Will this idea work or am I being stupid?

[Hoboninja]

Howdy BHW Folks,

I have made a YouTube channel to help market a few books I have been writing the last couple years. I was curious if anyone here had any advice on running audiobook channels on YT.

I am looking to upload audiobooks from the public domain and use that as an opportunity to promote my work while folks enjoy the audiobook I didn't write but uploaded to my channel. Think of old books like Jane Eyre, Twain, etc.

I didn't think to monetize the channel as my focus is free marketing for my stories. Before going full throttle, I figured I should take a step back and do this properly to maximize my efforts and juice this channel to the rind.

I know copyright violations/pirating are bad ideas for a vanilla white hat channel, but will general public domain content get your channel banned?

I have read things on YT TOS and here on BHW, but I can't see any clear no-nos or violations.

I would love to be able to use already made public domain audiobooks because I already work too much but can record them myself if need be if it helps to make a few bucks while marketing my books.

Thanks for any wisdom and criticisms y'all have in advance and for taking the time to read my post

 

[ken017]

you wont get banned bro, but idk how well this will do

 

[capybarabusinessman]

Hey Hoboninja,

Solid plan with the public domain audiobooks on YouTube! And nope, you won't get banned for that content. For a fresh twist, why not throw some TikTok or YouTube Shorts into the mix? Quick snippets of those classics could really hook people in. AI narration's a timesaver, but your own voice could add a unique flavor. Great way to sneak in some promo for your own books too. Keep it up!

 

[seomaster5]

Promoting kn a brand new channel ia a waste of time. You can tie up with popular channels in same niche.

 

[ads studio]

You don't have a problem since you aren't focused on monetizing the channel.

 

[Dolphin Team]

Good idea! Follow the advice on using YouTube Shorts

 

[rb2023]

The only problem you might find is the difference in public domain laws around the world. Something that is public domain in the UK may not be public domain in the US, and vice versa. All of the classics should be fine (best to make sure that it's a public domain version though, especially with anything translated), but the more recent it is, the more likely it is that you might accidentally post something that is not public domain everywhere. It isn't going to ban your channel, but it would likely lead to the content being blocked in some locations.

In terms of recordings, there are public domain recordings on Project Gutenberg, which you should be fine to post. An original recording would be far better, but would be a lot of work. There are some people posting AI read versions of books on YouTube, but I'm not sure how successful that would be. I found myself listening to an AI read version of Schopenhauer's Art of Controversy a couple of weeks ago but the voice was painful to listen to and I didn't get far through it.

The shorts idea is a good one. If you get enough subscribers, polls for the next video to do would be a good way to build interest as well. As long as it's all public domain then you should still be find to monetize it.

 

[azkhan983]

any luck with this method?

 

[proxygo]

any luck with this method?

its been a year what do you think .