How to Create Low and No Content Amazon KDP Books

Course Introduction and an overview of the content that students will learn from the Low and No Content KDP Self Publishing Course.

In this lecture/lesson, you will learn about examples of Low and No Content Books, the business model of KDP, the Pro's and Con's of KDP Publishing and the creation cycle of KDP.

*Please Note: As of the 17th May 2022, Amazon KDP have indicated they no longer will issue FREE ISBN's to books they classify as 'Low Content Books'. These books include blank and lined journals etc.

Please refer to the KDP correspondence below:

Hello,

Starting 17th May 2022, authors publishing low-content books can publish on KDP without an ISBN.

A Low-Content Book has minimal or no content in the interior pages. These pages are generally repetitive and designed to be filled in by the user. Common examples include notebooks, planners, journal and other similar books. This does not typically include activity puzzle books or coloring books, which generally do not feature repetitive content on each page.

You will identify your low-content books by checking a box within the Categories section on your books title set-up. You can publish without an ISBN or you can submit your own ISBN purchased from Bowker or through your local ISBN agency. Free ISBN’s will no longer be provided for low-content books. After you submit a low-content book for publication, we will confirm it was set-up properly including Categories and ISBN options. You will receive an email if changes are needed prior to publishing.

Low Content books that are already published and have a free KDP ISBN can continue using that ISBN even if you later make changes to your book.

Regards,

The Kindle Direct Publishing Team

The journey you are about to undertake on KDP will be unique to anyone else. In this lesson, I share with you my first 12 months and what I experienced so you can gain an understanding of what the journey may look like for you.

Please find attached to this lesson a great new resource I have developed including 25 Tips for KDP Self-Publishers. This will be a great reflection tool for you to refer to when publishing to Amazon KDP and based on my experience of publishing over 350 books.

Your most important asset is your KDP Account! In this lesson, I cover some of the key reasons why people have had their KDP Account either Suspended or, even worse, TERMINATED. I run through why your KDP account is so important and why protecting the long-term future of your account is critical for success.

Is it better to have many books and hope that a few become popular? Or is it better to focus on fewer books, with higher quality content?

In this lesson, I discuss why one is better than the other and how it can impact your success as a KDP publisher.

Establishing goals when publishing will greatly increase the chances of you achieving those goals and growing your KDP publishing business. In this lesson, I walk you through a resource I have created for you that will get your goals onto paper in a structured format that you can use as a growth tool but also as a great reflective resource for years to come.

Learn the basic steps to create your KDP Account

Students will find out the best FREE Software to use and download to speed up the process of Niche Research, Keywords, Interiors and Book Cover Creation

In this lesson, students learn the important principle of High Demand Vs Low Competition for Niche Research. This lesson also covers the steps to find profitable niches and the best way to track your research with the Niche Tracker.

Students will discover the best FREE platform to design and create their book covers. This lesson also covers the important steps you need to take to ensure your book meets the requirements of KDP, so when your book is uploaded, you do not receive an error message that requires you to go through the entire process again. This is something that can be very frustrating for the first time creator and self-publisher.

Update:

Please refer to the below correspondence regarding the use of Canva for the creation of book covers for use on platforms such as Amazon KDP.

Phil (Canva)

Apr 11, 2023, 11:15 GMT+8

Hello,

Thanks for reaching out to us! We appreciate your time and I'd be glad to assist you regarding your concern about using your designs for commercial use.

First off, all content (photos, graphics, illustrations, stickers, fonts, videos) available for Canva Pro subscription is licensed under Canva’s Content License Agreement.

Now, Canva's content can be used to create book and book covers for sale online (e.g. Amazon KDP) without limits as long as you create unique designs (e.g., incorporate the stock media into a design by adding elements, photos, texts, videos, or backgrounds) in order to comply with our Content License Agreement quoting:

‘entertainment applications, such as books and book covers, magazines, newspapers, editorials, newsletters, and video, broadcast and theatrical presentations of unlimited prints’;

For more information, please check these articles: Content License Agreement and Licensing Explained

I hope this helps! If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Cheers,

Phil

Creating a book cover that 'STANDS OUT' to the customer is the 1st step towards getting a sale. If you fail to capture the attention of the customer from the start, you are likely to miss an opportunity for the sale.

We cover the critical 4 steps in cover design and I walk you through the process of using Canva.

In this lecture, we look at an option to consider should you decide that design isn't your strength and you decide to outsource this component of your KDP Publishing. It can be an affordable option with a quick turnaround.

In this lesson, I show you the steps to create a Hardback for KDP. Creating a hardback will help multiple the opportunity you have to create more revenue streams from the one book.

In this lesson, I introduce you to my Book Cover Design Masterclass course on Udemy.

Students learn the steps to create KDP Low and No Content Interiors for Free using some of the best design platforms in the world.

Additional Note About Using Canva: Canva has a 100-page limit when you create your interiors. Should you wish to create an interior larger than 100 pages, simply create a 2nd interior (max 100 pages) and then use 'combinepdf' (Google it) to combine both the first manuscript (PDF file) and the 2nd manuscript (PDF File) into one complete PDF file.

Please find attached a variety of ready-made interiors for No-Content Books that you can utilize immediately.

Creating and Formatting a stand-out book description is one of the critical steps to ensure that a customer purchases your book. In this lesson, we cover what needs to be included, what you need to avoid and how to correctly format your book description and the ideal free formatting tool to use.

When loading your book to KDP, you need to enter 7 Keywords that you would like to rank your book for outside of the Title and the Subtitle. In this video, I show you how to find the keywords and what methods you should use to enter these when uploading to KDP.

An updated lesson will be provided soon but in the meantime, please refer below)

Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) platform has undergone some significant changes in regard to how authors and publishers can categorize their books on Amazon. These changes are aimed at improving the visibility and discoverability of books for readers on the platform.

Old Category System: In the past, authors and publishers using Amazon KDP had access to a limited set of pre-defined categories for their books. These categories might have been somewhat outdated or broad, making it difficult for authors to accurately place their books in the categories that best matched their content. Additionally, authors had the option to contact KDP support via email to request up to 10 categories for their book, which provided some flexibility but was subject to approval.

New Category System: The recent update to Amazon KDP involves a complete overhaul of the category selection process. The new system allows authors to select categories that directly mirror the categories visible to customers when browsing Amazon's website. This aligns the categorization of books more closely with how readers search and discover new titles, potentially leading to increased visibility and better targeting of the right audience.

Changes in Limitations: With this update, there have been changes in the limitations for selecting categories. Previously, authors could request up to 10 categories through KDP support. However, the new system appears to have a limitation of up to 3 categories that authors can directly select for their books during the publishing process. This change is likely designed to encourage authors to be more selective and precise in choosing the most relevant categories for their books.

Benefits: The benefits of these changes are multi-fold. By offering a wider range of relevant categories, authors and publishers can ensure their books are placed in the most suitable sections of Amazon's marketplace, making them more likely to be discovered by readers interested in their specific genre or topic. This can lead to increased visibility, sales, and overall success for authors and publishers using the KDP platform.

In summary, the recent update to Amazon KDP's category selection process represents a positive change for authors and publishers. It allows for better alignment between book categories and customer search behaviour, potentially enhancing the discoverability of books on Amazon. While the shift to a maximum of 3 categories might be seen as a limitation, the overall benefits in terms of accurate categorization and improved visibility could outweigh this constraint for many authors and publishers.