Put old books back in print with Restructured Text!

We live in a world where no book ever has to go out of print, whether we realize it or not.

You may already know that is true for e-books, thanks to sites like archive.org and Project Gutenberg. But did you know it is true for printed books too? It is, thanks to print-on-demand services like Kindle Direct Publishing.

If you're a self-published author you may have tried this service and been unimpressed with the results. KDP does make it possible to make a printed book without knowing much about formatting interior pages or cover design, but the results don't look professional. That does NOT mean that professional results are not possible. They are possible, if you're willing to learn to use software which you can legally download for free.

I have used this software to bring old books back into print and sell them on Amazon. It doesn't bring in that much money, but it is a cheap and enjoyable hobby that can give forgotten books a whole new readership.

When I was in grade school I discovered the author Alfred Powell Morgan, who wrote books containing electronics projects for young readers. What I did not know at the time was that some of the books I read were actually written long before I was born and had been revised every few years to bring them up to date. The oldest versions of these books are in the public domain, meaning anyone who wants to reprint these books may legally do so.

I have done that with a few of them, and you can check out the results at Amazon:

Home-made Toy Motors: A Practical Handbook Giving Detailed Instructions for Building Simple but Operative Electric Motors

Home-made Electrical Apparatus: A Practical Handbook for Amateur Experimenters In Three Parts

The Boy Electrician: Practical Plans for Electrical Apparatus for work and play, with an explanation of the principles of every-day electricity.

Lessons in Wireless Telegraphy: A Systematic Elementary Course In The Principles Of Wireless Telegraphy And The Electrical Laws Upon Which It Depends

If you do a "Look inside the book" you'll see that these books look quite professional, in every way comparable to the original printed editions. There is nothing about the appearance of these books that would tell you they were print-on-demand titles, but that is exactly what they are.

Are there any old books you'd like to put back in print? Stay tuned for details on a surprisingly simple way to do that.