Are you writing an e-book? If so, you might be wondering how to write a disclaimer at the end. Well, here’s what you need to know.
What is a Disclaimer?
A disclaimer is a document that explains the limits of warranty or liability for a product. Some examples include:
- The product does not provide any guarantees.
- The manufacturer may be liable for damage or injuries caused by the product.
- The manufacturer provides no guarantee that using the product will result in the desired effects.
- The product is for limited use and not intended for commercial purposes.
- The product is intended for research and educational use only.
- No animal testing is conducted by the company.
- The company does not make any representations regarding the efficacy or safety of the product for treating, preventing, or curing any medical condition.
- The company provides no assurance that using the product will result in successful outcomes.
- Use of the product is at your own risk.
When Should You Include a Disclaimer In Your E-Book?
If you’re writing an e-book on a subject matter that’s not completely covered in popular books, you might want to include an introductory disclaimer. For example, if you’re writing an e-book about skincare and you’re not sure about how to write a disclaimer for your e-book, you might consider including an introductory disclaimer to set the scene.
Include a disclaimer when you’ve done something new with a product that it might not be obvious to your audience that it’s something brand-new. For instance, imagine that you’re writing an e-book about marketing your product. You develop a new strategy for marketing your product and you want to include that new information in your e-book. You might write, “I developed this new strategy and I think it will help you market your product successfully. In this e-book, I’ll teach you how to implement my new strategy.”
That way, your audience understands that although it’s new information, it’s still relevant because you took the time to explain how it works. If you don’t include a disclaimer, your audience might assume that what you’re teaching is already known and used by other marketers. This could hurt your credibility because they might think that what you know, you just took for granted.
How Long Should Your Disclaimer Be?
While you want to make sure that your disclaimer is clear and concise, you don’t want to make it too short. Your readers might not have the time to read through an entire disclaimer before getting to the good parts. It’s a good idea to write a short disclaimer and then follow it up with a longer warranty or liability disclaimer.
The Good Parts
When writing a disclaimer for your e-book, you should include the important information first. This will make it easy for your readers to find the relevant information while skimming through the document. If you follow the order of the information in your disclaimer, it will also make it easy for you to find the relevant information later when you need it.
Here’s an example of a good short disclaimer. It’s only a few sentences long and it’s very clear and concise. You don’t need to worry about the wording because it’s very common and it defines the scope of the warranty. When I read this disclaimer, I know exactly what was covered and what wasn’t. Even if I didn’t know much about the topic, I would still know what was covered and what wasn’t because of the wording used:
- This product is neither intended nor designed to diagnose, treat, or cure any disease.
- You are responsible for the actions and consequences of wearing this product.
- This product is sold with an implied warranty that it will perform as described in manuals and instructions. If the product does not meet the specifications, you may return it within 30 days for a full refund. (Note: This applies to all digital products. DVD and CD are excluded from this warranty.)
- You are not responsible for any losses, damages, or adverse effects that may result from the use of this product.
As you can see from this example, not only does it define the scope of the warranty, but it also warns the reader about some of the possible side effects. If you follow the order of the information in your disclaimer, it will also make it easy for you to find the relevant information later when you need it. This is important because when you’re writing a book, you never know exactly what information will be useful to you at a later date. You might not even know that you’ll need information about skincare until you’re already in the final stages of writing your book.
The Conclusion
As you might imagine, there are a lot of legal and logistical concerns that go into writing a disclaimer for your e-book. If you’re not sure where to start, simply begin with an introduction, as discussed above. From there, you can move on to the good parts.