Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken Maltby
While there is probably some truth to the statement that authors and publishers often
believe that DRM is needed to prevent loss of sales due to piracy and casual sharing;
that questionable belief does not explain why several of the DRM scams are proprietary
to specific ebook retailers. Also, that these "DRM" scams are made to allow use only
on the devices that they sell, not on any other dedicated ereaders.
So, at least in some cases, the creators of the DRM scam - the book sellers - are designing it with use restrictions as a major objective, instead of anti-piracy of any
kind. That the authors and publishers don't seem to care or have any interest in the
issue, as long as their books are being sold, may be natural but I find it disappointing.
Luck;
Ken
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What you're talking about is proprietary software--and DRM isn't the only way it's done. Kindle has a proprietary software and also doesn't support ePUB on its devices (not well, anyway). As an author, I have zero say in that so worrying about whether they also have proprietary DRM is a non-issue for me. The book is already proprietary to the device so me adding (or not) DRM is moot from that standpoint.
I make my books available in multiple formats. One of the major reasons I sell them from my website is so that a person can buy the two major formats AT THE SAME TIME without having to do the conversion step.
I'd be a lot more concerned about proprietary DRM if 1. I had any say in the matter or 2. my readers indicated it mattered. I've been selling books for 5 years. I have never once had anyone write and ask me where to buy with or without DRM. I have never even been asked by any reader about DRM.
I have had ONE email ask me if it was okay to share the book with X and how to email them a copy. (The answer is "Please do not." I can't arbitrarily grant a permission like that and void my own copyright that sits right in the front of the book).
That is not to say that I ignore the concerns of those who hate DRM. But I don't spend any time worrying over having it or not having it or how a particular retailer implements it.
If it does matter to any of my readers, they can hunt out my store or *usually* find the book on Smashwords (although it is getting harder to format for smashwords which results in delays publishing there.)
I listen to my readers, and honestly, no one has ever told me DRM is a concern. I do have readers who want to buy multiple formats at once and that was conveyed when I polled before setting up a storefront.