Admin 04.06.2016 2 comments
As in any other area of life, the path to success for online businessmen is associated with a number of problems. Before I had time to recover from , the next blow was struck by the E-Book Maestro.
As many of my readers know, this is a program for creating and protecting e-books in .exe format. In this price category, there were practically no equals to it, at a cost of only $19, the compiler was able to link the book to 1 user's computer, which significantly reduced the risk of spreading the book over the Internet with the speed of a forest fire.
Cracking a book created by this compiler was also not so easy. At least the "dummies", which are the vast majority among the pirates, could not.
And against serious hackers, no defense will stand. But as I have said many times, this does not seem to be an argument against the defense. Any apartment can be broken into, even if you put a platoon of guards in front of it. But this does not mean that you need to voluntarily give the keys to the apartment to the thieves. So here.
In my books there were quite a lot of practical lessons on creating and protecting books using the E-Book Maestro compiler, and for almost 5 years my readers and I have been happy to use its capabilities, along with other compilers and protection services.
One of the readers of the book (unfortunately, having started reading my book very late) bought an E-Book Maestro compiler to defend his book. Paid $25.90 for compiler and extended warranty. And...didn't get it.
More precisely, I did not receive license keys for the compiler. We didn't worry at first because the keys are consumable, and they sometimes end like this all of a sudden, yeah. It happened to me 1 time too. But every time in such cases, the reader wrote to the developer, and the keys were issued without problems.
This time responsible person The E-Book Maestro just disappeared...it quietly disappeared from the Internet. My reader was looking for it for a whole month, wrote letters to all authorities, at least 4 letters were written to the developer, 2-3 more letters to payment system BlueSnap (former Plimus). No, they just took the money and dumped it, can you imagine? Hello 90s and mmm.
Letters from the E-Book Maestro reader were simply ignored, and BlueSnap wrote standard excuses like "deal with the developer directly." After some time, I joined the question. It was embarrassing to the point that it happened.
I also wrote a letter to all the developer's addresses, put a delivery notice and copied it into BlueSnap. All unsuccessful. Nobody answered me.
But I did not want to give up and hoped that the situation was somehow solved. I called the legal software store, which are the official resellers of the product. At my request, the store staff also contacted the developer of the E-Book Maestro for the supply of additional keys, and they were ignored too.
CONCENTRATED RUDENESS.
When these things happen, it is highly likely that the company has gone bankrupt and its product has gone under. Unfortunately, this is not the first time. About 3 years ago this happened with the E-Book Edit PRO compiler.
They also first stopped responding to letters and giving out duplicate keys, and then they completely merged, and their website for several years gave out a message that the compiler was “in progress”.
We improved to the point that this year the site was closed, because. The domain has expired.
… In 2011, the Securebook compiler from Viktor Fedorenkov, a talented Russian programmer, appeared in my book.
But… less than 6 months after I bought the compiler and released new version books as Viktor Fedorenkov announced the removal of the compiler from sale due to the transition to Infoprotector.
To say it was a punch in the gut is an understatement. $150 was a pity.
Nevertheless, Viktor Fedorenkov at least dealt with the buyers as decently as it was possible in that situation.
He did not hide from anyone, and honestly said that he was stopping the sale of the compiler. And then the activation script kept in working order for another year. And his technical support was always polite and high-quality. I am sure that even now, if someone still uses his program without an activation script, and questions arise, he will not abandon customers and will definitely answer. He also led the Securebook group on the Infoprotector forum for quite a long time (I don’t know how now). Therefore, I got the impression that he is a decent person.
Comrades from E-Book Edit and now E-Book Maestro have decided to follow the principle of "even a deluge after us." I checked the expiration date for the E-Book Maestro domain, it is valid until 2021. Yes, .com domain zones, unlike .ru domain zones, can be renewed not for 1 year, but for 10 years.
That is, in the next 5 years, the site, apparently, plans to collect money and not give out keys, or what? Yes, in Russia no one will advertise them anymore (I generally did it for free because of the developed philanthropy), but there is still a search and there is a bourgeoisie.
I will write a complaint to their domain registrar and hosting provider, and I have already warned my clients. However, since the keys are now unavailable from the Russian store, and the compiler is removed from sales for this reason, then ...
SALE OF MY BOOK HAS BEEN STOPPED.
I honestly and selflessly fought for her life since 2011, that is, 5 years. There are no analogues of my book in RuNet, and probably never will be, because it takes a very long time to finalize it and make such radical changes.
There was just one more course on the Internet that adequately taught how to protect information products from piracy, it cost about 5,000 rubles, but it has not been sold since 2012. And I can easily understand its author. Each such perturbation with third parties, each such bunch of changes in the design of third party sites requires rewriting many hours of modules, and this will take the soul out of anyone.
I kicked a little longer, and the price of my book, stuffed to overflowing with practical video tutorials and materials, was only 748 rubles, that is, only $10. Fortunately, updating my book was a little easier, and I spared no time. An update was released once a year.
After what happened with the E-Book Maestro, I tried for 2 weeks to find an alternative, but in vain. In Runet, protection is treated, to put it mildly, in a peculiar way. There are protection solutions, but they are not suitable for novice authors, because they either:
1. They are too expensive.
Infoprotector is good. Very good, no doubt. But despite the fact that it is positioned both as protection for courses and as protection for e-books, in fact ...
I got a purely subjective impression that the service was and is designed for authors of expensive video courses. Otherwise, how else to explain that in addition to the cost of installing the equipment, the authors also need to pay 200 rubles for each key. That is, in order to get at least a minimum profitability from an e-book, it will have to cost at least 400 rubles.
Such a price for educational books, it seems, is normal. But! Given the number of necessary updates to the book, I personally will not sell the book for that kind of money.
And fiction books, which are the most vulnerable to piracy, sell for 400 rubles - something from the category of literary BDSM.
Even Dontsova does not sell her books for 400 rubles! So why did someone decide that the books of the unknown Pupka Pupkin would be sold for that kind of money??
No, of course, someone can try. Don't say later that I didn't warn you. Pricing mechanisms are fairly unambiguously explained in my book.
And remember that we discussed now the minimum profitability. With such a profit, books will need to be sold like hot cakes, in the hundreds, that is, for all this to make sense. A vicious circle is obtained.
Another analogue generally set prices beyond good and evil. That is, in addition to the price for the key, they also ask about 4,500 rubles a month for maintenance. Previously, it was just a one-time price of 1,500 rubles, that's all. But ... in order for you to live in Moscow, you need to spin quickly, therefore I do not blame, but I say that novice authors will not be able to afford it. It is more likely that this will only be suitable for corporations.
2. Too complicated technically.
I also considered options for publishing books on my website in closed access. However, for the book to be fully protected, the average user needs too much technical knowledge, most will not be able to cope.
Abroad, the situation with protection, in fact, is a little better. Nevertheless, it wouldn’t even occur to me to offer their solutions to Russian authors in a drunken delirium, because the services are not only English language, so from the payment methods you can only fasten PayPal and cards. For Russian sales, this is zilch. And a bunch of wasted resources.
3. Unreliable.
A number of services that live in Runet have the ability to create closed member zones. But here everything is also "kakbe not very." That is, to give access to a paid closed video course, it will do, but the book ... the book is well protected from free distribution by an individual login and password, but my system protected the text from copying for exactly 10 seconds, while I poked my fingers into the key combination “Copy AT ALL ALL"…
I didn’t even check another service, because there they cannot program the upsell (upsell) function into the basket. This means that the author will not collect about 30-50% of his money already at the start. Plus a bunch of newbies… well, a book that is protected to the teeth, but brings income only for caramels, nobody fucking needs.
Other compilers I know of (except E-Book Maestro) are also too weak. They do not have bindings to 1 computer, and are more sensitive to hacking.
AND THAT IS NOT ALL.
My favorite service, Amazon.com, has blocked author self-gratification in the form of publishing books through their Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) service.
This service is good because despite some weaknesses in protection that all inexpensive solutions have (including the E-Book Maestro), the book, nevertheless, was attached to 1 reader, which means that the playful little hands of pirates are not so quickly get to the content.
But unlike E-Book Maestro, books published by KDP are also available for mobile devices.
The reason for blocking is the discrepancy between the Russian language and the supported languages of the system. That is, in this Provençal language (sorry for being stupid, but I don’t even know where it is) books can be published easily, but in Russian - no way!
More precisely, it has been a year since 2013, but before Amazon turned a blind eye to this, and my book "Hold on to life, it's short" sold quite well right up to May 2016. O tempora! O…???
Compared to my site, it was sold, to be honest, neither shaky nor rolled, but it was not blocked either.
When trying to post the second edition of the book, as well as my new novel "Broken Guitar" everything was blocked. Last week, a final refusal came from the technical support of the service.
I interviewed book buyers who ordered the book within the last year and it turned out that the Amazon service was not so necessary. This means that the loss is not so great. Strange, of course, but still ...
Based on all this, I concluded that no one lives for two centuries, and neither does my e-book. So, the time has come to withdraw it from the market and protect it as you wish.
But literally today I came across as many as 3 foreign e-book compilers with piracy protection! And cheered up. I had hope that the life of my book "How to protect an e-book from hacking and free distribution" is not over.
Don't let their English language fool you. At first glance, creating books in them is not difficult. There is no need to install PHP scripts on the server, which is already a big relief. If these compilers are suitable for our tasks, I will make an update to the book on protection and include in it not one, but immediately 2-3 protection options, of your choice. And I will translate the necessary functions.
Similarly, we worked with readers with the E-Book Edit PRO compiler between 2009 and 2011, and no one had any difficulty with my instructions.
The compilers will also have some disadvantages, you can’t upload them to the public, so I’ll also write in detail in the book. It is now obvious that the price of the compilers will be $39-$69, which is slightly higher than the E-Book Maestro, but as you can see, not that much. In any case, it will be cheaper than 200 rubles for 1 key or 4500 rubles per month + key, although not so reliable, alas.
In the near future, I will start testing these solutions and will keep you informed about the progress of the process. I wanted to leave E-Book Maestro for a very long time, mainly because of the insane technical support and low-quality service (I asked them to register in the announced affiliate program and receive direct advertising interest, and they ignored me), but so far it hasn’t stuck, never get started :D
Separately, I want to say that I have already read additionally fresh forums and even competent legal advice on how to protect a book from piracy.
Let me tell you, 99% of these "freebies" don't stand up to scrutiny. How do you like the advice “if an e-book was stolen from you and distributed for free, write a letter of claim to the hoster, and the site will be closed.” And that's what the lawyer said. That is, they offer the author-novelist, for example, to do garbage and write to hostings?!
It is immediately clear that this adviser did not study the materiel further than theory. Otherwise, I would have known that there would be many such hostings, and the writer would bury himself under them. And instead of creating a new book, he will deal with garbage.
THE GOOD NEWS IS ALSO.
And not even alone. If a new edition of the book sees the light of day, then due to the lack of a publishing and protection module through Amazon, the new book will probably be cheaper. There is an alternative to self-publishing on Amazon, I will also talk about it in new edition book "How to protect an e-book from hacking and free distribution".
The other good news is that, after some deliberation, I have decided not to close the annual customer warranty service for the time being.
I wanted to close this service due to the fact that I get much less from it than I earned :-) Compared to market prices, it is justified. But then I decided that I would support support for some more time, because many readers are already like family to me. Some have been in contact for 6-7 years.
And the third good news is when I finished the novel "Broken Guitar" and in view of the peculiarities of selling fiction books, I was thinking about how best to publish and sell it, I found one interesting service that I will talk about in books and which will also be updated soon.
THAT IS THE SCHEDULE OF WORK ON THE BOOKS WILL BE THIS:
1.I edit the book first How to create an e-book the right way.
2. At the same time, I am testing new ways to protect e-books.
3. I am editing the book "How to protect an e-book from hacking and free distribution".
4. Editing a book How to sell an e-book.
In view of the large volume of work, the traditional summer holiday season and the work to promote the novel "Broken Guitar" Estimated completion date for all work is the end of 2016. Books will be released as the editing is completed, and I will certainly inform all subscribers about this.
The process of technical compilation of the e-book exe from the book "How to create an e-book" I will transfer to the book "How to protect an e-book from hacking and free distribution" for the integrity of perception. And instead, the creation book will include information on the new service. Plenty and tasty, in general ;-)
Therefore, if you came to this article from a search engine, get a gift and wait for my letter so as not to miss the release date of new books.
Free program for creating e-books in EXE format. In addition to the FREE version, which has significant limitations, there are 2 commercial versions: eBook Maestro STANDARD and eBook Maestro PRO. latest version- the most full-featured, unlimited full version. You can download the program at http://www.ebookmaestro.com. HTML and its derivatives are used as the source format.
The program does not accept Russian letters in folder and file names. Therefore, before starting work with this program, you need to create a folder with an English name in the root directory of one of the disks. Each project from which the output file will be created must contain only the files of this project and no other. If several unrelated HTML files are in the same folder, that is, in the same project, then the program simply will not allow you to use other files. When you try to select another HTML file, all sorts of obstacles, incomprehensible messages, etc. will be created all the time. The program does not make restrictions on the Russian text in the HTML file, everything is read without problems. The e-book opens on any PC without installation additional programs. The presence of browsers (Internet Explorer, Opera, Mozilla Firefox, etc.) is not required for reading, since a special browser is built into the EXE file for reading.
After installing the program, the program itself and a tutorial on it in English are launched. Tutorials (there are 2 of them) are in the program folder at C:\Program Files\eBook Maestro FREE. The tutorials are named wizards.exe and guide.exe. We remind you that this program creates output files in EXE format, so their own tutorials are created in the same format.
The book is created in several steps. At the first step (Fig. 135) The title of the book is indicated ( Book Name), author's name ( Author Name), as well as the site name ( home page) and address Email (Contact Email) of the creator of this book, in the field Reviews/Awards the address of the reviewer of the book or article is indicated.
To select a folder with HTML source files, click the button Browse(Browse) to the right of the field ebook directory(Folder EBook ) and select the desired folder. The program independently analyzes the contents of the folder and offers one of the files to create an e-book. If this is not the case, then click on the button Browse(Browse) to the right of the field EBook Default File(Default name is EBook ) and select the desired file.
Note: the program finds the Index .html file without error.
Options Left Panel Sub-Directory(Folder for left pane) and Left Panel Default File(Default file for the left panel) are designed to create a panel on the left side of the book window, in which you can display, for example, a book table of contents with hyperlinks. The folder for the left pane must be in the same folder as the original one. Place in this subfolder the file that should be displayed in the left pane. If the file for the left panel is placed not in a subfolder, but in a folder with source files, then the left part will be created, and the main part of the book will not be shown, although the program will not display any errors.
In field Output eBook EXE File(Output file EXE ) A folder to save and a file name are suggested. The folder is located in the following path: Documents → EBook Maestro → Output . The name of the file is either a wildcard or the last given by the user. The last option is the most dangerous, since you can accidentally delete the previous created workbook. So click on the button Browse(Browse) to the right of this field and specify the name of the output file. The path to the output folder and the name of the output file may contain Cyrillic letters - the use of Cyrillic is prohibited only for source folders and files. In principle, you can stop at this and start the command to create an e-book, since the third step (Fig. 137) determines additional parameters: the size of the buttons and the working window, including the left panel, the list of buttons in the working window with the finished book.
EBook Maestro FREE is a powerful tool for creating presentations and e-books with a lot of possibilities. The free version of the program includes a full set of options for non-commercial projects.
Multifunctional presentations created with the program and e-books with easy access can be shared on the Internet, which will allow creative people reach a wider audience with their texts and audio-visual materials.
The versatile simplicity of this compiler, backed by strong compression, makes the job of creating a book or publishing a real pleasure. EBook Maestro FREE offers a user-friendly interface with fully customizable features, fast search engine, read-aloud mode, and more. Support for embedding scripts, Flash, Shockwave and video formats provides richer and more innovative features than other publishing options.
EBook Maestro FREE allows you to integrate books with a remote web server through form processing. Not only does this make feedback easier, but it also puts in your hands a host of interaction tools such as questionnaires, survey sheets, and various teaching methods.
Universal support for embedded objects, character sets, and data processing allows you to apply the richness of book creation in any professional field whether it be art, business, education or culinary. Users of EBook Maestro FREE will find reliable protection against copyright infringement in their compiler.
The program has a built-in checksum algorithm to control the absence of changes in the contents of the book. Interface settings also support disabling cut/paste and drag-and-drop while running.
EBook Maestro FREE can add quick search functions to projects, play text by voice, and change any part of the book's interface, thanks to the built-in support for templates.
Prokudina Elizaveta MBOU secondary school No. 5 of the city of Apatity, Murmansk region Grade 11
Introduction
Topic:
Target:
Exploring the possibilities of the ebook Maestro Free program and creating an electronic textbook
Tasks:
· Introduce the concept of an electronic textbook
To acquaint with the main stages of creating electronic textbooks
· Master the skills of working in the program eBook Maestro Free
Methods:
Theoretical (literature analysis), comparative, work with a teacher
Hypothesis:
Download:
Preview:
All-Russian competition research work students
“YOUNT, SCIENCE, CULTURE”
Direction: information technology and computing systems
Topic : "Creating an electronic textbook based on the program eBook Maestro Free"
Prokudina Elizabeth
MBOU secondary school No. 5 of the city of Apatity, Murmansk region
Grade 11
Scientific supervisors:
Mukhina I. A.
Alekhina T.F.
Obninsk, 2013/2014 academic year
Introduction
Studying in the 11th grade, I understand that soon I have to do my life important choice- a higher educational institution and their further destiny. From how I prepare and pass the exams - a lot of envy. Therefore, I am preparing seriously and thoroughly: using demonstration options on the Internet, using didactic materials. Basically, these are tests, the form is convenient and very simple. After getting to know different types tests, I realized that electronic testing is optimal for me. But I do not have enough time and energy to solve the exam in the online testing mode. In addition, online testing has one significant drawback for me: I cannot save my results in order to track which topics and tasks I have gaps in. Therefore, for me, the option of testing in one of the test shells is more acceptable. I got acquainted with different test shells and realized that they have their own characteristics and disadvantages. Faced with the concept of an electronic textbook, I became interested in this topic, realizing that it could simplify the solution of USE options and the study of new materials.
Also, an electronic textbook is a fairly new phenomenon that needs to be introduced into society. I want to review the advantages and disadvantages of this tutorial. But even now I understand that the electronic textbook is very useful for students.
For each course, a student or student can be tested and receive a grade or a score, and the program itself indicates which material is poorly learned. For distance learning, an electronic textbook is an indispensable thing. A person should not stop there, namely, continue to modernize, change, correct this manual, since the creation of a library of electronic textbooks on information technology is our task for the near future.
Topic:
Creation of an electronic textbook based on eBook Maestro Free.
Target:
Exploring Opportunities ebook Maestro Free programs and creation of an electronic textbook
Tasks:
- Introduce the concept of an electronic textbook
- To acquaint with the main stages of creating electronic textbooks.
- Master the skills of working in the program eBook Maestro Free.
Methods:
Theoretical (literature analysis), comparative, work with a teacher.
Hypothesis:
This project will help me figure out the pros and cons of this tutorial so that I can use it in the future.
1. General information about electronic textbooks
1.1. Definitions of electronic textbooks.
There is more than one definition of the concept of an electronic textbook. The main ones are:
1) A computer textbook is a software and methodological complex that provides the opportunity to independently master training course or its large section. A computer textbook combines the properties of an ordinary textbook, reference book, problem book and laboratory practice. [Demushkin]
2) An electronic (computer) textbook should ensure the performance of all basic functions, including the presentation of theoretical material, the organization of the application of initially acquired knowledge (performing training tasks), monitoring the level of assimilation (feedback) without the help of any paper media, that is, only based computer program. [Khutorskoy]
3) An electronic textbook (ET) is a training software system for complex purposes that ensures the continuity and completeness of the didactic cycle of the learning process: providing theoretical material, providing training learning activities and control of the level of knowledge, as well as information retrieval activities, mathematical and simulation modeling with computer visualization and service functions, subject to the implementation of interactive feedback". [Zainutdinova]
1.2. The main advantages of e-learning materials
Before printed, the following can be called:
1. Quick search function. Indexing (i.e.the process by which pages of websites and blogs appear in search engine results) printed edition, if present, its capabilities are very limited. The electronic textbook, on the contrary, provides the ability to quickly and accurately find necessary information for any required request.
2. Possibility of individual organization and structuring of information in the form of hypertext.Such a system provides the ability to combine the most important information blocks into one logical chain. This has a positive effect on the perception of educational material and helps to better assimilate the material.
3. Multimedia Features. They make it possible to use not only illustrations in the educational material, but also music and video materials. This greatly contributes to improving the quality of education and much better than the page of an ordinary textbook keeps the student's attention, fully concentrating it on the learning process.
4. Interactive Simulation. Students have the opportunity to conduct many virtual experiments, for example, in the course of chemistry, biology or physics. Moreover, virtual experiments can be both simple and quite complex, such that it would be simply impossible to repeat in a school laboratory. You can, for example, work with three-dimensional graphic models of molecules and atoms.
5. Interactive self-test system,which allows the student to assess the level of their knowledge in a convenient way, to prepare more thoroughly for tests and exams.
1.3 Disadvantages of the electronic textbook
There are no significant shortcomings in the electronic textbook, only unusualness, unconventionality can be distinguished electronic form presentation of information and increased fatigue when working with the monitor.
Considering these possibilities in a complex, we can say that the electronic textbook differs in many ways from the classic paper one. It provides much wider opportunities both for learning within existing programs and for developing and optimizing the educational process.
2. Creation of an electronic textbook
EBook Maestro FREE 1.80 is a versatile tool for creating presentations and e-books with a rich list of features. Free version eBook Maestro offers a complete set of options for non-commercial projects.
Stages of creating an electronic textbook on a specific example.
Stage 1
You need to install the program eBook Maestro Free
Stage 2
To create an electronic textbook, use the step-by-step instructions:
- An electronic textbook resembles a website and consists of html pages, so you first need to prepare html files for your textbook. Use the NVU editor
- In the "General" tab, you must specify the title of the book, the name of the author, the address
- In the "Files" tab, you must specify the location of your folder with html files on your hard drive and the start file of the book. You can also specify an icon.
- In the tab "Interface" you configure the settings of the book.
- Use help if needed
- At the end, you should compile the files and get the executable file of the finished application
Conclusion
Exploring the material on this topic, I came to the conclusion that the electronic textbook is a very useful and easy-to-use thing that provides a lot of opportunities that are not feasible with book editions. BUT, the use of electronic textbooks is advisable only in combination with other educational systems, while not denying, but mutually complementing printed publications.
Creating a textbook of this type made it easier for me to master the material, as well as test solutions. The use of electronic textbooks is advisable only in combination with other educational systems, while not denying, but mutually complementing printed publications.
Bibliography:
1. Methodological guide in questions and answers URL:http://nt2.shu.ru:9500/eu.html [accessed 11.01.2013]
2.Pedagogy URL: http://paidagogos.com/?p=154 [accessed 31.01.2013]
) is a program for creating digital information products (such as e-books, presentations, magazines, albums, galleries, manuals, offline websites, reports, training courses, tests, questionnaires, etc.)
E-books created with eBook Maestro can contain and open any file types: HTML pages, graphic files, Flash files, Java scripts, VB scripts, cascading style sheets (CSS), sound files, video files, etc.
The e-book interface is fully customizable. You can change any part of the user interface, including the control bar, search menu, program icon, etc.
Books have support for Speech API interfaces for voice playback of selected text or the entire document using headphones or speakers.
List of features: link
Animation videos: link
Note. All animations were created for the English version of EBook Maestro PRO 1.18, so if you are using a different version of EBook Maestro, the settings may vary.
Help Guide: link
The program is available in three versions: FREE, STANDARD and PRO. In the table, you can explore the capabilities of the three versions.
Additionally:
Create help and training modules in CHM, HTML, and SCORM formats using your own source documents;
Export of educational materials on a Web site with the support of navigation and quiz;
Control the look and feel of your help modules with a choice of themes, colors, and buttons;
Create quizzes designed to reinforce knowledge and key concepts;
Connect to your web server, upload and download files using the included FTP client;
Compile your materials to a standalone executable file, suitable for installation on the Windows platform.
Demo version limitations:
no more than 15 questions per test;
no more than 10 chapters in a book;
trial period of 45 days.
