$676 Amazon Ad Spend - Was it Worth It? - Earn More with KDP Low Content Books

[@JeanettVeronica]

I am now about 6 weeks into my KDP journey, and have 11 books out (I need to up my game) The first 2 weeks I didn't sell anything, but then 2 of my books began to sell a little. I decided to run ads on one of them because it's a coloring book for adults. So far I have spent 120 dollars on ads, but I have sold 77 books in only 14 days. The rank is down in the 26,000 now so I hope it will be worth it in the end. I have a budget for it, so I will just go all in I think. Tbh I'm so surprised I had this luck so quickly in my journey. Thanks for another great video, Paul and have a nice night... :-)

[@algerianeagle9529]

That's great 👍

[@JeanettVeronica]

@@algerianeagle9529 thx! I’m very excited about it ☺️

[@HazeemDelyemen]

Good luck. What is your strategy for advertising And the daily budget.

[@paulmarles]

That’s great. Good luck 🤞

[@JeanettVeronica]

@@HazeemDelyemen I just follow Paul's advice since I'm so new to this still. I started doing ads only after an organic sale, and then my daily budget is 5 dollars. However, that has not been enough some days so I raised to 10 dollars. :-) It's a bit expensive but in the last 3 days I have sold 13 books a day ...that's a lot for me when I only have 11 books published!

[@dr.patriciashaw8784]

Wow, your ad training has been amazing. I literally went through Amazon's training and your videos are much more detailed. Thanks for that.

[@paulmarles]

You're welcome. I'm glad you found it helpful! Thank you for watching.

[@vladimir.zlokazov]

Totally agree! I've been using this strategy for several months and it really works! One more caveat worth mentioning is also the fact that you have to pay for ads once or twice per month while you only receive royalties 2 months after the sales period. This might lead to an unfortunate cash gap when you have to pay for ads but haven't yet got the money. Gotta be careful with that.

[@paulmarles]

Yes, the last point is an important one.

[@Ebl2019]

I watched the video 3 times to understand the concept of ads and now I feel enlightened. I just deleted my 1st comment because I was being silly and now that realized the value of ads, I just want to thank you, Paul. :)

[@paulmarles]

You’re welcome. 👍

[@Jezlip]

You know, I have listened to many other KDP vids but you're the best one that gives straightforward advice without omitting basic details. Thanks. I am still small potatoes and have only 12 books posted, of those only 2 have sales. My newest one is selling organically which is great now to decide how much I should invest in ads.

[@paulmarles]

Don’t rush into ads. Put your time and energy into learning and creating.

[@etalo834]

I finally finished your amazon ad playlist! Great videos!

[@paulmarles]

Thank you 🙏 Glad you found them useful.

[@christianrussobooks]

Hey Paul, I just wanted to say that I find your videos super honest and enlightening! It's always a pleasure watching them. I had a couple of questions though, and I was wondering if you could help me out. Do you think you'll ever make a video about full content books and how their promotion differs from low content ones? I'm really curious to know more about the subject, and I think your insights would be valuable. Also, there are a few things I'm still unclear about. Like, how long should a promotional campaign last? And does it make sense to run multiple different campaigns for the same product at the same time? I'd appreciate any advice you can share. Keep up the great work, and I'm looking forward to your future videos! Oh, and by the way, dude, where do you live? Jamaica? Just curious! Best, Christian (Italy)

[@paulmarles]

I live in Australia. yes, I think I'll get to full content books. It's just that I don't create any at the moment so I don't feel qualified to give good advice on it although I am planning on writing some books so that will change. With regards ad campaigns. I run a campaign until I see my book ranking high up on the first page organically and then I will slowly cut back on the ad and then stop. Yes, you can run an auto campaign and manual campaigns, targetting specific keywords and products, on the same book. I've done that in the past.

[@petersongallery]

Thanks Paul it helps to see how you're approaching the ad spend. Open for a couple of staging suggestions? #1 get the camera a little bit higher ( eye level or slightly above) and it'll be more flattering and you won't have to groom nose hairs as much :) #2 some sort of supplementary light at the camera, even if you want the natural side light you're getting from the windows, will act as a catch light in the eyes and fill the socket shadows. This doesn't have to be noticed brightness just a soft fill. #3 ok this one is personal oponion, I like the wider shot with the practicals and the windows, enjoyed seeing a clue to the weather and the ambiance of the room. Everyone has a wall and a bookshelf, not near so many have a boat enviorment. :) ... BP 2 cents worth.

[@paulmarles]

Thank you.

[@ramonabarbonta7396]

Hi Paul! Just wanted to drop you a feedback. I started kdp about 1 month ago after looking at a few of your videos (still haven't seen them all, but I'm working on it). Made about 100$ royalty in about 2 weeks after I sold my first book. It's not much but is exactly what I need to keep me motivated. Thanks for the great videos you are making and for inspiring me every day. Next on my list is to start a KZbin channel in my native language for kdp. I am still building up the courage to do it. Maybe you can make a video about your first video on youtube and a review of it now that you have the experience? Cheers and keep doing an amazing job!

[@paulmarles]

That’s great news, well done. 👍👍 Now use what you’ve learned and create more. Very happy for you. With KZbin you’ve just got to put your first video out there and not worry what others will think. And then commit to a routine, say one or two books a week.

[@productivitybydesign9368]

Good advise as usual. Also waiting for two weeks on reviews. 10 listed only 2 approved so far. I'll keep on learning from Paul until I can also start selling.

[@kevanembleton2030]

another great video paul thanks so much!

[@paulmarles]

Thank you 👍

[@BrettSirrell]

Liked the new back ground, you have a lovely boat so either works well!! Content is great as always. Thank you for the vid. Not sure about the Zoom cuts. You are interesting and engaging enough not to worry about angle changes. Less might be more!! Zoom out less and less often (maybe just to emphasis a point) please. Hope you dont mind the feedback. ;-)

[@paulmarles]

👍

[@aliporterlifecoach1625]

Hi Captain. Thank you for all your videos, they're exceptionally helpful! Please can I ask if you market any of your books across any of the other social media platforms to drive traffic to Amazon or do you just rely on Amazon ads? Thank you!

[@paulmarles]

Just amazon ads. I do have a website. But most sales come from Amazon organic search.

[@julietndianekwu7870]

I uploaded my first three sketch books about 5 days ago and Amazon haven't approved them for publication yet .i.e. the books are still in review. When I went to the authors and publishers community to make a complain, I was told that Amazon is currently cracking down on publishing "low content books" on their platform. My question now is are there still low content books that can still be self published on KDP? If there are, please kindly list them out or make a video about them. I am just starting out on KDP low content publishing and I need all the help I can get. By the way I have learnt a whole lot from you Paul. Even the books I uploaded for publication, I learnt how to create them from your channel. Thanks for all you do here. I am a huge fan!

[@paulmarles]

I have not heard of nor experienced any crackdown on low content books. And current review time seems to be about 7 to 10 days.

[@ffllicense]

They are cracking down because unscrupulous people like you are spamming the store with hundreds of books with the same content. It is long overdue and welcome to authors such as myself who actually write books.

[@ramonabarbonta7396]

If you are publishing a coloring book for example, they will review it in less than 3 days.

[@julietndianekwu7870]

@@ramonabarbonta7396 thank you so much for this. Blessings!

[@adao5308]

Hi Paul, huge fan. Been binging you and your son's channel. Fantastic info. Thanks, both of you. Got a question, I was wondering about something you said in one of your videos about using the same interior. I'm starting with a lined interior that I downloaded from your gumroad and I was planning on using that on all my interiors. Aiming for 300 for a start. Do you think I need to change up the interior? if so, how? I am going for a lined journal afterall. Not much that needs changing there. My question really is, can I use that one interior for all my lined journals, no matter how many I create? If no, how can I go about changing it up? Cheers and thanks for all the amazing content.

[@paulmarles]

Yes, for lined journals you are fine.

[@zoeeknotzoe3203]

There's those numbers I've been looking for! Ugh

[@Quesofrito100]

In octuber i upload various halloweens books, I spend +/- $100 in ad and obtain $1400 in royalties (royalties, royalties), This month i don't use ads (for a problem with my credit card) and i have made about $ 400 in royalties so far this month. When I get paid for my earnings for the month of October, I plan to spend a lot of it on ads to see how it goes.

[@paulmarles]

Those are good figures. Well done 👍👍

[@ffllicense]

Halloween books don't sell after Halloween. Kind of logical really.

[@Arabic_Op]

I wanted to spent some cash on ads , but amazon took 8 days since I posted my paperback workbook and still in review , the niche I used to create my workbook on, now has more than 2000 results :/ and my book stills in review. the last time I checked before publishing my paperback was just 8XX results.

[@vickquang1208]

Thank you Paul... should i run an ad campaign if my book has just been published and got no review yet?

[@paulmarles]

I would leave it until at least the look inside feature appears.

[@elsievanrooyen1788]

It's a cool face that is why I give a thumbs up to your videos... OK, of course you also provide us with valuable information, too... LOL

[@paulmarles]

Thank you, that’s very kind of you.

[@dinoderossi]

Hello can i do a question? Some guys suggest me that after any kind of change on a ADS campaign(like a change of the amount of bid on a single keywords or cancel a keyword), It is raccomanded to do the change, copy the campaign and stop the old copy. It Is correct or you only modify your active campaign?

[@paulmarles]

I only modify my active campaigns.

[@lullaban6044]

I ran an ad on amazon kdp at 0.20 cents per click but didn't get any views and put 98 related keywords

[@paulmarles]

It depnds on the niche. That amount may be too low to get your ad shown on the first couple of pages and to get impressions.

[@travisg9294]

I spent 450 dollars on ads and made a whopping 28 dollars from sales for my kdp book! 😂

[@paulmarles]

From organic sales or sales in total?

[@travisg9294]

@@paulmarles Sales in total after ad campaign.

[@algerianeagle9529]

Its so worth it but its expensive in Q4 I wish i had a bigger budget to spend

[@paulmarles]

Next year! 👍

[@wioletaburtan2245]

thank you!!!!!!!

[@paulmarles]

You’re welcome 👍

[@ismail-rz8nc]

Hi Paul, I hope you're doig great, I would like to ask you a question. Does a book appear in amazon searches directly after being published, or it needs some time so that it get indexed to the keywords entered. Thank you

[@HazeemDelyemen]

This days amazon push the new puplishd books to first pages to gave them chance to sell if not amazon push them down

[@ismail-rz8nc]

I made a notebook in a niche that has 756 search results. My notebook got accepted today but when I search for it, by using the exact title the notebook has, I don't find it...

[@paulmarles]

Khakis gave a good reply. That can happen but not always. My experience is that more often than not it takes some time.

[@saschaboguslawski9135]

I lose money every month with ads, one book runs super acos about 3 or 5% and the others have a lot of clicks and no sales, i can't manage that. last month ads cost about 150 dollars in usa, revenue about 200 240. if i turn off the ads, the book disappears.

[@rickharold7884]

Cool thanks great as usual If you’re selling that many books wouldn’t be a good idea to get them produced in China shipped here and then sell them same design etc. From my research it’s a much bigger margin if you know you’re going to sell enough books

[@paulmarles]

I’m not sure, I’d have to find a printer, pay for printing, ship to a company in the US who would then put barcodes on and ship to Amazon to be sold FBA. Then Amazon costs and cost of returns. I can’t imagine I’d make much more per book than currently, if at all. I’d rather spend that time on creating more books and having fewer headaches!

[@xyz53456]

hello sir sir i want to know that i got an email that your account is temprarely blocked because i publish one book with no copyright. Now what i have to do sir???I will get my royalties or not??

[@paulmarles]

Nothing you can do if you broke Amazon’s terms of service.

[@mrunknowne0970]

Keep it up 💥💥💥💥🏋️

[@paulmarles]

Thank you 🙏

[@marcygold6690]

Mr. Marles, or perhaps it's just pure luck that sellers made money with paid Ads or no Ads (thru organic sales). I found a recipe notebook that's doing very well. It's selling like mad--in 1,000+ range. But it's a plain recipe notebook that's not too crappy. Have you used any Google Merchant or SEO Tools that helped drive traffic to your low content?

[@paulmarles]

I do use tools sometimes - Helium 10, Bookbolt and Publisher Rocket.

[@ManuelaGarreffa]

Interesting

[@oujnaneyassine8451]

Thanks

[@paulmarles]

You’re welcome.

[@RazoRickyKDP]

Damn even your thumbnail looks like psycho vampire !!!

[@dariusz1031]

I don't like these cuts. It's not an American movie