At last count, he had published 1,640 titles on Amazon, many of them bestsellers. That’s not a typo. One thousand, six hundred and forty.
And while most writers are agonizing over their next chapter, Melvin’s quietly building what he calls “a one-person billion-dollar publishing company,” using public domain content, clever repurposing, and a little help from AI.
This is not a story of overnight success or a viral launch.
This is a story of slow, steady publishing, and how an ordinary man in his sixties created extraordinary results with zero fancy tech, zero team, and a five-year-old daughter as his biggest motivation.
Let’s break down how Melvin did it, and how you can borrow his ideas to build a passive income stream of your own.
From eBay bookseller to self-publishing powerhouse.
Melvin’s publishing journey started in the 1990s, long before Amazon or KDP existed.
He began as an eBay bookseller, flipping old and rare books. One day, it struck him: Why not just reprint the expensive books in the public domain?
The first book he reprinted, a historical book on Catholic nuns, cost him $2,500 to print 100 copies. He sold them at $60 each. The original versions were selling for $600.
That’s when the light bulb went off.
Since then, Melvin has become a master at finding valuable public domain books, republishing them, and creating new versions with modernized language, updated design, and sometimes entirely new angles.
Like feminizing James Allen’s As A Man Thinketh for a female audience. Or turning a centuries-old English manuscript into modern language.
If enough of his edits change the original, Melvin copyrights the new version under his own name.
He’s not just reprinting books. He’s reinventing them.
The Power of Public Domain (and why it still works).
Much of Melvin’s success comes down to leveraging content that’s freely available and legally unprotected by copyright: public domain books.
But instead of copying and pasting from Project Gutenberg like everyone else, Melvin goes deeper.
“Everyone can copy those books. That’s why they don’t sell. You need to go where the lazy people don’t go,” he says.
He focuses on hard-to-find editions, tricky old English texts, and documents that require extra cleanup, often using Adobe InDesign to format and AI to assist in translation or modernization.
Here are some of his clever approaches:
Repackaging: Combining several works by one author into a single volume.
Perspective Flipping: Changing the voice of a book (like turning “As A Man Thinketh” into a women-focused read).
Modernization: Updating old references and language to suit today’s reader.
Sequels: Writing follow-ups to classic public domain fiction like War of the Worlds.
And yes, even writing entirely new books using ChatGPT and Claude.
How he creates (and publishes) so many books?
Most of Melvin’s books are done solo. He uses a combination of tools and intuition:
Adobe InDesign to format paperbacks.
Canva, AI image generators, or Amazon’s own cover builder to create book covers.
ChatGPT to brainstorm, co-write, and even process difficult emotions (like the fear of dying before his daughter grows up).
KDP and Lightning Source to publish on Amazon and distribute globally.
Minimal marketing, aside from posting a few screenshots on Facebook.
A recent book he created using advice from ChatGPT about leaving a legacy for his young daughter became an Amazon #2 bestseller within 24 hours, with no ads.
He simply published the book, uploaded a screenshot of its ranking on social media, and let the organic interest roll in.
Why his books keep selling?
Melvin’s not worried about niching down.
He publishes across categories, from religious history to mindset, from sci-fi to inspirational nonfiction. While traditional publishing advice says to “stay in your lane,” Melvin proves that sheer volume + smart targeting + timeless topics can break all the rules.
He’s also discovered:
The importance of Amazon categories in reaching bestseller status.
How to turn blog posts into eBooks and earn passive income.
The value of short books, sometimes just a few pages long, priced at $0.99.
The magic of creating books that solve a specific problem for a niche audience.
It’s not about being a literary genius. It’s about being resourceful, consistent, and creative.
Melvin’s Tools of the Trade
Here’s a quick snapshot of what fuels his publishing empire:
Legacy-driven publishing.
What drives Melvin today is not fame or money.
It’s legacy.
He lives in the Philippines with his wife and 5-year-old daughter. At 67, he’s thinking ahead, how to create income that lasts beyond him. How to build a library of wisdom for his daughter. How to leave behind messages, videos, and books she’ll one day read.
One of his latest books, You Are the Reason, is a conversation with ChatGPT about parenting, legacy, and health, dedicated to his daughter.
It reached Amazon bestseller status within a day.
What you can learn from Melvin
You don’t need to be a prolific writer or AI wizard to follow Melvin’s lead.
You just need to:
Start small: Repurpose what you already have, blogs, journal entries, old PDFs.
Look for value: Find timeless content in the public domain and make it your own.
Use AI smartly: For editing, rewriting, formatting, or ideation.
Experiment: Publish without perfection. See what works. Iterate fast.
Think long-term: Build a body of work that can pay you while you sleep—and leave a legacy behind.
“Every book I publish is one more gift to my daughter. One more opportunity to teach. One more chance to keep showing up for her.”
Want to Learn from Melvin?
You can connect with him at:
His Publishing Company: WallerPublishing.com
His Stan Store: stan.store/melwaller – for books, community, and 1:1 coaching
His Substack: Melvin H Waller’s Bestselling Author Substack
Find his books on Amazon by searching Mel Waller or browsing by category.
If you want to monetize by building your own publishing empire…
Whether you're an author, a coach, or a retiree with stories to tell, Melvin’s story proves it's never too late to start, and you don’t need to do it the traditional way.
Want more stories like this, and actionable tips to monetize your writing?
That’s all from me today.
As always, thanks for reading.
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