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Publishing, Charging for Ebook--how?

New Here ,
Mar 05, 2008 Mar 05, 2008

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Forgive my ignorance--but if someone could please give me an "idiot's guide" to having a PayPal or similar method of payment available to customers of my ebook? I only have the createpdf trial version at the moment to try things. Is there any simple way to do this without spending a million dollars and having the rest of my hair turn gray?

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Explorer ,
Mar 06, 2008 Mar 06, 2008

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Assuming you want DRM:
This is a huge project. Do you want to be responsible for running a
web server 24/7 to check whether customers are allowed to read an
e-book, solve tech support issues for them, and support them in
perpetuity when they change computer, as well as spending many
thousands of dollars to get set up? If not, find someone who offers a
packaged up service rather than reinventing a large and ungainly
wheel.

If you don't want DRM, so anyone who pays for your book could share it
with others this becomes a much smaller project, but is going to need
some web programming, or installing a shopping cart, or something
similar.

Aandi Inston

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Explorer ,
Mar 06, 2008 Mar 06, 2008

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For the second option (no DRM), there are some packaged solution. A
random web search found this one:
http://www.mywebmasterinabox.com/paypal_ipn.php

Caveat emptor: I have no way of knowing if this is good or bad, or
even if it is real. It was a random discovery. There will be others
like this. Please do your own research, and don't buy anything until
you understand how YOU would use it - it may well have particular
requirements of your web host. For instance, the site above needs you
to have your own web site able to run PHP scripts.

Aandi Inston

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New Here ,
Mar 06, 2008 Mar 06, 2008

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Thanks a bunch, Aandi. That helps.

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New Here ,
Mar 12, 2008 Mar 12, 2008

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I have just completed a book that I am going to sell on my webpage.
I converted it to a pdf file, now I cannot seem to find the option where I can burn it to a CD.

Please help.

Patti

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Explorer ,
Mar 14, 2008 Mar 14, 2008

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>I converted it to a pdf file, now I cannot seem to find the option where I can burn it to a CD.

Use your CD burning software. PDF files are no different from any
other kind of file in this respect.

Aandi Inston

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New Here ,
Mar 12, 2008 Mar 12, 2008

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Does anyone know how to had a url link to a PDF so that someone online could just point and click? Also is it possible to change it later or does the file have to be re-written. Thanks

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Explorer ,
Mar 14, 2008 Mar 14, 2008

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>Does anyone know how to had a url link to a PDF so that someone online could just point and click?

That's how all links work, isn't it - how would it be different from
any other link?


Aandi Inston

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New Here ,
Apr 09, 2008 Apr 09, 2008

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I am using adobe acrobat 7 and am writing a pdf ebook. I got this far but now I don't know how to set the file up to download to a customer without giving away my personal file info. What function to I need to perform? How do I publish the pdf ebook?

Thanks,

Cheryl

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Explorer ,
Apr 09, 2008 Apr 09, 2008

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What do you mean by "giving away your personal file info"? Which info
do you mean?

Aandi Inston

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New Here ,
Apr 09, 2008 Apr 09, 2008

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Hi Aandi,

I mean the file on my hardrive. I don't know how to download the pdf file to a customer that has purchased the ebook.

Thank you for any help at all. I am very confused.

Cheryl

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Explorer ,
Apr 09, 2008 Apr 09, 2008

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You would normally do one of the following:

* For low volumes of sales, just e-mail a copy of the PDF to the
customer

* For higher volumes of sales, an automatic system on a web site that
handles the credit card, and sends the customer to download a copy of
the file on the web server (your computer is not involved).

Aandi Inston

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New Here ,
Apr 09, 2008 Apr 09, 2008

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Thanks Aandi,

I understand you mean it has nothing to do with Acrobat?

I need to find a software company that does this?

Do you have any suggestions regarding companies or folks who do this.

I sure hope you know of a low cost one.

Thank you,

Cheryl

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Explorer ,
Apr 10, 2008 Apr 10, 2008

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Actually, I didn't mention Adobe or any software company.

First, the model where you e-mail a file needs no other software.

Delivering a PDF online would need server software, but so does
processing credit cards - so you need server software - a shopping
cart perhaps, or a simple one-product system - one way or another. In
case it isn't clear: you wouldn't do this on your own computer, just
as you wouldn't store your web site on your own computer.

Aandi Inston

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New Here ,
Apr 10, 2008 Apr 10, 2008

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Thanks Aandi,

You are providing information and I thank you for that. But it's a little too vague for me to understand. I would store my website with a hosting company. I don't understand what you are referring to with server software. That sounds like somebody who is selling server software. I think I need to check with another forum as this is now out of the adobe forums talking about server software.

Thank you though,

Cheryl

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Explorer ,
Apr 11, 2008 Apr 11, 2008

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> I would store my website with a hosting company.

That's right.

>I don't understand what you are referring to with server software. That sounds like somebody who is selling server software.

Well, software is something that you write (if you're a programmer),
or something that you buy, OR something that you already have.

You should look at what your web hosting company offers. Many of them
offer some kind of shopping system, but they are very different from
each other, and not all will be suitable for you.

Good luck,

Aandi Inston

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Explorer ,
Apr 11, 2008 Apr 11, 2008

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One more thing: if you buy software, the place it will be installed is
your web server. Now, not all web servers let you install software, so
this is part of what you need to check out. There are also different
kinds of server and different kinds of software.

Another approach is that someone else sells your book for you, and
gives you the money. You can think of them as a "publisher". If you
don't want to get into heavy technical stuff that might be a more
suitable option for you.

Aandi Inston

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New Here ,
Apr 13, 2008 Apr 13, 2008

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>Does anyone know how to had a url link to a PDF so that someone online could just point and click?<br /><br />It's not clear if you're asking about embedding a URL *in* the PDF itself, which is possible, and not all that difficult (I do it within InDesign before the PDF is a file) or if you mean what I think you do: how do you put a link on a website that automatically leads to the user downloading that file.<br /><br />To make such a download link on your website, all you have to do is make sure the file is on the web server the same way your HTML documents are (and on the same level -not in the Images folder, for instace), and refer to the document instead of another page in the link. <br /><br />For instance, a link to a webpage would look like this: <br /><a href="TimeMachineMinifesto.html" </a><br /><br />While a link to a downloadable file would look like this: <br /><a href="TimeMachineExcerpt.pdf.zip"</a><br /><br />If there's an available file named in the link, it automatically downloads when the user clicks it. (Note: tho I haven't experimented recently, on the Mac, in Safari, a zipped file as in the example above will download to the user's Downloads folder; if it's not zipped, the PDF might just open in the web browser instead and then the user has to save it manually.)<br /><br />s.

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New Here ,
Apr 13, 2008 Apr 13, 2008

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I use esellerate.net for handling the financial end of selling ebooks. They take a small percentage, but handle all the transactions for charge cards. It lets you do all sorts of stuff, like set up discount coupon codes for certain times (THIS WEEK ONLY!!) or situations (BUY ONE, GET SECOND HALF-PRICE!! or people (I give a discount to Mac User Group members).

But, be warned: The service is so rich in features, it gets confusing - not just from the feature richness, but despite a lot of work they put in to their site and documentation, it's not always as logical or intuitive as it might be. But their tech support is also superb.

s.

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New Here ,
May 03, 2008 May 03, 2008

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Cheryl, This may be coming in late...just joined forum. Understand your problem..been there. I have a web hosting company for my site. Don't know if this makes a difference but I have Adobe Acrobat 8 Pro. I create a doc in Word, convert it to pdf, go to host, download it, and when it's viewed (as a customer would see it), it does not show your "personal life." In Adobe 8 Pro (don't know if this applies to other versions) I have used the password(s) feature(s) to prevent opening, print and editing.. (The host company also requires a password.) The problem is the customer still has the option to do a 'save as" and copy to disc, do we want this???I think not.

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New Here ,
Aug 19, 2008 Aug 19, 2008

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If you want to add a link to an ebook where someone just points and clicks, you have to first create a html document and then convert it into pdf.

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New Here ,
Aug 21, 2008 Aug 21, 2008

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Well, there seems to be a little lack of knowledge :)

If you want someone to be able to download your ebook after he purchased, the file won´t be on your hard disk. You have to find a domain name and a webhost. Then you have to upload it to the webserver. Setting up a sales page etc. There is no way someone can answer you all those questions in the acrobat forum :).

So, what do you want exactly to do?

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New Here ,
Aug 21, 2008 Aug 21, 2008

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No, you don't have to create an HTML document. Adobe InDesign lets you set up links as part of its layout. You can link to other parts of the book, you can link to places on the web. You can also create a hierarchical list from a table of contents; the list acts as collapsible links to headings in the book without your having to set them up manually. Then you PDF the thing right from InDesign - no HTML document creation necessary.

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New Here ,
Oct 28, 2008 Oct 28, 2008

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Hi,

You can easily use Pay Pal to accept payment for your ebook. Just put a "buy now" button (code available from Pay Pal) on your order page. The big disadvantage of this is you must still use manual email to send the book or a link to the download page.

There are services that will integrate with Pay Pal to accept payment and also allow immediate download to the buyer. I use ejunkie.com -- only $5 per month. A lot of people like to use the software DLGuard. There are no doubt more such services and software.

Also, you can use Clickbank for a one time charge of only $49.95. Just go to Clickbank.com. They accept credit and debit cards, echecks, Pay Pal etc.

best, Rick Stooker

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New Here ,
Oct 28, 2008 Oct 28, 2008

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Thanks very much, Rick!

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