Hey everyone, my Amazon Ads seem to be unusually slow this week. I'm seeing a noticeable drop in my overall stats. I'm curious if this is just a me-problem or a wider trend right now. How are your campaigns holding up?
I am going to publish my first nonfiction, medium content book on Amazon. Before the launch, I wanted to send the book out to ARC readers to get reviews on Amazon. I've reached out to a few of them via Facebook groups, but what I find is that some of them simply ghost you after getting a copy of the book. Have you noticed that with your ARC readers?
I've also heard that running Amazon ads with zero reviews is not really going to help, which is why I would like to get a few reviews before I run ads. Any tips on how I can get the initial reviews? I don't have a social media following, so I can't promote it there.
Any tips on what has worked for you are appreciated.
>Hey everyone,
Like a lot of creators here, I got tired of manually calculating the math behind KDP's 7 background keyword slots and keeping track of the strict formatting guidelines.
As most of you know, Amazon's A9 search engine reads all 7 boxes as a single "word cloud." If you repeat words across slots (like putting "cozy mystery books" in Slot 1 and "mystery novels" in Slot 2), the system deduplicates them, completely wasting valuable indexing space. On top of that, KDP strictly cuts you off at 50 characters maximum per individual box.
I'm an independent developer and publisher, and I finally decided to build a standalone web utility to automate this exact workflow. It is completely live, 100% free, and requires zero signups, no credit cards, and no browser extensions to install:
How it works:
Once you're done, you can click "Copy All Slots" to move everything directly over to your KDP submission page.
Note on cross-selling (so I'm fully transparent): I originally built this as a side utility for my main site, KDP CoverLab, which features a free paperback/hardcover spine width calculator and layout guide to stop cover rejections. You don't have to use the cover tool at all to use the keyword scraper; it functions as a completely standalone, free dashboard utility.
I would love to get your feedback to refine the packing logic. Try running a query for one of your niches—let me know if it distributes your long-tail strings smoothly or if you spot any bugs!
Thanks guys, hope this saves you some upload headaches.
My Amazon KDP Experience The Vision & The Book: What kind of project were you bringing to life? (e.g., educational notes, a deep dive into niche non-fiction or prophetic literature, or a passion project?) The Formatting Battle: How did you handle the layout? Did you use tools like Kindle Create, or did you face the ultimate boss battle of adjusting paperback margins, gutter sizes, and bleeding for a print-on-demand copy? The KDP Select Dilemma: Did you decide to go exclusive with Amazon to get on Kindle Unlimited (KDP Select), or did you choose to go "wide" and publish across other platforms too? Pricing & The Royalties Reality: How did navigating the 35% vs. 70% royalty tiers feel? Did you opt for a budget-friendly eBook or focus on a tangible paperback? Marketing & The Algorithm: Did you dip your toes into Amazon Ads, run a free promo campaign, or rely purely on organic traffic and social sharing? The Verdict: What was the biggest lesson learned, and what would you do differently on your next book launch?
Hello everyone,
Has perfectionism ever taken control of any of you before? Has the idea ever controlled your mind that your abilities are not enough… or that you want writing to become your main source of income?
If you’ve been through all of this before, tell me: did you overcome it? Do you have a strategy or advice for someone who feels unstable and uncertain?
Do you understand how the algorithm works and how things move forward? If my cover is perfect, my description is strong, my keywords are good, and the content is engaging… does that mean I’ll become the next Stephen King, or are there still challenges ahead?
Advice for a beginner, please.
Hey everyone, I published a non-fiction book on KDP and I'm not sure I'm using the right marketing channel.
The book is a conversation starter for couples where every question is inspired by a movie or TV scene. It's divided into 4 levels, from Playful to Fearless, so it gradually gets deeper and more interesting. At the end of the book there are also some activities to do together. Simple, fun, gift-oriented product.
I started with Amazon Ads (manual keywords) and I'm getting clicks but they feel like curiosity clicks, conversion rate is very low. Not sure if the problem is the keywords, the listing, or if Amazon Ads just isn't the right fit for this type of book.
Would you go all-in on social (BookTok, Instagram, Pinterest) instead? Or stick with Amazon Ads and optimize?
Any experience with similar products would be super helpful 🙏
Hi there
I’m worried I might be in trouble with KDP. Book first was published through them both ebook and paperback.
Last week I added the paperback only to Ingram. This time I wanted to add the subtitle that is on the cover to the book so did so.
I presume Amazon has pulled through metadata though? As now the Amazon listing has the subtitle which of course I can’t alter on the paperback unless creating a new edition
I’ve panicked and removed it from Ingram and hoping that will pull through to Amazon
Because as I understand it I can’t have different titles for ebook (without subtitle) and paperback
It also added the ‘series no’ to the title which was a field on Ingram.
Any advice or feedback if people have encountered similar I’d appreciate
(Same ISBN obviously and I sourced it away from Amazon so it works on both)
Hello everyone,
I’ve been working on releasing my book for months now and it’s been extremely stressful.
My book keeps getting rejected by Amazon even literally trying everything to make it fit the guidelines.
I’ve even removed the illustrations and eveything! I don’t know what else to do, and my scheduled release date is June 1st. Is there anyone that could please help me with this? I’m willing to pay! Please.🙏
Hi All,
So i have had a massive headache trying to get the word out, im pretty proud of what I have made and ill just summarise how it work.
Going back to last year, I decided to write a book, on Canva, took me a while but once I'd finished it, i thought ok, lets bang it onto KDP, typed all of my details in etc, then realised PDF's do not work on KDP, so then i thought ok. What do i do next?
So, I'm on Google, trying to find anything that would convert it, i find once tool, get it converted to EPUB - (didnt even know this was a thing at the time) then try to upload to KDP, the document is all over the place, i have a few images in the book and yeah, the images were one seperate pages, text had moved, i thought, what do i do now - so I asked AI - basically told me i can use Calibre and manually format it, Use a formatter which costs, I was thinking why is there nothing out there that can do this really well.
This is really the reason I made it - I have been trying to get people to use the platform but its so difficult, posting on Tiktok, FB, Insta etc, I feel I have solved a really big problem, especially with the Royalty Saver I built into the platform.
Currently, I am a bit of an idiot for doing this, but I spent all of my time developing this and neglected my main business, now im sleeping on my sisters sofa and I need to pay for my daughter, I barely got to her house with the last of my fuel money and couldnt see my mum on her birthday - this is not a charity case, I will find a way out of my situation, in addition, Im not asking people to use the platform to give me revenue, all I ask is, can people at least try it on the free trial and if its good - get the word out there! Any help would be greatly appreciated, any feedback would be greatly appreciated - This is really my last ditch attempt to get Reddit to help my.
Below is just a highlight of what the platform can do and if you want to know, i built it all on a £200 Chromebook.
It takes your designed PDF and converts it into a proper fixed-layout EPUB 3 — the format that actually preserves your design for KDP, Apple Books, and Kobo. Every page is audited automatically for visual fidelity before you download.
✅ Upload any PDF (Canva, InDesign, Affinity, Word)
✅ Automatic page-by-page audit for visual fidelity
✅ Side-by-side preview before you download
✅ KDP, Apple Books & Kobo-ready EPUB output
✅ Built-in royalty calculator — see your estimated earnings before you publish
✅ First conversion is free
Happy to answer any questions below 👇
If you wish to view the platform - Its in my profile OR you can message me!
Many thanks all
I'm working on publishing a fictional mystery series that I've been sitting on for a few years onto Amazon KDP, as Kindle versions and paperbacks. There will be six books in the series in total, which I should have uploaded by the end of the week (learning formatting and how to use Kindle Create has been a huge learning curve!).
I understand that it's foolish to use Amazon Ads until you've got a decent number of reviews, and that websites like Book Bounty can be helpful to get reviews. So far I've just got one organic 4 star review (stars only) on Book 1 which I count as a win this early on, and have earned $5.50 through KENP since Book 1 was published three weeks ago.
Can anybody recommend ways that I can promote my book without outlaying too much cash?
Are author websites useful? What free platforms are great for making a website and email list?
I would appreciate any advice. Thanks!
Hi everyone, I’m trying to understand how book influencers work in practice. I recently read that authors often reach out to nano influencers by offering a free copy of their book, since bigger influencers usually don’t even respond.
I’ve just opened social profiles for my book and almost immediately started receiving paid offers to promote it, but I have no idea if this actually works or if it’s just money wasted.
Has anyone here had real experience with book influencers (nano, micro, or larger)? Do paid collaborations bring real results, or is organic outreach still the best way to go?
You picked a saturated niche.
Writing/Publishing advice and generic women’s stories are extremely crowded.
Instead, go where readers are hungry and competition is thin.
Are you publishing in a crowded niche or an underserved one?
Someone bought my ebook and want to read it on KOBO.
What is the easiest, safest and legal way for him to do it?
thank you!
I’ve written a book before and published on Amazon, I have an author page.
I’ve recently written another book with a friend, they have not and do not have an author page.
If they create a KDP account, how do we “link” their account to their authorship credit on this book?
Little advice to give you a headstart. If you're publishing on Amazon, you'll need to start a publishing page through KDP through your current Amazon. It does NOT expose your regular information, as long as you use a pen name. So you do NOT have to create a separate Amazon.
For eBook you'll need to combine your book into something called an 'Interior File'. That's everything that comes after the cover. And you'll also need a cover page, which should be a PNG. So an the INTERIOR FILE and COVER PAGE.
Paperback is a little more difficult. You will need page numbers, page breaks for every chapter, no bleed margins, and a different format for cover photo. Now the cover photo for paperback can be a really BISH. The way I did it is I waited until Amazon had my interior file. Once that is done Amazon will tell you (based off your pages) how big your cover photo is expected to be. Take a Word document, change it to landscape mode, change the document to the expect 'Height' and 'Width' that Amazon told you your cover photo is expected to be, insert the cover picture, stretch it to fill all gaps (shouldn't be far) and save it as a PDF. Paperback on Amazon requires both the interior file AND the cover to be a PDF. Once you launch Preview Launcer your cover should fill perfectly within their margins. You will know if the cover is wrong because Amazon won't let you continue unless it's corrected.
Only other thing I can tell you is ENROLL IN KDP SELECT. It locks you into a 90-day "can only sell eBook on Amazon" thing but it does not lock your paperback. You can still sell your paperback anywhere. And when the 90 days is up you can sell your eBook anywhere.
Why is KDP Select important? Because it allows people who subscribe to Kindle Unlimited to read your book for free and you get paid PER PAGE. It isn't much, but anytime someone reads your book for the first time, you get paid per page.
So with Amazon you could essentially be getting paid by Kindle Unlimited page reads, eBook retail sales, and paperback sales.
One last thing, paperback is Print-On-Demand, so you pay NOTHING. Amazon takes the cost of printing the book out of the price you list it for. My book was around 670 pages. It cost $9.02 to print. I priced it at $19.99. I make $3-4 per book. Obviously, your book will be different, but this was just an example.
Hope this helps!
You got this!
I believe in you!
About to publish on KDP Amazon. No budget for a lawyer, looking for practical advice from people who've been through this.
The book: Nonfiction. Argues that most systems (tech, healthcare, workplace tools) are built around the "average" person, which creates real problems. Uses real company examples sourced from public records.
What I've done:
All people fully anonymized
Companies named only where info comes from public sources, with a references section
Medical disclaimer wherever health topics appear
General disclaimer at the start
Reviewed specifically for legal risk multiple times What I'm unsure about: Some examples show company failures, e.g. "Company X invested $Y in a project that didn't work, here's why." All from public sources.
Questions:
Does anything here stand out as a red flag?
Anything I should double-check before publishing?
Did you do anything beyond this for similar books? Goal: to share an idea, not to make money. Not looking for "hire a lawyer", I know that's ideal. Asking what reasonable due diligence looks like for an indie author on a budget.
We have terminate your KDP account because we detected activities that attempt to manipulate our services. Examples include abnormal reading activity or attempts to publish books that violate our Content Guidelines.
We are committed to providing a bookstore built on trust between authors, publishers, and readers, and we take prompt action when needed to ensure a positive experience.
“My KDP account was recently restricted due to alleged multiple account issues, but I only operated one account. I’ve submitted an appeal and hope the matter can be reviewed fairly. I’m also seeing other authors report similar experiences recently.”
Today is the day! My debut novel is officially out. 🖤
Thanks for this subreddit