Help me publish a name-your-price ebook for charity
June 28, 2017 12:20 AM Subscribe
I have written a book which is being self-published. People can name their own price, from zero on up, but anything they pay will be donated to a charity. Help me figure out the right way to get it online.
What I need:
A website as a "landing site" for people who want the book.
The ability for people to download the book from that site.
The ability, linked with the download process, for people to make a donation. Something like your basic donations menu with radio buttons: Thanks for the free book! I'll pay the suggested donation of 1.99! I'll pay $10! I'll pay this other amount!
Because this is a goodness-of-my-heart charity thing, I don't want to pay for webhosting. Modest payment processing fees are OK.
Options I have looked into:
Smashwords. Allows free downloads OR paid downloads, but not both options for the same book.
Free webhosting sites like weebly and wix: Only allow you to take money if you upgrade to a paid "premium" or "commercial" account. This is a very small project; I doubt enough is going to come in on a steady basis to even pay subscription fees for such a thing.
I do have an appropriate but unused domain from a long ago project. We could host there but in that case I would need a drag-and-drop style free website design software, as it's been a really long time since I did anything with html and my more savvy partner doesn't have time to take that part of the project on.
Options? Ideas?
What I need:
A website as a "landing site" for people who want the book.
The ability for people to download the book from that site.
The ability, linked with the download process, for people to make a donation. Something like your basic donations menu with radio buttons: Thanks for the free book! I'll pay the suggested donation of 1.99! I'll pay $10! I'll pay this other amount!
Because this is a goodness-of-my-heart charity thing, I don't want to pay for webhosting. Modest payment processing fees are OK.
Options I have looked into:
Smashwords. Allows free downloads OR paid downloads, but not both options for the same book.
Free webhosting sites like weebly and wix: Only allow you to take money if you upgrade to a paid "premium" or "commercial" account. This is a very small project; I doubt enough is going to come in on a steady basis to even pay subscription fees for such a thing.
I do have an appropriate but unused domain from a long ago project. We could host there but in that case I would need a drag-and-drop style free website design software, as it's been a really long time since I did anything with html and my more savvy partner doesn't have time to take that part of the project on.
Options? Ideas?
Best answer: Gumroad does pay-what-you-want pricing and hosts the files for you as well. You can get a free account and pay modest processing fees per sale. There aren't any fees if people pay $0.
posted by watch out for turtles at 9:02 AM on June 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by watch out for turtles at 9:02 AM on June 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks for the leads! I appreciate it.
posted by Orlop at 12:48 PM on June 28, 2017
posted by Orlop at 12:48 PM on June 28, 2017
Response by poster: I think Gumroad is exactly what I need. Thank you!
posted by Orlop at 1:57 PM on June 28, 2017
posted by Orlop at 1:57 PM on June 28, 2017
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posted by samj at 2:06 AM on June 28, 2017