Protecting a Prelaunch Mental Health eBook

[UKGiftWarranty]

I'm looking in Aspkin's direction here ( ) but very much welcome all input!

I'm in the final stages of proofing an eBook (mental health niche, very close to my heart), and I'm now at the stage of looking at ways to protect. I'm aware it's notoriously difficult, heck, near downright impossible stop unless you're willing to throw huge budgets behind lawsuits etc and even then your work is still likely to end up on underground/blackhat marketplaces etc if it's worth anything. I understand the basics of cease and desists etc but again to follow these kind of actions up is no mean feat.

So, are there any possible deterrents and methodologies I could implement? Things like preventing copy & paste (right click) seems great- forcing a thief to rewrite etc. Any other tips & tricks anyone would be kind enough to share, should there be any? I would forever be indebted to you and you'd get the feel good factor of knowing you'd contributed to helping a cause that hopefully helps towards mental health and and the charity Mind.

[ilcarletto]

Noble cause, I can't help you directly but I'm sure you are in the right place.

If you had a look at the new version of stealth guide (and I guess you did) that "book" it is pretty locked.

I had the chance to review the "draft" version and, as I told to aspkin, was trying to copy the content for offline reading... no way I succeeded.
Only option was to screenshot and re-compose every single page... too much effort. I ended up reading online.

[oompaloompa]

good question - I think you can protect against casual copying with locks etc but if someone really wants to take it then they can.........I know it is worth alot to you, as it is your own hard work, but really is an ebook on its own really that valuable ?

[GreenBean]

Plagiarism suxs with any written works. Keep in mind a lot of blood sweat and tears has gone into the creation.
There is also a need to prevent hacking and using the material for one's own gain.

We have established ebooks can be locked to prevent bring printed out.(thanks,ilcarletto).

Copyright banners might be of use to you as well. I guess if you are worried before publication of issues, then you tighten your security before publication.

Could I suggest for the moment, you look over amazon kindle? there are many questions there about kindle books which has info that will translate directly to your project.
Another point of reference will also be checking within the UK for existant copyright law. As the writer of printable material you have intrinsic rights to protect your own writings.

Hope this helps.

[UKGiftWarranty]

Thanks for the replies. Good points raised.

I've reviewed the Stealth Book, and figured as much that I'd be hard pushed to lock down further but thought I'd put this out there to see if there's anything going on in the background that I've potentially missed which I could incorporate.

Originally Posted by oompaloompa

I know it is worth alot to you, as it is your own hard work, but really is an ebook on its own really that valuable ?

I see your point, and it's valid. My reasoning here, is more to do with the cause; any sales lost, is a loss of contribution towards the charity.. even a small percentage loss to plagarism could be a significant loss to the charity in addition to any financial gain of my own, so it's not just monetary value, there's a social element at play. On the flip side, the target market would hopefully understand that value and you'd like to think in a perfect world that would make the product less susceptible to duplication but perhaps I'm trying to pull the wool over my own eyes a little bit here.

As for Kindle suggestion, it's made me ponder the audiobook route; this may even have more appeal and it's something I've completely ignored (perhaps naively) up until this point.

Either or, it's good to brainstorm. Cheers.

[Play]

I dont know if its changed now, but to read the stealth guide, you had to download a software which allowed you to view and read the guide with a license key, and it prevented you from copying the content. Good deterrant.

Now people went that extra mile because that was the only option available to them. You should ask yourself, would people go that extra mile to read your ebook? and thus by enforcing such detterants would you in turn deter potential readers?