If you’ve decided to publish low content books, one thing you should know is it’s a bit of a numbers game. I’m definitely a proponent of proof of concept, but when you get a winner, you may want to double down.
For this reason, it’s good to know how to create and publish low content books quickly with minimal effort while still maintaining quality.
To that end, I’m going to show you how to publish 3 types of low content books on KDP.
I’ve been working with Book Bolt for a while now, and it’s hands down a must-have tool for publishing low content books. They make the process super simple and offer many different tools to help you differentiate your interiors.
Find out how simple it can be!
Table of Contents
Publish Low Content Books in 10 Minutes or Less
I’ve got my metadata complete, so I have done some prep work. I’m starting off with the following for all 3 books:
- Titles
- Subtitles
- Book descriptions
- Keywords
- Categories
Book 1
Log into your KDP account.
Click + Create to start a new project.
Click Paperback or Hardcover.
We’re off to the races!
Type your keyword-rich Title and Subtitle. Think of these fields as two additional keyword slots. Use them tastefully.
Type your author or pen name.
Type or copy/paste in your book description. Toss a few keywords in here, too, wherever they fit naturally.
Fill out your distribution and publishing rights options accordingly. This book is not in the public domain.
Fill your seven keyword slots to the brim with very little redundancy. I cast a wide net with my keywords with overlapping keywords that have similar root words. Then I put those in the same keyword slot in KDP.
I got my keywords and categories using Book Bolt’s built-in keyword and category tools.
These won’t be the same as the categories on the front end of Amazon. They are more like guideposts for Amazon to place your books in the best category as they see fit.
Since we are publishing a low content book, we’ll check the box to indicate that fact. Leave the Large Print box empty.
I’m clicking No for Adult Content.
At this point, click Save and Continue.
Since we are publishing a low content book, we don’t need an ISBN. Don’t try to use one you’ve purchased either. In fact, ignore this and the publication date because Amazon will timestamp your publication when they approve it.
Choose your trim size, ink color, and other printing options accordingly.
Now it’s time to upload your manuscript. I recommend sticking to PDFs. While they accept other formats, PDFs are the least messy in this situation. Save yourself the trouble.
Upload your cover file in PDF format. I recommend having a professional cover created and you can get that done through our vetted Fiverr professionals for a very reasonable price. Skipping this detail will land your book in obscurity with all the other books that will not sell.
Wait a few minutes for the book to process and then you can check it in the Previewer.
Look through the interior and make sure everything looks good and there are no errors.
In the event there are errors, you’ll need to fix your file in an editable format, resave it as a PDF, and upload the updated file. Then you’ll have to wait through processing again and recheck it in the Previewer. Repeat this process as needed until your file is right.
In my case, I know I won’t have any issues since I used Book Bolt to make my interiors. Their software makes creating interiors super easy and they are always flawless.
Once you’re happy with your files, click Save and Continue.
Did you happen to notice the base cost to print your book? That’s not what you pay. That’s what the customer ultimately pays when they order a copy of your book.
Since I own the content, I have the rights to distribute my book in all territories, so I fill out the Pricing page accordingly.
I like to set my price in the first box and then go down and adjust all the price amounts to just below the whole number.
For example, I set my price at $3.99 in the U.S. Then I did $2.99 for the U.K.
With VAT tax in the other regions, I set the price with that in mind instead of in the box. I’m not saying this is the only pricing strategy and you should certainly use and test your own strategies. I’m just using this as an example and not a recommendation on pricing.
Play around with it.
Click Publish your Paperback Book.
Tony Robbins once said, “Repetition is the mother of skill.”
So, I’m going to publish two more low content books while I’m at it.
Book 2
Next up is a planner. The steps are pretty much going to be the same. We going to skip the series feature again, but I’ll show you want to do on the next book.
I drop in my author name, book description, and 7 keywords.
Be sure to read the comprehensive tutorial that I linked previously. It includes a link to a great article to Dave Chesson’s case study on how to utilize those 7 keyword slot to their full potential.
If you don’t have time to read it now, the short of it is that you want to fill at 3 to 6 of the keyword slots to the brim with a mixture of related terms.
Then shoot for 1 to 4 keyword slots with a simply keyword phrase with high search traffic.
Fill in your categories, select low content since this is a planner, etc. Second verse, same as the first.
Save and Continue.
You already know I’m going to skip the ISBN and the publication date.
Fill out print options. Let’s stop here and I’ll mention that the ink and paper type you choose can greatly affect the base printing cost of your book.
If you go with the first two options, those are the cheapest options for printing cost. The standard color is more expensive and the premium color is the most expensive. It can be so expensive in fact that it can render your book not even worth publishing because even if you kick up your pricing, very few people will buy it.
I use 6×9 for the trim size because it’s the most popular and sells the best. Feel free to play around with this part a bit. Variety is the spice of life!
Alright, I’m going to follow the same steps as I did with the first book by uploading the interior and cover files in PDF format and checking them in the Previewer.
Save and Continue.
I’m also continue with the same strategy I used for pricing the first book.
FUN FACT: Did you know that low content books cannot get expanded distribution?
This policy was put in place for KDP by their expanded distribution partner, the Ingram Content Group.
This hasn’t always been the case and you could make quite a bit of money from expanded distribution, but Ingram no longer distributes most low content books.
Alright, so that is book 2 published.
Book 3
Last one, and this is the one that’s going to tie everything together.
Before I get into all of that, I want to give a huge shoutout to Book Bolt. These three books took me half an hour because their software, Book Bolt Studio is AMAZING!
You can use Book Bolt to create high-quality notebooks of all kinds, planners, puzzle books and more!
That’s not all they do. They have robust tools for niche and keyword research for low content books, so you can make informed decisions based on real-world data scraped from the Amazon platform.
With Book Bolt, what you have is the Swiss Army Knife to publish low content books. No more wandering blindly into the wilderness of Amazon KDP alone. Get 20% off your Book Bolt plan when you use the coupon code DALE20 through my link at: https://dalelinks.com/bookbolt
Technically, KDP doesn’t consider puzzle books, coloring books, and activity books as low content books, but they still function the same during the publishing process.
I’m going to type my keyword-rich title and subtitle. I’m going to input my author name, book description, and fill in my keyword slots.
Now I’m going to create a series. Remember, we’ve been putting this off until now. Creating a series is a great way to bundle books together on a single product page.
This is also an additional way that I can index my books so they are more discoverable.
When I publish another book in the series later, I won’t have to set up the series again, I just need to add my book to it.
Here’s where it gets interesting.
I spoke with a KDP phone rep and asked what categories are best for me to choose for low content books. Since there’s really not any specific categories for them.
The rep said, “Pick what best suits the book and if it’s the wrong selection, we’ll notify you via email.”
She assured me I wouldn’t risk my account being terminated if I chose the wrong category.
My next issue was defining low content books.
I shared with the phone rep that I was publishing a word search puzzle book. She said that is considered a low content book.
I published accordingly.
Surprise, surprise, I received an email a few days later correcting me and saying it was not a low content book.
Despite what the phone rep said, they advised it was not a low content book.
No problem, it only meant an extra day of processing for me.
They didn’t yell at me, they merely said, “Fix it.”
I’ll need to use an ISBN since it’s not a low content book. In this situation, I wouldn’t recommend buying an ISBN unless you plan to publish on additional platforms besides Amazon.
To be clear, I still classify this as a low content book for my own records and purposes. There’s no sense in using a new term to describe something that’s been around for years.
The publishing process continues as before. I select my print options, upload my files, and check the Previewer.
Save and Continue.
I’m keeping the same distribution as the other books and set the pricing.
Now that the category has changed, I did have the option for expanded distribution since this is not low content.
Activity and coloring books are sometimes rejected for expanded distribution. You won’t really know unless you check into your book details after publishing and see the option grayed out like it is here.
To my knowledge, you can’t get banned or penalized for selecting expanded distribution for your book. My thought is why not select it if you want to and can. It might bring in a few extra sales.
That’s it. Publish.
Three Books in 30 Minutes
We just published 3 books in under a half hour. What are your thoughts? Would you consider using Book Bolt to create and streamline your niche and keyword research? Let us know in the comments.