"How To Find Free Public Domain Material
And Use It For Maximum Profit"

n my last newsletter I was telling you all about a new software program, which helps you to quickly create content rich websites, from books in the public domain. I don't mind admitting to you, I was surprised by the amount of feedback I got afterwards.

I thought the topic would go down pretty well, I just didn't know how well. If you haven't yet read last weeks newsletter, click here to read it.

Just in case you don't already know, if a book or any other material is deemed as being in the 'public domain', it means that it is not protected by copyright. In a nutshell, you are free to do pretty much what you want with it, which includes commercial use.

Anyway, I mentioned previously that I would 'point you in the right direction', if you wanted to know where to find books and other material, which is in the public domain. I gave out a few links and a tip to the people that enquired. However, I guessed that there is probably a lot more of you that would like to know more, but for whatever reason never contacted me.

Some Useful Public Domain Resources...

Here are a few resources to be going on with:

(not in any particular order)

http://www.banis-associates.com/pdlist/ - PD links
http://www.gutenberg.org/ - Lots of books in txt format
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/advancedsearch.html - Search for US Gov docs
http://digital.library.upenn.edu/books/ - PD books
http://www.booksforabuck.com/general/pubsources.html
http://www.copyright.gov/records/cohm.html - Copyright search

The web addresses above should give you a good start, in your quest to find some public domain material which suits your requirements.

There are many books on some of the sites above that have already been converted into digital text format. In other words, ready to use.

A word of caution...although you will find many books, images etc., that are in the public domain, some of the material you come across may be protected by copyright. It's worth reading the FAQ page on the Project Gutenberg site listed above.

A Sneaky Trick...

Here's a sneaky trick you can sometimes use, to get hold of a public domain book without paying for it...

1. You can look on sites like eBay and other sites that sell used books. Look at the descriptions, even ask the seller a load of questions to see if the book is what you are looking for.
   
   
2. You can then visit your local library and ask them if they have the book listed in their database. Sometimes the library may only be able to search a small database, for the libraries in your local area. If this is the case, ask them how you go about searching the national database, and obtaining a book from further afield.
   
   
3. If you are lucky, and the book you want is in the library system, just ask for it to be transferred to your local library for you to borrow.
   
   
4. You can then borrow it from them for free, and get all the pages scanned. You will need a scanner, and some OCR software which is not that expensive (I got OCR software free with my scanner). The OCR software will convert the scanned pages into editable text. This will enable you to reformat, edit, update and play around with the text at your leisure.
   
   You can then sell it as an ebook, reprint the book in hard copy, or use the content to create a website out of, make up a compilation on CD, whatever.

Recommended Further Reading...

"The Public Domain Reports"

If you want to give yourself a huge head start in finding, profiting from, and understanding public domain material, instead of learning things the hard way, I highly recommend:

The Public Domain Reports
by Dave Vallieres

These reports gave me my first ever introduction to the world of free public domain material. In fact, I liked them so much I later obtained the resell rights to them.

I've put the original sales letter on a separate page so that you find out more about these excellent reports. I've also knocked a chunk off the original price, so you can pick these eye-opening reports up dirt cheap.

The sales page is an education on Public Domain material all by itself, so it's well worth a read...

I hope you found this useful,

Jason Lewis
Editor - 'Business Brainwaves' Newsletter