monitor the selling of an epub

shayt · 01-18-2013, 10:08 AM

Hi,

how can i know if my epub was sold without my knowledge ?

suppose i created an epub,
and i sell it an e-book store,

how can i know if my e-book was sold ?
maybe the store keeps 100% of the sell to themselves and they don't tell me that they sold it.

another option to this problem -
lets assume that there is an unfamiliar e-book store (which does NOT have a contract with me)
they buy one book from me, so now they have the epub, they change it a little (removing the buyer info from this copy)
and then they start to sell this epub by themselves, and again, keep 100% of the profit to themselves.

can i know about it someway,
can i protect my epub is some way ?

Thanks,
Shay

HarryT · 01-18-2013, 10:11 AM

Moved to the Writers' Corner.

crich70 · 01-18-2013, 03:37 PM

I'd think one thing you could do would be to Google it. Assuming you know which ebook stores work with your publisher if you do so and unfamiliar results come up that might give you a clue something is up.

avantman42 · 01-19-2013, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shayt

how can i know if my e-book was sold ?
maybe the store keeps 100% of the sell to themselves and they don't tell me that they sold it.

Unless you have something in the contract that allows you to do an audit or similar, you can't.

If you don't trust the store, don't do business with them.

shayt · 01-25-2013, 02:42 AM

ok, so it is a trust issue, not a technical one.

thanks.

gmw · 01-25-2013, 07:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shayt

ok, so it is a trust issue, not a technical one.

thanks.

You can say that about most contract situations. If you actually need to pull out the contract then you're already in trouble. (I'm not suggesting you shouldn't have one, only that enforcing a contract is much harder than signing it.) You really need a reason to feel you can trust the other party before entering into a contractual agreement, which generally means some research first.

VydorScope · 01-25-2013, 08:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gmw

You can say that about most contract situations. If you actually need to pull out the contract then you're already in trouble. (I'm not suggesting you shouldn't have one, only that enforcing a contract is much harder than signing it.) You really need a reason to feel you can trust the other party before entering into a contractual agreement, which generally means some research first.

Exactly.

HarryT · 01-25-2013, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shayt

ok, so it is a trust issue, not a technical one.

thanks.

Trust has to form the basis of any business relationship. If you don't trust someone, don't do business with them.

George Applegate · 01-25-2013, 01:50 PM

Is it possible to buy (and/or maybe return) from another account to see if it shows up?

gmw · 01-25-2013, 10:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by George Applegate

Is it possible to buy (and/or maybe return) from another account to see if it shows up?

Sure, but it's not all that reliable. If no sales show up, you know there's a problem. If one or more sales show up, you don't know whether yours is among them. All anyone trying to cheat the system has to do is avoid making it obvious. Lots of people, in many industries, have managed to earn good money by skimming off the top rather than pulling it out in bucketfuls.

Most of these businesses do have audit provisions, meaning that you can hire an auditor to go in and review the details. Most limit such intrusions in various ways, for example no more than once a year, and looking no further back than two years. I don't know how often these provisions are called upon in practice, but they are a good thing and something you should look for in your contract.

animedude01 · 02-20-2013, 01:51 AM

There's no absolute way of knowing. Of course, it's the same with physical books. There's no absolute way of knowing, short of selling them yourself.

If you can't trust your vendor/distributor/store, you should likely look for one that you can trust.

Audits only go so far and do cost money and if you sick an auditor on a company, how likely are they to do further business with you in the future? Just another data point to consider,

Cheers.

cathalmc · 02-20-2013, 06:01 PM

I was paranoid about this around a year ago, considering how completely reliant I was on the integrity of ebook-selling websites. How could I know that Amazon or BookBaby or Smashwords were truly reporting accurate sales figures ...?

Of course, as soon as there is one accusation against these sites that they are misreporting sales for their own financial gain then they could experience a serious breach of trust worldwide. Depriving me of a few dollars would hardly be worth their reputation. And they make enough money already with that long tail of theirs.

01-18-2013, 10:08 AM	#1
shayt Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 480242 Join Date: Jan 2013 Device: none	monitor the selling of an epub Hi, how can i know if my epub was sold without my knowledge ? suppose i created an epub, and i sell it an e-book store, how can i know if my e-book was sold ? maybe the store keeps 100% of the sell to themselves and they don't tell me that they sold it. another option to this problem - lets assume that there is an unfamiliar e-book store (which does NOT have a contract with me) they buy one book from me, so now they have the epub, they change it a little (removing the buyer info from this copy) and then they start to sell this epub by themselves, and again, keep 100% of the profit to themselves. can i know about it someway, can i protect my epub is some way ? Thanks, Shay

01-18-2013, 10:11 AM	#2
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 54,666 Karma: 26165759 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Touch, PW, Fire HD, iPad 3, iPhone 4, Samsung Tab 2 7 + More	Moved to the Writers' Corner. __________________ Harry Currently proofreading The Poison Belt, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

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01-18-2013, 03:37 PM	#3
crich70 Wizard Posts: 4,154 Karma: 13864505 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Monroe Wisconsin Device: K3, Kindle Paperwhite, Calibre, and Mobipocket for Pc (netbook)	I'd think one thing you could do would be to Google it. Assuming you know which ebook stores work with your publisher if you do so and unfamiliar results come up that might give you a clue something is up.

01-25-2013, 02:42 AM	#5
shayt Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 480242 Join Date: Jan 2013 Device: none	ok, so it is a trust issue, not a technical one. thanks.

01-25-2013, 01:50 PM	#9
George Applegate Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2013 Device: none	Is it possible to buy (and/or maybe return) from another account to see if it shows up?

02-20-2013, 01:51 AM	#11
animedude01 Addict Posts: 254 Karma: 394 Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Los Angeles Device: DR1000S, ILIAD2, Nokia n900, Kindle for PC, Astak EZReader Pro	There's no absolute way of knowing. Of course, it's the same with physical books. There's no absolute way of knowing, short of selling them yourself. If you can't trust your vendor/distributor/store, you should likely look for one that you can trust. Audits only go so far and do cost money and if you sick an auditor on a company, how likely are they to do further business with you in the future? Just another data point to consider, Cheers.

02-20-2013, 06:01 PM	#12
cathalmc Member Posts: 16 Karma: 510134 Join Date: Sep 2012 Device: Kindle	I was paranoid about this around a year ago, considering how completely reliant I was on the integrity of ebook-selling websites. How could I know that Amazon or BookBaby or Smashwords were truly reporting accurate sales figures ...? Of course, as soon as there is one accusation against these sites that they are misreporting sales for their own financial gain then they could experience a serious breach of trust worldwide. Depriving me of a few dollars would hardly be worth their reputation. And they make enough money already with that long tail of theirs.


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