No Content Book Publishing - How to Publish Notebooks on KDP

About this video

Dale explains no-content (zero-content) book publishing: books people write or track things in, such as journals, notebooks, diaries and planners, rather than chapter-based books. He frames it as a possible ancillary part of a self-publishing business, warns that far more people fail than succeed and that no payout is guaranteed, and rejects claims that it is a sure shot. His process: brainstorm ideas (e.g. with peers, mind-mapping), then study the marketplace to validate them — checking whether similar books exist, their Amazon bestseller rank (typically below 500,000, preferably below 100,000), description, cover and price point. A gardening journal is used as an illustrative example. Next, refine the concept for a specific audience and differentiate the interior, since a purely blank or merely lined book is weak in a competitive market. Build the interior in tools such as Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Keynote or Google Slides and export to PDF. For bleed, he advises adding 0.125 inches to the width and 0.25 inches to the height (a 6x9 book becomes 6.125 by 9.25) and keeping important content away from the edges. For covers, options are KDP’s Cover Creator, DIY, or a designer — keep it simple and cheap and invest only what you can afford to lose. Finally, upload to platforms such as KDP Print, Lulu.com, Barnes and Noble Press or IngramSpark, noting IngramSpark charges for uploads.

Key takeaways

• No-content books are journals, notebooks, diaries and planners, not written chapters
• Validate ideas on Amazon: rank below 500,000, preferably below 100,000, plus cover, description and price
• Differentiate the interior — blank or lined-only pages are not competitive enough
• For bleed, add 0.125in to width and 0.25in to height and keep content off the edges
• Keep cover costs low and only invest what you can afford to lose; no result is guaranteed

Episode details: published March 14, 2019 · 11:39 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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