The best way to make sure the works you're using actually belong to the public domain is to go back to the original published material. It's easier said than done though - tracking down the original source can be quite a difficult task. However, there's a fantastic resource that can now help speed up the process - Alibris. Now you're probably wondering...
What Exactly Is Alibris? (Website: http://www.alibris.com/)
Well, to paraphrase from their website...
Alibris brings together folks that have a love for creative works (movies, music and books) and independent sellers from around the globe. Alibris employs advanced logistics and superior technology to offer more than 30 million used, brand new and hard-to-find material to consumers and other institutions.
Look at it this way - if you're familiar with Amazon, it's easy to understand Alibris. The major difference however, is that the latter enables you to perform searches based on the date of publication, and this
feature makes it extremely valuable indeed.
How to use Alibris to find public domain books
To begin your search, head over to the Advanced Search tab. It is positioned just above the 'Basic Search' tab in the upper right hand corner of the main page. This brings you to a page containing several different input options. Pay special attention to the form titled 'Publication Year' - one of its options is labeled 'Before.' Now that right there is a very powerful feature.
Let's say you were searching for a book on martial arts that was in the public domain. Simply
enter the words 'martial arts' in the 'Title' and in the 'Publication Year - Before' field, put 1923. This particular search term pulled up 17 books - books that you have the opportunity to purchase and turn into unique products of your own.
A word of caution though...
The search results you obtain are only as good as the details provided by the sellers. This means that some of the dates might be incorrect and a fair percentage of books will not match your search phrases. Hence, before going ahead and making a purchase, it is highly recommended that you send a note to
the seller, requesting verification of the publication date. Also, while it's better to actually see the book before buying it to make certain that it meets my requirements, if the price is reasonable, just go for it.
Furthermore, this is a fantastic way of searching for books published after 1922 that belong to the public domain. For example, if you're planning on creating a diet-related product, you can search for books published before 1960. If you're thinking of putting together an ebook based on southern cooking, you might want to look for books published before 1950. Or if
you're keen on tracking down books on martial arts...or baseball...or gardening...you may wish to dig up texts that were published before 1930.
Either way, whenever you happen to come across interesting titles, you can do a quick copyright search to confirm that the book is in the public domain. Who knows, this could result in you stumbling upon some real gems that could later prove to be major profit-pulling projects for you...especially if you target topics that are proven bestsellers such as health, wealth, food, hobbies...you get the idea.
Good luck with your search!
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