Pocket PC eBooks Watch - eBook and beyond  
 http://cebooks.blogspot.com 

Jon Noring's Commentary on Content Reserve :
Regarding distribution of a self-published author's ebooks, I have found Content Reserve to be an exciting service, and my published works are being distributed through them. A self-published author will probably be allowed to distribute their LIT ebook (and I think soon PDF) through the service (the author simply becomes a "publisher", which they are in a technical sense) and for no upfront cost. In essence, Content Reserve is a middle man between the author/publisher and ebook retailers.
And note that Content Reserve is totally non-exclusive. While one's ebook is being distributed through Content Reserve, the author/publisher can sell it via other channels. The arrangement with Content Reserve can be cancelled at any time by the author/publisher. It is a no-lose arrangement. I've poured over the contract and it has no hidden gotchas anywhere I can see -- it is very pro-publisher/author, promoting a cooperative rather than an adversarial relationship.
Take my small publishing company as an example. My flagship title, the Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana, is in the Content Reserve system -- I simply submitted it (for no fee) in LIT format, along with various metadata to Content Reserve. It's already been picked up by one ebook retailer, PreviewPort.Com. To see how the customer sees it, go to PreviewPort.Com at http://ebooks.previewport.com/ , then select "Blue Glass Publishing" from the publisher search menu on the right, then click on the one title currently there, the Kama Sutra, which the publisher search brings up (I'll be adding more titles soon). This brings up the description and sales window, all driven under the hood by Content Reserve's MIDAS system (check out the "Show description" and "Show cover image" menu items). All I need to do at this stage is to periodically walk to my mailbox and collect my check from sales, along with accessing my sales report online at ContentReserve -- they take care of all the money handling. I can then focus my time on promoting my title via other venues (and point everyone to the Content Reserve retailers who have picked up my ebook), thus saving the hassle of having to handle customer's money, something a self-published author and even small publisher should avoid doing, in my opinion, not only for liability reasons, but because one's time is better spent in promotion and getting new titles out.
When I upload the LIT file to Content Reserve, I also set the Microsoft DAS security level, which can either be Inscribed (as I talked about above) or "Owner Exclusive" (which is the high-octane security level, tying the ebook to a specific computer.)
The only "bug" I have seen in Content Reserve is that it won't let me select "Inscribed" for a LIT ebook not intended for the PocketPC (as my KS is -- it's only for the Desktop version for several reasons I won't mention here.) I've already talked with OverDrive on this and hopefully in their next update of MIDAS they will fix this obvious bug. (As a publisher, I may wish to distribute my titles at the Inscribed level yet restrict them, for technical and other reasons, to the Desktop PC and other higher quality MS Reader capable reading systems soon to be released -- as it is now, if I pick Inscribed, the sales window at the retailer will list PocketPC as a supported device, something that could lead to angry customers, if not a lawsuit. Unfortunately, I had to select Owner Exclusive for my K.S., but I much preferred Inscribed for customer satisfaction reasons -- hopefully soon I can change it back to Inscribed.)

posted by Jerry permanent link