Publishing my notes and potentially selling them

[Integrator741]

Hi,

I was looking for a book or some sort of set of literature that would help me with my AM2 exam. I couldn't find much, because information about AM2 exam is mostly classified (apart from topics that you need to study) and because information that you need is scattered all over - 17th edition regulations, building regulations, H&S publications (safe working practices, guides to RAMS and etc.) and much more.
I myself, had to go through 6 or 7 different books and pick out bits and peaces from them - relative to AM2 exam topics.

So I was wondering, would it be possible to somehow compile my notes and research, put them in nice order and so on. And then publish them and maybe sell them on eBay or something like that?

Thanks

 

[shrtrnd]

I don't see why not as long as you don't plagiarize somebody else's copyrights with your notes.
It probably wouldn't be easy to make a comprehensive book-worthy product unless you wanted to spend years
doing complete research on the topics covered. But you never know what will sell on eBay until you try it.
(If you do try to sell your notes, make sure you're not plagiarizing somebody else's work, or it could easily come back to bite you if somebody wanted to confiscate any money you might make off of this idea).

 

[hevans1944]

So I was wondering, would it be possible to somehow compile my notes and research, put them in nice order and so on. And then publish them and maybe sell them on eBay or something like that?

Sure, the Internet is full of self-published notes, papers, opinions, diagrams, instructions, and (sometimes) even useful information. Yours would be a niche market of interest, perhaps, to anyone studying for the AM2 exam (whatever that is). There are several approaches to "selling" your product but the easiest is to purchase a domain name and put up a website offering your product. But don't expect to just sit back and wait for the orders to roll in. You need to market (advertise) your product as widely as possible before the "law of averages" kicks in and one-out-of-a-million or so actually buy your product. Of course with six billion or so people in the world it doesn't take a large percentage of that number to rake in some really big bux. There are zillions of ways to attract visitors to your website and Google is your Friend in discovering them.

If you don't want to go to the trouble of maintaining a website and answering inquiries, a self-publishing service may be your cup of tea. I would recommend checking out Lulu.com for Internet, print-on-demand, self-publishing. There are others, including many brick-and-mortar "vanity" print publishers, most of which I would avoid because of the expense and lack of any real marketing effort to sell your work. Vanity publishers get their money up front to print your work, and once they have it there is little incentive for them to promote further "sales" which you of course would again pay in advance to have printed.

As for selling on eBay,,, you can sell anything on eBay except (maybe) organ transplants. Just make sure you can deliver what you offer for sale.

 

[Integrator741]

I don't see why not as long as you don't plagiarize somebody else's copyrights with your notes.
It probably wouldn't be easy to make a comprehensive book-worthy product unless you wanted to spend years
doing complete research on the topics covered. But you never know what will sell on eBay until you try it.
(If you do try to sell your notes, make sure you're not plagiarizing somebody else's work, or it could easily come back to bite you if somebody wanted to confiscate any money you might make off of this idea).

So, proper referencing and good research on the topics. Thank you!

 

[Herschel Peeler]

Hi,

I was looking for a book or some sort of set of literature that would help me with my AM2 exam. I couldn't find much, because information about AM2 exam is mostly classified (apart from topics that you need to study) and because information that you need is scattered all over - 17th edition regulations, building regulations, H&S publications (safe working practices, guides to RAMS and etc.) and much more.
I myself, had to go through 6 or 7 different books and pick out bits and peaces from them - relative to AM2 exam topics.

So I was wondering, would it be possible to somehow compile my notes and research, put them in nice order and so on. And then publish them and maybe sell them on eBay or something like that?

Thanks

AM2? What does that cover? Does the material change often, like adding solar power? Would a printed book be obsolete by the time it got into print? Would an on-line course be more practical?
I could understand somebody like ETT getting upset if you published their course. Of course these may be your best customers for such a book or course.

 

[Integrator741]

AM2? What does that cover? Does the material change often, like adding solar power? Would a printed book be obsolete by the time it got into print? Would an on-line course be more practical?
I could understand somebody like ETT getting upset if you published their course. Of course these may be your best customers for such a book or course.

Well it has changed a small bit in the last 10 years - but nothing major. When I was in their training centre, I asked about studying material and all that, they told me that everything you see in here, can't really go outside because it's kind of classified. They didn't mention any legal aspects of distributing the information in different format though.

 

[Herschel Peeler]

Well it has changed a small bit in the last 10 years - but nothing major. When I was in their training centre, I asked about studying material and all that, they told me that everything you see in here, can't really go outside because it's kind of classified. They didn't mention any legal aspects of distributing the information in different format though.

Do your notes have anything to offer that is not already available? Is how you present it unique? Forest Mimms (writes a lot of stuff for Radio Shack) doesn't cover much that is new but he presents it in a very easy to read and apply fashion. In general ... go for it!

 

[sundy]

A comment on having your own website, I started using Wordpress for information I want to pass along to my customers. It is actually part of my webhosting package but I would think a custom domain name with Wordpress would be quite affordable. Wordpress makes it easy to put a video or a document quickly if someone needs help.