How to Publish A Public Domain

[@BillOConnor_Perth]

Dave Thank you, this is why I have bought every one of your products and now will finally buy Atticus and write a book. Your support , information and training are unbelievable, thank you again.

[@PsykeonOfficial]

You're a gold mine, chief 🙏Thanks for your work

[@rosinaiglesias-traductoral5827]

As a literary translator, this is incredible valuable to me! Thank you very much.

[@slothdreamsbooks]

Public domain works are amazing sellers. One of my top sellers is a famous poets compilation poetry book. One of my top sellers out of my 200 books I’ve written.

[@dellingsdoor8231]

that's a better idea than what I did. I did 2 PD books on how to read and write poetry -I make a whopping 75 cents per quarter from them!

[@EricaGamet]

Is having a collection enough to differentiate it in Amazon's eyes? For instance, "A Collection of Shakespeare's Lesser Known Works" or something like that. Or would it still need something else like annotations, discussion, etc.? Thanks for any help!

[@EricDrysdale-d1q]

Full marks Dave. Most valuable and details all the key points. You deserve your success, You are an excellent "asset and source" to refer to. Keep well, Eric.

[@davidstewart8796]

Thanks Dave, I am working on a piece of public doman work and this has been most helpful.

[@EmilynWood]

Thank you so much for making a video about this. So few people let out information about this stuff.

[@lauraduffy5702]

Hi Dave thanks for this video. I think it would fun to redesign some wonderful classics. How would the interiors be accessed though?

[@JacciTurner]

I love your videos. So helpful.

[@liudmilabozzi806]

Hi Dave, thanks for the content! One question - when you publish, can you pick the option I own the copyright, if the book includes more than 10 illustrations, author biography and glossary of words? Thanks!

[@TrailsNetCom]

Thanks Dave. What if somebody completely revamps a public domain book and creates something like "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies?" Would they still need to check the "This is a public domain book" in the KDP publishing process?

[@bethannekim2588]

You say that you can only publish a book that has been annotated or changed. From my reading, you can also publish one that is completely UNchanged - provided you are the first one to publish it on Amazon. So my understanding is that you wouldn't be able to publish "Pollyanna" without annotation or something, because it's already so widely available, but you could publish "The Chesson Family Diaries from 1896" since it isn't already available on Amazon (what with it not existing and all). Am I correct in that reading?

[@yeshuachristdrivenandinspi6998]

Hello, I am so glad that I ran across your video. I recently found out that the King James Bible is now Public Domain and has no copywrite I want to create and write song lyrics from it. I wanted to know if I were allowed to do that? Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

[@mahaliaholmes2700]

What about modern retelling of a pd. I have just written a book based on Christmas story “ The Stuffed Elephant “ the new version holds the main foundation of the story but has additional story lines added and changed characters and scenes. It has a different title as well as illustration s.I have included a note from the author acknowledging the original story and author why and how this book has been created. So does this still fall in the public domain category or is it a new publication with acknowledgment

[@EmilynWood]

The work you are basing it on is in the public domain, so putting your note in the copyright page is important/helpful. But your work is not public domain, so it will still be copyrighted by you/belong to you because it is a retelling and that aspect of it is original. Lots of retellings of Peter Pan get published all the time.

[@sohanurrahman4525]

Do I need to write (illustrations & annotations) in the title section beside the name of my book?

[@MCristinaSFlynn]

Can you add public domain photos to a public domain book instead of illustrations?

[@stevenpoke2367]

If you create a book that is a compilation of public domain material combined together from different books (and therefore you create a unique, never previously published book) do you still declare this as a public domain book at the kdp upload stage?

[@kevinpotter1695]

Regarding adding illustrations, if hiring an artist is permissible does that also mean that using stock art would be acceptable? (As long as your license is adequate, of course)

[@candid0111]

KDP is so iffy, i'm scared to publish those.

[@EmilynWood]

Me too

[@NS-mp9cz]

When publishing to KDP, would the “author name” field be your regular pen name or the original author’s name?

[@kelens]

I have the same question.

[@AndrewRusherLDS]

Some people use the original author’s name while others use their pen name, if possible use both. If you are reworking a public domain book, it would be best to use the original author’s name or if possible use both the original author’s name and your own. If you are using public domain characters and writing a brand new book, your name is used.

[@jetteejby1205]

What about trademarks?

[@alazharyplatform1339]

First to comment... well done

[@michellemiller1722]

I am doing my research and due diligence. I hope someone can answer this question: If I publish a historical fiction piece with a study guide and add words "with study guide" to the title, is that general accepted as an annotation?

[@AndrewRusherLDS]

If you are actually adding annotations to the work, it's an annotation and will be accepted as an annotation.

[@Gina0151]

I’m scared to publish anything at all for months as KDP rules have gone haywire this year, unclear, misleading and inconsistent and bots are seemingly out of control