Al Schneider Seeks Your Opinion
Posted: June 29th, 2015, 2:20 pm
Recently I found one of my best books offered as a free download at several web locations. I panicked. At first, I was really rattled. I have a dozen or more new books planed and worried about having them ripped off. I considered pulling all my books. I thought to try to devise a way to sell material and keep it confidential.
I contacted Create Space, the publisher, and asked how these jerks could get my PDF's. They responded by saying they keep such things confidential. They cautioned me that there are phishing sites that promise free downloads in an effort to get the users confidential information. I calmed down a bit but pursued the idea of sending secured material over the internet. As I have recently been studying how to build electronic devices, I applied electronic technology to find a solution. I found a nice solution and this is the main subject of this post.
However, I have had another unrelated question on my mind and I would like to present that here as well. Therefore, I have two questions. One is about selling electronically protected material. The other is about writing books using non-standard gimmicks.
Here is the security device I had in mind. It looks kinda like a key fob for a car. It is a small thing that has two buttons and can easily be held in one's hand. It is at the end of a USB cable the other end having a type A USB plug. The book itself is a file that can be downloaded over the internet. It is a scrambled file. To use it, the file is downloaded into your computer. The device is plugged into a USB port. A screen pops up that asks for the name of the file. When that is entered, the first page of the book appears. The two buttons on the fob move the pages forward and backward. The presentation contains text, pics, and video. That is the essence of the operation. The goal was to keep it simple for the user, provide additional user features, and be somewhat easy to implement.
To support this scenario requires some technological juggling. The seller must provide the user with the fob. The fob contains a code unique to the user. When the seller ships a book file to that user, the unique code is put into the book file. There is much more than this but that is the primary task the seller needs to do to use this system.
The fob will not cost much. It essentially uses a single chip that costs $1.50 in quantities of one. All the work is in the software which is complicated. The chip is structured so the software cannot be copied off it. You can destroy it but you can't copy it.
The security is not perfect. Some clever guy can write a program to duplicate the fob software. The goal is to make the effort cost more than the profit from using such a program. It also depends on the idea that we are not high volume sellers of magic books.
I am curious if you think such a system is desirable. Also, do you think other sellers might find this device interesting.
That is it.
Now to the other item. I have several new tricks that do not use standard props. I want to write a book about them. To do so means that the book explains in detail how to make the gimmicks used. I have done this in the past but do not feel good about it. In addition, I need to do it some more. A solution would be to make the prop and sell it with the book. That is just not my way of doing business. I am thinking that I should write the book as if it stands alone. Then, should I feel the desire to make props, I do the hardware and ship it with the book as instructions. Alternatively, someone might pop up that wants to make hardware and we strike a deal. Anyway, the primary question is, "Should I just write the book and explain how to make the gimmick." Trouble is, if I don't do that the trick will never be released.
This is actually an outcome of the last time I asked help from this forum. That was when I asked about what was a desirable cup and ball routine. After all this time, I finally have a solution. The solution consists of a bag with a cup, three small balls of different color, and a large final load. No gimmicks. The props are carried in the bag. Can be done standing by a table in a birthday suit. Everyone examines everything. The routine is outstanding ending with a final load that is really always there until the end. All is put back into the bag ready for the next performance. This is designed for the serious close up pro. It may be suitable for stage with bigger props.
The details are in the structure of the props. I made my own cup and final load. The goal is to fill the cup with the final load yet support the small balls as well. I did not want the final load to be vastly smaller than the cup. In this routine, the final load appears to fill the cup totally. In a sense it does.
Well, those are my questions.
Sorry this was so long.
Al Schneider
I contacted Create Space, the publisher, and asked how these jerks could get my PDF's. They responded by saying they keep such things confidential. They cautioned me that there are phishing sites that promise free downloads in an effort to get the users confidential information. I calmed down a bit but pursued the idea of sending secured material over the internet. As I have recently been studying how to build electronic devices, I applied electronic technology to find a solution. I found a nice solution and this is the main subject of this post.
However, I have had another unrelated question on my mind and I would like to present that here as well. Therefore, I have two questions. One is about selling electronically protected material. The other is about writing books using non-standard gimmicks.
Here is the security device I had in mind. It looks kinda like a key fob for a car. It is a small thing that has two buttons and can easily be held in one's hand. It is at the end of a USB cable the other end having a type A USB plug. The book itself is a file that can be downloaded over the internet. It is a scrambled file. To use it, the file is downloaded into your computer. The device is plugged into a USB port. A screen pops up that asks for the name of the file. When that is entered, the first page of the book appears. The two buttons on the fob move the pages forward and backward. The presentation contains text, pics, and video. That is the essence of the operation. The goal was to keep it simple for the user, provide additional user features, and be somewhat easy to implement.
To support this scenario requires some technological juggling. The seller must provide the user with the fob. The fob contains a code unique to the user. When the seller ships a book file to that user, the unique code is put into the book file. There is much more than this but that is the primary task the seller needs to do to use this system.
The fob will not cost much. It essentially uses a single chip that costs $1.50 in quantities of one. All the work is in the software which is complicated. The chip is structured so the software cannot be copied off it. You can destroy it but you can't copy it.
The security is not perfect. Some clever guy can write a program to duplicate the fob software. The goal is to make the effort cost more than the profit from using such a program. It also depends on the idea that we are not high volume sellers of magic books.
I am curious if you think such a system is desirable. Also, do you think other sellers might find this device interesting.
That is it.
Now to the other item. I have several new tricks that do not use standard props. I want to write a book about them. To do so means that the book explains in detail how to make the gimmicks used. I have done this in the past but do not feel good about it. In addition, I need to do it some more. A solution would be to make the prop and sell it with the book. That is just not my way of doing business. I am thinking that I should write the book as if it stands alone. Then, should I feel the desire to make props, I do the hardware and ship it with the book as instructions. Alternatively, someone might pop up that wants to make hardware and we strike a deal. Anyway, the primary question is, "Should I just write the book and explain how to make the gimmick." Trouble is, if I don't do that the trick will never be released.
This is actually an outcome of the last time I asked help from this forum. That was when I asked about what was a desirable cup and ball routine. After all this time, I finally have a solution. The solution consists of a bag with a cup, three small balls of different color, and a large final load. No gimmicks. The props are carried in the bag. Can be done standing by a table in a birthday suit. Everyone examines everything. The routine is outstanding ending with a final load that is really always there until the end. All is put back into the bag ready for the next performance. This is designed for the serious close up pro. It may be suitable for stage with bigger props.
The details are in the structure of the props. I made my own cup and final load. The goal is to fill the cup with the final load yet support the small balls as well. I did not want the final load to be vastly smaller than the cup. In this routine, the final load appears to fill the cup totally. In a sense it does.
Well, those are my questions.
Sorry this was so long.
Al Schneider