Digital book is a unique product which requires support even after its production completing. That is why we have to sell and store them in a unique way.
When one buys a tangible product, such as a printed book, one knows he/she will have to wait for it and doesn't expect to receive it immediately. But when the client buys a digital book it is expected to arrive immediately.
There are 2 options to send the book to the client:
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Sending directly to the reading app, such as Helicon Books app
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sending by e-mail directly th the client
Each option has its advantages and disadvantages. Sending to the app option has the next advantages:
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Ease of use. The client downloads the app, connects to the cloud through the app and can read the book right away. Downloading the app is an action done only once.
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Copy protection. The books sent to the app is downloaded to a private memory area and in addition encoded, so it's practically impossible to copy.
The advantages of the other method, sending directly to the client, allows reading with others apps (as long as it supports EPUB3). This gain is also a drawback: since the costumer doesn't know if the app supports EPUB3 it may cause problems and services calls. Another drawback is lack of copy protection after sending the book to the costumer. The book can be copied and be distributed.
A digital books store has to support at least one of the two options, and thus it is important to use a dedicated system while building the store – and not use a regular e-Commerce system. Many private authors and small publishing houses ask site designers to build them stores base on existing e Commerce platforms, in order to save money, but those platforms are not suitable for digital books selling because they do not support any of the above sending option. Some of the platforms allow expansion by programming (in this case, one can use Helicon Books' API for sending to the app) but this solution requires an additional payment).
Helicon Books has another solution:
An e Commerce platform that allows digital and printed books selling. The store will be built in a corporation between the store owner and our designer. The store owner design the store or choose the elements he likes. Our designer is very experienced, and he also will make the store responsive (fit for cellular devices).
The responsive design is very important because:
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Google search results give priority in display to responsive sites.
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Many of the digital books readers buy the books with their cellular devices (while driving, at work etc). If you're store isn't responsive – you loose costumers.
In android devices, our platform enable buying the book directly from the app.