Kindle Public Domain Publishing Explained – Thank You Tony Laidig

Let’s talk about Kindle and Public Domain content one more time (at least) – because I now that we all need to keep up to date with Amazon’s rules so we don’t get banned from selling on Amazon.

Tony Laidig – another public domain expert has released his thoughts in video format.  You will need to go to his website to view the video… I will give you the highlights here:

* Tony shows the latest “rule” for Amazon Kindle Public Domain acceptance and breaks it down into a format that is “intelligent” (Amazon is pretty cagey when it comes to some of it’s rules and they are often hard to decipher).

* Tony speaks about the use of PLR for Kindle books.  His comment is “The door is “closed” for use of PLR as Kindle book content”. I agree.

Note: Personally – I believe that PLR still has a place in your Public Domain product creation arsenal. For instance: If you are “re-working” a public domain book and need to add a bit of “updated” content. I would also recommend rewriting the PLR – don’t use PLR “as is”.

I know that Tony HAS created some very nice “derivative works” from public domain…  BUT – he DID partner with Daniel Hall to create the “Real Fast Public Domain” product and I am pretty sure that Daniel Hall HAS created Kindle books from “as-is” public domain content.

Note: I will admit right here and right now… using Public Domain content “as-is” is NOT a bad thing and I have used public domain “as-is” in hundreds of instances. Big difference between publishing “JUNK” and publishing great public domain content as-is.   We just should not publish “as-is” public domain content that is freely available on the internet as Kindle Books.  I can flat out say that I have Never Published freely available pubic domain content “as – is” on the Kindle publishing format.

* At about 9 minutes into the video presentation – Tony hit’s the Nail Right On The Head!  Millions of books and magazines are in public domain that have never been published digitally “anywhere”! 

This is where the Gold Is Found.

* Where I found a problem with my own product creation idea – about 15 minutes into the video.  Tony shows a rule I had missed (glossed over in my eyes and didn’t read) :

Booo… collections are not allowed.

WAIT…

I can sell collections that are created from public domain content that is not “freely available” on the internet and that I differentiate in some way. Duh…

Tony harps on Adding Value – this is key to remember.

IF you add value the new work is copyrightable by you and you qualify for the 70% royalty rule rather than the 35% public domain royalty rule.

 That is a huge bonus for us… if we do the “work” we get more in royalties.  What could be better than that?

Daniel Hall and Tony Laidig “U.S. Government Public Domain Webinar

I finally found the webinar “replay” introducing this product – Click Here for Webinar Replay – It’s over 2 hours long – so be prepared.

No… I didn’t buy this product, LOL. I did watch the webinar.

I spoke about this webinar here: Public Domain Is Not Banned On Kindle – and said I was really “ticked” off with what I feel is a high priced product.

“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.)”

I watched it again today…  so I could pause and review the entire webinar for you, I wanted you to know “why” I’m a bit snippy.  I have a “gut feeling” that some of the “spouting off” about creating “derivative” works is talk and not practiced by Daniel Hall.  I have no proof… so it’s risky to mention it here… it’s just a personal “gut check”.

While they do talk about “the extra work” aspect – it “feels” as if they are telling you that making a ton of money “real fast” is the premise.

I actually think what they are trying to say is this:

Using Public Domain material is without doubt the fastest, easiest, and least expensive way there is to create your own information products with the least amount of effort but you need the right training.

Towards the very end of this webinar – someone asked “How much time per week will be required and how long before seeing results?” Tony answered: “The time investment realistically you could have your first product done in a few days. As far as income – it can happen quickly or very slowly, it depends on the topic/niche.  You will not be ready to retire from your J.O.B. in just a few days“.

Creating products using public domain material CAN BE fast – easy and inexpensive. Making a ton of money is NOT fast or easy.

Okay… more about the webinar:

About 18 minutes into this webinar you will see Tony and Daniel address this question:

And then the next slide shows the answer (buy you have to listen for the “caveats” :

* Daniel speaks about Annotating (25 min in) – I share this more in depth below.

* Daniel says it is completely permissible (28 min in)  to put up public domain content – as-is (unchanged) – on the Kindle Platform.  Now I”m confused….

Then Daniel goes on to say that he (and Tony) recommend that you do a Hybrid (or modified) work.

This webinar is specifically directed to the use of U.S. Government Public Domain content - and I am pretty sure that Daniel Hall has published Government Public domain content on the Barns & Noble NOOK platform as well.  Do you think that this new Nook and GPO partnership will hurt his ability to continue?

 Change The Content (Do The Work Efficiently)

We can change the book by “translating” – some of you are bi-lingual and would have no problem with this.

We can add at least 10 new illustrations… Michelle made a comment the other day (after seeing a comment from George) “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.”

Of course – you may not have an in house artist available… but you can get public domain images or buy images on sources like iStock.  Please make sure you are adding value to your new product… not just a bunch of unrelated images.

We can Annotate – * Tony speaks to this idea a bit in his video at about 17 minutes in. There are some really good ideas that he shares.

Amazon says that annotations are “Unique – Hand-Crafted – additional content” including:

• study guides
• literary critiques
• detailed biographies
• detailed historical context

I don’t know about you… but adding “detailed historical context“  is a perfect idea for me.

Let’s talk about efficiency a bit…

I see some of you that are trying to create derivative works (which takes a lot of time).  Of course… I believe in creating derivative works, I’ve created several myself.  But… if you are going to make publishing public domain content a business – you need to be able to crank out in volume.

This is where the rubber meets the road… balance in all things.

When I start to publish on Kindle (in volume) I have a plan:

• Always create content that is usable for multiple products that I can sell on multiple selling channels.
• Always annotate or add illustrations (or both) to the Kindle versions (and quite possibly use those versions for other products).
• Create a system (my own) for the process of adding value to public domain content that won’t take tooo much time.
• Have a template for Kindle publishing that is ready for me to add the content.
• Create professional Kindle Cover Images
• Create perfect Amazon product page content and bullet points.

 Some of this list is already in place… for instance:  When I published my last book - I created (and show you how in Bookpublishingempire.com) a template for my Kindle products.

One of the biggest hurdles for creating something that will attract attention on Kindle is the book cover.  Many of us have the black and white version of Kindle (not the Kindle Fire) and buy our books directly from our Kindle (something to think about – not all Kindle books are purchased from the Amazon website – which has full color).

This is something I DID NOT think about when I created this cover:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And on the Kindle it’s this small:

 

YIKES!

Compare those to this set:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can see that I have a few things still to learn about creating good Kindle covers.

This is where Tony Laidig really shines. I have purchased almost every product he has ever produced regarding “how to work with images”. He is a master at teaching Photoshop uses for public domain images and creating book covers etc.

This new product for creating Kindle Covers looks like it would help me make better covers.  You don’t “Need” to buy the product to learn a bunch about creating better Kindle covers. Just read the sales page and watch the video and you will learn a bunch about what NOT to do.  *giggle* (I’m taking my own advice to heart).

Yes – I’ve seen Nicole Dean and Tiffany Dow “rave” about Product Creator Pro - I haven’t tested it (I did take a peak with the free trial) and it looks like it might help create good covers, what you don’t get is the “why”.  Tony always teaches the “why” you do it this way and not that way… etc. in his products.

I think I’ve shared just about as much info as I can regarding publishing public domain content on Kindle.  You should have a good idea by now about what you can (should) do and what you should avoid.

I hope to be ramping up my own kindle publishing products soon.  I’m still working on creating products for eBay and trying very hard not to get distracted.