Is publishing public domain books something I should do? it’s worth it? by the end of this post, you will be able to make an informed decision for yourself.
for those who don’t know, public domain books are owned or otherwise available to the general public and therefore not subject to copyright.
You are reading: Public domain books for kindle
how to tell if a book is in the public domain
The date of the book and the age of the author will tell you.
A book is copyrighted from the time it is placed in a fixed medium or expression for 70 years after the author’s death, even if it is not published.
New works enter the public domain each year on January 1, and currently works from 1924 and earlier are in the public domain.
where to find public domain books
If you have a book that fits the above criteria, it’s in the public domain. Most of the books we have available online are scanned copies of print works, including most of the free classics available for Kindle on Amazon.
I will include a long list of websites where you can find and download public domain works in the resource box at the end of this post.
the stigma of the public domain
There’s kind of a stigma around publishing in the public domain because you’re basically trying to sell something that people already own for free.
The truth of the matter is that these works are available to the public for us to use as we see fit. the original work will always be there for others to use, even if we take it and make a derivative work of it.
many people and companies over the years have realized the value of works in the public domain. Even Amazon took thousands of books from the public domain when it launched its Kindle device in 2008 to build its Kindle store. therefore, the stigma of using such jobs should not exist if you are adding value rather than seeking profit.
I can tell you that publishing works in the public domain is not a get-rich-quick scheme. it’s a labor of love.
Most public domain books are scans of books in print made by volunteers over the last decade or more. As one might imagine, these books are not always in the best format for digital reading.
To successfully publish public domain works, you must use the normal kindle publishing process with the exception of writing and editing.
See Also: How To Self-Publish A Hardcover Book To Sell On Amazon
should format the manuscript, create a book cover, and provide all the metadata for the sales page.
how to publish public domain books on amazon kdp
In order to publish public domain works on Amazon, you must differentiate your version in one or more of the following 3 ways:
- translation
- annotation
- illustration
translation
We’re not talking about google translate here. if you’re not fluent in a second language, this probably isn’t the path to take, unless you’re willing to invest in a translator.
an accepted translation would be unique and in a language in which the work does not yet exist.
annotation
annotation would include unique annotations such as study guides, book reviews, detailed biographies, or historical context.
When I published my first work in the public domain, I created a workbook and included question and answer sections after each chapter of the work.
later, I discovered that the annotation can be as small as a paragraph at the beginning of the book.
illustration
If you choose to go the illustration route, you will need to provide 10 or more unique illustrations that are relevant to the book.
what does not qualify as differentiation
While these attributes are certainly easy-to-use add-ons to the digital version of these public domain works, Amazon doesn’t consider them enough to differentiate the book from its original form:
- a clickable index
- improved formatting
While these things should be included in a public domain work prepared for kindle, they are not enough to differentiate it from the original work.
start publishing public domain books
once you’ve decided which method(s) you want to use to differentiate your chosen public domain work, you’re ready to go.
Most of these jobs will not be formatted. you’ll need skills to take scanned work and turn it into editable documents that you can then format for kindle.
In my experience, most books have been scanned with an ocr scanner. ocr stands for optical character recognition. this means the scanner has software to convert scanned images to text.
Needless to say, this is not foolproof. there will be typos and weird things you need to fix in the book. while you don’t need an editor, you do need to review the work to find these anomalies.
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You will most likely end up with a lot of text to analyze and organize in a way that makes it easier to read.
select and format public domain work
select the work you want to publish on kindle. some websites will have files in multiple formats available for download. otherwise, you will need to transfer the text to a word document by copying and pasting it.
if you are translating, this is where you would go to work putting the script into the second language. if you are annotating, you would add your notes as needed. don’t overdo it you can differentiate the text simply with a description of why you are posting the work.
for illustrations, you will need to prepare and insert them into the manuscript.
once you have formatted your manuscript, you can proceed with the publishing process as normal.
Note that you will need all the usual metadata, such as the 7 keywords, the description and the 2 bisac categories.
It’s also worth noting here that public domain works are only eligible for the 35% royalty option for kindle ebooks, but retain the flat 60% royalty for paperbacks.
Here is the information on publishing public domain books directly from amazon: https://kdp.amazon.com/en_us/help/topic/g200743940
resources
here is a list of websites where you can find public domain books and more!
- https://www.gutenberg.org/
- https://www.europeana.eu/en
- https://dp.la/
- https://archive.org/details/texts
- https://openlibrary.org/
- http://www.feedbooks.com/
- https://manybooks.net/
- https://www.dailylit.com/
- http://www.loyalbooks.com/
- http://www.online-literature.com/
- https://www.bartleby.com/
- https://librivox.org/ – this site is for public domain audiobooks. This is a great way to provide an added incentive for readers to download your version of a public domain work. Include free audiobook download links on your cover if available!
- https://legamus.eu/blog/ – eu audiobook site
- http:/ /www.openculture .com/
- http://classic-literature.co.uk/
that’s a wrapper!
As you can see, there is not a lot of money in the public domain.
Sure, you can make money with it, but it’s more for those of us who love the books and want to see them make it to the next version.
Scanned books are great, but making these books digital and available on e-readers like the kindle is really what will get them into the hands of the next generation.
That’s what books and the public domain are all about!
To watch the full video on publishing books in the public domain, visit this link.