JUST FOUND YOU ACCIDENTALLY.... I'm only a few min in but I have 9 books on KDP & I will NEVER use them again... Amazon SUDDENLY DUMPED the PRICE on my BEST SELLING BOOK (I actually was making money) It was selling at $18 & they dumped it one day to $5.99. I thought it was a mistake so I contacted them (which is hard to do) and asked them to change the price BACK to $18... they said, "the small print says WE have the authority to price any way we like- but you'll still make the same dollar amount per book" HOWEVER, that was a LIE because I was making $7.20/book and they priced it at $5.99... so I asked if they were actually going to PAY me MORE than THEY are bringing in. (Obviously not) So I said I wanted to REMOVE that particular book from Amazon & she said that was my option BUT "WE will CONTINUE to SELL your book - as the SMALL PRINT CLAIMS- but then WE will make 100% of the proceeds" Bottom Line- AMAZON OWNS you when you publish with them.
I am still reeling over my recent termination from KDP. I absolutely have no idea why…they refuse to tell me why. I put out a medium content book paperback/hardback that was quite original and was selling quite well. I’m devastated as I truly saw this as an open door to see my dreams to become a reality. I spent 2 months making sure the quality was there and that the user would find it valuable. If I’m honest I’m feeling defeated and this video is helping me see there are lots of different options. This was my first stab at self-publishing and I really wanted to do what is right and honest. I won’t quit I will keep trying…thank you for this video.
@@barbaragalloway6190 not yet. I needed to take a beat to figure out how to pivot. I wish you all the best and it’s nice to know we aren’t alone in this
@@ccbrandy22 I truly understand I needed to take a break as well just to gather myself. I pray all will be well for you too! It is nice to know that we aren’t alone!
I just got terminated - AGAIN. I get an email that states I have used an image that is freely available on the web before I can respond they terminated me. I PROVED I had the right to the image, and got reinstated - reuploaded everything as they move your books to draft - and a day later they sent me a new email about image violations, and terminated me. I again have sent proof I have the rights but I am not holding my breath. It is so frustrating.
From one TH-camr to another as yourself, I appreciate your honesty in the book business! I am working on a gift for my very forgetful 21-year-old son. I am making a low content book, not to make money from but rather a dedication page. I’ve been doing a lot of research, I came across you and out of all of the other ones that has $8000 a month plastered on their thumbnail, I really feel comfortable with your advice. You tell it like it is, no magic get rich overnight, no flying monkeys, just straight to the point! I’m currently binge watching your videos after hurting my back while doing chores around the house today. Again, thank you for the straightforward advice ❤
Hi Caroline - I am about enter the KDP marketplace - I found your videos very informative and helpful - but the main thing that sets you apart from all other noise out there is you aren't trying to flog your products - and totally trustworthy - which is absolutely refreshing -Thank you for your efforts. Bruno
I so appreciate this video you posted! I wrote a book a couple of years ago. I was stuck because my laptop is outdated to upload it to KDP. So I was thinking I have to wait LONGER to buy a new laptop to be able to upload my book to KDP. Now I know I have other options! This information will change my life! My name is Kai (Kah-ee)Wallace. Thank you again! I appreciate you 💯
Hi I’m an Author of a a wonderful self published children’s book… my book does well however I went through Christian Faith publishing to print market and help I guess I want to say develop my book my book is featured on all the major platforms however there are too many hands in the pot so I’m not receiving the royalty income I deserve as the Author … I own all the rights to my book and would like to take my book elsewhere being that there’s so many other options and I’m not sure how I could do that I’m not in contract with them I’m just sort of in a limbo as to what to do next so I’m reaching out to you maybe you can give me some advice or steer me in the right direction😢
Thank you for your video! I’m about to finish my first children’s book and I’m really glad I found you! This video is very helpful for me to consider other publishing platforms. I will be following your videos. Keep up the amazing work! 😊
Very interesting and informative. The one thing that I found exceptionally frustrating was only being able to guess at the differences between low, medium and high content books. I had a quick look for definitions and found several areas of disagreement, but as far as can see, the basic categories are as follows . . . but please correct me if I'm wrong so that others can also understand these terms accurately. My impressions were that . . . . A low-content book has minimal or no content on the interior pages. These pages are generally repetitive and designed to be filled in by the user. Common examples include notebooks, planners, journals, and other similar works. Medium content books are those that mostly use a fair bit of text and can include cookbooks, non-fiction books, novellas, children's fiction or collections of short stories ... this category can include graphic non-fiction such as 'how-to' guides. High content books have a significant amount of written content such as novels and non-fiction, biographies, and autobiographies. This category can also include graphic novels. What I also noticed during my Googling was that I came across no mention of poetry . . . I'm guessing this would be classified as medium/high content, depending upon the target audience, the amount or type of poetry and possibly the stature of the poet. As I said . . . all those are just my impressions. I'm sure there are mistakes. I hope someone will put me (and others) right because the terms 'low / medium / high' seem to be central to this whole topic.
Thanks for all the information. I just self-published my first novel this year. Actually, just a couple of months ago and this was stuff I didn't know. I thought there were other options besides KDP, but did not know. I'll be researching the sites you talked about later myself. It was very helpful.
Omg!!! Thank you a lot for this video. I am a self published author from Brazil and I am having a very hard time with the English version of my book at kdp. I will definitely check on these websites later.
The horror stories I've heard about Amazon and the underlying realities of what is going on with the KDP staff and terms-of-service wars going on have me glad to see videos like this. I predict that Bezos has a serious problem on his hands and that biting the author's hands that feed KDP will end up coming back on them.
I was in this video because of the topic, I was curious because how much you looks like Anne Rice and finally I subscribed to your channel because you transmitted the topic I was wanting to hear very well, thanks for the information!
Yes I had mine terminated and I still dont understand why??...They refused to make it clear...I can tell you they dont like low content books...because of others abusing...So they are looking for the smallest reason to terminate.
My account was terminated because the subtitle on a Christmas Planner said “cover inspired by an 1892 Victorian Coca Cola ad”. I would have gladly revised it, or removed the book entirely, but was not given the opportunity. The entire account had been shut down. I was not allowed to see any of my books, or the report of any of my sales. I was told I would not be paid for royalties due me. Since they pay two months after sales, they basically stole two month’s of my royalties. I wonder if that is legal.
Yes, I enjoyed your video immensely. You have a delightful accent and you were very informative. I am going to look for other video's by you. I have published a couple of books on Amazon and I am working on some additional manuscripts. I will study each off the alternatives you mention.
This was a great video! I primarily produce high-content fiction books but I made a cute low-content book index for readers and it sells really well. But Amazon recently acted REALLY WEIRD about it despite my having sold it for two years now (and having mostly high-content books in my account). So I’m looking for other options to sell and distribute that little notebook. So many people have copied my notebook, it’s really gross. So I need to upgrade it and get it off KDP. Thanks so much for this and keeping up with the current trends.
Yeah they are getting rid of low content. They now want your low content to have activities because of you do you can. Lost it as an activity book and not low content.
Amazon just told me DIRECTLY that if I remove any of my 9 books- that they will CONTINUE to SELL them- but THEY will keep 100% of the profits... they said it's in the small print. See my story above!
Thank you 🙏 for this info. HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND MERRY CHRISTMAS 🎁!!! 2024 is going to be a great year for authors!!!! THERE ARE NO MORE EXCUSES 💪🏾🤛🏾👊🏽!!!
Thank you very much! Very informative. I’m new in the journey as author. I have 4 books published on Amazon KDP and also using Draft 2 Digital… Until now it’s a learning process. My next move is how to start making money from writing and selling book 📕🙏🏽🤔
Published like 10 books here and then one day like 4 years after I published said book the took not only that book but ALL of my work down and I'm not allowed to publish there anymore. I think Rage Against The Machine said it best... "They dont gotta burn the books, they just REMOVE em"... what are you gonna do ya know? At least I did...
I think the other writers that I know of do KDP for self-publishing as a compliment to their small house publishing, and others like Draft2Digital (just merged with Smashwords and are expanding into print). Personally, I use KDP and I'm looking into Draft2Digital once they complete their acquisition of Smashwords.
I use daft to digital for my ebook because they can also publish the ebook to Amazon. And I just Amazon, Barnes and nobles and lulu to print my actual books. Lulu and B&N have Amazon quality, but Amazon is cheaper.
I am thinking about making art related books books and was worried about the paper quality of KDP, so thank you! I'm just gonna skip right to Lulu and work with them instead!
Thank you it is good to know that Amazon is not the only publishing platform available. I have been banned from Amazon, and all my books removed for some unknown reason. It is difficult to connect with Amazon personnel and speak to a live person. It has been a very frustrating experience. Your video has given me some hope. Once again Thanks!!!
I needed this info! I'm KDP and recently changed all my covers, including the newest (5th). I ordered a set of the books for a charity auction donation for a friend who has cancer. I had one set here at home of the old covers, but there was another person who bought the second set, which was supposed to be here before the auction. When they came in, two days after the auction, Book 5 was in the old cover. I thought it might be warehouse overstock and sent in another order for one. Got the wrong cover again. Called four times to both Amazon and KDP, they would send me to the other one. I couldn't get an answer and was told just order until I get the right one. No, I expected the new cover to be live and I need the new cover. I'm so frustrated so I'm looking into other ways to publish because this is ridiculous. Thanks for the research, I'll be looking into them.
I had a similar problem with the contents within my book, which was updated on live, but not distributed. I was told it is stock, such as returns etc. as the print on demand.
Charlayne Elizabeth Denney, I fully share your frustration. I have written three children's books and published through KDP. Every time I order author copies, a portion of the books I receive are flawed. For example, the cover on two copies of my third book was not the same color as the others. Those two were slightly greenish colored, instead of yellow. Then, for my book that has a black border on the cover, several of the copies arrived with the border cock-eyed and not straight! This is only a portion of the disfunction with which I've dealt. Wonder if this type of negligence only happens with author copies, or does it happen with customer-ordered books as well? I am appalled to think that someone ordering my book could possibly receive these disasters that I have been sent.
I was surprised to not see Book Baby Publishing on your list. Great platform with ultra-high royalties. 85% on your eBook retail and 50% for physical selling on their bookshop.
I think Book Baby isn’t POD. It prints copies for you, that is it ships them to you and you have to sell them to bookstores. Correct me if it has changed this.
Thanks for your video, Caroline. I've been happily using Lulu for several years, for both technical and fiction books. Their variety of formats is excellent. Thank you, too, for presenting in such a straightforward manner. In particular, I'm grateful for your direct presentation to the camera. I find the style of presentation where the camera switches to a profile view to be most frustrating. Who are they speaking to when they do that? It no longer feels like they're speaking to me. From one Australian to another, thank you.
Great informative video. Thank you. This is a tough market to understand, especially if you've been "taken in the shorts" by a proclaimed self-publishing publisher. Excellent. Writers Who Care
It's really good to know that there are other options besides Amazon KDP. Your video was very helpful, interesting and precise. Thanks so much. We need to know this. Very helpful.
I put my book on every other platform. I had 2 sales. A long time before I put my stuff on KU I sold hundreds. Once I moved it into KU I regularly made around a thousand a month.
Great video thanks. One thing I’m also researching is whether these POD platforms offer recycled paper options or paper from sustainable sources. Very hard to find on the various sites.
..thanks Caroline for great video. I loved Create space and still miss their wonderful people and second-to-none service ahead of their time. I felt sad for a long time but kdp has been growing its business each year. Now with series and hard cover they are easier on the heart of authors. However I avoid being in the 70% club as it makes me nervous about my titles that may still be in digital format in an unknown location. (I found one of my books on a Chinese food site) I have now renewed my contacts with Draft2Digital and Books2read, obtaining universal urls, which is magnificent for authors. No charges either. I also work through Lulu (since 2009)and find them on the side of the author. I do love the kdp/Amazon hard cover. It is very authentic. So, I will continue with both sides of the publishing family. Barnes & Noble have also been helpful and professional. I think Lulu also have dust jackets. I had a most beautiful coffee table book from them which was printed in Belgium and sensational. Good ideas all over my head. Thanks so much.
Thank you for so much valuable information! Ive been wanting to write a book but thought i needed a publisher and all this other stuff that I suppose I no longer do :) Also I wanted to say it was a tad hard to follow because I was so enthralled by your eyes and hair and just entire structure lol your face is aesthetically brilliant 😍😚
Wow! I had no idea these existed. I’ve sold only on Amazon KDP since I published and will definitely have to check these out. Thank you so much. This was hugely helpful.
Thank you for recording this. In addition to distributing an eBook, I am also interested in hardcover and paperback books. In my investigations though, something that some have warned me against was two important things for physical POD. What is the wholesale price offered to the "big boys" of bookstore distribution like Ingram and Baker & Taylor. Also and equally important is where there's a return policy as this is the norm in the industry. So I'm confused over the selection of choices that you speak of. At first glance, the two main issues (aside from book cost and quality) would be how wide is their distribution and how much royalties do they take. But it's not that simple. Or am I missing something?
Awesome content, thanks a lot for all the information you offer. About to start on KDP and will work in parallel with the other channels you mentioned. :)
Thankyou so much for explaining it all. I was thinking of using LULU to publish my coloring books as I want spiral binding and options of perforations. I now have to learn how to use shopify.
FYI, book bolt uses deceptive practices to charge your credit card. It forces you to enter your CC on signup for "verification purposes" and even states: "Your payment information is used for account verification purposes only. You won't be charged during your free trial period!" Then 3 days later, they charge you for the mid-range $20/month pro subscription. I don't recall being asked if they could save my credit card info either. They've ignored my requests for a refund. Check the BBB entries. Don't do business with deceptive people.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you ! With the info you have blessed us with.. you have shown the light at the end of the tunnel...and gave us the power from this knowledge to have a winning chance against the greedy giants ( LIKE DAVID VS GOLIATH-AMAZON ETC.) ...us as the Davids and Davitas of the world .THANK YOU..AND MUCH BLESSED LOVE TO YOU FOREVER :).
Wow thanks alot for sharing, my account on kdp got terminated i have already started publishing with kobo, i already have account with craft2digital will start publishing there too, you're one in a million ma, please to make videos on were else to freely publish low contents books.
I appreciate your insight(s) on self publishing, My Freedom Empire. Always excellent research. Please do an interview with BookVault. This is part of my "going wide" strategy. The "terminator" got me. My response, "I'll be back." Grateful to be a "re-instate-ie" nonetheless, I will be a 3rd party publisher from here on out. Keep up the good work. You are awesome.
What about blank greeting carbs. I hand paint cards (on 120-pound watercolor paper blanks with an envelope) and sell them at art fairs and flea markets. But I want to see if i could create prints of the better ones and mass sell them. Do you have any advice for this kind of publishing? I too have a KDP account and publish my own poetry as well as poetry and short story journals of other people's work both as e-books and paperbacks. Or at least I have done this in the past. But as a poet writer, I haven't struck it rich yet or as an abstract card painter too.
Thanks for this video! I was looking for an alternative because KDP does not accept my country at the time of entering the bank account information and does not accept PayPal, which is where I receive most of the payments for the sale of my products.
What if you were terminated without an explanation and you had over 13 books. Can you re-publish your books under a different title either say Ingramsparks or Barnes and Nobles. The account was closed, no particular book was ‘banned’ once the account was terminated/closed all the publications vanished.
Im very frustrated because I spent weeks making a TH-cam Vlogmas Planner and amazon keeps giving me trouble for using the word "TH-cam" in my title. I am so dam frustrated with them! They keep blocking every planner I make even after submitting a license to use all graphics and text I dont know what else to do but to go to another publishing company! ugh girl just ugh! lol
Darling, others have no tools to upload books like Amazon, and are taking long time until accept or not a new book. The only bad thing at Amazon is bad guys at the upload system they interfere with the originals and make bizarre effects. Also, the algorito is only for friends. But, in the end Amazon is 80 years in front of others.
I just got kicked off kindle and I think my main mistake was not reading their emails and act accordingly. But it sounds like I will be able to get my account back. I was so excited because I just bought some plr ebooks off amazon, and I was even going to try to publish a poetry book and some stories I have written. I think I should not put all of my eggs in one basket. You are the only one I trust to give me the correct information. Of course I need to have them print the books like on amazon.thought I could also publish the ebooks like a regular book Will these places kick you out if they dont like one of your books? or just not print them. Is there one that is more easy to get published by?
It would be great to know why accounts are being terminated so that the same mistake isn't made on other platforms. They sent a canned email and even after contacting to ask what was wrong, there was no explanation. It's not just me, but everyone who's being terminated. The other part is that they always keep our royalties.
I wish I had found you 6 months ago. KDP keep screwing me around with my banking info. I changed it 12 times and spent hours on the phone with the bank. I cannot stress how bad they are with emailing them. Still no royalties and dead silence on their end. AI is the ruin of customer service.
What about Blurb? There's almost no youtube videos about Blurb. I was thinking about publishing with them because they have some options that seem great... Also if not using KDP won't we have to have an Amazon sellers account??? If not, do we make as much when we make a sale on Amazon? How does that work?? btw thank you for the wonderful video.
Oufff! I'm stressed! I just wrote a gratitude journal with 90 prompts, one for each day. I also have a introduction, chapters and a conclusion. Is this considered medium content? Do i try with your suggestions before i try with kindle? I'm lost, dont know what to do. Thank you,
Nice video Caroline Thank you…. I want to ask you about the following issue that a got recently for submitting my book to amazon KDP. Before submitting my book to KDP, it was uploaded in Draft to Digital (D2D). Now in the review process, KDP wants me to show that my book is actually my book, because they see it in KDP system (obviously because it was uploaded from D2D print) otherwise they will suspend me after 5 days. I tried to explain that I use D2D and the book that they see in KDP is from me but from another platform. Their support simply does not listen and they do not reply to me, just pointing me to the link “Kindle Direct Publishing Terms and Conditions”. I do not know what to do? they accuse me of violation of the copyright of my own book!!!
JUST FOUND YOU ACCIDENTALLY.... I'm only a few min in but I have 9 books on KDP & I will NEVER use them again... Amazon SUDDENLY DUMPED the PRICE on my BEST SELLING BOOK (I actually was making money) It was selling at $18 & they dumped it one day to $5.99. I thought it was a mistake so I contacted them (which is hard to do) and asked them to change the price BACK to $18... they said, "the small print says WE have the authority to price any way we like- but you'll still make the same dollar amount per book" HOWEVER, that was a LIE because I was making $7.20/book and they priced it at $5.99... so I asked if they were actually going to PAY me MORE than THEY are bringing in. (Obviously not) So I said I wanted to REMOVE that particular book from Amazon & she said that was my option BUT "WE will CONTINUE to SELL your book - as the SMALL PRINT CLAIMS- but then WE will make 100% of the proceeds" Bottom Line- AMAZON OWNS you when you publish with them.
That sucks.
Thank you for sharing your story. This is really helpful information to know since I’m in the process of writing my first book
Me too. I plan to publish on Amazon but Now I feel confused.
Where do you publish now?
Have you any idea why they terminated your account?
I am still reeling over my recent termination from KDP. I absolutely have no idea why…they refuse to tell me why. I put out a medium content book paperback/hardback that was quite original and was selling quite well. I’m devastated as I truly saw this as an open door to see my dreams to become a reality. I spent 2 months making sure the quality was there and that the user would find it valuable.
If I’m honest I’m feeling defeated and this video is helping me see there are lots of different options.
This was my first stab at self-publishing and I really wanted to do what is right and honest.
I won’t quit I will keep trying…thank you for this video.
Hi, I definitely can understand how you feel! Have you found another way to publish. I just had this to happen.
@@barbaragalloway6190 not yet. I needed to take a beat to figure out how to pivot. I wish you all the best and it’s nice to know we aren’t alone in this
@@ccbrandy22 I truly understand I needed to take a break as well just to gather myself. I pray all will be well for you too! It is nice to know that we aren’t alone!
Does _CYBER.KOR1 connect you to a real person at Amazon Costumer Service OR are they an outside tech service?
I just got terminated - AGAIN. I get an email that states I have used an image that is freely available on the web before I can respond they terminated me. I PROVED I had the right to the image, and got reinstated - reuploaded everything as they move your books to draft - and a day later they sent me a new email about image violations, and terminated me. I again have sent proof I have the rights but I am not holding my breath. It is so frustrating.
From one TH-camr to another as yourself, I appreciate your honesty in the book business! I am working on a gift for my very forgetful 21-year-old son. I am making a low content book, not to make money from but rather a dedication page. I’ve been doing a lot of research, I came across you and out of all of the other ones that has $8000 a month plastered on their thumbnail, I really feel comfortable with your advice. You tell it like it is, no magic get rich overnight, no flying monkeys, just straight to the point! I’m currently binge watching your videos after hurting my back while doing chores around the house today. Again, thank you for the straightforward advice ❤
Hi Caroline - I am about enter the KDP marketplace - I found your videos very informative and helpful - but the main thing that sets you apart from all other noise out there is you aren't trying to flog your products - and totally trustworthy - which is absolutely refreshing -Thank you for your efforts. Bruno
I so appreciate this video you posted! I wrote a book a couple of years ago. I was stuck because my laptop is outdated to upload it to KDP. So I was thinking I have to wait LONGER to buy a new laptop to be able to upload my book to KDP. Now I know I have other options! This information will change my life! My name is Kai (Kah-ee)Wallace. Thank you again! I appreciate you 💯
Hi just noticed your comment and realised you're a Wallace also.. from another Wallace in Trinidad congratulations on your book have a great day!!!!!!
Hi Vonda, recent discovery has shown that you don't actually need a laptop to publish on amazon. You can actually use your smartphone.
Hi I’m an Author of a a wonderful self published children’s book… my book does well however I went through Christian Faith publishing to print market and help I guess I want to say develop my book my book is featured on all the major platforms however there are too many hands in the pot so I’m not receiving the royalty income I deserve as the Author … I own all the rights to my book and would like to take my book elsewhere being that there’s so many other options and I’m not sure how I could do that I’m not in contract with them I’m just sort of in a limbo as to what to do next so I’m reaching out to you maybe you can give me some advice or steer me in the right direction😢
I suspect your publisher is a vanity outfit. Did you not Google the name before clicking the sales button?
Thanks, sick of Amazon killing my reviews at will without explanation to me or the reviewer. Definitely will look into this.
Huh? What do you mean?
I was looking for alternative self-publishing platforms other than Amazon KDP, this video is the perfect guide. Thank you for the video.
I really love how you clearly step by step explain these tutorials for online beginners like me. Thank you.
Thank you for your video! I’m about to finish my first children’s book and I’m really glad I found you! This video is very helpful for me to consider other publishing platforms. I will be following your videos. Keep up the amazing work! 😊
Great video, Caroline! We appreciate the mention and the research you put into this!
Very interesting and informative. The one thing that I found exceptionally frustrating was only being able to guess at the differences between low, medium and high content books. I had a quick look for definitions and found several areas of disagreement, but as far as can see, the basic categories are as follows . . . but please correct me if I'm wrong so that others can also understand these terms accurately.
My impressions were that . . . .
A low-content book has minimal or no content on the interior pages. These pages are generally repetitive and designed to be filled in by the user. Common examples include notebooks, planners, journals, and other similar works.
Medium content books are those that mostly use a fair bit of text and can include cookbooks, non-fiction books, novellas, children's fiction or collections of short stories ... this category can include graphic non-fiction such as 'how-to' guides.
High content books have a significant amount of written content such as novels and non-fiction, biographies, and autobiographies. This category can also include graphic novels.
What I also noticed during my Googling was that I came across no mention of poetry . . . I'm guessing this would be classified as medium/high content, depending upon the target audience, the amount or type of poetry and possibly the stature of the poet.
As I said . . . all those are just my impressions. I'm sure there are mistakes. I hope someone will put me (and others) right because the terms 'low / medium / high' seem to be central to this whole topic.
Thanks for all the information. I just self-published my first novel this year. Actually, just a couple of months ago and this was stuff I didn't know. I thought there were other options besides KDP, but did not know. I'll be researching the sites you talked about later myself. It was very helpful.
Hello Chris,how are you doing ?
I also got my books published on Amazon and am just getting little knowledge ,can i know your experience with Amazon ?
Omg!!! Thank you a lot for this video. I am a self published author from Brazil and I am having a very hard time with the English version of my book at kdp. I will definitely check on these websites later.
Yes, this was an excellent start for options other than KDP. Thank you for sharing. I appreciate your channel content as well!
The horror stories I've heard about Amazon and the underlying realities of what is going on with the KDP staff and terms-of-service wars going on have me glad to see videos like this. I predict that Bezos has a serious problem on his hands and that biting the author's hands that feed KDP will end up coming back on them.
I'm one of many horror stories. They terminate accounts without giving an explanation, AND they keep all your earned royalties.
I agree!
@@pennywarren2357I'm also a victim of the same. They just terminated my account for no solid reason. I have to shift to other publishing platforms.
I was in this video because of the topic, I was curious because how much you looks like Anne Rice and finally I subscribed to your channel because you transmitted the topic I was wanting to hear very well, thanks for the information!
Thanks, Caroline. Always appreciate your informed straight-talking advice when it comes to low content publishing.
Yes I had mine terminated and I still dont understand why??...They refused to make it clear...I can tell you they dont like low content books...because of others abusing...So they are looking for the smallest reason to terminate.
Did you have a low content book?
@@CAMarg-zs1xq yes...
Same 🤷🏽♀️
They are a bunch of punks
My account was terminated because the subtitle on a Christmas Planner said “cover inspired by an 1892 Victorian Coca Cola ad”. I would have gladly revised it, or removed the book entirely, but was not given the opportunity. The entire account had been shut down. I was not allowed to see any of my books, or the report of any of my sales. I was told I would not be paid for royalties due me. Since they pay two months after sales, they basically stole two month’s of my royalties. I wonder if that is legal.
Very Few People actually consider these other options.. and just look at how many there are.. Thank you. very helpful.
This was so helpful. I'm a 1st time author and your video gave me so many options to print and distribute my book. Thank you
Yes, I enjoyed your video immensely. You have a delightful accent and you were very informative. I am going to look for other video's by you. I have published a couple of books on Amazon and I am working on some additional manuscripts. I will study each off the alternatives you mention.
This was a great video! I primarily produce high-content fiction books but I made a cute low-content book index for readers and it sells really well. But Amazon recently acted REALLY WEIRD about it despite my having sold it for two years now (and having mostly high-content books in my account). So I’m looking for other options to sell and distribute that little notebook. So many people have copied my notebook, it’s really gross. So I need to upgrade it and get it off KDP. Thanks so much for this and keeping up with the current trends.
Yeah they are getting rid of low content. They now want your low content to have activities because of you do you can. Lost it as an activity book and not low content.
Hi; have you found another platform for your books?
@@barbaragalloway6190 I haven't. The author of this video recommended a place that seemed promising. I looked into it but haven't made the switch yet.
@@kaysee482 I understand; I’m still looking too! I’m going to look some more as well. I pray we find a fitting platform for our products!
Amazon just told me DIRECTLY that if I remove any of my 9 books- that they will CONTINUE to SELL them- but THEY will keep 100% of the profits... they said it's in the small print. See my story above!
Thank you 🙏 for this info. HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND MERRY CHRISTMAS 🎁!!! 2024 is going to be a great year for authors!!!! THERE ARE NO MORE EXCUSES 💪🏾🤛🏾👊🏽!!!
Thank you very much! Very informative. I’m new in the journey as author. I have 4 books published on Amazon KDP and also using Draft 2 Digital… Until now it’s a learning process. My next move is how to start making money from writing and selling book 📕🙏🏽🤔
I hope you have a another TH-cam channel that teaches women how to remain beautiful. You are simply stunning!
Published like 10 books here and then one day like 4 years after I published said book the took not only that book but ALL of my work down and I'm not allowed to publish there anymore. I think Rage Against The Machine said it best... "They dont gotta burn the books, they just REMOVE em"... what are you gonna do ya know? At least I did...
I think the other writers that I know of do KDP for self-publishing as a compliment to their small house publishing, and others like Draft2Digital (just merged with Smashwords and are expanding into print).
Personally, I use KDP and I'm looking into Draft2Digital once they complete their acquisition of Smashwords.
I use daft to digital for my ebook because they can also publish the ebook to Amazon. And I just Amazon, Barnes and nobles and lulu to print my actual books. Lulu and B&N have Amazon quality, but Amazon is cheaper.
I appreciate the information you provided because it makes me aware of the available options for increasing book sales. Thx
I am thinking about making art related books books and was worried about the paper quality of KDP, so thank you! I'm just gonna skip right to Lulu and work with them instead!
Thank you it is good to know that Amazon is not the only publishing platform available. I have been banned from Amazon, and all my books removed for some unknown reason. It is difficult to connect with Amazon personnel and speak to a live person. It has been a very frustrating experience. Your video has given me some hope. Once again Thanks!!!
I needed this info! I'm KDP and recently changed all my covers, including the newest (5th). I ordered a set of the books for a charity auction donation for a friend who has cancer. I had one set here at home of the old covers, but there was another person who bought the second set, which was supposed to be here before the auction. When they came in, two days after the auction, Book 5 was in the old cover. I thought it might be warehouse overstock and sent in another order for one. Got the wrong cover again. Called four times to both Amazon and KDP, they would send me to the other one. I couldn't get an answer and was told just order until I get the right one. No, I expected the new cover to be live and I need the new cover. I'm so frustrated so I'm looking into other ways to publish because this is ridiculous. Thanks for the research, I'll be looking into them.
Hello Mrs Charlayne ,I would love to ask ,who helps with the marketing of your books online ?
I had a similar problem with the contents within my book, which was updated on live, but not distributed. I was told it is stock, such as returns etc. as the print on demand.
Charlayne Elizabeth Denney, I fully share your frustration. I have written three children's books and published through KDP. Every time I order author copies, a portion of the books I receive are flawed. For example, the cover on two copies of my third book was not the same color as the others. Those two were slightly greenish colored, instead of yellow. Then, for my book that has a black border on the cover, several of the copies arrived with the border cock-eyed and not straight! This is only a portion of the disfunction with which I've dealt. Wonder if this type of negligence only happens with author copies, or does it happen with customer-ordered books as well? I am appalled to think that someone ordering my book could possibly receive these disasters that I have been sent.
I was surprised to not see Book Baby Publishing on your list. Great platform with ultra-high royalties. 85% on your eBook retail and 50% for physical selling on their bookshop.
Good presentation! In case I have a ditital book to publish outside AMAZON can you guide?
Book baby is a bit complicated can you refer a video where I can learn how to publish on the platform?
I think Book Baby isn’t POD. It prints copies for you, that is it ships them to you and you have to sell them to bookstores. Correct me if it has changed this.
Thank you Carolyn. I’m pretty new to the KDP Amazon family and I’m excited to learn more and to grow and become a successful entrepreneur.
Thanks, Caroline. This was very helpful. I actually had no idea about the other choices (apart from Lulu), so thanks again.
Thanks for your video, Caroline. I've been happily using Lulu for several years, for both technical and fiction books. Their variety of formats is excellent. Thank you, too, for presenting in such a straightforward manner. In particular, I'm grateful for your direct presentation to the camera. I find the style of presentation where the camera switches to a profile view to be most frustrating. Who are they speaking to when they do that? It no longer feels like they're speaking to me. From one Australian to another, thank you.
Great informative video. Thank you. This is a tough market to understand, especially if you've been "taken in the shorts" by a proclaimed self-publishing publisher. Excellent. Writers Who Care
I enjoyed listening to you. Such a lovely voice, and the info is appreciated...Thank you.
Such great information as a new publisher. Thank you for this great information.
This was really useful and came at exactly the right time!🙃
So happy I came upon this video. Great list of options to Amazon. Excited to check out Lulu.
It's really good to know that there are other options besides Amazon KDP. Your video was very helpful, interesting and precise. Thanks so much. We need to know this. Very helpful.
Thanks. Great information. I am on Amazon and was looking for other places to publish. Good job on presentation.
This is such an awesome video! You’ve got me pumped up! I cannot wait to go use Lulu!
Hi
I put my book on every other platform. I had 2 sales. A long time before I put my stuff on KU I sold hundreds. Once I moved it into KU I regularly made around a thousand a month.
What is KU?
@@TheTarHeelBook kindle unlimited
Great video thanks. One thing I’m also researching is whether these POD platforms offer recycled paper options or paper from sustainable sources. Very hard to find on the various sites.
This was such a answer of prayer thank you so much
..thanks Caroline for great video. I loved Create space and still miss their wonderful people and second-to-none service ahead of their time. I felt sad for a long time but kdp has been growing its business each year. Now with series and hard cover they are easier on the heart of authors. However I avoid being in the 70% club as it makes me nervous about my titles that may still be in digital format in an unknown location. (I found one of my books on a Chinese food site) I have now renewed my contacts with Draft2Digital and Books2read, obtaining universal urls, which is magnificent for authors. No charges either. I also work through Lulu (since 2009)and find them on the side of the author. I do love the kdp/Amazon hard cover. It is very authentic. So, I will continue with both sides of the publishing family. Barnes & Noble have also been helpful and professional. I think Lulu also have dust jackets. I had a most beautiful coffee table book from them which was printed in Belgium and sensational. Good ideas all over my head. Thanks so much.
Hi
This is very helpful video! Thank you for taking efforts to put it out so honestly! 😊👍
Thanks for the advice! this opens up a LOT of options.
Thank you for so much valuable information! Ive been wanting to write a book but thought i needed a publisher and all this other stuff that I suppose I no longer do :)
Also I wanted to say it was a tad hard to follow because I was so enthralled by your eyes and hair and just entire structure lol your face is aesthetically brilliant 😍😚
Thanks so much for the information. KDP, Smashword, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble already sell my books.
Wow! I had no idea these existed. I’ve sold only on Amazon KDP since I published and will definitely have to check these out. Thank you so much. This was hugely helpful.
Thank you so much! Great video helping an author starting out!
Thanks so much! A newbie to self publishing and really appreciated your video 😊
Great video Caroline, thank you. Do you think it matters for us Aussies which platform to use? ❤️🇦🇺
I'm off-topic but.....your hair looks fantastic! Cheers! Thank you for all the great info you share, much appreciated.
I wrote 15 books.10 with a publishing house 5:with Amazon Kdp. I ''ve no problems to try these platforms too. Thank you
If you don't mind answering. Which publishing house did you find the best?
It's a secret.
Thank you for recording this. In addition to distributing an eBook, I am also interested in hardcover and paperback books. In my investigations though, something that some have warned me against was two important things for physical POD. What is the wholesale price offered to the "big boys" of bookstore distribution like Ingram and Baker & Taylor. Also and equally important is where there's a return policy as this is the norm in the industry. So I'm confused over the selection of choices that you speak of. At first glance, the two main issues (aside from book cost and quality) would be how wide is their distribution and how much royalties do they take. But it's not that simple. Or am I missing something?
Loved this video, in fact I enjoy all of your videos. Keep them coming! 😊
Good list. When I began publishing 10 years ago it was on Lulu, then later smashwords.
Awesome content, thanks a lot for all the information you offer. About to start on KDP and will work in parallel with the other channels you mentioned. :)
Thanks, Caroline. I thought the presentation was great, and I Subscribed
Thankyou so much for explaining it all. I was thinking of using LULU to publish my coloring books as I want spiral binding and options of perforations. I now have to learn how to use shopify.
FYI, book bolt uses deceptive practices to charge your credit card. It forces you to enter your CC on signup for "verification purposes" and even states: "Your payment information is used for account verification purposes only. You won't be charged during your free trial period!" Then 3 days later, they charge you for the mid-range $20/month pro subscription. I don't recall being asked if they could save my credit card info either. They've ignored my requests for a refund. Check the BBB entries. Don't do business with deceptive people.
Thank you so much. KDP suspended my account for no reason. I really felt devastated and hopeless.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you ! With the info you have blessed us with.. you have shown the light at the end of the tunnel...and gave us the power from this knowledge to have a winning chance against the greedy giants ( LIKE DAVID VS GOLIATH-AMAZON ETC.) ...us as the Davids and Davitas of the world .THANK YOU..AND MUCH BLESSED LOVE TO YOU FOREVER :).
Wow thanks alot for sharing, my account on kdp got terminated i have already started publishing with kobo, i already have account with craft2digital will start publishing there too, you're one in a million ma, please to make videos on were else to freely publish low contents books.
Let me know how you do with the others. I am not selling any on Lulu.
Thank you for this interesting and helpful video! 😀
I appreciate your insight(s) on self publishing, My Freedom Empire. Always excellent research. Please do an interview with BookVault. This is part of my "going wide" strategy. The "terminator" got me. My response, "I'll be back." Grateful to be a "re-instate-ie" nonetheless, I will be a 3rd party publisher from here on out. Keep up the good work. You are awesome.
I have written several books and wow they completely have I don’t have my account terminated but I yet to receive my totalities in the past years!
How effective are the other options ma'am?
Never ever publish with Xlibris. They keep making you pay, pay, pay. Thank you for your video, didn’t even know about Amazon.
For Ingramspark, what paper weight do you choose for coloring book? 50 lbs seem too thin but 70 lbs cost is too expensive.
With Ingram Spark, do they push to get your books on physical store shelves?
Thank you Caroline for the info. Very appreciative
This was a very helpful video. I just published a journal on amazon but will be looking into thiese other sites you have talked about.
Thank You,
What about blank greeting carbs. I hand paint cards (on 120-pound watercolor paper blanks with an envelope) and sell them at art fairs and flea markets. But I want to see if i could create prints of the better ones and mass sell them. Do you have any advice for this kind of publishing?
I too have a KDP account and publish my own poetry as well as poetry and short story journals of other people's work both as e-books and paperbacks. Or at least I have done this in the past. But as a poet writer, I haven't struck it rich yet or as an abstract card painter too.
Thanks for this video! I was looking for an alternative because KDP does not accept my country at the time of entering the bank account information and does not accept PayPal, which is where I receive most of the payments for the sale of my products.
Thank you Sweetie.
Many Blessings to you.
And what market share do these other platforms have?
Very informative. Thank you. Which one is the closest alternative to KDP in terms of quality and traffic?
What if you were terminated without an explanation and you had over 13 books. Can you re-publish your books under a different title either say Ingramsparks or Barnes and Nobles. The account was closed, no particular book was ‘banned’ once the account was terminated/closed all the publications vanished.
Hi, Pls how much traffic is the other options getting?
ciao Thanks for this video, but I didn't find the answer to the question "where can I publish low content and no content?" only on amazon?
Im very frustrated because I spent weeks making a TH-cam Vlogmas Planner and amazon keeps giving me trouble for using the word "TH-cam" in my title. I am so dam frustrated with them! They keep blocking every planner I make even after submitting a license to use all graphics and text I dont know what else to do but to go to another publishing company! ugh girl just ugh! lol
Darling, others have no tools to upload books like Amazon, and are taking long time until accept or not a new book. The only bad thing at Amazon is bad guys at the upload system they interfere with the originals and make bizarre effects. Also, the algorito is only for friends. But, in the end Amazon is 80 years in front of others.
I just got kicked off kindle and I think my main mistake was not reading their emails and act accordingly. But it sounds like I will be able to get my account back. I was so excited because I just bought some plr ebooks off amazon, and I was even going to try to publish a poetry book and some stories I have written. I think I should not put all of my eggs in one basket. You are the only one I trust to give me the correct information. Of course I need to have them print the books like on amazon.thought I could also publish the ebooks like a regular book Will these places kick you out if they dont like one of your books? or just not print them. Is there one that is more easy to get published by?
Question: if they close your account in kpd, can you still publish the same books or journal book in other site?
It would be great to know why accounts are being terminated so that the same mistake isn't made on other platforms. They sent a canned email and even after contacting to ask what was wrong, there was no explanation. It's not just me, but everyone who's being terminated. The other part is that they always keep our royalties.
Also suggest which are the best tools for writing ✍️ book ?? Can we use apple pages ?? Or microsoft word , which would be the best option??
Wow. An algorithmically recommended video that's actually relevant?!? Wild.
I wish I had found you 6 months ago. KDP keep screwing me around with my banking info. I changed it 12 times and spent hours on the phone with the bank. I cannot stress how bad they are with emailing them. Still no royalties and dead silence on their end. AI is the ruin of customer service.
Your info was very well presented and very informative. Thank you.
Hi
What about Blurb? There's almost no youtube videos about Blurb. I was thinking about publishing with them because they have some options that seem great... Also if not using KDP won't we have to have an Amazon sellers account??? If not, do we make as much when we make a sale on Amazon? How does that work?? btw thank you for the wonderful video.
Oufff! I'm stressed!
I just wrote a gratitude journal with 90 prompts, one for each day. I also have a introduction, chapters and a conclusion. Is this considered medium content?
Do i try with your suggestions before i try with kindle?
I'm lost, dont know what to do.
Thank you,
Nice video Caroline Thank you….
I want to ask you about the following issue that a got recently for submitting my book to amazon KDP. Before submitting my book to KDP, it was uploaded in Draft to Digital (D2D). Now in the review process, KDP wants me to show that my book is actually my book, because they see it in KDP system (obviously because it was uploaded from D2D print) otherwise they will suspend me after 5 days. I tried to explain that I use D2D and the book that they see in KDP is from me but from another platform. Their support simply does not listen and they do not reply to me, just pointing me to the link “Kindle Direct Publishing Terms and Conditions”.
I do not know what to do? they accuse me of violation of the copyright of my own book!!!
Welcome to the club. KDP is impossible to deal with. I dont think they actually have humans with brains.
I know I'm replying to your year old comment, but what did they ask you to show to prove it was your book?
What is the thickest paper on amazonkdp for coloring books with markers?
How can I write and create my high content books? Which platform s and tools should I use? Thank you!
Is it possible to publish on Amazon KDP and publish on the other sites mentioned?
Yes.... But depends. There are some restrictions with the ebooks if on KDP programme. No issues with paperbacks. You can publish wherever.
outstanding information simple and to the point thank you for sharing