5 Reasons You Should NOT Be Self Publishing on Amazon KDP

Dale L. Roberts Self-Publishing Career & Money

About this video

Playing devil’s advocate against his own pro-KDP video, Dale gives five reasons not to self-publish on Amazon KDP. One: it is not passive income — before about 2015, he says, you could publish almost anything and profit, but Amazon cracked down on bad actors and the algorithm now rewards consistent performers while publish-and-pray titles sink into obscurity. Two: marketing is essential; in his party analogy, if you do not invite people, Amazon will not send its partygoers either — social media, Amazon ads and media appearances are the author’s job. Three: if you already have a following, KDP’s cut may be pointless — he cites author Ashni Christ, who refused to price a valuable ebook down into the $2.99–$9.99 band, sold through Gumroad instead, and, he reports, did quite well keeping more of her $20 price. Four: strict, ambiguous guidelines that change without notice, with bans he says have hit even good-faith authors with no path back. Five: it is not easy — simple in theory, but demanding time, attention, energy and sometimes money, with many books still ending as duds. He closes by pointing to alternatives beyond Amazon.

Key takeaways

KDP is not passive income; the algorithm rewards consistent, promoted performers
Amazon sends traffic to authors who first bring their own
With an existing audience, selling direct (e.g. Gumroad) can beat KDP’s pricing band
Guideline changes and irreversible bans are a standing platform risk
Simple to publish does not mean easy to succeed

Episode details: published November 21, 2020 · 5:58 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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