I had hoped to have a Digital Version of the hymnal released at the same time as the print version. This has proven to be more of a challenge than I expected. The ability to sell copy-protected files has LOTS of issues.
ePub and Kindle files do not work because they are font-based. The music files are also font-based so the books come out as gibberish. Lulu will not sell a copy-protected PDF and for that matter, anything above a simple password system is very cost prohibitive.
So, here is where we stand.
I have found a possible solution for Apple products in iBooks Author. I have a demo that I am trying out right now and it seems to work. As I understand it, the DRM protection prevents copying or sharing anything purchased from the iBooks store. The only possible issue I see with this delivery system (other than dealing with Apple's finance stuff) is the iBook itself might be quite large, especially if we make a larger book down the road. iBooks Author is easy to use and I can probably get the hymnal ready in basic format in just a few hours of work.
But that's just Apple products.
Does anyone know of an Android-based program that does the same thing as iBooks Author?
It would be nice to only have one file type delivered on all platforms but I know that is not realistic. I like the idea of a protected PDF but I would have to sell the PDF from my website and generate a user specific password for each file sold. And this does not prevent the sharing of the password. I know there are some other solutions for this but they are outside my area expertise. Also, REALLY
don't want to be handling sales on a daily basis. That is the whole reason we went with Lulu for the printed book.
As you can see, I have an idea of what I want but I need a computer-dude (or dudette) to help me out.
Your little brother,
Bryce