Questions About Ebook Publishing
Q. What is an ebook?
Our definition of an ebook is a book in a format that can be downloaded on a computer.
Q. What format of ebooks do you publish?
We publish our ebooks in only one format – PDF (Portable Document Format).
Q. What is the advantage of publishing an ebook version of a book?
The biggest advantage to publishing ebooks is one you never usually hear – that ebooks can be delivered instantly. When people are looking for specific information, getting it instantly is often a strong selling point.
Ebooks also offer a low-cost way to put a book into the market. Aside from creating the file, which you can do for free here, ebooks cost an author nothing. That means profit margins are high.
Q. Are ebooks published through BookLocker protected with digital rights management (DRM) technology?
No. Here is why.
DRM technology is based on a flawed assumption – that everyone who gets a copy of your book will steal it when given the opportunity. That is just not true. Honest people will pay for it when asked. Dishonest people will not. Dishonest people will not suddenly become “more honest” if the book is encrypted. Instead, they will figure out ways to break the encryption. And it should be noted that to date all forms of DRM technology for ebooks have been broken in one way or another.
All encrypting your book really does is put up technical hurdles for honest people who want your book. And if you are trying to build a customer base for your work, putting up barriers to buying that work doesn’t make much sense.
There is an excellent presentation by Cory Doctorow about why investing in DRM technology is ultimately a waste of time. It can be found here.
Q. What is the largest file size you will allow for ebooks published through BookLocker?
The largest file size we allow for ebooks is 3 Megs. Files larger than that just take too long to download by people with low-bandwidth connections.
Q. Does it cost anything to publish an ebook through BookLocker?
No. Unlike many of our competitors, we charge author nothing to list ebooks on our system provided they are submitted in PDF .
Q. What is the lowest list price you allow for ebooks published through BookLocker?
The lowest price we will allow for an ebook is $5.95.
Q. How can I convert my manuscript to the format you use for ebook publishing (PDF)?
We recommend trying to do it for free first at: http://createpdf.adobe.com/ . You have to sign up for an account, but the first five conversions are free.
If want us to convert the file into PDF for you, there is a $35 fee.
Q. How do I submit a manuscript for consideration?
The submission process is two steps.
First, you fill out a form. We’ll use this to create a log of your submission.
Second, after you submit this information, we give you an email address and an ID number. You use that email address to send in a file of your manuscript and you’ll put the ID number in the subject of the email.
We don’t require any special formatting to submit a book for consideration. We only ask that it be a text, pdf, rich text or MSWord document.
All we ask is that you don’t start the process until your manuscript is complete and ready for review.
