peeplaja

Out of out-of-the box solutions like listed in the Poll, CheddarGetter has by far the best pricing for any bootstrapper.

Our European startup is using Adyen, a Dutch company.

I also use Amazon Payments for a subscription service I have.

We got our first customers from my existing blog / email list - before launching the startup I had been blogging for 2+ years.

Second wave came after the first mentions on relevant blogs/new media outlets (http://blog.traindom.com/places-where-to-submit-your-startup...)

Third wave I'd say came from participating in discussions in relevant forums.

There are always exceptions. 37Signals is a known brand. If you're not known, it's hard to charge a lot for a pdf.

If you're worried about piracy and high fees, why not create an online course instead of pdf e-books.

If it's an how-to book and not a work of fiction, you don't want to create a pdf e-book anyway. Here's why:

* Low perceived value. People know how to create pdf e-books. Just choose ‘Save As’ in MS Word. So it has a low perceived value. Much lower than the $13 real book you can buy from Amazon. This means you cannot charge a high price for your pdf e-book.

* They’re static. Once they’re out there, they’re out there. You cannot add stuff, correct material or fix typos.

* As you mentioned, they’re (way) too easy targets for piracy.

* Lots of people don’t want to read anymore. They want to watch videos instead. So might as well add some video.

* No analytics. Which chapter is most popular? You will never know.

* No interaction. People read a chapter in your e-book and have clarifying questions. But alas – no interaction is possible.

So that's why I think online courses are the way to go.

How to create an online course and sell it? This is what my startup does: http://traindom.com

I hand-submitted the site, but never received any third-party msg.

It was a couple of days for me too.

Thanks for pointing this out, indeed we did not think of HN at the time, but I'll add it to the list.