KDP Author Name - Brand or Keyword to Increase Low Content Book Online Earnings?

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If you want to make long term online earnings with your KDP no content and low content books then it is vital to look at the author name you use. You have the choice of using a pen name or brand name or a keyword optimised name for each individual niche. In this video I discuss the choices you have and look at an example of building a brand around your books using a KDP author name and the online properties you can build to increase sales and create a long term sustainable passive income.
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EARNINGS DISCLAIMER: This video is for educational purposes only. There is no guarantee that you will earn money using the techniques and ideas in this video. This is not financial advice or investment advice. While it is possible to minimize risk, your investments are solely your responsibility. It is imperative that you conduct your own research. I am merely sharing my opinion with no guarantee of gains or losses on investments. Your level of success in attaining the results claimed in this video will require commitment, hard-work, experience and knowledge. We have taken reasonable steps to ensure that the information in this video is accurate but we cannot represent that the website(s) mentioned in this video are free from errors. You expressly agree not to rely upon any information contained in this video.
About this video - This video looks the importance of your KDP author name in terms of building a long term online income.
Instagram: / paulmarles
Twitter: / paulmarles
Website: paulmarles.com

[@julesm9551]

i just discovered your channel, Mr. Marles, and I'm really enjoying it. Your content is very useful, and gets right to the point, without a lot of 'fluff'. Thank you for all your videos.

[@paulmarles]

Thank you and you’re welcome.

[@apriltheInvincible]

I feel like I should throw out all my ideas and plans and start over with a more solid foundation. You are making my first steps into this world much easier sir! Thanks again!!

[@kaizenspirit4917]

Great reminder! I recently had to resubmit dozens of books multiple times in the course of 2 weeks because they always rejected my author names based on Keywords... I know it depends on the person behind as well because sometimes it goes smoothly and sometimes they reject the books. I am now thinking about creating a brand name in which I'll publish severals kind of books. Thank you for this important reminder!!! 😉👍

[@paulmarles]

You’re welcome 👍

[@gloriahahn2606]

hi Paul i never understood pen names unless you were writing novels then it's YOU the reader wants to find. thank you so much this really made great sense!

[@paulmarles]

You're welcome. Glad you found it useful.

[@tiantuatara]

I'm using a brand name and made a small website. I didn't think about Pinterest or Facebook. Very useful ideas.

[@ismailshehadeh3889]

I heard some people say that the use of keywords in the author's name field is prohibited by Amazon and that their use may cause account termination

[@paulmarles]

Yes. Correct. One of the reasons I don’t do it and recommend using a pen name or brand name in the video.

[@olutayobarnabas5620]

I don't usually comment on videos but this video relieved my stress a lot. And you just a gained a follow. I have a designed a website, a facebook page and twitter account for a niche and i think i will go with that based on your advice

[@paulmarles]

Thank you. Glad you found it helpful.

[@Nimrod-BuckysHuntingTips]

Great ideas Paul. Brand seems to be the way to go.

[@jimraj68]

Great insight into branding and looking into the long term and SEO - Superb strategy video. looking forward to marketing strategy video.

[@paulmarles]

Thank you 👍

[@willyboneuk]

Thanks, Paul. I've created my first book and I just wanted that little bit of reassurance that going with a brand name was the right course of action for me. Cheers.

[@paulmarles]

It's what I do.

[@elvis723]

Great video! I was wondering about this topic and you answered all my questions.

[@paulmarles]

Thank you. Glad you found it useful.

[@TipsInTens]

You're really good .. perfect advice even before amazon started going crazy against keyword names

[@keen99]

Thank you Paul! But I’m struggling between using a pen name like CJ Wills or a company name like simple press. On one hand, a pen name for low content books seems a bit too serious but it does give customers a more personal feel, on the other hand a simple company name feels more playful but also more professional but loses that personal feel about it. Do you have any advice? Thank you!

[@LizDelaney3]

That cleared up a lot of questions in my mind. Thanks again Paul.

[@kerilovescats2427]

This video was very helpful. I saw lots of information about using multiple pen names, but that definitely didn't seem to make sense, since I would like to build a brand around one name. Thanks!

[@aniaphotouk]

I was thinking the same, but great to have confirmation from you.

[@anassinovic4074]

I love this video, thank you Paul

[@paulmarles]

You’re welcome 👍

[@NeetuBajpai7799]

This is helpful as I am searching for pen name now

[@inoktube]

I got rejected using keyword author name. I learned from my mistakes. Thanks for the video.

[@paulmarles]

You’re welcome 🙏

[@melaniewarren7268]

Love you content. Do you have a video on creating an author central account? Thank you?

[@BrainNuggets88]

Thanks, Paul Useful vid!

[@paulmarles]

You’re welcome 👍

[@DadeRonan]

Paul, do you share your newly published books on social media to generate traffic back to their Amazon page and if so, what app do you use?

[@paulmarles]

No, I don’t at the moment but I’m working on a marketing plan at the moment for one of my brands.

[@NerineMartin]

I've noticed quite a few people are teaching that you should have keywords in your Author Name (Contributor) but it's clearly against Amazon KDP's rules here kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G201953870. Just because others have done it previously doesn't mean it's right and I've heard quite a few people are getting their author names rejected because of it. Stick to the rules and you don't risk your account getting suspended I would say! Guidelines for all metadata We can't accept the following: *Keywords, search phrases, genre descriptors, advertisements, promotions, physical properties (e.g., trim size) in the title, contributor, subtitle, or series fields

[@lunaviolet8374]

I'm not sure that I understand this either regarding title, subtitle and description not being allowed to contain keywords and search phrases. If I design a colouring book with dinosaurs, can I not call it 'Dinosaur colouring book'? How else would people find it if I called it 'Fill in the blank spaces of this prehistoric creature page collection'?

[@explore-with-us]

that's interesting...thanks for sharing, let me try it out. May I use different Autor names in the same KDP account?

[@ndabox17311]

Paul, Can you go back and change your author name in KDP after it has been published? Let's say you have gone from a goofy name to more of a brand Name?

[@paulmarles]

No, you can't change it, unfortunately.

[@PromiseMichael-xq5qn]

Do you have a step by step video on how to make maze book?

[@SylverZone]

It is time consuming to keep up with it all though, and can get tricky keeping track. I’m slowly developing a check list of what to post where and when!! 😏

[@paulmarles]

That's good. Try and keep things simple. It can get very overwhelming.

[@ryandavies5122]

I know you recommend starting with log books, and you've also mentioned the seasonal trends. If doing both, would you recommend having a generic publisher type name for all the books, or having different names for (eventually) puzzle books, colouring books, log books, journals etc? Thanks

[@paulmarles]

Yes, one author name for all.

[@bart963]

Hi Paul, I have started KDP from scratch 3 weeks ago. And just sold two books, which was suprising for me it happened so quick, your videos are always very helpful and this result is thanks to good niche/ keywords research according to your advises. I have noticed some books once they are listed on Amazon they would receive at very beginning some good BSR's ratings which can help quite a lot to get some sales , but some books they do not have any so far . What is Amazon methodology on applying BSR's? Would BSR be eventually visible in long term for each book?

[@paulmarles]

You only get a BSR once you make a sale.

[@bart963]

@@paulmarles makes sense. It would mean however for mentioned before examples that ordering author copies resulted in BSR ranking or another option is that books for which I ordered author copies were sold on market as well but are not yet visible as sold in KDP sales dashboard

[@paulmarles]

Both those examples would cause a change in BSR.

[@dushan6588]

Thank you for your video. I recently joined up and try to put my first book on there. Kindly let me know, you mentioned you have two brands. Can we use those two brand names in one kdp account. And can i know hide my name and go with brand name in KDP at now?

[@sobeidalagrange7129]

Min 03:00

[@OneMinuteInfo0]

So Helpful Thanks ♥

[@paulmarles]

You're welcome!

[@wjtan363]

Could you please advise incase we use one author name, if there are many kinds of book, how could customers find the book they want when they go to see in our name ?

[@paulmarles]

Create an Amazon Author Central account.

[@wjtan363]

@@paulmarles Thank you

[@hassaanahsan5830]

Hello Paul, Can we use our own real name as a brand name to start publishing different kinds of books on Amazon..?

[@paulmarles]

Yes, you can.

[@theallinfamilygang7196]

Why do they keep putting my notebook in drafts ? It says this: During our review, we found the contributor(s) listed for the following book(s) may confuse our customers. Contributors are the people involved in creating your book, including authors, editors, illustrators, translators, and any others who assisted with your book’s creation

[@theallinfamilygang7196]

I haven't put any contributors down I left that area blank

[@paulmarles]

You need to put an auther name down.

[@theallinfamilygang7196]

@@paulmarles I put the author down Everytime and everytime it comes back like that. I always always have to do it a couple times. Like delete my old author name and put another in until it except me

[@Ichigo896]

good content as always, keep it up!!! I have a question, I have already uploaded 15 books but with keyword optimized author names, do you think it's possible for me now to modify all my books's author names to one name?

[@paulmarles]

No you can’t do that after publishing. You would have to unpublish and upload again with a different author name.

[@lauragoyer7201]

Thanks, Paul. What’s the best way to enter a brand name that has more than one word? I just published my first book and used a brand name but I think I may have done it wrong. It’s a two word brand name so I put the first word in the first name field and the second one in the last name field. It’s flipped them around on the listing so it’s last name, first name.

[@paulmarles]

That's how you would normally do it. I've not come across it flipping them round before.

[@happymindhealthybody8038]

Hi Paul, do you know how to delete author names that you've created before? I want to delete some as I do not want my account shut down. thanks Nicki

[@rickharold7884]

Thx!

[@paulmarles]

👍👍

[@tanzilaleeya]

Thank yiu for this. Is it possible to change the author name once a book has been published?

[@paulmarles]

No.

[@manhmc8008]

Thank you

[@paulmarles]

You’re welcome.

[@Itsunaiz]

love you!

[@paulmarles]

Thank you 🙏

[@jgardizzle]

KDP allows you to have two authors - is it beneficial to use a brandname and then also your own name? Like could I publish under Horizon's Light Press AND my own name? Thank you for all the guidance!

[@paulmarles]

You can but I can't see a benefit.

[@TahsinulIslam-qw1fu]

Is it necessary to use National Id name or Bank Holder name as author name or can I use different name?

[@InfiniteHarmony77]

Hello Paul, thanks for sharing these pieces of information. will you please tell me is it ok to use my name + press or my name + publishing. Are these words I mean press and publishing trademarks or not?

[@paulmarles]

Press is fine but publishing I’m not certain about publishing. Probably worthwhile contacting KDP support.

[@InfiniteHarmony77]

@@paulmarles Thanks 👍

[@sandistenton4554]

I have a question. If you choose to use a brand name or imprint name for your author name, do you have to register it as a dba (doing business as) with your state or is it considered the same thing as a penname which doesn't require this? Some people use a different brand (imprint) name for every book they create and it just seems tough if you have to file one of these every single time.

[@paulmarles]

I'm not familiar with state laws but it is just a pen name as far as I'm aware.

[@nasircli]

Paul the author central page limit is up to 5. Also, can I use the author central page later? Because I don't want people copy my ideas when they don't have strong bsr?

[@paulmarles]

Yes, but you can open multiple author central page accounts. Yes, you can use it later.

[@macvanbus142]

Thank you Paul for your informative video, I am new to KDP, is it okay to publish multiple kdp niches under one brand name ? Thank you.

[@paulmarles]

Yes, you can do that.

[@thatartistyouknow]

Hello Paul Thank you for your video here. My first book on KDP went live last week by around 9-10 May....thanks to you :o). But I see that KDP reports that it will take 24 hours to 10 days for all the details of my book to be updated onto all the markets. So does that mean we can expect no sale before that? Because we aren't fully visible yet? Or if there is a sale even within the first day that it goes live, will the report be immediate or is there a minimum amount of wait time at least if we are new publishers. Just curious. I am keeping my hopes conservative but in case it sells what can we expect? Thanks in advance.

[@paulmarles]

A report of a sale will be made when the book is sent from Amazon to the customer.

[@thatartistyouknow]

@@paulmarles Got it. Thank you

[@mohammadhamad1623]

Thank you so much for the vedio But what do you mean of brand name, do you mean sign it as a trade mark?

[@paulmarles]

No, I mean pick any name other than a keyword.

[@rh8152]

I’m confused about this. I thought I saw somewhere that it was prohibited to use the book title name as your author name. Can you please clarify this? Thx

[@ezyunboxing6823]

is it possible to create a author page name different from the one mentioned in book while publishing and add these books to this author page....

[@paulmarles]

No, I think it's just a single author name.

[@maddiem5921]

Is there any official KDP guide on appropriate author names? I've been looking through the site and they only seem to make reference to names that sound real, like 'Jane Smith', which I assume is best for high content books, whereas I want to use something with 'Press' 'Publishing' or 'Designs' (e.g. Strange World Press/Publishing/Designs). Do you know if these sorts of names are ok?

[@paulmarles]

KDP help pages talks about not using keyword names.

[@Talktruth29]

Hi sir, which low content book selling Best for beginners.log book, activity books or colouring book

[@paulmarles]

Log books.

[@c.o.6895]

What would be your advice on pen name where I only realised after publishing several low content books, that someone else has that name already. They do not have an author central page but I do. Should I change my pen name?

[@paulmarles]

I guess it depends. Has the other author produced much. Is it liekly your names would get mixed up. I'd personally prefer to have an original pen name.

[@michalckr]

Hello! If I publish a book for the US market in English and then convert it into German and publish it for the German market, should I publish it under one ta same author name? Can I publish under a different author name? The book may differ in a language only and all the graphic elements are the same.

[@paulmarles]

Yes, you can do either. If it was me I would publish under a different author name.

[@itsecaaa]

Hi Paul. I really appreciate your help and such good content on youtube. I’ve started publishing low content books on AMZ KDP and I received an e-mail from Amz with the following thing to correct: “During our review, we found the contributor(s) listed for the following book(s) may confuse our customers.Please check our Metadata Guidelines to ensure that your contributor name(s) does not impair our readers’ ability to make good buying decisions.” Does that mean I have to correct the author name I chose? Could you please help me regarding this? 🙈 Thank you so much. ☺️

[@paulmarles]

Yes, it does mean you need to change the author name. Did you use a keyword in the author name? That's the most common problem.

[@starqueenlotus3755]

How to choose LEGAL brand name ?

[@paulmarles]

Check on Amazon to see if it's already being used and check on the uspto.gov website for trademark.

[@peaceandquiet]

Hello, I want to ask, when uploading a new book, how do some publishers have their brand name instead of real or pen names? For example let's say "Fun Coloring Books" or "Brain Teasers Publishing", etc.? I just chatted with one of KDP employees and he told me I can't and the only option I have is my real or pen name.

[@paulmarles]

You can use a brand name but not keywords in the author name.

[@peaceandquiet]

@@paulmarles I asked one of KDP staff and he told me I can't, many publishers told me that KDP is terminating these accounts, it was allowed in the past but not anymore.

[@adammed3594]

Hi Paul, I hope you are well. I have a question, can I work A brand on Amazon just doesn't exist in reality

[@paulmarles]

Could you re-phrase your question. Don’t quite understand what you’re asking.

[@adammed3594]

@@paulmarlesi want to create a brand on amazon Kindle, can i do that and is it free ?

Q: is it possible to change the author name (for using a Brand) to a book which has been already published?

[@paulmarles]

A. No

[@dalaslife6785]

Hello Paul ! s there a way to have a website and sell your KDP books on there and still fulfill them with KDP, maybe even automatically?

[@paulmarles]

You could point them to the Amazon from your website. I don’t know of any automation software.

[@dalaslife6785]

Thank you sir, if you can give your instagram for more questions please !

Q: Paul, Can I use different Brands/Author using my Original KDP account?

[@paulmarles]

A. Yes

[@TimelessTales590]

Hey Paul, i made a book a long time ago, but i did find that the author name that i put is like a name of short movie, is this a problem? Note : the title of the short movie is not copyrighted.

[@paulmarles]

I’m not sure. Potentially I guess there could be a problem as it is someone else’s creation.

[@TimelessTales590]

@@paulmarles thank you so much.

[@RobinRheaume]

Hi Paul! Thanks so much for the videos, they are extremely helpful. I have a question.....let’s say you are an author who produces a wide variety of different low content books, would it be helpful to create a different brand/author page for each broad niche? For instance, I have a variety of notebooks, some puzzle books, a couple of children’s books, a Mother’s Day specialized book, logbooks, a yoga class planner etc. I have published them all under my own name and have created an author central page for myself which lists all of my books. I am also setting up a website and I have a Facebook page. However, I feel like I lack consistency and true brand cohesion. I was wondering if creating a brand for all of my kids books, then a brand for adult puzzle books, then a brand for notebooks/log books, a brand for yoga books etc may be more beneficial because then the customer gets a more streamlined sense of what I offer. Or, should I just keep it all under one roof so to speak? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. And thanks again for the super helpful videos.

[@paulmarles]

You can do that but then it becomes very difficult to manage. It's hard enough creating the website, author central page, instagram page, facebook page etc. for one or two brands let alone more than that. Personally I take my approach from big publishing houses and what they do - they publish all under one brand name. I haven't got the time or resources to build multiple brands and you may find it difficult too. With too many I think you run the risk of underperforming in each one.

[@RobinRheaume]

@@paulmarles thanks so much for the reply! I like that perspective - to approach it like a large publishing house with lots of different options. That makes sense and you're right about the time, that would be difficult to manage. Okay that's great, thanks again and thanks for your videos, they're extremely helpful!

[@LavenderValley777]

Is it ok to use our brand name for example xyz publications on the back cover of every book we design.. ??

[@paulmarles]

Yes.

[@lucyswannsunsafespace7313]

CAN I make a passive income with a pen name and nothing more? I’ve been completely soured on social media & websites by a customer service background and just the last year. Can I stay a private person and replace my unemployment/disability check with this? I need an income, but have a disability not easily approved by SSI (MS, cognitive as well as physical dysfunction) and not easily hired on at a brick and mortar with my limitations.

[@paulmarles]

Yes, you can use a pen name and stay anonymous.

[@metalpractor5150]

Thank you for this video. Kdp seems to only allow first and last name, how do you have a single word pen name on Kdp?

[@paulmarles]

I’ll Look into it but suspect you can’t.

[@metalpractor5150]

@@paulmarles I appreciate it. Great channel

[@weaintsendingshotswelaunch5902]

Hello, I heard you speak about buying keywords, do you sell??

[@paulmarles]

Yes, in my Gumroad shop. The links are in the descriptions of the videos.

[@ramatafolayan2252]

@paul pls if someone is using eg impressive press as author name during book uploading if I'm creating author central will I use the impressive press as author name...can I also add my own name as contributor

[@paulmarles]

If you e author name is impressive press then that is what you would use in author central.

[@ocsocs3035]

hello ; can i include one name in all my books ?? I did unpublish some of my books because they contain keywords in the author's name. Is my account now secure?

[@paulmarles]

One name of what?

[@ocsocs3035]

@@paulmarles i mean all my book in one author name ? can i do this

[@paulmarles]

Yes, of course. That’s the best way in my opinion.

[@ocsocs3035]

@@paulmarles thanks paul i have another question I did unpublish some of my books because they contain keywords in the author's name. Is my account now secure?

[@paulmarles]

I don’t know. You’re probably ok.

[@Quesofrito100]

do you have facebook ???

[@paulmarles]

I gave a Facebook page - pauljmarles but I’m not really active on there at the moment.