How to protect your advance copies from piracy
For authorsUpdated 2 min read
Booklabria keeps your file off public addresses, ties every copy to one reader with a hidden watermark (never their name), expires download links after fifteen minutes, limits each copy to five downloads or sends, and lets you keep the file on our servers with Read on Booklabria. Here is what each does and what to choose.
The short answer
Sending a file to dozens of readers by e-mail or a shared folder leaves you no way to know where a copy went. Booklabria is built so that every copy has one owner, and the file never sits at a public address.
What protects your copy
- Signed, short links. A download link works for fifteen minutes after it is issued. Files are never at a public address.
- Five downloads or sends per copy. Each approval allows five. An expired link that was never used does not count.
- A watermark on every EPUB. Each copy carries a hidden code tied to that reader's copy: a comment in the file's source and unseen characters in the first paragraphs, so the mark survives copying and a plain-text export. It is a code, never the reader's name or e-mail. If a copy turns up somewhere it should not, Booklabria can match it to the copy it came from. A PDF download is not marked.
- Read on Booklabria. The file stays on our servers; readers open it on the site or in the app, one chapter at a time. Nothing to download and nothing to pass around. You see progress by chapter, counts only.
- Send to Kindle. We e-mail the watermarked EPUB to the reader's own Kindle address. You never see the address.
- A log. Every download and send is recorded: who, when, which format.
- The rules. The Terms forbid sharing or republishing an ARC file, and a reader who does can be reported (Reporting and blocking).
Which way to choose
| If you want | Choose |
|---|---|
| The most control over the file | Read on Booklabria |
| Readers to use their own e-reader | Send to Kindle, or Protected download |
| Both | Tick more than one; each approved reader picks, and can switch until the first download or send |
Good habits
- Approve readers you can read as people: their note, their follow-through, their history with you.
- Use a PDF only when you must; it carries no watermark.
- Keep the review deadline and spots modest, so the copies match the readers who will read them.
- If you find a copy in the wild, contact support with where you found it.
These are the protections in place today. They give you a way to know where a copy came from; they do not change what a reader is allowed to do, which is set by the Terms and the store rules in ARCs, stores and the law.
Where this lives
Related
- How to run an ARC campaign, step by step: The short guide: pick the book and its EPUB, choose how readers get it (read on Booklabria, a protected download or Send to Kindle), say who it is for, set the dates and spots, launch, then decide requests and watch the funnel. Free during the beta; readers never pay.
- ARC delivery and tracking: You choose per campaign how readers receive the book: Read on Booklabria (the file stays on the server, readers open it on the site or in the app, and the Reading tab shows progress by chapter, who finished and where readers stop, as counts), a Protected download (signed links that expire after fifteen minutes, five downloads per approval, every EPUB watermarked) or Send to Kindle (we e-mail the watermarked EPUB to the reader's own Kindle address, five sends per approval). Tick one or more; with two or more, each approved reader picks one. Upload the EPUB or PDF on the Delivery tab; reading on Booklabria and Send to Kindle need the EPUB. The Activity tab notes approvals, downloads and reviews as they happen; the analytics funnel shows how many downloads became reviews.
- Early copies, the stores and the law: How early copies on Booklabria line up with the FTC's endorsement guides and the stores' policies on free copies. Readers say in each review that the copy was free, and Booklabria gives them the line to paste. Authors ask for an honest review, never a good one, and never see a rating before it is public. Booklabria pays no reviewer and gates nothing on a rating. A reader's e-mail address is never shown to the author.
- Delivery links, codes and certified sends: a protected copy to your own readers: A delivery link (or its QR code) hands a protected copy of your book to readers you already have, outside any campaign and with no review owed, on the Creator plan and above. From Studio, Advance copies, Deliver to your readers: choose the book, how readers get it (read on Booklabria, a protected download, Send to Kindle, or a choice of them), how many copies, how long the link accepts claims, an optional password, who can claim, and a note. Revoking stops new claims only; claimed copies stay readable and count toward the readers your plan allows. A campaign can also send certified copies to addresses you know; a send counts as a reader once it is claimed.
- Sending an early copy to your Kindle: When an author offers Send to Kindle, Booklabria e-mails the watermarked EPUB to your own Kindle address. Set it up once: save your Kindle address (name@kindle.com or name@free.kindle.com) and add our sending address to Amazon's Approved Personal Document E-mail List. Each copy can be sent five times, every send is logged, and the author sees that it was sent, never your address. If it does not arrive, check the approved list and the address, then send again.
- Reporting and blocking: Every profile, post, comment, book, review and photo has Report in its menu; a human moderator reviews it. Blocking someone hides you from each other entirely, they are not told, and you can undo it under Settings › Privacy.
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