Google Publisher
Google has a new program, Google Publisher, which would seem to be great for all us authors who have out-of-print books that (at least in our opinion) are still of interest to readers.
The idea is this: suppose you own the copyright to a book that has gone out of print. You still get plenty of questions from readers about it, and people want to buy it (it's a good thing you still have some in a carton in your basement!).
Google scans the book (you have to send them a copy which you won't get back), hosts the scanned pages, and indexes it. AdWords ads go on relevant pages, and you get a portion of the AdSense revenue. In addition, Google provides a link (that you supply when you register the book with the program) for people to buy the book.
This seems like a great way to monetize out-of-print and/or under-marketed books that you own the rights to (and might even work with print-on-demand).
I've placed a few books in the program, and will let you know the results in the due fullness of time.
Posted by Harold Davis at January 14, 2005 01:03 PM
