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Old 03-06-2012, 01:37 PM   #1
Agrajag
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Posts: 54
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Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Cherry Hill, NJ
Device: Nook Simple Touch
Where to sell a PDF? Surprising Limitation.

I wrote a small comedic play (under 20 pages) for a yearly religious event in hopes of engaging more people and taking a bit of the edge off the event's dogmatic elements. I did it just for us but it went over so well (at a few such events) that people asked me to make it available for sale.

I was, of course, flattered and decided I might as well give it a shot. So, over the last year I cleaned it up, got it into book format, added some background info, etc. I assumed I'd put it up on Amazon for a buck or two as an ebook and see what would happen.

Then the big hurdle presented itself. This treatment absolutely demands that it can be printed. That's the whole point. It's a play with several roles and people need the script in hand. It's certainly not workable to ask that people have 7 or 8 Kindle's on hand to make it work.

I was shocked to find that there's really no simple way to allow for printing. Sure, I can outline how to install Calibre and do a conversion and then print from within Calibre but that's just not very feasible either. Most people won't bother especially for something so arbitrary.

I then thought just put it up as a PDF but then found that Amazon and Barnes and Noble convert the PDF back to their default formats and you're back to the original problem.

Unless I miss my mark, a PDF is the way to go. The issue is, where can I go about selling a PDF that will reach some people and where I won't need to have my own server hosting it or handle credit card processing and such?

I'm not concerned about theft. If people feel the need to steal it, so be it. This isn't a life-or-death project for me. I'll be blown away if a single person ponies up a buck or two.

Is there no easy way around this? Is there a better solution?
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