MORE NEW Features for Publishing Books on Amazon Kindle (June 1, 2024)

About this video

Dale Roberts covers three new Amazon features for authors. First, Book Trends data, a test Amazon is running on product pages: below the author name it can show Goodreads average rating and number of ratings, how many people marked the book want to read, and how many copies were bought or read in the last month. He notes KDP says it is English-only, updated daily over a rolling 30-day period based on sales across formats, Kindle reading including Kindle Unlimited, and Audible listens, that it reflects customer engagement rather than accurate sales reports, and that only a small segment of customers will see it during testing. Second, Amazon Advertising now lets Sponsored Brand ads send traffic directly to an Author Central profile — home or all books page — instead of a product collection page, which he links to Amazon research calling author pages the second most useful touchpoint after reviews. He walks through setup, warns that Sponsored Brand product collection ads will require a custom image, and notes the AI image generator errored for him and most of his self-publishing books would not appear when building the ad. Third, KDP’s invite-only virtual voice narration beta for creating audiobooks from ebooks: he says authors can set prices between $3.99 and $14.99 at a 40% royalty, cites a Bloomberg report of over 40,000 virtual voice titles with an average rating above 4, notes listeners cannot filter them out and Audible does not otherwise allow AI narration via ACX or Findaway Voices, and explains the beta is confidential under KDP terms so he cannot share specifics.

Key takeaways

• Book Trends data is a limited English-only test showing Goodreads ratings, want-to-read counts, and copies bought/read in the last month, updated daily on a rolling 30-day basis
• KDP stresses Book Trends reflects customer engagement, not an accurate portrayal of sales reports
• Sponsored Brand ads can now link directly to an Author Central home or all books page; custom images become required for product collection ads
• Virtual voice narration is an invite-only KDP beta; creator cites pricing of $3.99-$14.99 at a 40% royalty
• Per a Bloomberg report cited in the video, Audible has over 40,000 virtual voice titles averaging 4+ stars, with no customer filter to exclude them

Episode details: published June 1, 2024 · 14:02 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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