KDP Hates Your Low Content Books
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.ย. 2022
- Are you self publishing low-content books through Amazon KDP? Have you noticed how they treat low content books differently from the other content? Find out what this print on demand service wants you to stop doing and what you should do to publish low content books in 2022.
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Always insightful and important information on self publishing...
Thanks a million, Nader!
Hey, I'm liking the new look to your videos. Nice to see some different backgrounds. Just one suggestion, if you don't mind me saying, sometimes there's a bit too much zooming in and out. At least for me. :) I've wanted to put time into the low content books but i haven't had available time lately. I have a bunch published though. One day :)
Noted! I'll hand it onto the video team.
My biggest gripe with KDP is the lack of communication regarding suspensions and terminations. I've heard so many stories of KDP sending emails saying there's a problem, demanding the author fix the problem, and threatening termination if it's not fixed. But then they won't tell you what the problem is! If you inquire, you just get a form email saying to read their guidelines. It's very stressful knowing that my account could be terminated at any time with no explanation and that they won't even tell you what to fix.
As far as things mentioned in this video, I do find the category thing frustrating, but only because I'm always afraid my account will be closed down because I've chosen the wrong category. I would never choose a "wrong" category on purpose, but they don't give any guidance about categories or have appropriate categories for low content.
My other gripe is that we do not get any product photos (other than the front cover) and we only get 5 modules in A+ content. I wish they would go back to giving us 7 modules. When the modules are viewed on mobile, they're quite small so it can be hard to see details of something like a planner page. And, unlike product photos, you can't zoom in! It makes it really hard to show all the features of a planner on mobile, which I don't think is very good for the user experience.
I wish they would allow us to upload product images or return the A+ modules to 7.
I hear you! Youre preaching to the choir in these parts.
Access to the Amazon platform is a huge opportunity for self-publishers, and they know it. They don't have to offer us explanations. They're going to make their money either way.
At the end of the day, we can only hope they'll throw us a bone.
As for stressing out over the situation, don't. You might as well not stress out over things you can't control.
@@DaleLRoberts Ha, yes that's good advice about the stress. Easier said than done. 😉 But you're 100% right!
Same exact thing happened to me. I asked them what they meant? and they sent me a email saying my account was terminated? It wasnt a notebook either...it was a childrens workbook..that I spent a lot of time and energy into...was extremely proud of the finished product...I am so angry I wish I could sue! If I had to do all over again I would not publish low content...Amazon is draining the swamp of them...Because of the actions of some idiots!
Same with me. I got suspended. I even emailed them…talked to someone through chat.. they would not give me a straight forward answer. I was mad!! I’m not a mind reader. They need to communicate better!
Exactly..same thing happened to me..gave me all these unclear things to fix ..and when I asked for clarification...they terminated me ..I still don't know what happened or why????
Thanks for the video. All these things are extremely frustrating. One of my biggest gripes about publishing low content books on KDP is the binding. I wish Amazon would give us the option to use wire bound. I know that's stretching it considering KDP was never meant for the low-content book, but honestly, some of the books I have created would be so much easier to write in if they weren't perfect bound. Amazon should just make an entirely new section of their publishing platform for low and no content publishers and cater to to the notebook and journal market. It really is huge. Obviously, we are out there and there are a ton of us trying our hardest to make Amazon more money, so maybe they should just take the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" mentality.
You're preaching to the choir. Think of the money they would make if they decided to offer some unique bindings for low/no content. I'm thinking spiral and leatherette to start.
You could work around the no-spiral issue by having your journals fulfilled through LuLu or somewhere like that and selling them on Amazon through a regular seller account instead of KDP. It's a lot of trouble and a bit more of and investment up front, but it's doable.
I agree with you overall. I'd love to see something happen. The current binding options are makeshift at best.
@Dale L. Robert, I know the frustration. Of the Top 100 Amazon Best Sellers in Reference>Genealogy almost all are blank Family Tree charts and lined Journals to record your relative's stories.
The rest of the Top 100 are "How To's" and Map archives.
If you want to find a high content book on a specific Surname which isn't/wasn't a Celebrity, you have to go down to about 70,000.
Right on.
@@DaleLRoberts What is your thoughts on Puzzle books, which are also Low Content?
A maximum of 500 books uploaded per day? Why is that even allowed? Maybe Amazon should purge low content books that do not sell.
I actually think that's reasonable and have suggested it in previous broadcasts. KDP's sister company, Merch by Amazon, has a policy where an item with no sales gets purged after 365 days of inactivity. When I saw that policy, I was like - that's genius. Why isn't KDP doing this??? Sadly, if they implement rules like that, it may affect authors too. Yikes!
@@DaleLRoberts True
Don't get me started! An author of a LCB notebook I ran across on social said that her notebook had been selling for a year and then, boom, sales disappeared and she wondered why. I'm thinking she wasn't aware of the new LCB policies. The announcements about LCB changes were limited to none. Do you remember seeing any specific email about it? I don't. I read all KDP emails. But we're here now because of the LCB "millionaires" who ruined it for everyone. Honestly, I'm glad KDP has made these changes. But it will be tough during this transition. Thanks for the update, as always!
Yep, no email. It was a policy change with zero notifications, but that's been KDP's MO for years. "Let's change the rules and hope someone is policing our help page." It's a shame, but I'm glad something is finally being done about it.
I'm so glad I found this video! I've only been publishing to KDP for a little over a week and suddenly everything I upload is "In Review" I'm so new I was freaking out that I had done something wrong. All of my projects since this past Thursday night (July 27, 2023) have been stalled "in review", I really thought, well crap. There goes my new fun creative outlet. The system hates me, I'm done for. LOL.
I feel so much better now that I've watched your video. I'm still feeling antsy to eat my stuff out there but at least now I understand. Thank you.
You got it!
I was so freaking out when it took a week for my Christmas calligraphy book to get approved. I thought that I was about to lose my account. This makes me feel better knowing that low content books just have a longer processing time.
Yep. I wish Amazon would drop people a line or even change the wait time to suggest it might be a bit longer. I can understantd why you'd be freaking out.
Please what can we possibly add to lined notebook to make it unique, can you make a video to address this. Thanks and I love your videos
Actually, we have something in the pipeline. Lemme give you the easy answer - watermarks, light imagery and art, font, header, footers, line thickness, masks, and so much more. You just gotta sit down and jot out ways you can make your content not just unique to pass guidelines, but unique to other books on the market. What makes your lined notebook unique enough to justify a customer buying it on Amazon (versus going to the local Walmart and buying it for far cheaper)? When you can answer that question, you're on the right track. Innovate, don't imitate. You'll win big every time.
Marketing my low content books has been exceptionally hard.
Marketing any book is exceptionally hard. It's the biggest pain point of the majority of my audience regardless of genre.
You've got to think like a customer and have something unique that stands out from the millions of other low content books out there. It's no small feat.
To address your category example - I've created a planner & session note keeper for school counselors (alongside my daughter, who is a school counselor). When I emailed KDP Author Central Customer Support about categories, this is what they responded with:
"Kindly choose categories related to journals, journal writing, logbooks etc. It’s important to list your book in the correct categories to reach the appropriate audience. Kindly note requesting your book be added to irrelevant or misleading categories can lead to account termination"
My question to you is: Are there categories for low-content books, as the support person told me to use?
To my knowledge, there are not. That's the BIG issue. They have a policy they have to enforce but no way for the creators to abide by the rules.
Yes they do...they shut my account down& I still dont understand why??? I only had 18 books...And I took my time to make quality childrens workbooks??
I hate to hear stories like this. I'm sorry this happened.
Thanks
You are a saint. Thank you for the generous tip!
When you include journal or anything to be filled in, are you including prompt journals? Mine has close to 2700 words with an intro of 3 to 8 sentences on the left and the prompt with lined space to write on the right. Also a question, I've read that the shortest book length KDP will accept is 2500 words. Would it be better to rearrange the pages and make this a book with the prompts at the back as writing exercises?
Prompt books do fall into low content, but get KDP support to weigh-in. It's what they decide that makes the most difference. As for word limitations, to my knowledge, there are no rules on length. For print books, you have to have 24 pages for paperback and 75 pages for hardcover. As for the layout of your book - that's your call.
@@DaleLRoberts I would like readers to look inside but if an isbn is needed can one be purchased for prompt journal that will enable "look inside" feature? Thank You
Ask KDP Support, maybe they can give you a clear answer. Just track all conversations.
My kdp account got terminated and I suspected it was because of the duplicate interiors because I had a lot of those
I'm sorry to hear that. I really don't like the vague terminations. According to their Terms and Conditions, they don't have to give us a reason. I don't like it, but it's what we all agreed to when we signed up to use their platforms. I hope you find better success on another platform.
🔥😎What are some issues you've had with publishing low content books through KDP?
And, hey, get 20% off access to Book Bolt when you use the code DALE20 at DaleLinks.com/BookBolt
I have an issue with Book Bolt and how the keyword ranking has NEVER WORKED
Thanks for sharing.
My problem is with my no-content books I published more than two years ago. I haven't published any of this type lately, but I still get a steady passive income from the ones that are still up.
However, as of this month I'm getting warnings from Amazon that the categories and BISAC numbers I chose for these books are incorrect, and my account is being threatened with termination unless I change them. However, I've been given no guidance on what the correct categories/BISAC numbers should be.
First, I don't even know where to find my BISAC numbers or how to change them.
Second, when I published these no-content books, there was no category that I could find specifically for a blank journal. So for instance: I published a blank journal with a map of Guatemala on the cover, and called it a Guatemala Travel Journal. For the categories I picked Guatemala Travel and Central America Travel. Now KDP tells me that is misleading and doesn't give a good buyer experience. I kind of agree, but what else should I have chosen? Is there now a category for blank journals?
I'm faced with simply unpublishing all of those journals and notebooks in order not to lose my account, OR figure out what KDP wants to see regarding categories/BISACs. I'm really at a loss at this point.
Get them on the phone support. I spent about 20 minutes discussing this very issue. How do low content publishers know what is appropriate for them? And can we get penalized for it? They said no, but clearly your comment is proof of it being a threat.
Definitely track all your conversations and take names. If the titles are selling, I wouldn’t delist them. I’d chat with a rep and figure out how we can resolve the issue.
How does Amazon differentiate low content versus medium content books?
There's no such thing as "medium content" books. It's a term some TH-camrs coined. No content? Yes. Low content? Sure. Medium content or high content??? They're just making up useless terms.
Can I write a book on Windows and put it on KDP?
Do you mean a book ABOUT Windows?
You'll need to get permission from Microsoft before you publish a book about their product.
Hy l finally changed everything on my book as you said and l am just asking you to help me get sales
I personally can't help you get sales. That's entirely up to you. Feel free to browse my deep backlog of videos showing you ways of marketing and promoting your books. Also, I have an entire book dedicated to marketing and promotion: DaleLinks.com/PromoBook
What are low content books?
Books that have little to no writing in them. Notebooks, journals, activity books, picture books, coloring books, etc.
I felt like I covered it pretty well in the video, but here it is again: diaries, journals, notebooks, planners, etc. Any book that requires the customer to fill in the content is a low content book.
@@wylanvallotton4462 my understanding is that activity and puzzle books are not considered low-content, though these allow the customer to fill in the content.
Low content that helps people in auctioning processes..
Huh? Not sure I follow, buddy.
@@DaleLRoberts what is mean is what can be seen as a low content book is a book that provides space for the reader to take action as part of a process hence less text
Yep! You got it.
I think KDP should only allow 3 low-content books a day but no more than 10 a month. I know that is harsh but it will reduce the upload lag, reduce the number of mass uploads by the spamming uploaders, save Amazon money, enable them to focus on what is brand-worthy, and will benefit legitimate KDP authors by making their quality work much more available.
As for the duplicate interior, I wouldn't be surprised if the AI for KDP can recognize the pdf file information when it is uploaded looking for duplicate entries. Meaning if I used the same PDF interior for two low-content books it gets flagged. Otherwise, I would have to create a separate PDF file interior for each different low-content book. And I agree that every low-content book should be unique. This could also reflect on those authors that sell their own created interiors.
Well stated! We could even go further to say (as mentioned in another thread) purge non-selling items after one year of inactivity. Merch by Amazon does that. And, they also have a tiered system where you graduate to uploading a higher tier by sales. If you want 100 low content uploads per month, you must sell at least 100 copies. With 1,000 low content uploads per month, you must sell at least 1000 copies per month. So on and so forth.
It doesn't have to be those arbitrary numbers, those were simply to illustrate the idea. haha
- Sales Based Tiers
- Annual Inactive Content Purge
Just my opinion and wild theory.
Also well stated. A tiered system could work and may work the best.
Yeah, it's extremely effective with Merch by Amazon.
I agree