Why Low-Content Amazon KDP Content Is Not Profitable
It doesn’t matter if you have a foolproof advertising strategy if your book is crap
I came across Amazon KDP in December last year, which made me curious. One individual’s YouTube video (I can’t remember the name) got me thinking.
So, as usual, I dived deeper into finding out about Amazon KDP. To my surprise, it was unbelievable. This was an eye-opening opportunity to publish a book on Amazon KDP.
So, I chose a medium-content adult coloring book to run with it.
I used my graphic design and content writing skills to create my adult coloring book, and by December 21st, 2024, my book was live on Amazon KDP.
Exciting, right?
Yes, it was, and rightfully so.
What People Think About Low Content
I read this article by Briana Belcher, “Are Amazon Low Content Books Profitable,” and had lots to think about. Briana made over $18k over four years with low-content books, which is decent.
She reiterated that you can make more money with Amazon KDP, but it depends on the types of books you create and the efforts you put into the creation, which I get.
I guess Amazon KDP low-content books are a game of numbers. One captivating thing is that she has published over 400 journals and notebooks. Before I decided to create my adult coloring book, I had to choose a niche, not just a niche, but one that’s profitable.
Choose The Right Niche
There’s that perception that it has to be unique to make it in the right niche (let’s say coloring book). But that may not be the case, as some authors are making good money in royalties on simple and easy-to-create coloring books.
How Do You Select the Right Niche?
Some experienced low-content creators will tell you to search for the book you want to create, an “adult coloring book,” like in my case. Instead of typing directly on the Amazon search button, you can use the bookbeam extension for keyword searches.
The Bookbeam extension will show you the average BSR, royalties earned per day, search volume, and the book’s age.
Again, the book has to be in high demand and low competition. This is because the more significant the competition, the harder it’ll be for your book to stand out. By doing this, it increases your chances of gaining organic sales.
Familiarize With Competition Within That Niche
Take a closer look at the books within that selected niche. The objective is to familiarize yourself with the competition within the niche. Then, you have to find a way to differentiate yourself.
Some ways include having better designs, excellent graphics, an attractive book cover, and more pages in some cases. Another brilliant tip shared is going through your competitors’ reviews and finding out what customers like and do not like about their books.
Now, for the things the customers said they did not like, those are the things you’d want to improve upon when you publish your book.
Why Some of The Things May Not Work or Are Mistakes
The reality behind creating a best-seller low-content coloring book, like what some creators say, has been highly exposed. Let’s look at some of them:
#1. Hot Niches
I’ve seen people on YouTube talk about making lots of money from their low-content books in hot niches. They’ve shared how to do niche research to get started using tools like Bookbeam.
What is happening is that the majority are borderline copying existing concepts almost precisely. When they do that, these niches become crowded faster than you can say the word “book.”
So, you’ll see these fuzzy coloring books popping up all over the place on Amazon, with the majority making almost zero dollars. The reason is that these concepts have already been studied.
This is not to say that creators haven’t made any decent money; the reality is that other, more prominent publishers like Coco Wyo will come and brutally run away with your concept. They’ll flex their muscles, create better content, and push more advertising budget spend.
This means you have to push yourself to create something that people can find hard to copy. You’ll need to create a unique selling point (USP) regarding copycat and niche saturation.
You’ll need to create something unique and more complicated for people to copy; if they copy, they’ll fail miserably. I didn’t look into that deeply when I made my first adult coloring book. However, I did not copy what I’ve seen on Amazon with my niche but tried to be different.
Now, if you’re early to a trending niche or creating seasonal books for Halloween or Christmas, you do not need to have a USP.
#2. Keywords For Best-Selling Books
The keyword thing may be controversial, especially when creating best-selling books. This is because, nowadays, the emphasis on keywords is low. So, Amazon is leaning away from this.
From what I’ve searched or heard, the Amazon algorithm is becoming more AI-based. This means the emphasis on keywords is becoming less and less. No matter what you believe, Amazon will prioritize your CTR and conversions in sales.
Here’s the thing: Your book cover and your niche will get you the clicks, and your offering will convert them.
Now, if you want to believe that there’s some secret keyword technique where you find all these unsaturated, untapped keywords for coloring books, then I respectfully disagree. This is more relevant to a high-content book than these “hot niches” we’re discussing.
#3. Amazon Ads Strategies Are Completely BS
Most/all types will work if your book is destined to be a best-seller. Whether you’re running a manual or automatic campaign, they’ll run for a long time, meaning you’ll spend more on ad budget. Let me tell you, it doesn’t matter if you have a foolproof advertising strategy if your book is crap.
I can guarantee it will not do well in an advertising campaign. So, if you decide to go the Amazon Ads route, the best advice is to monitor your spending and make educated decisions based on all metrics.
Remember, the book makes the best-seller and not the ads.
This is the mantra you should chant to yourself when creating a book.
#4. Killer Book Cover
The book cover is one of the, if not the most significant, bottlenecks when creating a best-selling book. Here is where you MUST outsource the service if you’re unwilling to learn to design a great cover.
It wouldn’t make sense to spend weeks or months creating this amazing grand project only to spend one hour or $10 on a book cover. This won’t work in the long run. You can create a lousy book cover, run ads, and make some sales.
But to stick around on Amazon organically, you can safely wade through the tides, but through ads, it will be a hurdle. With the ads, you’re forcing people to click and get some sales.
Instead, Take Inspiration from This Approach
Taking inspiration from people works well for Amazon to make sales.
#1. Budget and Desire
Making low-content books makes perfect sense if you’re on a low budget. If you decide to go that route, some volume will be in mind here. Amazon will always watch high-quality books regardless of the high volume. I recommend a premium hand-drawn coloring book if you have a medium budget. You can hire illustrators to create a better design.
#2. Trending Niches: USP: Premium Quality
If you plan to create a coloring book, check out a trending niche, add your USP, and sprinkle a premium quality. Consider hiring illustrators and paying them a decent amount to ensure you differentiate from the competition.
Now that Amazon has embraced AI when you know you’re not good at creating using AI, you’d instead outsource. People have jumped shipped into AI to beat the competition, but what we see is a lot of crappy content.
#3. Amazon Ads Strategy
You don’t need to speed up your advertising budget from the onset. Put your book out there, start with a low budget, and you can increase the budget when the metrics make sense to keep running your ads.
I’ve seen creators selling their courses on how to get the best out of your books before hitting publish. It is super important to have someone with experience to tell you whether your offering is good enough.
If you don’t, you’re going to end up creating all the shit and lose a ton of money on ads. That’s just the reality with this type of pursuit; you have to think super! Super! Premium.
#4. Creativity
The more creative you can be in this particular niche, the higher your chances of making sales. Medium content books give you the room to do that, and if you combine them with the right ad strategy, you’ll nail it.
My journey on creating medium content isn’t slowing down any time soon. I’m working on an eBook, which will be out more quickly. That does not mean I’ll not create another adult coloring book; it’s still on my agenda.
I plan to research the right advertising strategy to get those clicks and conversations. Again, I’m on an Amazon KDF Facebook group, and I’ve noticed that people are eager to explore this business. They’re looking for the right help from people who’ve had success.
There you have it, folks.