Welcome to the 73rd edition of Royalties on Demand - helping you get more sales with Amazon KDP
In This Week’s Newsletter, You will find:
How I Made $50k in 3 Months With Amazon KDP
How I Made $50k in 3 Months With Amazon KDP
The last quarter of 2024 (October–December) was my best yet on Amazon KDP.
In just three months, I made nearly $50,000 from my books.
Honestly, it still feels surreal to write that number out, especially when I think back to how long it took me in the beginning just to make a few hundred dollars.
But this isn’t some overnight success story.
It’s years of trial-and-error, persistence, and building.
I want to share what worked for me so you can apply some of these lessons this Q4.
1. Q4 is everything
You can earn more in October, November, and December than in the other 9 months of the year.
People are in buying mode, purchasing gifts, journals, planners, coloring books, and all sorts of niche books. It’s not uncommon for authors who normally make $1–3K/month to suddenly see $10–20K+ in a single month during Q4.
That was definitely my experience.
My December alone brought in over $26K.
The takeaway? Always build with Q4 in mind.
The work you put in over this year will pay off when the holiday rush comes.
2. Double down on what’s already working
One mistake I made early on was constantly chasing new ideas.
Now, before creating something new, I look at my existing books.
Which ones are already selling? Can I make the covers more appealing? Improve the descriptions? Run ads on them?
Even better, can I create complementary books that naturally pair with my bestsellers?
For example, if a journal for dads is selling well, maybe I can create versions for moms, grandparents, or even translate it into other languages.
If you are not sure what works, then focus on creating giftable books. These are books that people buy specifically as presents for others. They’re usually designed to be personal, fun, or special, rather than just purely informational.
Some common examples are:
Prompted journals (e.g., “Dad, I Want to Hear Your Story” or “Grandma, Tell Me Your Life Story”).
Guided memory books (for parents, grandparents, couples).
Planners & organizers (that look nice enough to gift).
Coloring books (for adults or kids).
Puzzle and activity books (crosswords, word searches, trivia).
Cookbooks or hobby books (things people enjoy in their free time).
3. Don’t try to do it all yourself
When I first started, I wanted to control every little detail, covers, interiors, formatting, ads.
It was exhausting, and honestly, my quality suffered.
Now I focus on what I enjoy (research, strategy) and outsource what I don’t (cover design and formatting).
Focus on creating the best product possible and sometimes that means letting go of the parts you’re not great at.
If you don’t have enough to outsource, look into using Ai tools like Ideogram or Chat GPT.
4. Research is where the money’s made
The biggest difference-maker in KDP isn’t fancy marketing or secret tricks, it’s choosing the right niches.
I don’t publish what I think will sell anymore. I look at the data:
Are there books with low Best Seller Ranks in this niche?
Is competition manageable (not tens of thousands of results)?
Are there gaps I can fill (based on customer reviews)?
Tools like Book Beam have helped me spot these opportunities by showing me what sold well in past Q4s.
It’s not about reinventing the wheel, it’s about creating a better, fresher version of books people already want.
5. Marketing is non-negotiable
Uploading a book and waiting for sales doesn’t work.
The first 30 days of a book’s launch are critical, so I either:
Run Amazon ads (when I have a budget).
Or use free traffic sources like TikTok (which I’ve grown to love).
The trick with TikTok is simple: show your book.
A quick video flipping through the pages or showing off the cover can get thousands of views and those views turn into sales.
With ads, I treat the budget as an investment.
Yes, sometimes you lose money at first, but ranking on the first page of Amazon is worth it.
In my Q4 run, about 22% of my revenue went into ads, but they were highly profitable overall.
If you start applying these strategies now, you’ll be amazed at what’s possible during Q4.
Thanks for reading this week’s newsletter.
Have an awesome week ahead and I look forward to catching up with you soon.
Let me know if you have any questions in the comments.
Enjoyed this newsletter?
Share it with family, friends or colleagues who might also find it helpful.
Danny