5 Reasons You're Wasting Money Self Publishing on Amazon KDP

About this video

Dale L. Roberts lists five ways self-publishers waste money on Amazon KDP, counting from least to worst. Fifth is buying editorial reviews: useful for third-party credibility and feedback, but he recommends them only for established authors with discretionary budget, not newcomers. Fourth is hiring virtual assistants too early — he recalls hiring one when starting out because he was told to, only to find the assistant earned more than he did; he advises scaling help only slowly once the business produces substantial income. Third is bad book covers and descriptions, which he calls the barrier to entry: a cover that does not match its genre confuses ideal readers, and weak description copy is worth hiring a professional copywriter for. Second is publishing poorly edited or badly formatted manuscripts, which draws low reviews and can lead readers to return ebooks or print books. Worst is blindly running Amazon ads without knowing how they work. His alternative is to learn first (he points to Brian Cohen’s course and Dave Chesson’s free one), start with embarrassingly low cost-per-click and roughly $1 to no more than $10 per day, watch the ad daily, and treat early spend as learning. He closes by warning never to invest money you cannot afford to lose, such as life savings or a child’s college fund.

Key takeaways

• Editorial reviews are, in his view, for established authors with extra budget, not a necessity for new self-publishers
• Do not hire virtual assistants before the business earns substantial income — early on, his assistant made more money than he did
• Covers must visibly match the book’s niche and descriptions need real copywriting; skimping here leaves sales on the table
• Poor editing or formatting triggers low reviews and reader returns of ebooks and print books
• For Amazon ads, start low and scale slow: very low cost-per-click, about $1-$10 per day, monitored daily, and never spend money you cannot afford to lose

Episode details: published December 3, 2020 · 8:53 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Dale L. Roberts’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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