Instant Ebooks For Writers: RoyaltyLock.com
© Manuel Viloria
How RoyaltyLock Works
It is quite straightforward: You simply submit your written material, whether in electronic or printed form, and RoyaltyLock.com converts it into a ebook. Depending on the amount of effort they exert, the conversion service fee can range anywhere from $25 to $450.
RoyaltyLock makes use of Hypermaker which is great because it has a way of ensuring that registered ebooks (complete with username and password) will work only on a particular computer. If ever your ebook is transferred to another computer, a new password will be required.
Your Royalty Fees
The royalties will depend on whether you will market the books on your own, or if you will get the help of affiliates. If you will do the marketing by yourself, you stand to earn royalties of anywhere from 83% to 92% (assumes the book retails online for $5 to $17).
If you make use of affiliates, you and your virtual salesforce will share 73% to 87% royalties. How much you share will completely depend on you. Affiliates are usually attracted to 50% of the selling price. So if your affiliates sell your $5 book (and make 50% or $2.50), you will end up with $1.15 or 23% of the $5 selling price (because RoyaltyLock will deduct some processing and transaction fees). The nice thing about it is you don't have to handle the check payments of your affiliates.
Please don't worry if your affiliates seem to be making more money than you. That's their reward for getting the word out. Just look at it as your advertising expense. No, it's better than advertising because you spend only after an actual sale is made.
Is It Really Secure?
RoyaltyLock specializes in converting your work into HTML or web pages, and then assembling those web pages into a secure ebook. So far, no one has cracked the code, so to speak. I wish I could say the same, though, as far as PDF documents are concerned.
If you're very concerned about security, don't go for the PDF conversion package because Hypermaker leaves copies of the PDF files in the hard disk of your customer. So much for copy-protection, right?
Should You Worry About Piracy?
It depends on your audience. To implement copy protection, your buyers have to keep track of their computer's "numerical fingerprint" or hardware code. Then when they buy the password online, they have to make sure they typed it correctly. Otherwise, the purchased password will be useless.
