Hi all, I was just wondering, let's say I wrote an ebook that I want to sell online... can I do it just like that, or is there some legal nitty-gritty, taxes to pay, etc.? thanks
Taxes are sort of incidental - they're based on how much you make, not what you're doing to earn the money (with some exceptions but you won't have to worry about that with an ebook). Check the laws for your country/state (I'm pretty sure if you're a dependent and making less than $2500 you don't have to pay any taxes but that may have changed). As for actually selling the ebook, you can do it yourself through paypal or another similar site or you can utilise a network such as clickbank to basically encourage other people to be affiliates selling for you. Good luck!
Thanks What about Lulu.com? Never seen it mentioned here, but I think it's a great platform for the right book...
Sounds like you know more about it than I ... I'm actually not familiar with that site. Another thing I'm not sure if is what, if any, exclusivity is required for ebooks (the same way you choose an exclusive publisher for print books). If the ToS for these sites allows, you might as well publish them in multiple places and track the results.
Agreed, you get them to handle all that nitty gritty stuff like dealing with customers and you spend all your time promoting your new book and writing the next one.
You might search the Copywriting forum to see if there are any threads about Lulu.com. Seems like I remember a discussion about using Lulu. As far as legalese, you might register with the U.S. Copyright Office to ensure the enforceability of your copyright. You'll already have one when you write the book, but registering your copyright makes it easier for you to use the court system (i.e. sue) if someone steals your book and profits from it.
You must find a IP company to register the ebook under your name. So if in the future if there is someone publish your ebook without your permission,you can sue the person And you can't avoid tax
you can copyright it, and stuff (go with all the legal procedures) but it really wont do much good. It will not stop people from distributing via warez ect.. or resell it. Plus making it legal will land you loads of fees? Are you willing to go that far?
there's no such thing as "copyrighting" a book, you own the copyright to a book the moment you write it :-P
If you knew all the answers, why did you come here asking? "Copyrighting" a book is the legal process of registering your copyright with the United States Copyright office. Yes, you do own the copyright when you write the book. But, if you ever try to sue someone for stealing your work, you will have a harder time trying to prove your copyright in court than if you'd registered. I suggest going to www.copyright.gov and educating yourself.
Aah, sorry I didn't know. Anyways I'm from Italy, so that wouldn't apply here. You can do a similar thing in Italy (although it's not called anything like that), but it's often considered unnecessary. So, say I want to sell my ebook via clickbank: can I do it with a personal PayPal account, or would I have to upgrade to business? thanks
It depends on your projected sales volume. Personal accounts only allow you to withdraw a certain amount of money each month. It's something like $300 - $500. Business accounts will take out a fee for each sale. In the U.S., you can deduct those fees on your taxes as a business expense.
Are you talking about a limited PayPal account? I can't see any such limits on my personal verified account -- I thought once you verified it there wouldn't be any more limits.
Yep with a personal account you can only withdraw a certain amount of money each month unless you've added a credit or debit card. You can only receive a certain amount a month regardless. And you're limited to a certain number of credit and debit card transactions a month. This was an issue I ran into when I first starting doing business on the internet. I'm in the U.S. and those are the limits on my personal account. It may differ based on country. You can check out your limits by clicking "View Limits" in the "Paypal Balance" box on the main page.