I was admonished by George for my previous article title “Public Domain Books Are Banned From Kindle” – The title may have been a bit misleading, but it DID get your attention!
The previous article had a ton of great comments… I felt the need to have a “part 2″ article.
Reminder – this is a portion of the email Amazon will send you if you publish public domain content that is already freely available elsewhere:
Hello,
During a review of your catalog, we found that one or more of your titles contain content that is freely available on the web.
Copyright is important to us – we want to make sure that no author or other copyright holder has their work claimed and sold by anyone else.
George left this great comment:
Hi Deb, the headline of your post is not quite true. You are still allowed to publish public domain books on Amazon, they even encourage you to do so if you play by the rules. Since I represent a big PD publisher on this site with a few thousand titles I can give you some tips:
1. Never try to publish a title that is freely available (this is in 99% of all cases PG stuff). The only safe way to play this is to invest money in a very professional annotation. I tried some Lewis Carroll books and did not even get through with hand-written biographies just because – as a matter of fact – the data itself is freely available on the web.
A professional essay writer would do for sure, so if you want to invest a few bucks for the umpteenth version of Alice in Wonderland, go ahead. The bad news is that there are still MANY versions of books online that were published before that enforcement. I even found versions of Alice that use the Wikipedia article as an annotation – with all the original links uncloaked! I hope these will be unpublished soon.
2. If you publish a PD title that is not already available on KDP (and boy there are many, even from the most renown authors), go ahead without annotation. Amazon will wave i through. But: once in a while this title could pop up in PG and Amazon would scrape it from there. To avoid questionable questions in months to come try to enrich this title with an annotation. This can even be a PD annotation and does not need to be hand-crafted.
3. If you publish a PD title that is already available on KDP but which has to be paid for, there are two options. #1: Publish it as is. Most possibly Amazon will wave it through but in some cases (I assume the bigger the publisher of the existing title the more likely this is) Amazon will stop the publishing process. #2: same as above, to make your title stand out and avoid trouble, give it an annotation.
4. If you try to publish a PLR title you are busted for sure. The plagiarism bot is not very good in deciding the next steps (well, this should be human decision anyway) but in finding duplicates on the web. Don’t even bother rewriting it, there’s no sense in it. The same applies obviously to Wikipedia stuff
This guideline should do it pretty much. There are hundreds of thousands of PD books out there waiting to be published. Be clever and inventive and careful, very careful – you can still make money out of it!
Best, George.
I want to give George a huge big HUG for sharing this valuable little guide.
One question that comes up regarding number 2 from the above “guide”…… say I add a section (annotation) to all my books that is the same in all books…I created this from combining Public Domain content that IS NOT freely available on the internet…will I still get flagged by Amazon because all of my books have that same portion added to each book?
I’m hoping George will stop by and give a few words of wisdom.
The PLR Guru’s That Are Scummy Charlatans
Via Wikipedia: A charlatan (also called swindler or mountebank) is a person practicing quackery or some similar confidence trick in order to obtain money, fame or other advantages via some form of pretense or deception.
You won’t find one affiliate link on this page – because I don’t believe any of these products are anything you should purchase. If you decide to buy… I don’t want to make any profits from those that I don’t feel serve you best.
This is one of the first Offending “Guru’s”:
And another Guru selling his junk on the Warrior Forum:
Just over the past month I watched yet another webinar about publishing Government Public Domain content on Kindle. I believe this product has a few nuggets of “goodness” crafted into a high priced “get rich quick” scheme – Real Fast Public Domain. (I am actually really ticked off about this latest Daniel Hall product.)
You should take a few moments to read this article: The Kindle Swindle
Jim Edwards published a free short report regarding “The Amazon Kindle “Riches” Lie“. I believe he hit some of the problems right on target… and yet I think he doesn’t know enough about publishing public domain content to have this entire report ring true. I am a bit disappointed to say the least.. but still it’s a good read.
Here is another “guru” product that I think is Offensive and I was embarrassed for some of the contributors to this product:
A 2 hour webinar replay for this product can be viewed here: Amazon Cash Machine
These “Guru” types are why Amazon has had to clamp down on those that publish JUNK and it has hit some of us that are legitimate in the process. Shame on the “Guru Types” that are the charlatans.
Remember eBay IS Different Than Amazon
My prediction is that eBay will never have the same restrictions for publishing public domain content that Amazon has. On eBay we are publishing and selling “as is” public domain content and the buyer knows it. Having lot’s of choices for buying is what eBay is about… Amazon want’s the customer to have a different experience.
Amazon IS the place where you can still sell downloadable digital content (for Kindle). eBay is NOT really the place to sell downloadable digital content.
Amazon IS the place to sell physical books – much more so than eBay.
While I am on the warpath at this time to sell public domain content on eBay – I’m still working on “HOW” I can sell the same content on Amazon.
It’s important for all of us to remember that we don’t HAVE to sell everything we create on Amazon. If we have content we are banned from publishing on Amazon… we can still sell it on eBay, Etsy, our own website and a variety of other sales channels.
How Debra Was Exposed To Public Domain
Way back in the “old days” – I found this video from James Jones. This was my very first introduction to the possibilities for using public domain content This video is really hard to find these days… I stumbled on it today and wanted you to see it.
This was when I still “believed” in the public domain expertise of James Jones and watched this video over and over…
After you watch this short video (which is over 5 years old) ask yourself this “Why didn’t Debra start selling public domain products then“? *giggle* I ask myself that question nearly every day.
Sell Public Domain on eBay Video
I think you will also get a ton of ideas when you read this old PDF transcript of a James Jones and Terry Gibbs:
James Jones Public Domain Interview
p.s. If you want real training for re-writing public domain content so you will never get “slapped” by Amazon again – I do have a really good training package where I walk you through exactly what I did to publish my own re-written public domain content “everywhere”.
{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Deb, I am feeling so flattered for getting this extra post by the #1 public domain diva on this planet;-) But I need to give some kudos back because you and Logan were the ones that lifted me on the PD road roughly three years ago. I had a safe job in a big computer accessories company as a sales manager and decided to quit this for the sake of publishing PD. Well, what a wise decision that was: Today I can use my imagination for my own products and hardly a day goes by where I do not have an idea for another PD gem. And again, you, Logan and your blog were the firestarter for that.
As for your question, the answer is yes/no. The ‘yes’-part is: If I publish a few books with the same red line in them or from the same author I always use the same annotation and it was always cleared by KDP staff. Imagine you would want to make money from the seven best books of Rudyard Kipling and would need a different annotation for each one – almost impossible to do. But the critical mass here is: none of the titles must be in the freely available section on KDP! As long as you publish titles that have not been available before or have to be paid for, this should work.
The ‘no’-part is: there is no guarantee for that. I have tried to lure the guys from Amazon intellectual property into precise guidelines ever so often but they stay as foggy as can be. And I did not get a real answer to that question, an answer like Faust would say ‘to be carried home.’ I believe that the KDP guys want to leave themselves room to manoeuvre in case the PD/PLR/Creative Commons-market is getting out of hand.
It took me more than two years to realize how to play ball with them. I do not envy them for their job because everybody is trying to make money from publishing on KDP. And, as you pointed out, the last time I checked these WSOs I found more than 30 different “Get Rich With Kindle” offers up for sale.
If I would have to start today and already had the knowledge, I maybe would refrain from doing so. I try to put my eggs in as mamy baskets as can be but if 90% of oyur sales come from Amazon you have to be very, very careful to understand the guidelines.
Best wishes, George.
Thanks to George for a great post.
One more thing about Ebay…Massive fraud.
PD stuff may be a fairly safe category because it’s not high dollar but there are many games afoot to defraud sellers on Ebay.
Example:
Buyer gets the product, notifies Paypal that item is “not as described” and gets an instant refund no questions asked.
At best they’ll be asked to prove they returned it to the seller so here comes an empty box with delivery confirmation on it.
Ebay claims only 1% fraudulent transactions but that’s still hundreds of thousands of incidences of fraud daily.
Best to watch the search engines for what’s new in Ebay fraud and some possible preventive measures.
Hi Debbie, I have to admit your emails are one of the first I open each day..George’s comment both excites and frustrates me. I’ve got the machetti (package) and the government courses from you and I’m having fun with the resources but I can’t come up with any packaging ideas for another Kindle. I tried putting together some thing from our government but I don’t want to put anything out that isn’t stellar so I’m spending a lot of time re-writing it. I can find my away around kdp and create space just fine..I even upload books for others. How do I get those product and bundling ideas flowing?
Brenda´s last [type] ..How to Write a Great Tagline for Your Blog
In my experience, Amazon will let you keep PD content for sale even if it is freely available on the web and undifferentiated, AS LONG AS yours is the only version available for sale.
Yup… those are some of the culprits selling WSO get rich quick stuff… It is my understanding JJ and others were banned from Amazon but found a way to create another account… probably a new business name or something similar… It’s a shame so many people bought into it… Heck, I even bought into one of them just out of curiosity altho I could clearly see the inherent problems by having all the same PLR being published… most people don’t bother to change anything with their PLR or PD… how do they expect to gain any credibility or attention that way? Personally, I would rather have my own “personal imprint” on everything I publish, and to much higher standards than most. But then, that’s me…
Great stuff Deb (as usual)…
@George – Thanx for all that great info… very insightful and helpful…
Linda =}
Linda´s last [type] ..How to Earn Cash by Publishing Games for the Kindle
Hi all! I’m the new kid on the block, just starting out in PD (hey, at least I know those initials!). Some of this is a little foggy to me right now. I feel silly saying this, but I’m not completely clear what an annotation is and how it must be written. Maybe I just haven’t stumbled on that yet all the great info in Debra’s PD products. I hope the air will clear as I keep reading and watching videos.
It sounds as though I’m jumping on the PD train a little after it’s left the station. Guess I’ll have to use my writing skills and some creativity to utilize PD for new info products, since it looks like so many of the great novels are being sold to death.
Thanks Debra for your wonderful materials and for so actively supporting us all. How great is that!
Thank You Debra and George! All great information. And so much to learn. I’m so grateful for finding Debra’s site. I purchased a couple of “make money with kindle” books and never felt like I had quite enough information to get a good hold of the subject. It’s nice to now be part of a community of people who have integrity and commitment to quality content – not just look for the quick buck.
Debra–thanks for your information. I am still new at all this, and trying to decipher your comments. I found myself confused by what you were trying to say about James Jones (positive or negative?) and I don’t know if you wish to clarify your feelings about REAL FAST PUBLIC DOMAIN (which I bought into). All I want to do is learn, and would be glad to get “the straight goods” from people like yourself who know more than I do. I don’t want to make any more costly and time-consuming mistakes. I am not here to pass any comments on to the people who own these lists.
George… Thank You so much for sharing your wealth of knowledge.
I appreciate you so much! It’s so flattering to see that someone who started to follow the Logan/Debra team a few years ago has “made it” work.
Please… keep answering as many questions as you feel you can (without giving away the farm). Paying it forward has always been how the treasure hunters works.
I agree that Amazon and KDP have actually been very forgiving over the years with all that has been handed to them. We all must learn to work within the current rules and
when they change – roll with it.
8)
Dave Bross – It’s not just eBay that has the fraudulent buyers – and “bad buyers” are not really new. If a “game the system” can be figured out – the scumbags will use it until the path is blocked. It does put the honest sellers in a position of “balance”. We need to offer all customers great service – which then makes us vulnerable to fraud/scams.
Just part of doing business – I have had to deal with the “not as described” garbage selling on Amazon as well.
I’m hoping that products created from public domain content will be a “safe category”.
8)
Brenda… thank you for your kind words. I’m so happy to provide content that is valuable to so many.
Regarding packaging ideas for Kindle:
I know you are fairly new to this process – I promise the ideas will get much easier to come by as you go along in the process. As George said… I already have so many ideas for products and never enough time.
Tell you what… I’ll write an entire article on “idea getting” in the next few days. I hope it will help you (and others) get some ideas for jumping into the “game”.
These ideas will be for publishing “as is” public domain content. The whole “re-writing” public domain content until it is a unique product is an entirely different business model (in my opinion).
8)
AE (Amy) – thanks for the quick reminder. It’s my point. Amazon is “DIFFERENT” than eBay. Amazon is trying to limit the versions of anything published – to keep the customers from having to many choices. Ebay likes having lot’s of choices for customers.
Keeping this in mind will help us all “work the business”.
8)
Linda – I bought into one of them as well – just to see what was behind the system. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing something that made the ideas they were sharing publicly “legit”.
Nope – the JJ and others should have been “banned” and stay banned. (IMO) Yet they are still selling the next “get rich with Kindle” scheme. GRRRRRRRR
I even have a book that I created using PLR for CreateSpace on Amazon that I am now in the process of deleting all sales channels. I was using the book for lead generation in my local market and it worked for that purpose… so using PLR is not ALWAYS a bad thing. The problem is that this book was for sale on Amazon.com and I didn’t need to have a PLR creation for sale to the “world”. I just wanted the book to use as a “business card” for my local community (which worked perfectly). I did add my own personal imprint to this book – but still not something I am in a position to feel proud of with my name as the author.
Always learning.
8)
Sandi…
About Annotation: Read up on Annotations here and you will have a better idea.
Also – remember that Kindle is a digital format and annotations can be added to a digital book/content in different ways. This article might help you get a better idea of the potential for Kindle Annotations from an Author Perspective.
Hey… many “newbies” feel as if they have missed the train. Not to worry. Plenty of fruit still left to be picked.
8)
Michelle…
That’s how we roll here… sharing the good stuff and trying to help others get off the “get rich quick” train.
8)
Hannah…
So sorry if I confused you.. I was being a bit cryptic about the “guru” types I guess.
I don’t have any problems with most of the people who offer these “Get Rich With Kindle” products… I have a problem with the “Products”.
James Jones was someone who I bought almost everything he recommended (in the past). He was someone I trusted. I have lost the trust. I still am a huge fan of his product/tool “Micro Niche Finder” – but these Kindle riches type products are pure garbage and I am like a mother hen when it comes to protecting “my people”.
Daniel Hall was also someone I thought had integrity and good solid products… now he has jumped on the Kindle publishing band wagon and I worry that he is selling a “bill of goods” and doesn’t really know enough about Public Domain.
Yanik Silver and Russell Brunson were THE Public Domain “guru’s” back in the day… and they knew their “stuff”. They did teach solid uses of Public Domain content – I miss them teaching public domain.
The big problem (for newbies and old timers like me) is that we all want to learn… but how do we know who to follow? We have all spent our hard earned money on training that was “worthless”.
What I can say is this… I have always had an open door for anyone to ask about training (my own or others). I will always try to steer you to the right products and training – in my opinion anyway.
Many will testify that I have told them “Don’t buy this or that” yet… You don’t need it. LOL… probably why I’m not rich.
8)
What a thread this has become. This alone shows the meaning the Kindle and the methods of self-publishing have today. As for some input here: it is never too late to start with PD! Even the umpteenth version of Alice in Wonderland could qualify and make you some bucks. According to Amazon’s guidelines you need 10 unique and hand-crafted illustrations. You have someone that like to draw? Try to give him, say 10 bucks for each of the ten pencil drawings. Include them in your book, get it published. Okay, maybe the first few months will balance out the investment you made but the rest …. Just one idea. There are so many more in your brains, go and find them. Think outside the box as much as you can.
As for the so-called gurus that sell on WSO – that’s the same as with the Kindle books. Out of 100 books for 99 cent you have one gem. But how to find that? You never know. In doubt, stay away. I am glad I found this blog years ago, I invested some money in all the publications, but this is honest and down-to-earth. Most of the WSOs are not and just show you black-hat techniques. And believe me, Amazon – as big and sleepy that mammoth sometimes is – is bound to get you some day.
@AE – yes, for the time being. But if your ‘content’ comes up for free in a few months you will have to insert an annotation or kiss your title goodbye. So why not do it right away, if possible? A lot of people are thankful for added value and well-done formatting. More than 50% of the freely available PG books are unreadable, the enjoyment is zero. Brackets, Typos, bad indents, page-breaks right in the middle and so on and so on.
Deb, no reason to feel flattered, it is me who has to pay back for your knowledge. I am glad I can pass some assists for other people to score. As you say, Amazon has been too negligent with straight guidelines that should have been in place right away. I dearly hope that all these scam publishers that scrape from Wikipedia or Wikitravel will be erased from the board soon. Sorry for sounding harsh, but they are destroying the business of the honest publishers.
George… You Rock! I’ll say it over and over…
What a great idea for adding new images to an old work… and they really are “original”.
You are in Scotland – Right? Let me know if not – I have you mixed up with someone else.
The forum should be up and available soon… I hope you will offer your tips about annotating so others can really
dig into that idea.
And… you hit the nail right on the head regarding “clean up” of the books. Customers (myself included) will not forgive bad formatting.
8)
Thanks for the link to Terry Gibb’s site in your post…definitely appreciated that.
I’ve been selling stuff on Ebay since 2000 and I learned many new things. Lots of good info.
Deb, nope, I am not in Scotland, I am native German and still live there. But for starters placing me in Europe is pretty okay
I was so lucky to find your blog and your resources lists and could adopt a lot of it to the German market. There are only a handful of people here dealing with PD stuff which makes me pretty unique. The start of the Kindle in Germany last year was the last step on a – to date – very successful road. And since I hold a degree in English-German translation I can also roam all over the world. The US kindle store still accounts for two fifths of my revenue (and with the Euro sliding down every greenback becomes more and more valuable).
Thank you so much, George – I LOVE the idea of re-working a classic – finding someone who can draw the 10 unique illustrations to make it an original. I happen to have an in-house artist at my disposal, my daughter, and I’ve been looking for a way to help her earn some income while she’s in college. I’ll run it by her. And I’ll have to mention to her that you’re German – she just finished taking three semesters of German, loves the German culture, and loved her teacher (who came over from Germany to study and teach abroad). I think she wishes she had a better grasp on the language, though. She’s a little sad that she can’t speak it like a native (can you tell she’s impatient). And may your business be blessed for all of the great advice you offer
You too, Debra!
Debra,
Your information is absolutely the best! It is so interesting and an education in itself – as are all the commentees! Loving it! xx
olive´s last [type] ..Making Videos On The Net – Free Video Training By Andy Jenkins
Michelle, then good luck to your daughter. Tell her she’s gonna make it, German is not that complicated I think. It’s like with all the good things, you keep going strong you will be successful at the end of the day. Great you picked up the idea with the illustrations, I think it will pay out. Strategy-wise, look for a book that is in the Top 100 classic fiction free downloads. Do some research, e.g. Alice in Wonderland was a bad example because the original editions already carry beautiful pictures. Check Peter Pan, this is PD in the US. Or Moby Dick! The only version that has any pictures at all is limited to three or four of them. Or check Sherlock Holmes, this is also on the All-Time-Record list. There are so many books that could need some illustrations. And believe me, people will buy because you will have to mention the annotation in the title (e.g. Moby Dick (Fully Illlustrated Edition). Heck, you can even take a dollar more than the rest (I hate that 99-cent-price point). At least I would pay one dollar more for having a beautiful illustration on my Kindle every hundred pages. And don’t forget: your work is no longer in the PD, you are the copyright owner of this work! Nobody can duplicate it (unless he wants you to come over him like a hurricane;-)
Dave Bross…
I think Terry Gibb’s is one of the good guys.
I haven’t sold on eBay for years and I have some “catching up” to do.
8)
Olive – Thanks for the compliments – now what are you doing with all this education? Do you have a plan yet?
8)
George mentioned that “more than 50% of the freely available PG books are unreadable, the enjoyment is zero.”…
That is a HUGE point there. It is definitely worth the time to take a look at some Kindle formatting guidelines – at very least, go through your book on the virtual Kindle that pops up when you are publishing your book. Does it look good? Also, does it have a Table of Contents that actually works on the Kindle? All stuff that your reader will appreciate. Plus you can put in your description that the book is formatted for the Kindle and has a functioning Table of Contents.
And look what I found….directly from KDP – Kindle Direct Publishing..”Building Your Book for Kindle…. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007URVZJ6
Beth S.´s last [type] ..Create the Business YOU Want
Beth…
Great points! That link is great and “free” information!
What that little booklet doesn’t do is help with formatting books that have live links, great images etc. One of the comments gives you a heads up for using HTML and Photoshop to optimize the formatting. I do share much of this in my course http://bookpublishingempire.com/
8)
A lot of great information, Debra. Thank you. I can use all the help I can get. LOL
Marilyn aka G-Ma´s last [type] ..Thinking of Mom