Speaking of DRM

[VydorScope]

Speaking of DRM... My first book on Amazon has DRM (because I did not know enough to make the right decision when I first released it) but is non-DRM on Smashwords, and book II is DRM free on Amazon and Smashwords. Can I remove the DRM from it on Amazon safely now or will that cause problems?

[jbcohen]

I believe yes you can remove it, simplly take the book you wrote and in Clibre remove the DRM and re-post it on Amazon. Your scucess here depends on the flexibility of your Amazon contract.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by VydorScope

Speaking of DRM... My first book on Amazon has DRM (because I did not know enough to make the right decision when I first released it) but is non-DRM on Smashwords, and book II is DRM free on Amazon and Smashwords. Can I remove the DRM from it on Amazon safely now or will that cause problems?

Once published, you can't change the DRM settings. But you can unpublish the book, and republish it with DRM not enabled.

If your current edition has a good Kindle sales rank and good reviews, this might be a problem, as the new edition won't have these. Also, existing customers won't get the updated (DRM-free) version.

It might be that you can unpublish and then republish, retaining the same ASIN, but I don't know if it's actually possible.

[VydorScope]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Once published, you can't change the DRM settings. But you can unpublish the book, and republish it with DRM not enabled.

If your current edition has a good Kindle sales rank and good reviews, this might be a problem, as the new edition won't have these. Also, existing customers won't get the updated (DRM-free) version.

It might be that you can unpublish and then republish, retaining the same ASIN, but I don't know if it's actually possible.

Yea that is what I was afraid of, I have good ratings (4/5 with 13 reviews), and all though my sales rank is falling now (I need figure out this adverting stuff) its been as high as #7 in Sci-Fi.

I guess I will just leave the mess be. If some one emails me and complains, I'll can point them to Smashwords...

Thanks

[mr ploppy]

DRM is invisible to most Kindle owners, and people who worry about being able to re-read it at a later date will know how to remove it, so I wouldn't worry about it too much.

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by VydorScope

Yea that is what I was afraid of, I have good ratings (4/5 with 13 reviews), and all though my sales rank is falling now (I need figure out this adverting stuff) its been as high as #7 in Sci-Fi.

I guess I will just leave the mess be. If some one emails me and complains, I'll can point them to Smashwords...

Thanks

You know what I would do?

If you can update the book content, I would put in an "author's note" or something near the front that explains the situation (a simple "This book is sold on Amazon with DRM and on Smashwords without DRM, for technical reasons." would probably suffice).

People who download the sample to read would have that information available to them, and they could make a decision based on that. It's certainly more transparent than MOST books, where you just don't know if it has DRM until after you've bought it and tried to load it to an incompatible device.

As a reader, I'd respect that a lot.

[VydorScope]

Somehow I think that would tick Amazon off though. I have had my reviews edited for mentioning other stores, dont see that this would be much different.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

DRM is invisible to most Kindle owners, and people who worry about being able to re-read it at a later date will know how to remove it, so I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Vincent,

Mr. ploppy is completely correct here.

Your bigger concern may be philosophical. Perhaps you simply want readers to know you don't like DRM on your work.

Short of unpublishing and republishing, which would indeed be a strong statement and sacrifice that might win you some points with the anti-drm crowd, I like anamardoll's idea about including an author's note about your position. You don't even have to mention Smashwords, just explain your position and why it's that way on Amazon, and mention that it's also available without DRM. Heck, you might even want to offer purchasers of the DRMed version a DRM-free copy...

ApK

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by VydorScope

Somehow I think that would tick Amazon off though. I have had my reviews edited for mentioning other stores, dont see that this would be much different.

If it's *inside* your book, I cannot imagine how they could reasonably object.

I'm a reviewer on Amazon. The editing of the reviews is to strip out "buy from X store!" spam and link gaming.

Informing your readers about a DRM issue is not the same thing.

Still, it's your call.

[Ransom]

I don't know much about the DRM controversy. Can someone point me to some good threads on it?

Thanks.

[PaulineDesigns]

Vincent,
Thank you for choosing to go DRM-free! I got both your books from Smashwords yesterday and decided to read a few chapters of the first one last night to see what it was like. Well, it's a good thing I'm not in charge of the cooking 'cause we'd have gone hungry! I read it cover-to-cover and really enjoyed it--can't wait to read the second one.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Ransom

I don't know much about the DRM controversy. Can someone point me to some good threads on it?

Thanks.

I'm sure some one will point you, but in over-simplified shorthand:

Some publishers claim DRM is needed to protect their rights and save the industry. Without it, virtually no one would buy books, everyone would just share with their friends and spread content around the Internet, so authors will will be less inclined to invest themselves in creating good books.

Some people feel that DRM does no good at all and only serves to hinder their legitimate use of the material and trod on their rights. It's adds costs and complexity, and protects no one from anything, since anyone inclined to share or pirate can do so with trivial effort, DRM or no.

There is also a large population in the middle for whom DRM is essentially transparent and therefor they have no strong awareness or opinion on the matter.

ApK

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by Ransom

I don't know much about the DRM controversy. Can someone point me to some good threads on it?

Thanks.

You can start with Why are DRM ebooks evil and why should I avoid them like the plague?, a standard-sized MR discussion about DRM: about 17 pages.

And the counterpoint: People who want no DRM are impractical dreamers... ; 42 pages.

There's a better way to beat the ebook pirates is almost 40 pages long.

DRM is also likely to be mentioned in discussions about price, sharing, and copyright. (Don't have time to scrounge up links for those at the moment. Other people might chime in with some.)

[VydorScope]

Originally Posted by PaulineDesigns

Vincent,
Thank you for choosing to go DRM-free! I got both your books from Smashwords yesterday and decided to read a few chapters of the first one last night to see what it was like. Well, it's a good thing I'm not in charge of the cooking 'cause we'd have gone hungry! I read it cover-to-cover and really enjoyed it--can't wait to read the second one.

Well thank you very much, and thank you for your review on Smashwords!

I personally believe Volume II is much better, and better edited... but I guess my opinion does not count for much

[ApK]

Originally Posted by VydorScope

Well thank you very much, and thank you for your review on Smashwords!

I personally believe Volume II is much better, and better edited... but I guess my opinion does not count for much

If you really feel that way, you should have volume one re-edited. First impressions and all.....