Pageseal

Guide

eBook DRM: protecting the eBooks you sell yourself

When you sell eBooks from your own shop, there are three ways to protect them: lock the file, protect it with a password, or give every buyer a personal copy. This guide shows what each one means for you and for your readers.

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Short answer: For direct sales, personal copies (social DRM) work best: the book opens on every reader, the buyer’s name is inside, and a shared copy leads back to its order. Encryption DRM needs a licensed service and special reading apps; a PDF password is shared along with the file.

What are the options?

Personal copy (social DRM)Encryption DRMPassword on the PDF
Opens onAny reader for the formatOnly apps that support that DRMAny PDF reader, after the password
Buyer needsNothing extraOften an account or a reading appThe password
When a copy is sharedIt names the buyer and the orderRemoval tools existThe password travels with it
FormatsEPUB, PDF, audiobookDepends on the servicePDF only
Support questionsFewActivation and device questionsForgotten passwords

Why do the big stores lock their eBooks?

Kindle, Apple Books and many library apps sell into their own reading apps, so encryption suits them: the book only has to open in their app. A shop that sells files directly has no reading app of its own. Locked files would send readers to third-party software, and that is where most support emails come from.

What does social DRM do instead?

Every sale gets its own copy: a note with the buyer’s name and order number and, with Pageseal, an identifier you cannot see that stays when the note page is deleted. Few buyers pass on a file with their name in it, and if a copy appears online, the leak search names the order. More on the method: social DRM explained.

Is a password on a PDF enough?

A password stops nobody who has it, and every buyer has it. It also does not say who shared the file. Pageseal therefore personalises the PDF itself: a note page or a footer line with the buyer’s name, plus a mark in several places of the file. How to set it up: sell a PDF with a watermark.

How do I add eBook protection to Shopify?

  1. Install PagesealFrom the Shopify App Store (in final testing, early access by email).
  2. Upload EPUB, PDF and audiobookThe EPUB check runs right away and shows pages from Apple Books, Android and Kindle.
  3. Assign the Shopify productFrom then on every order gets a personal copy on the thank-you page and by email.

Pageseal starts free with 5 copies, then $0.75 each; paid plans from $15 a month include copies every month (pricing).

Questions

Asked often.

Can I add Adobe DRM to eBooks I sell on Shopify?

Only through a service licensed for it, and your buyers then need a reading app that supports it. Most independent shops choose personal copies instead.

Does an eBook with social DRM open on Kindle?

Yes. A personalised EPUB can be sent to a Kindle with Amazon’s Send to Kindle, like any EPUB.

Does DRM stop piracy?

No method stops a determined person. Personal copies change the motive and tell you which order a shared file came from.

Do I have to tell buyers that their copy is personalised?

Yes, say it in the product description and in your privacy policy; the name is personal data. Pageseal works as your processor under a data processing agreement.

Read next

Sell your next eBook as a personal copy.

Pageseal is in final testing for the Shopify App Store. Write to us and you are among the first.

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