F.A.Q.
I am a Creator
For Publishers, Authors, and Creators of all sortsAm I also a Riff Composer?
Where do I begin?
Can I customize my Creator Channel?
What can I upload?
How do I upload?
Making your print-ready PDFs Riff-ready
How can my content be used once it is uploaded?
What copyright laws determine how my content can be used?
How secure is my content?
How private is my account information?
How can I retrieve a forgotten password?
How do I sell my content on BookRiff?
How are my royalties calculated?
Are there any fees to be a BookRiff Creator?
Can I sell my content in electronic form?
How will users know about my content?
How will my content appear in Riffs?
What options are available for size, paper, and binding?
Can I customize my cover?
What happens when I post a new edition of content?
Am I also a Riff™ Composer?
As a Creator, in most cases you are primarily providing content for others to include in their Riffs. But we hope you are also taking advantage of the opportunity you have to create new versions of your own content using the Create a Riff section of the site. In doing this, not only will you become a Riff Composer, but you will also be showcasing the versatility of your works, taking advantage of new audiences, and providing inspiration to others on how to use your content. Consult the F.A.Q. for Riff Composers for additional help.Where do I begin?
Before you can upload any content to sell on BookRiff™, you must first set up an account. To do this, click on the register tab at the top right of the BookRiff.com home page. You will be asked to enter a valid email address and create a password, and to agree to our Terms of Service. Upon registering, a private Creator Channel will be set up for you. You can choose to keep this private, or enter information about yourself in the profile section of the My Account page. The Library tab on the My Account page is where you upload and manage your content, keep it private or make it public and price it, and view all other private account details. The Creator Channel is the public-facing page that reflects the additions and changes you make to your account. You can view your Creator Channel by locating it in the Creators section of the site.Can I customize my Creator Channel?
We are working on expanding your options for customizing your Creator Channel. From wallpaper to widgets, we've got ideas in the works. Right now, you can upload any image to serve as your Creator logo, and use the profile section to voice as much or little as you choose about yourself for others to see. It's HTML-ready, so feel free to drop in links or pictures to liven up your Channel.Installing widgets
In the near future you will be able to select code from your Creator Channel for widgets to view your BookRiff content from your own website. We will be incorporating the use of an open API for larger widgets, and we'll update you with details when this option is available.Linking to your private Web site
You can link to your private home page by entering your URL in the specified box when you create your new account. You can change this at any time by revisiting your profile tab on the My Account page. Using the HTML-equipped text editor, you can also embed links into your profile to featured pages on your website.Getting help with your page
If you're having difficulty setting up your account, please let us know! We are glad to help you troubleshoot.What can I upload?
As a Creator, you can choose which of your content to upload, how much, and in what form. Your Creator Channel will become richer the more you are able to add to it and easier for users to see what's there when you organize it. You can upload whole books, but you should also consider that Riff Composers will want to add pieces of your books or other large works to their Riffs, and they can only do this if you upload those pieces as separate files.Accepted file formats
Our system can currently support the following file formats: PDF (preferred format), GIF, JPG, PNG, ODT, SXW, RTF, DOC, WPD, TXT, ODS, SXC, XLS, CSV, TSV, ODP, SXI, PPT, TXT, HTML. We are working on more, including EPUB and other XML file types (until these are uploadable through the user interface, we would be happy to work with your EPUB or XML content using back-end integration).How do I upload?
You can upload content in a couple of different ways. From the Library tab in your My Account page, you can upload content pieces to store as private or price, preview, and sell. (*Uploading from this location is now being built, and will be live before a public Beta launch).You can also upload content from the Add to this Riff tab in the Create a Riff section of the site, by selecting the Upload Content button, then choosing a file from your computer to add to the Riff you're working on.
Either place you choose to upload your work, the content will be saved as private in your user account until you make it public by de-selecting the default Private option on the upload form or on the line next to the content title on the My Account page Library tab. Once you make it public, you will be able to control the way your content is viewed and purchased by setting preview privileges in 1% increments, pricing it however you like, and setting geographic restrictions according to the copyright you own.
Making your print-ready PDFs Riff-ready
If you are uploading your print-ready book PDFs, you may want to alter these files to make them work with our system and look good in the printed Riffs. This includes cropping out unnecessary portions to increase readability, embedding all fonts, and splitting up PDFs of whole books into separate files according to how you want to sell them.Removing excess margin:
If your book PDFs are close to the 5.5" by 8.5" size of a printed Riff, they will flow perfectly into the pages of a Riff without having to make any size adjustments before uploading. But books of other shapes and sizes will be re-sized to fit these proportions when uploaded as PDFs to BookRiff.com, and so might appear smaller in Riffs than in their original form. To avoid this, you can try cropping the PDF pages so that they come closer to a 2-3 width-height ratio. Removing as much extra white margin as possible will help to make the type bigger- just be sure to leave at least .5" along the bottom to prevent the BookRiff page numbering from overlapping the PDF. Here's how to do this using Acrobat:- Open the PDF in Adobe Acrobat Professional
- Select the Crop tool from the Advanced Editing toolbar
- Draw a box around the portion of the page you want to keep
- Press Enter, select "All" in Page Range box to apply the crop to all pages
- Click OK
To split the PDF into sections:
- In the Acrobat Pro. Document menu, select "Extract Pages"
- Choose the pages you want to pull out by number
- (To leave PDF intact, do not select 'Delete Pages After Extracting')
- Click OK, and a new PDF of the selected pages appears
To format for printing:
To ensure the files are printable at Lightning Source, check that:- all fonts are embedded, and have screen & printer versions
- fonts subset set at 100%
- images are at least 300 dpi resolution; b&w line drawings: 600 dpi
- there is no image compression to JBIG
- the PDF is unripped with 8-bit halftones
Cleaning up files
If you chose to upload MS Word or InDesign documents, make sure to eliminate any grids or marks you don't want to appear in the final content online. (These may be hidden in your Word/ InDesign files unless you choose to view them from the View menu.)If you would like additional help uploading, just let us know! Visit our online customer help center or email us for advice.
How can my content be used once it is uploaded?
As the owner of the copyright on the content you are uploading, only you can decide how your work can be viewed, copied, distributed, and mixed. By agreeing to our Terms of Service you are choosing to allow your work to be added to compilations (Riffs), viewed on the BookRiff.com site, and printed in Riffs—as long as 1) it remains in its original form, and 2) you receive due attribution and profit.We also support the use of various additional licenses that give you the option to expand upon existing copyright to increase the freedoms users have with your work. For a list of these licenses and the freedoms they allow, visit the Creative Commons website.
What copyright laws determine how my content can be used?
Protection of copyrighted works across territories varies based on the jurisdiction under which it was licensed. Please make yourself familiar with the particular freedoms and protections guaranteed by the copyright laws in your jurisdiction to determine these specifics.How secure is my content?
At BookRiff we are fully aware of the costs of piracy to publishers, and we are dedicated to ensuring your content is not used in any way that you do not allow it to be. Through the analytics tools being built for your Account page, you will be able to see how many times and where you content is being printed. We are also building mechanisms to enable anyone to report misuse of content, as well as a cross-check preventing unlicensed copyright-protected work to be printed in Riffs. Finally, BookRiff will never give away or sell electronic copies of content that you upload to our server unless you permit or request this. The only time your content will be transmitted in electronic form is when it is included in a Riff to be printed, at which time a PDF will be sent to the printer through a secure connection. The printer will then delete the electronic files after fulfilling the print order. The preview PDF that is generated when users click "Download a high-res preview" on the Create a Riff page be shared only shows the portion of content a Creator has allowed to be viewed by setting the preview % in his or her account.How private is my account information?
BookRiff will not share your account information with third parties at any time without your consent. Your account is password protected and only accessible to you. You have many options to increase your level of privacy as a Creator, including the ability to keep the content you upload private (by leaving the default Private toggle checked in the Upload form), so that you are the only person who can view it. You can also choose to leave the profile information, user name, and picture fields blank if you do not wish to have a public profile.How can I retrieve a forgotten password?
Because only you have access to your password, you will have to create a new one if you forget it. Navigate to the Sign In screen, then type in your email address in the last box on the page and select Submit. You will receive an email within a few minutes with password-reset instructions. If you don't receive this email, please notify us.How do I sell my content on BookRiff?
Setting price and receiving payment
It is up to you to decide what to charge for your content, but consider that it will be included in a larger volume of work, and that Riff Composers will have to pay for all works within that volume when printing and purchasing the Riff. Only you know the value of your work, and you should set your prices according to what you think Riff Composers are willing to pay for each slice of content that you offer—some small, some larger. Each time your content is printed in a Riff, your BookRiff account will be credited as soon as we receive payment. You will be paid semi-annually by electronic transfer or credits to your Visa/MC account.Printing and Shipping
We will be using Lightning Source as a primary printer of Riffs, but we may work with additional printers in special cases or as needed in the future. Books are printed within 48 hours of the order, and shipped directly from Lightning Source distribution centers in the US , UK and soon Australia within 5 to 10 business days to any destination worldwide. Shipping times will vary within this range based on each destination. Packages shipped to Canada will take approximately three days to enter the country from Lightning Source in the US via the United Parcel Service (UPS). You have the option of sending copies to as many different destinations as needed when placing your order.How are my royalties calculated?
As a Creator, you set your own prices on your content, and you are guaranteed 100% of that price every time your content is printed in a Riff—no commissions or other hidden deductions to be found. Printing and fulfillment are included in a base fee which is paid by the purchaser.Are there any fees to be a BookRiff Creator?
No! We handle all fulfillment costs and include them in the base fee for the printing of each Riff, which is paid by the purchaser, along with shipping. There are no hosting fees, and no hidden commissions charged to the Creator for using BookRiff.Can I sell my content in electronic form?
To ensure the highest security possible for your copyrighted content, BookRiff will only sell printed Riffs at this point. You are free to sell electronic versions of your works on your own, and you may link to these on your BookRiff Creator Channel. (In the future, we will look at the potential to sell electronic Riffs and may enable the option for Creators to sell their content as individual electronic downloads directly from our site—please tell us if this interests you!)How will users know about my content?
Your Creator Channel
Think of your Creator Channel as your voice to the BookRiff world. This is where browsers will see all of your content in one place, where they can put a logo or face with a name, and where they can discover what more you have to offer. As our Creators page grows, we will incorporate search and sort options to help users identify which Creators offer what content.Tagging and Searching
Until it is discovered and used, we know the content you upload is lifeless, no matter how great. This is why we are focused on increasing the potential for Riff Composers to find what they are looking for: your works. As part of this effort, we are working on providing a list of tags for you to choose from when you upload new content. This list will correspond with a list of browsing options available to Riff Composers in search of content, so any tags you choose will automatically list your work in existing browse categories.When the tagging feature becomes available, you will also be encouraged to add tags specific to your work that we don't have listed by typing them in. Along with the browse categories, users will be able to search through BookRiff content using a full-text search, by keyword, or by author.
One Riff leads to another
Each time your content is used in a Riff that a Composer makes public, that is one more place it can be found outside of your Creator Channel, and used in other Riffs. As BookRiff grows and more Riffs are created, you will see your work populating many other pages on the site, including within the public Riffs listed on others’ Creator Channels, and pages in the Buy Riffs section when Riffs are put up for sale. Remember, you can always use the analytics tools in your Account page to keep track of how many times your work is used in a Riff, and rest assured you will be paid and attributed for each reproduction.Featured Publishers
Upon initial launch, we will be highlighting publishers who have worked with us in our beta testing, by placing them in our Featured Publishers box on the Creators page. As time goes by, we will be featuring various other publishers and Creators to draw attention to content we think is truly noteworthy. If you are up to something particularly great and think this should be you, let us know what we are missing!How will my content appear in Riffs?
When your content is added to a Riff and printed by another user, it will appear unedited, exactly the way you upload it. You can check the appearance of your content pieces by clicking on the preview button next to the content in your Creator Channel. To accommodate the various types of content that will likely be compiled into one Riff, BookRiff adds varying page margins to content as it is included in a Riff, according to content’s file format.
PDF files
Because PDFs that you upload will typically have their own margins, BookRiff will only add an additional .1" buffer margin to these pages of the Riff. The BookRiff page numbering will be overlaid in a .5" header and footer across all pages, so make sure your PDFs have at least a .5" top and bottom margin.Written, copied & pasted, or Web content
Content that is added from the Web using the Web Search tool; typed, or copied and pasted into a Riff using the BookRiff Write tool will appear with margins of .65˝ all around. The page numbering will be at .5" from the bottom.While this does create a Riff with slightly different margins throughout, it allows for content of various size and shape . If you don't like the varied margins, you can reduce the margins in your PDF and other electronic files to .65˝ to match BookRiff margins before uploading them. Ask us for help!
