nurd:


Hi,

I don't particularly follow BSR much because the competition is extreme now.

What I use BSR for is to determine demand in the niche. If there is demand (at least three books with low bsr) I'll go into the niche and prop my book up with ads.

That's not to say there are not niches where you can thrive without ads. There are plenty. But I don't touch some niches for personal reasons.

Please what are your reasons for not touching some niches?

And please can you give examples of such niches

nurd:

Answered

Good morning. I'm trying to do the 5 days free promotion. My book is due for this.. when i click the button it briefly shows the page then reverts back to previous page... why is this ?

evb2000:



Well, I can't predict the future but your concern is very valid and there is a possibility. Most big companies are reducing their workforce and replacing them with AI. I was recently invited for a beta test to narrate some of my books into audiobooks by AI. Men! If they had not told me it was AI, i won't believe. It sounds so natural. This simply means, audiobook narrators would soon be out of business.

So, there is a possibility to train their AI to write highly in-demand titles and authors may be sidelined. I honestly pray this won't be the case.

Good morning. I'm trying to do the 5 days free promotion. My book is due for this.. when i click the button it briefly shows the page then reverts back to previous page... why is this ?

SonofElElyonRet:


Good morning. I'm trying to do the 5 days free promotion. My book is due for this.. when i click the button it briefly shows the page then reverts back to previous page... why is this ?

Who is advising you guys to do a free promotion for your books? It is a recipe for disaster. The only reason you should give out any of your book(s) free of charge, is when you are using it as a lead magnet. That is, you are either using it to promote another book(s) in a series (or have the link to the other book within the one you are giving out free) or you are exchanging it for their email address to build your email list.

This is all you get, when you guys keep listening or buying all these mushroom courses online that repeat this non-sense. Never give any of your book(s) out for free not for a day. The algorithm has since left that style of promotion. I have stopped putting my books to on select. If the topic is good, the serious ones will buy.

evb2000:


Who is advising you guys to do a free promotion for your books? It is a recipe for disaster. The only reason you should give out any of your book(s) free of charge, is when you are using it as a lead magnet. That is, you are either using it to promote another book(s) in a series (or have the link to the other book within the one you are giving out free) or you are exchanging it for their email address to build your email list.

This is all you get, when you guys keep listening or buying all these mushroom courses online that repeat this non-sense. Never give any of your book(s) out for free not for a day. The algorithm has since left that style of promotion. I have stopped putting my books to on select. If the topic is good, the serious ones will buy.

Do you mentor people? Like a paid class?

Phantom042:


Do you mentor people? Like a paid class?

No. I am very busy with school work. Combining it with KDP is a lot of stress already.

evb2000:


No. I am very busy with school work. Combining it with KDP is a lot of stress already.

Ok

SonofElElyonRet:


Good morning. I'm trying to do the 5 days free promotion. My book is due for this.. when i click the button it briefly shows the page then reverts back to previous page... why is this ?

I've not experienced this. Could it be your network?

lovediehatelive:


Please what are your reasons for not touching some niches?

And please can you give examples of such niches

Niches that require images to accompany points I'm trying to make. Example is interior design. I like niche that don't require pictures too much.

jolak5:


Thank you so much. I will start now. Can you explain the product page placement again? Does it mean I will create another ad for product placement or it's a tool that's a part of the former ad?

Product placement is simply trying to appear in other books page. When you click any paperback book, scroll below and you'll see sponsored and a list of books below. Those books are being advertised and are showing there using product placement. It might need a video to illustrate it. But once you start, you should get it.

dreamxhaser:


Thank you so much

One more question on my mind. Especially for you and evb2000

Do you think AI will replace KDP Authors in the future? I plan to do this for as long as I can. But I've been wondering if AI will destroy the business in like 4-5 years. Because I have the feeling that if AI becomes good enough, people will just generate their books with AI instead of buying from KDP.

As experts what do you think?

I have no doubt that AI cannot replace writers, at least, with what I'm seeing now. My opinion may change later.

And I'm not an expert.

nurd:


Niches that require images to accompany points I'm trying to make. Example is interior design. I like niche that don't require pictures too much.

Thanks,
Now I understand better.

nurd:


I've not experienced this. Could it be your network?

Thanks. I've done it now

Good morning everyone, please how do I design a good book cover?

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nurd:


Hi,

I don't particularly follow BSR much because the competition is extreme now.

What I use BSR for is to determine demand in the niche. If there is demand (at least three books with low bsr) I'll go into the niche and prop my book up with ads.

That's not to say there are not niches where you can thrive without ads. There are plenty. But I don't touch some niches for personal reasons.

where did you get usd card for running ads?

dreamxhaser:


Thank you so much

One more question on my mind. Especially for you and evb2000

Do you think AI will replace KDP Authors in the future? I plan to do this for as long as I can. But I've been wondering if AI will destroy the business in like 4-5 years. Because I have the feeling that if AI becomes good enough, people will just generate their books with AI instead of buying from KDP.

As experts what do you think?

do you know what it takes to write a good book? most of the best books takes years to write. you cant just slab words together and get a good book. AI is good at generating one off content like a short article or essay, not a book, not a best selling book. chai

headboyprince:
where did you get usd card for running ads?

I have payoneer mastercard

nurd:


I have payoneer mastercard

what did you do to get yours?

We are buying and selling .... Check our pages below. Thank you.

headboyprince:
what did you do to get yours?

Open payoneer account, earn into it, order the card.

nurd:


Niches that require images to accompany points I'm trying to make. Example is interior design. I like niche that don't require pictures too much.

I was thinking it's erotica books, and your reasons were religious reasons.

Don't know how saturated or profitable such erotica niches are.


Please again, what do you say about it?

evb2000:


Who is advising you guys to do a free promotion for your books? It is a recipe for disaster. The only reason you should give out any of your book(s) free of charge, is when you are using it as a lead magnet. That is, you are either using it to promote another book(s) in a series (or have the link to the other book within the one you are giving out free) or you are exchanging it for their email address to build your email list.

This is all you get, when you guys keep listening or buying all these mushroom courses online that repeat this non-sense. Never give any of your book(s) out for free not for a day. The algorithm has since left that style of promotion. I have stopped putting my books to on select. If the topic is good, the serious ones will buy.

In response to the bolded part, how well exactly do you actually do on KDP? I continue to be amazed at the fact that, despite all the endless conversation going on in this thread, nobody has been able to provide a single example of a black/Nigerian person actually making significant income on the platform (or any other American-owned online platform for that matter).

Tomman:


In response to the bolded part, how well exactly do you actually do on KDP? I continue to be amazed at the fact that, despite all the endless conversation going on in this thread, nobody has been able to provide a single example of a black/Nigerian person actually making significant income on the platform (or any other American-owned online platform for that matter).

I don't understand the angle you are coming from. People have different publishing goals and they are doing great. Ofcourse, as Nigerians, living in Nigeria, we can't compete with most American Authors, but there are Nigerian authors in the US doing well by virtue of the fact that they can walk into any media house and advertise their books. However, you don't expect an author in Nigeria to compete with the likes J.K Rowlings or Dan Brown? Because we don't have the budget and exposure to market your books like they do. Besides, they are brand names and building a brand takes years of hardwork.

Now, let's bring it back home. Success is relative, what you feel is sucess may not be success to the other person. Some authors just need book royalties to put food on their table, while others want to build a brand. However, there are many "successful" self-publishers that I know and others that I know are Nigerians but not close to doing $1k, $2k, $6k, $7k and $10k a month. Like, I said, success is relative. But don't expect to churn out poor quality books with AI and be successful. Don't expect to be successful without a good budget for marketing your books.

Bring it back to the question on how well i am doing? I am not a guru neither will i claim to be so successful because I am still a work-in-progress. But the little i have gotten from publishing, i have documented in my diary. If not for anything, I can afford to fund my MSc program and take care of my living expensis while schooling in the west, which I give all the glory to God.

https://www.nairaland.com/6884099/sponsoring-myself-study-canada-sept

evb2000:


I don't understand the angle you are coming from. People have different publishing goals and they are doing great. Ofcourse, as Nigerians, living in Nigeria, we can't compete with most American Authors, but there are Nigerian authors in the US doing well by virtue of the fact that they can walk into any media house and advertise their books. However, you don't expect an author in Nigeria to compete with the likes J.K Rowlings or Dan Brown? Because we don't have the budget and exposure to market your books like they do. Besides, they are brand names and building a brand takes years of hardwork.

Now, let's bring it back home. Success is relative, what you feel is sucess may not be success to the other person. Some authors just need book royalties to put food on their table, while others want to build a brand. However, there are many "successful" self-publishers that I know and others that I know are Nigerians but not close to doing $1k, $2k, $6k, $7k and $10k a month. Like, I said, success is relative. But don't expect to churn out poor quality books with AI and be successful. Don't expect to be successful without a good budget for marketing your books.

Bring it back to the question on how well i am doing? I am not a guru neither will i claim to be so successful because I am still a work-in-progress. But the little i have gotten from publishing, i have documented in my diary. If not for anything, I can afford to fund my MSc program and take care of my living expensis while schooling in the west, which I give all the glory to God.

https://www.nairaland.com/6884099/sponsoring-myself-study-canada-sept

I'm so glad you answered his question, I don't know if it's the same guy writing about how Amazon is "racist" to African writers.

lovediehatelive:

I was thinking it's erotica books, and your reasons were religious reasons.

Don't know how saturated or profitable such erotica niches are.


Please again, what do you say about it?

I don't have aby experience with fiction. Those who have dabbled say it's extremely competitive but you can try.

Amazon isn't rascist as far as I can tell. They give us the opportunity but trust Nigerians and shortcuts and ruining everything for others.

Guys should go to Twitter and see Nigerians -- living in Nigeria -- doing $5k+ monthly conveniently. Check ife of ifeva group. In fact, they are plenty.

Africans, and Nigerians in particular, are doing okay on kdp. There are many white authors who can't even boast of 10k monthly. Evidence dey.

And before you come for me, I just started like the rest here and I've already crossed $500. That may be a pittance but it supplements my other income streams nicely...

nurd:
Amazon isn't rascist as far as I can tell. They give us the opportunity but trust Nigerians and shortcuts and ruining everything for others.

Guys should go to Twitter and see Nigerians -- living in Nigeria -- doing $5k+ monthly conveniently. Check ife of ifeva group. In fact, they are plenty.

Africans, and Nigerians in particular, are doing okay on kdp. There are many white authors who can't even boast of 10k monthly. Evidence dey.

And before you come for me, I just started like the rest here and I've already crossed $500. That may be a pittance but it supplements my other income streams nicely...

Quick question though, Did you learn kdp yourself or you have a mentor, You answered someone while back that you started last year.

The Ife of ifeva group you mention is it IfechukwuO on Twitter?

watifeb:


Honestly, who even cares if they are racist towards Nigeria, so far you are able to use Pen name, write good books and collect your dollars. Shikena.

I don't even understand the narrative the poster is trying to push actually.

Like how many Nigerians can even afford to buy the books the White are buying sef. If it's non-fiction, majority will rather prefer to read different blog post to get the info they need.

Fiction nko, we will rather prefer to look for the free ebook online.

I feel it's even now that Nigerians are beginning to buy fiction books sef, and it's still in the minority.

Even here on NL, writers will write for free in the literature section, once they put a price tag majority won't be interested again.

Honestly, so far Nigerians are still able to write and upload on Amazon, does not matter if we have to use Pen name or not..

PS: Thank you for always responding to people question here,and I don't think 500 dol is small.

Quick question though, Did you learn kdp yourself or you have a mentor, You answered someone while back that you started last year.

I've bought at least two courses and have had at least two mentors. So I didn't learn myself.

nurd:


I've bought at least two courses and have had at least two mentors. So I didn't learn myself.

Brother

Please teach me na.

evb2000:


I don't understand the angle you are coming from. People have different publishing goals and they are doing great. Ofcourse, as Nigerians, living in Nigeria, we can't compete with most American Authors, but there are Nigerian authors in the US doing well by virtue of the fact that they can walk into any media house and advertise their books. However, you don't expect an author in Nigeria to compete with the likes J.K Rowlings or Dan Brown? Because we don't have the budget and exposure to market your books like they do. Besides, they are brand names and building a brand takes years of hardwork.

Now, let's bring it back home. Success is relative, what you feel is sucess may not be success to the other person. Some authors just need book royalties to put food on their table, while others want to build a brand. However, there are many "successful" self-publishers that I know and others that I know are Nigerians but not close to doing $1k, $2k, $6k, $7k and $10k a month. Like, I said, success is relative. But don't expect to churn out poor quality books with AI and be successful. Don't expect to be successful without a good budget for marketing your books.

Bring it back to the question on how well i am doing? I am not a guru neither will i claim to be so successful because I am still a work-in-progress. But the little i have gotten from publishing, i have documented in my diary. If not for anything, I can afford to fund my MSc program and take care of my living expensis while schooling in the west, which I give all the glory to God.

https://www.nairaland.com/6884099/sponsoring-myself-study-canada-sept

Eve

Do you think it's still advisable to come to Canada? I and a Female friend of mine are really taking this KDP serious. You are our motivation to be honest.

We sef want use the money japa. I wanted to stay in naija but omo, this country just dey anyhow.

I dey reason Canada, like how is life there? Is it possible to come and set up our lives? I heard some people saying Canada don hard.

We are both 21 years, and about to finish our schooling this year so I think age is in our side.

evb2000:


I don't understand the angle you are coming from. People have different publishing goals and they are doing great. Ofcourse, as Nigerians, living in Nigeria, we can't compete with most American Authors, but there are Nigerian authors in the US doing well by virtue of the fact that they can walk into any media house and advertise their books. However, you don't expect an author in Nigeria to compete with the likes J.K Rowlings or Dan Brown? Because we don't have the budget and exposure to market your books like they do. Besides, they are brand names and building a brand takes years of hardwork.

Now, let's bring it back home. Success is relative, what you feel is sucess may not be success to the other person. Some authors just need book royalties to put food on their table, while others want to build a brand. However, there are many "successful" self-publishers that I know and others that I know are Nigerians but not close to doing $1k, $2k, $6k, $7k and $10k a month. Like, I said, success is relative. But don't expect to churn out poor quality books with AI and be successful. Don't expect to be successful without a good budget for marketing your books.

Bring it back to the question on how well i am doing? I am not a guru neither will i claim to be so successful because I am still a work-in-progress. But the little i have gotten from publishing, i have documented in my diary. If not for anything, I can afford to fund my MSc program and take care of my living expensis while schooling in the west, which I give all the glory to God.

https://www.nairaland.com/6884099/sponsoring-myself-study-canada-sept

To give you a clearer picture of what I was talking about, let me quote a post that I made in a different thread that was based on a similar topic:

The challenges that Africans - particularly Nigerians - and even black people in general, face publishing books on KDP, are not the same as the challenges that a white person living in America or UK, for example, faces. And it is extremely misleading to talk as though it is exactly the same, as several people here have been doing.

Of course, normally, a self-publishing author faces the basic challenges of competition (given the tons of books published everyday by other authors), and the need to market his/her books. And that is assuming the written work itself is good enough to interest readers (which is the first challenge that any author has). But if you think that these are the only problems a black/African self-publishing author faces in trying to make money on this platform, you are extremely naive.

As a black person (particularly a black African) you would mostly be wasting your time trying to independently publish books and make money on Amazon or any other American owned online platform for that matter. In fact, platforms like D2D and Smashwords don't even hide the fact that they ban books by Nigerians and other Africans. Amazon is just less open about it.

The truth is that the KDP system algorithm is rigged and it's rigged heavily in favour of white people particularly in America, and next the west in general. And it has nothing to do with talent or how interesting one's books are. Amazon will not allow any black author - particularly in Africa - to make any significant amount of money independently on their platform. They may let you make a tiny amount. But the moment your books start to get any popularity and real money starts coming in, they immediately ban your account and seize (i.e. steal) all your proceeds. This is exactly what has happened to countless black authors including those who are US citizens. Their accounts were suddenly banned and their money seized just as they started making substantial income. And their attempts to get any sort of explanation from Amazon as to their sudden baffling and bewildering banning were met with no real or meaningful response, or no response at all.

The case of Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki who was an award winning Nigerian Sci-Fi writer is just one example of this: https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/s0phie/publishing_news_amazon_shuts_down_account_of/

For a long time now, I have been challenging people to show me a single example of any black/African author who has actually been successful publishing independently on Amazon Kdp platform (i.e. has lots of ratings and reviews for their books), and nobody has been able to name or point at any example, despite all the incredibly talented writers in Nigeria/Africa or the black world in general. Not a single example. Does that fact alone not strike you as really strange or suspicious?

Incidentally, here is another example of Amazon's anti-black racism within their own organisation: https://www.vox.com/recode/2021/2/26/22297554/amazon-race-black-diversity-inclusion

I provided those same two links in my previous comments on this very thread, but apparently the people here who saw the post did not bother to check them out (one person even sneered at my statement that Amazon is racist towards black people at all - which is absolutely astonishing given that the very first link clearly documents this very fact extensively). But this is the problem a lot of black people have; they just do not ever want to believe that white people can possibly hate them and be against their interests. Even while evidence abounds that this is the case, they ignore it.

For the record, I am not by any means trying to discourage anyone from experimenting with KDP publishing, especially if writing is your passion. That is not my point. All I want is for us to not be deceived about what our chances really are and what the game really is that we are playing here. Are we playing a truly fair game in which everyone, regardless of race, region or nationality, have the same chances of being successful as long as they work hard and do all the right things? Or are we playing a rigged game?

My problem is that I have very strong reasons to believe the game is rigged. Not just against Nigerians/Africans, but against black people in general - including African Americans. Though it is even more so the case with Africans, especially Nigerians. Saying that it is just a matter of doing the usual stuff like having good covers and doing marketing and so on, is silly. It assumes that you are on an equal playing field where the game is not rigged. I guarantee you that there are thousands of highly talented black writers in Nigeria and around the world doing all that stuff and yet barely making anything worthwhile in spite of it. And this is true even if their stories are set in western/American setting. I have constantly challenged people over the years to show me a single example of a black person, even within America, who has been very successful publishing their own books on KDP (with hundreds or thousands of reviews and ratings), without going through traditional publishing companies where their books would be vetted by the gatekeepers and they get paid token royalties, and nobody has been able to point at a single example of one despite all the black talent around the world. Even in American forums where I have posted the question, they will typically whine and lash out for daring to ask such a question, but fail to provide any example.

Even in your diary thread (which I checked out), there was a place where you actually said that you know many talented Nigerian writers working hard publishing their books on KDP, but none of them make anything even close to $1000 a month, And you don't see how strange that is. That makes absolutely ZERO sense if this were really a fair game that we were playing here - where books sink or swim simply based on quality of the stories and marketing/word-of-mouth, and nothing else. There are tons of hack white authors in the US and other countries making much more than $1000 a month on KDP from publishing recyclable garbage - some without even much or any marketing.

As I said in the quote above, as a black person - and most especially a Nigerian/African - Amazon will only let you make chump change on their platform. But the moment you somehow manage to overcome their unfair algorithms and start making any really significant money, their axe will come down on you. This has happened countless times to black authors (even those who are US citizens) who till this day do not know what they did, get no answers from Amazon, and have had their proceeds robbed from them. I also believe that the reason why you were even able to make the amount you made - a few hundred here and there per month, eventually accumulating to about $1500 - is because you were in Canada. That almost certainly would not have happened if your geographical location at the time had been Nigeria. Platforms like D2D have even banned Nigerians and other Africans blatantly.

You may dismiss this merely as "conspiracy theory". But in the end, I keep going back to evidence. I am an observant person, and I am very familiar with the indie publishing business. And the fact remains that what I have observed does not in any way look as if the system is a fair game where everyone regardless of race, region or nationality is on an equal playing field. Instead all indications point in the exact opposite direction. (And, as pointed out earlier, that is the case even if you are all writing books based on western settings.) You may ask why Amazon, or any other US corporation for that matter, would want to engage in such behavior given that business and profit should be the only thing that matters. Well, part of it is the simple fact that profit is not the only thing that matters to the American elites - racial subjugation (controlling and keeping a certain group of people in their place) also matters to them - and it matters far more than most black people dare to think. Furthermore, there isn't much reason to think that the dynamics of the market, if they did not do that, would lean much in terms of non-ebook products losing out over ebooks as opposed to merely some authors books losing or winning out over others. Besides, they're swimming in so much money that it doesn't make any difference - what do they care?

Ultimately, do I hope I am wrong about all this and that you guys are right, and that the only reason we have not seen even a single renowned independent black/African/Nigerian author on KDP, much less dozens, is simply because black/African/Nigerian authors just aren't talented at writing, or they are all too lazy or poor to use fine covers and promote their ebooks? Yes, I totally wish that were true. But, if I am to be really honest with myself, that is a bit like wishing for the easter bunny to show up at my wedding and be my best man.