How Peter Made Over $4 Million With Amazon KDP

Edition 65

DannyOnDemand

Aug 18, 2024

Welcome to the 65th edition of Royalties on Demand - helping you get more sales with Amazon KDP

In This Week’s Newsletter You will find:

How Peter Made Over $4 Million With Amazon KDP
New Amazon KDP Changes You Need To Know About

How Peter Made Over $4 Million With Amazon KDP

I haven’t interviewed in this newsletter for a while so I wanted to return with a bang.

In this special interview, I talk with Peter, who has been very successful in publishing books on Amazon.

He has made over $4 million!!!!! and has been doing this for more than 8 years. Peter shares his tips, strategies, and the lessons he has learned along the way.

This is the first of several interviews where Peter will share the secrets to his success and give advice to anyone who wants to start publishing books on Amazon.

1. How did you start publishing your books on Amazon, and why did you choose this as your way to make money online?

I found out about Amazon KDP when I was searching for ways to make passive income online. I joined a course that explained how it worked, and after seeing success stories from others who had made it work, I realized it was something I could understand.

Since I’ve been reading books as far back as I can remember, it made sense to me that if people were buying books, someone must be making money from them. That’s what drew me to KDP as a way to make money online while working with something that I found interesting.

2. What was it like publishing your first book? How did it sell when you first put it on Amazon?

I was fortunate to have success with my first book, which I know isn’t very common. It made around $500 in the first month. My second book also did well, bringing in about $200 in its first month.

But after that, the books I published didn’t perform as well. I realized that I had done really good research for my first two books, but the others weren’t as well researched, which affected their success.

3. How many years have you been publishing on Amazon KDP, and how long did it take you to start seeing success?

I’ve been publishing on Amazon KDP for 8.5 years. Within six months, I was making $5,000 per month. However, after that, I lost focus for about six months, and my income dropped to around $2,500 in December 2016, a month when sales are usually strong.

That experience made me commit to making publishing my main focus, and since then, my business has grown year after year.

4. How important is keyword research and category selection for your book's success on Amazon, and what tools or methods do you use?

Keyword research and category selection were very important when I was starting out. Over time, as you build an audience, keyword research still plays a role, but it becomes more important to serve that audience.

Back in 2016, I mostly did manual research by looking at bestseller lists and sales ranks. Now, I use tools like BookBeam and PublisherRocket to help with niche research and category selection.

5. What role does book cover design and description play in attracting readers, and how do you approach these aspects?

I think the book cover plays a crucial role, and the description is also important. I focus on making the cover relevant to the topic and target audience. For example, a book for kids will be more colorful, while a business book will have a more serious tone.

Everything from the colors to the font communicates something, so I make sure that communication aligns with the book’s topic and audience.

For the description, I use copywriting principles, focusing on benefits rather than features. People buy the destination, not the plane ride, so I aim to highlight what readers will gain from the book.

6. How do you decide on pricing for your books, and how has that strategy evolved over time?

I typically price my paperback books so I earn around $4-$5 in royalties. For eBooks, I price them higher than I did at the beginning because pricing them too low might lower the perceived value of the paperback, which I want to avoid.

7. How do you handle book launches, and what pre-launch and post-launch activities do you find most important?

Before launching, I send out advance review copies to readers in the hope of getting reviews when the book goes live. After the book is published, I usually do a five-day free promotion, start Amazon ads, and send emails to my list to announce the new book.

8. What marketing strategies have been the most effective for you in driving sales and gaining visibility on Amazon?

The most effective strategies for me have been Amazon ads, building an email list, and growing a social media following for my brand. One way to build an email list is by offering something valuable, called a lead magnet, inside your book.

These leads are the most valuable because they’ve already bought something from you, so they’re likely to be interested in more of what you offer. A lead magnet can be a free book, a video course, or anything else that makes people want to give you their email in exchange.

You can include a link in your book that takes readers to a page where they can enter their email to get the lead magnet. This helps you gather emails from people who are already engaged with your content.

To grow your email list even faster, you can run ads that direct people to a landing page where they can enter their email to get the free resource.

If you have a following on social media, you can also post about your lead magnet there and drive traffic to your landing page, encouraging more people to sign up.

9. How do you deal with setbacks or books that don’t perform as well as expected?

When a book doesn’t perform as well as expected, I try to figure out why. For example, am I bidding too low on Amazon ads, or does the book cover need improvement? I always aim to analyze what went wrong so I can improve future books. If possible, I also update the underperforming book to try and boost its sales.

10. What has been the most challenging part of your KDP business?

The most challenging part was in 2022 when my KDP account was wrongfully terminated. Fortunately, I was able to get it reinstated, but it was a stressful and difficult experience.

I'm a big believer in playing it safe with Amazon KDP. I've seen too many self-publishers use short-term loopholes, only to realize it’s not a good long-term strategy.

I think my cautious approach made it easier to resolve the issue when I had problems with my account. Even though I didn’t get much help from the Amazon Content Review Team—I emailed them 4-5 times, and they eventually told me that they wouldn’t be responding further—I was able to find a solution.

I replied to an older email thread with a different KDP department, and they were able to resolve the issue for me.

I also started the process of contacting Amazon Sellers Attorney to help me out, and I think that’s a good option for anyone in a similar situation. From what I’ve heard, if a self-publisher hasn’t done anything wrong, they’re usually able to get their account reinstated.

11. What has been the most surprising aspect of your journey to making over $4.2 million?

The most surprising aspect has been realizing that there’s always more to learn. Even now, I’m surprised by how much I continue to improve as a publisher. There are so many components to publishing, and the constant opportunity for improvement and growth keeps it exciting.

12. What advice would you give to someone just starting with Amazon KDP, especially if their goal is to achieve success like yours?

Learn from people who are already seeing results. Focus on the 20% of actions that will lead to 80% of the results. For beginners, picking the right niche, having a compelling book cover, and choosing a strong title are crucial. Spend extra time getting those three things right. While there’s much more to consider, focusing on those three aspects is a good start.

13. What are your future plans for your Amazon KDP business over the next few years?

My future plans are to focus mainly on my primary brand. I want to see how I can continue to provide even more value to the audience I’ve built and explore where I can take it from here.

Thanks for your time, Peter.

Before you finish, make sure you watch this video on Peter’s Youtube channel about the biggest money maker on Amazon KDP. It’s one the best and most in-depth videos I’ve seen about Amazon KDP.

Stay in touch with Peter.

Here's his Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@peterholmquist

Here's his free community on Skool: https://www.skool.com/self-publishing-entrepreneurs-9850

New Amazon KDP Changes You Need To Know About

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Have an awesome week ahead and I look forward to catching up with you next week.

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Danny