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Kindle and Public Domain

by Marhelper
6 replies
I've been hearing so much about selling on Kindle KDP. Is it ok to sell public domain books on this program? If so, is anyone having success doing so?
#domain #kindle #public
  • Profile picture of the author Marhelper
    Anyone know?
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    • Profile picture of the author edlewis
      You won't have much success just copy-and-pasting public domain onto Kindle.

      If it's a really popular book, then it probably won't even get approved.

      However, if you are creative, you can still profit with PLR on Kindle.

      You will have to add content to the public domain material...annotations are good, so are reviews at the end of each chapter. You can't BS this though...because 1 sentence or 1 paragraph at the end of each chapter isn't going to "differentiate" the content enough for Amazon to approve it.

      The other thing you can do is add illustrations. It's going to need to be more then 10, and they can't just be free stuff you find online. It needs to add some value to the content. You can use stock photo sites...or you can hire a artist or graphic designer to draw something specifically for you.

      And while you are at it, don't forget about CreateSpace. There you can take unaltered PLR and publish it as a print-on-demand book on Amazon. It's not as profitable as it once was, but you can make some money that way. As long as you're not publishing crap...the books are going to have to LOOK good and be formatted well.

      I published a bunch of public domain content on CreateSpace years ago...and every month those books make me money.

      It's not as much as it used to be...but it's steady...and I haven't even touched those books in years...passive income.
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      • Profile picture of the author Marhelper
        Originally Posted by edlewis View Post

        You won't have much success just copy-and-pasting public domain onto Kindle.

        If it's a really popular book, then it probably won't even get approved.

        However, if you are creative, you can still profit with PLR on Kindle.

        You will have to add content to the public domain material...annotations are good, so are reviews at the end of each chapter. You can't BS this though...because 1 sentence or 1 paragraph at the end of each chapter isn't going to "differentiate" the content enough for Amazon to approve it.

        The other thing you can do is add illustrations. It's going to need to be more then 10, and they can't just be free stuff you find online. It needs to add some value to the content. You can use stock photo sites...or you can hire a artist or graphic designer to draw something specifically for you.

        And while you are at it, don't forget about CreateSpace. There you can take unaltered PLR and publish it as a print-on-demand book on Amazon. It's not as profitable as it once was, but you can make some money that way. As long as you're not publishing crap...the books are going to have to LOOK good and be formatted well.

        I published a bunch of public domain content on CreateSpace years ago...and every month those books make me money.

        It's not as much as it used to be...but it's steady...and I haven't even touched those books in years...passive income.


        Thanks for the thorough answer. That is along the lines of what I was thinking.
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  • Profile picture of the author DebraConrad
    I've been talking about using Public Domain content for Kindle publishing for quite a while now.

    The landscape has changed - many prolific public domain / Kindle publisher accounts have been suspended or closed by Amazon altogether in recent weeks.

    What's been happening? If any of the content in your kindle book - "ANY" is available online for free - you are now violating Kindles TOS. It seems to be a very grey area when it comes to getting "real" answers from Amazon.

    Amazon is (in the background) going through all the Kindle publisher accounts and addressing what they perceive as violations. It doesn't matter that you have followed what you "think" the TOS mean... it only matters that accounts are closed or suspended.

    I've changed my "tune" over the last few weeks... and suggesting that public domain content not be used for Kindle books. (at least until the "grey" areas become black & white again).

    I don't believe it's worth risking your account.
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    Did you know that you can use Public Domain content for articles, blog posts, products, free reports and more? Debra's Public Domain Treasure Hunter blog can show you how....

    Ordinary Baby Boomer making money from home - Debra Conrad blog.
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    • Profile picture of the author wordwizard
      Thanks, Debra! That's really good to know.

      I put up an enhanced version of one of my free ebooks on Kindle, and they checked in with me.

      They were satisfied that it was MY intellectual property etc. at the time, and probably also that I made some changes, but I think I'll shorten the free book quite a bit and change its title or something, just to be safe.

      Elisabeth
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  • Profile picture of the author bartm
    Great info, thanks for sharing!
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