Amazon KDP
I stumbled upon KDP last month by accident, you might of just said to your screen, have you been living under a rock? to me it sounded like a super easy side hustle. I then discovered Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) started in '04 and I felt like I am not aware of anything current.
What is Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) - its a fully functional publishing platform that is available to everyone to be creative and develop physical items and then sell them.
What are People selling on KDP? Most of what I have discovered on KDP fall into the following categories: Journals, Coloring Books, Puzzles and real books on this platform.
There are individuals that claim KDP is saturated as there are lots of people trying to do the same thing (everyone is seeking ways to grow a revenue stream on the side), that is how I came across it! To counter that argument, perhaps they are just producing low quality items that are not selling. From what I can tell KDP is just like any other market, the best product tends to win (unless the other has a marketing budget that rivals all others together).
Amazon has very rigid rules - on how you list your products. Additionally, in the event that you sell item(s) you will have to pay taxes, how do I know? As part of signing up you have to supply KYC (Know Your Customer) info, Name, Address, etc).
Amazon KDP Resources:
- Amazon KDP homepage - https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/
- Jumpstart Page - https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G202187740
- Amazon Publishing Guidelines - https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/GU72M65VRFPH43L6
Amazon KDP Terms:
- BSR - Book Seller Rank
Free or Paid KDP Resources I have found:
- Canva
- Bookbolt.io
- Youtube has 1000's of vid's on KDP platform (lots to learn)
Decisions to be made:
- Define your goals (Start small and then grow them for that point
- Pilot project - I.E. Journal, develop one out (front/back and spine) inside layout, then see how it looks in Amazon.
- Post it and see how it sells.
- Adapt and repeat cycle
Summary - I am by no means a KDP expert, wondering are you a user of KDP or have you already folded up shop? I am not saying you can nor can not make this work, you only control your accomplishments. Do NOT let anyone steal your destiny!
