DRM you are only going to lose readers. It's only my first book, but it doesn't seem to have hurt my sales figures, and I've had plenty of complimentary feedback about the leanpub experience.
- alan_cx 13y ago
  From what I can make out, if something is worth pirating, other people will happily pay for it. IMHO, the main question is; are there enough people paying to make it worth it in itself, regardless of people sharing it freely? If so, then the sharing doesn't matter.
chmars 13y ago
That's even legal among close friends and within your family – at least in most European countries (private or personal use). And I consider it an absolute necessity since printed books can be easily shared and in a family, it's simply not feasible to buy the same content a few times.
SDMattG 13y ago
I think the bigger worry should be regarding whether or not you're writing something people will buy. The reason so many things suck these days is that people worry about edge cases, and build in rules/sucky experiences to protect against them.
rmc 13y ago
For self-published authors, obscurity rather than piracy is the largest business threat

Are you not afraid that people may send each other the .pdf file without paying ?

by leoplct 13y ago

Are you not afraid that people may send each other the .pdf file without paying ?

Cheaters will always cheat, and let me tell ya: I've spent more money on Leanpub than I have anywhere else with "proper drm". :) I guess developers have an honor code towards their fellow software developers.

bloodorange 13y ago
I agree. I have never paid for ebooks before I came across Leanpub. If my game/book was being copied without me being paid for it, I'll be happy that people like it so much. It only means that more folks will see it and at it will pay off in better sales eventually. I'm not inclined to dig it out right now, but if it interests you, do check out what Neil Gaiman said about his books being copied in a similar manner.

RobAley 13y ago

As an author on Leanpub (http://www.leanpub.com/php http://www.leanpub.com/php) and one who's book has made it onto at least one torrent tracker site, I can say that if your book is worth pirating, it will be, and by trying to protect it with DRM you are only going to lose readers. It's only my first book, but it doesn't seem to have hurt my sales figures, and I've had plenty of complimentary feedback about the leanpub experience.

alan_cx 13y ago
From what I can make out, if something is worth pirating, other people will happily pay for it. IMHO, the main question is; are there enough people paying to make it worth it in itself, regardless of people sharing it freely? If so, then the sharing doesn't matter.

chmars 13y ago

That's even legal among close friends and within your family – at least in most European countries (private or personal use). And I consider it an absolute necessity since printed books can be easily shared and in a family, it's simply not feasible to buy the same content a few times.

SDMattG 13y ago

I think the bigger worry should be regarding whether or not you're writing something people will buy. The reason so many things suck these days is that people worry about edge cases, and build in rules/sucky experiences to protect against them.

rmc 13y ago

For self-published authors, obscurity rather than piracy is the largest business threat