Is KDP Low Content Book Publishing Legit?

About this video

Dale Roberts argues KDP no-content and low-content publishing is legitimate but has become a ‘dumpster fire.’ He defines no-content books as journals, diaries and notebooks the buyer fills in, and low-content books as planners, activity, puzzle and workbooks with some substance. He says he started around 2015-2016 after hearing Dave Koziel mention it, saw instant returns with zero marketing — hundreds of dollars per month at first, scaling to thousands per month circa 2017 — when almost nobody talked about it. Problems he lists: overnight experts pushing black-hat tactics, mass uploads with duplicate interiors and only mild cover color changes, copycats committing IP infringement and trademark violations, category squatting that mixes these books with fiction and nonfiction, and Ingram Content Group’s 2020 rollout restricting such books and hurting KDP expanded distribution. He warns Amazon will act if the customer experience suffers, citing losses from the 2018 CreateSpace-to-KDP merger. His advice: publish original content with unique interiors and covers, scale slow, avoid publishing thousands of books if even one earns nothing, and use automation selectively. It suits people seeking extra income and a creative outlet, not overnight easy money.

Key takeaways

• No-content books (journals, notebooks) and low-content books (planners, puzzle and activity books) serve real buyer demand and are not inherently sketchy.
• Dale says he earned hundreds per month at first and thousands per month circa 2017 with zero marketing, but that easy-money era is over.
• Mass uploads, duplicate interiors, trivial cover color variants and copycatting are driving saturation, IP infringement and trademark violations.
• Ingram’s 2020 stance against low/no-content books curtailed KDP expanded distribution, a revenue avenue Dale says he previously earned substantially from.
• Publish original, unique books, scale slowly while monitoring quality, and use automation tools selectively rather than chasing flooded keywords.

Episode details: published May 10, 2022 · 9:41 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.

← Previous: Is This KDP Alternative Hiding Something? · Next: Did KDP Ruin Low Content Books? →

All Dale L. Roberts videos · Dale L. Roberts profile · Dale L. Roberts on YouTube