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sanders · 04-03-2008, 04:54 PM

I decided to do an experiment.

I wrote a book ("Computer Programming: An Introduction for the Scientifically Inclined") over the past few years. I self-publish it, and it has recently become available (on Amazon, for instance) as a 284 page, 7.5x9.25" paperback, for $22.99.

Since I also own an iLiad, I decided to make the book available as an e-book as well (in PDF). I spent some time re-formatting it (maximizing the use of the limited screen real-estate), resulting in a 374 page book.

I've partaken in some of the DRM discussions here on the mobileread forums, and I decided to make the book available for EUR 4.99 (about $6.95 with today's dollar rate) with no DRM (so you can print it out if you like, or copy text from it). Instead, each PDF is "personalized": based on the PayPal data, I render your name on the title page. A kind of "social DRM", if you like. This type of "DRM-between-quotes" was suggested during the earlier discussions here in this forum, though I don't remember who came up with it (it might have been me).

I recently got an email from Scott Meyers (a well known author in C++ programmer circles) that his "Effective C++" series will be published as PDF e-books using a similar technique. I figured that if it's good enough for Addison Wesley, it's good enough for me.

We'll see how things go. I'll post back once I get enough statistics.

More information about the book: http://www.curly-brace.com

I simply render a new PDF for each purchase, and offer a link to download it. I have tried to contact iRex Technologies because it would be much cooler if such a purchase would be automatically synchronized to your iLiad using iDS, but I haven't heard back from them yet. Does anyone know of a place where you can buy e-books for the iLiad which do use iDS?

04-03-2008, 04:54 PM	#1
sanders Connoisseur Posts: 66 Karma: 918 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: iRex Iliad	DRM experiment I decided to do an experiment. I wrote a book ("Computer Programming: An Introduction for the Scientifically Inclined") over the past few years. I self-publish it, and it has recently become available (on Amazon, for instance) as a 284 page, 7.5x9.25" paperback, for $22.99. Since I also own an iLiad, I decided to make the book available as an e-book as well (in PDF). I spent some time re-formatting it (maximizing the use of the limited screen real-estate), resulting in a 374 page book. I've partaken in some of the DRM discussions here on the mobileread forums, and I decided to make the book available for EUR 4.99 (about $6.95 with today's dollar rate) with no DRM (so you can print it out if you like, or copy text from it). Instead, each PDF is "personalized": based on the PayPal data, I render your name on the title page. A kind of "social DRM", if you like. This type of "DRM-between-quotes" was suggested during the earlier discussions here in this forum, though I don't remember who came up with it (it might have been me). I recently got an email from Scott Meyers (a well known author in C++ programmer circles) that his "Effective C++" series will be published as PDF e-books using a similar technique. I figured that if it's good enough for Addison Wesley, it's good enough for me. We'll see how things go. I'll post back once I get enough statistics. More information about the book: http://www.curly-brace.com I simply render a new PDF for each purchase, and offer a link to download it. I have tried to contact iRex Technologies because it would be much cooler if such a purchase would be automatically synchronized to your iLiad using iDS, but I haven't heard back from them yet. Does anyone know of a place where you can buy e-books for the iLiad which do use iDS?