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Brandable Ebook Creation Advice
This article details something to bear in mind if you're considering making money from selling a brandable ebook you've created. Not following the advice in this article will leave you open to sales theft.
I've produced a free ebook and I also sell a brandable version. The free ebook was produced as a secured PDF so that no one could change any of the hyperlinks within it. To change hyperlinks someone must buy the brandable version.
A problem for the producer of a brandable ebook is that it's currently not possible to selectively secure hyperlinks when you create a PDF, it’s all or none. When you create a brandable PDF it must be unsecured so that the purchaser can change the affiliate links. Unfortunately there is cheap branding software available on the Internet that enables any link within any unsecured PDF to be changed whether it's been marked as brandable or not. Whatever branding software you use to create the brandable PDF there is no way to prevent this. This means that links within the brandable PDF that you want to preserve are prone to being changed by whoever purchases the brandable copy of your ebook.
So if you, as the creator of the brandable ebook, wish to preserve any links within the ebook then the only way to do it is to give the link as text, ensuring that it is not a hyperlink. There is still the problem that Adobe Acrobat will automatically make your link into a hyperlink if you start it with http or even www so leave these out, the http bit will be automatically added by your reader's browser when they copy and paste or type in the link, taking them to the correct location.
In the brandable ebook I created I needed to protect the order link for the brandable ebook. This protection is needed because someone could buy the brandable ebook and use the cheap branding software to replace my order link with their own so that they would profit from selling the brandable ebook instead of me. For the free ebook, all of the links should be hyperlinks because the free ebook can be secured.
I recommend creating your brandable ebook using software that will enable the purchaser of the brandable ebook to display his or her name and web link prominently on the first page of the ebook. This makes the brandable ebook more valuable for the owner and provides additional motivation for its distribution.
By John Kirkham
A problem for the producer of a brandable ebook is that it's currently not possible to selectively secure hyperlinks when you create a PDF, it’s all or none. When you create a brandable PDF it must be unsecured so that the purchaser can change the affiliate links. Unfortunately there is cheap branding software available on the Internet that enables any link within any unsecured PDF to be changed whether it's been marked as brandable or not. Whatever branding software you use to create the brandable PDF there is no way to prevent this. This means that links within the brandable PDF that you want to preserve are prone to being changed by whoever purchases the brandable copy of your ebook.
So if you, as the creator of the brandable ebook, wish to preserve any links within the ebook then the only way to do it is to give the link as text, ensuring that it is not a hyperlink. There is still the problem that Adobe Acrobat will automatically make your link into a hyperlink if you start it with http or even www so leave these out, the http bit will be automatically added by your reader's browser when they copy and paste or type in the link, taking them to the correct location.
In the brandable ebook I created I needed to protect the order link for the brandable ebook. This protection is needed because someone could buy the brandable ebook and use the cheap branding software to replace my order link with their own so that they would profit from selling the brandable ebook instead of me. For the free ebook, all of the links should be hyperlinks because the free ebook can be secured.
I recommend creating your brandable ebook using software that will enable the purchaser of the brandable ebook to display his or her name and web link prominently on the first page of the ebook. This makes the brandable ebook more valuable for the owner and provides additional motivation for its distribution.
By John Kirkham
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