Public Domain Books: How to Use Them for Creating an Income
Saturday, November 28th, 2009
Just scan the pages and any illustrations into your computer, edit the wording if you want to and bring the language up to date for modern readers. Hey Presto you have created a product for yourself, one that you can sell and make a fantastic income from on a recurring basis, for life if you want to.
One of the easiest ways to find old books especially those in the Public Domain, is to have a browse around local second hand book stores or at jumble sales, boot fairs, craft markets etc.
However another good place to look would be on ebay, using their search facility for antiquarian books and also the illustrated section of the books for sale area.
All books from pre 1923 if from the USA will be found to be in the public domain and therefore available for you to use and recreate as your very own. Books authored prior to seventy years since year end of the death of the original author in the United Kingdom are also in the Public Domain and yours for the taking to recreate as you see fit.
There are specialist sites such as Project gutenberg, at www.gutenberg.org where you can browse massive databases in order to find a book of your choice in almost any Niche that you can think of.
Q) What do I need to produce my own eBook from the public domain?
A) You will not need many materials in order to produce your own modern ebook or any other product from the public domain.
As long as you have a computer with a scanner and printer you should be OK.
However if you are going to reproduce the book onto CD for regular sale then it would be wise to have a good software programme for turning your ebook into a CD version on a regular basis. Naturally if you want to sell your new product as a direct download ebook then you will need a PDF writing programme on your computer.
The best known one of these is Adobe writer, but there are a large amount of very cheap or even free to use PDF writing/ converting programmes available. I use one called Docudesk and it is extremely reliable and simplicity itself to use.
You only need to convert your book once and it is instantly ready for your customers to download as many thousands of times as you require. You can then sell it or give it away freely as an incentive to purchase another one of your more expensive products.
TO SUM UP THEREFORE!
1) Decide in what Niche Market you want be, then obtain your Old Book for this Market.
2) Go out and research for your products. Really simple all you have to do normally is browse around second hand bookshops, jumble stalls, boot fairs etc.
3) Buy your book, making sure that it is public domain material. IE: Normally older than 1923 in the USA or more than 70 years from the end of year of the death of the original author in the UK.
4) Re create your book using your computer scanner or by taking the pages to a photocopy shop or local printers and ask them to copy every single page in its entirety for you.
5) Scan the pages into your computer using a notepad or word file in order that you can make any alterations you desire.
6) Add in any illustrations wherever you see fit.
7) Change the title if you want to and even add your name as the author.
Your newly created old book from the Public Domain is now ready for you to market to the world and make money for you.
To market your book you can advertise it on places such as amazon, ebay, or even better join clickbank and sell it as an instant download item. Anything at all that you do to get your book known to the world at large will help you to make fantastic money every time someone purchases from you, for a very long period into the future.
For instance you could promote your digital ebook or even a printed version of it, by using social bookmarking sites or creating a blog for yourself.
You should also consider using article marketing sites so that you can write reviews and articles which normally allow you to mention your products at the end of the article.
You can usually have two links to your products or to the website’s which you use to promote them. These links are allowed in a special box, (commonly known as a resource box) which immediately follows your article.
Other methods of advertising your Old Books would be on the pay per click sites such as google adwords, but these can be expensive if you don’t know what you are doing and I recommend sticking to the free methods, at least until you have gotten a few sales and some experience under your belt.
By: Dave Robus
About the Author:
Thirsty for more knowledge? Dave Robus provides information on how to profit from Public Domain books at Old Books Make Money where he covers ebook creation from old books in a simple step by step process. On his blog Dave also gives regular free hints and tips on Niche Market Research, to find the best selling idea’s for you to put into practice and achieve high income’s by taking Public Domain items for re-creation into high value products.