Have you been looking at getting into the self-publishing game, but you are overwhelmed with the amount of information online about the types of books you should publish?
In this article, we will dive deeper into the world of low content books on amazon KDP, the pros and cons, a comparison to high content books, and our overall thoughts.
The Pros: Great Things About Low Content Books
Creating Low Content Books Is Very Budget Friendly
Creating low-content books is a breeze—we’re talking 1-2 hours, tops—from cranking out the graphics in your manuscript to creating a cover and crafting a book description. It’s like the express lane of book creation. So, if you’re pinching pennies and can’t splash out on a ghostwriter, diving into the world of low-content publishing might just be your golden ticket.
We’ve seen plenty of publishers who cut their teeth in low-content territory and then, using it as a launchpad, made their way into the world of high-content books—you know, the fiction and non-fiction heavyweights. It’s like the perfect stepping stone to levelling up your publishing game. So, if you’re looking for a budget-friendly strategy with long-term potential, low content might just be your secret weapon.
There Is A Diverse Range Of Books That You Can Publish
So, when it comes to diving into the world of low content, the options are pretty darn endless. Think planners, calendars, coloring books, and even puzzle books—you name it. The beauty of it all? The diversity is like a bottomless pit of ideas, guaranteeing you’ll never hit a creativity roadblock.
Why’s this so awesome, you ask? Well, it opens up the door to creating a bunch of top-notch books. And here’s the kicker: these books can eventually turn into your very own stream of passive income.
You Don’t Need To Be a Writer!
Now, let’s talk about a hurdle that many folks face when eyeing high-content publishing: the budget struggle. But, here’s the thing: for some, it’s not just the dollars but also the whole “being a pro writer” deal that throws them for a loop.
Dropping a grand on a manuscript, a snazzy cover, and some A+ content graphics from top-notch ghostwriters and designers is just not in the cards for everyone. And here’s the kicker: many of these budget-conscious publishers aren’t exactly Shakespeare with the pen. They might try to DIY a book, but without those high-quality writing skills, it often ends up feeling like a rush job, low quality, or worse, a sales flop with a side of bad reviews.
Now, here’s where the beauty of low-content books shines. There is no need to be the Hemingway of our time to rock this side of publishing. Sure, having a knack for words helps, especially when crafting a snappy 250-word book description. But even that task? Totally outsource-able at wallet-friendly rates. So, if you’re not looking to break the bank or channel your inner Shakespeare, low content might just be your ticket to publishing success.
The Cons: The Not So Good Of Low Content Books
Low Content Books Are Competitive To Get Into
One thing that you should know before you dive into low-content publishing is that low-content or no-content books are the most competitive type of books to sell on Amazon. There are many reasons for this, but the main two reasons are:
- These books can be created in a matter of minutes using free software tools like Canva.
- The barrier to entry with these types of books is low. Many self-publishers who aspire to publish high-content books usually start with low-content books due to their restricted budget. After a while, they usually tend to dive into high-content publishing (more on that later).
You Usually Have To Publish Many Low Content Books Before You See Any Sort Of Success
Let’s get real about a common scenario in the world of low-content publishing. Chat with these publishers, and they’ll probably spill the beans—they’ve got a bookshelf that’s practically bursting at the seams with a thousand titles. But guess what? Around 80% to 90% of their earnings are rolling in from just a handful—the top 5 or 10 best-sellers. It’s like the Pareto principle, or the ’80/20′ rule, doing a little dance in the world of low-content self-publishing.
Now, here’s the hitch when your bookshelf is overflowing with thousands of live books. You’re playing with fire when it comes to the possibility of Amazon KDP dropping the account ban hammer.
Why? Well, with a sea of books, especially those that have been around for a while, the chances of unintentional slip-ups are high. You might unknowingly step on some copyright toes or accidentally hit KDP’s terms of service landmines, like publishing the same thing twice without realising it. And poof, there goes your account—banned for something you didn’t mean to do.
Here’s the scoop: we’re not big fans of the whole “publish thousands of books” idea. We’re all about quality over quantity. Let’s be real: no self-publisher can pour their heart and soul into a thousand books. Focus on a few at a time, and you’ve got the recipe for high-quality books that hit the bullseye with your target audience. It’s all about giving each book the attention it deserves, not drowning in a sea of thousands. Quality wins the game!
You Can’t Price Paperbacks As Highly As High Content Books
This is a big advantage that high-content books have over low-content books that we very rarely see discussed.
Low-content books are usually priced around the $5.99–$9.99 mark. Sometimes they will go over $9.99 slightly, but that is usually quite rare.
The average royalty rate for a low-content book is also significantly lower than that for a high-content book, as you do not have anywhere near the same amount of leverage when it comes to pricing your book. This is because the space is so competitive, and you will often find that publishers have to undercut each other to make a few sales here and there and to stay afloat.
However, with high-content books (fiction and non-fiction books), because the barrier to entry for those types of books is a lot higher, the competition is usually a lot less, and therefore you can have more control when it comes to dictating the price of your book. We have priced many of our own high-content books at $15.99+ and have sold thousands of copies with zero issues. A low-content publisher would not be able to price their low-content book at $15.99, as it would be considered out of the ordinary in the space.
Let me give you an example of what I mean when I say that a high-content publisher’s average royalty rate per book is a lot higher than that of a low-content book publisher.
For example, an average low-content book with a black and white interior, a 6 x 9 trim size, 120 pages, and a list price of $7.99 will have a royalty rate of $2.35.
On the other hand, an average high-content book with a black and white interior, a 6 x 9 trim size, 120 pages, and a list price of $12.99 (which is quite normal in the high-content space), will have a royalty rate of $5.35.
That means that a high-content publisher earns, on average, more than twice as much per sale as a low-content publisher. Staggering!
Your Margins For Error With Amazon Ads Are A Lot Smaller With Low Content Books
When it comes to Amazon ads, we all know that they are the backbone of your KDP business, whether you are publishing high-content or low-content books. Without Amazon ads, it will be really hard to scale your business.
As we have already discovered, a high-content publisher usually makes more than two times more per paperback sale than a low-content publisher. What does this mean from an Amazon ad perspective?
What this means is that a high-content publisher will have more margins for trial and error with their ads than a low-content publisher will.
Let me give you an example so you understand what I mean.
Let’s imagine again that your low-content book was priced at $7.99 and you earn $2.35 as a royalty rate per book sale. And let’s also say that your average cost per click that you get on your ads is $0.30.
Let’s say you run your ad for seven days straight, and you set a daily budget of $3 for your campaign.
That will mean that you will get 10 clicks on a daily basis, spend $21 on the campaign by the end of the week, and accumulate a total of 70 clicks by day seven.
Let’s say that from those 70 clicks, you get five sales (which is about average and what you should expect).
If your low-content book is priced at $7.99 and you get five sales from your ad, the’sales’ tab on the dashboard would reflect $39.95 in total. This campaign would give you an ACOS of around 52%, which in most cases is an unprofitable campaign. You would be taking a loss in this instance.
Let’s give the same example, but with a high-content book.
Let’s say your high-content book was priced at $12.99, and you earned $5.35 per paperback sale as a royalty rate. Let’s also imagine that your average cost per click on your ads is $0.30.
If we were to run the same campaign for seven days again, but with the high content book, we would still be spending $3 per day, have spent $21 by the end of the week, and have had 70 clicks. Let’s also imagine that we had five sales with that campaign.
Assuming we got five sales from the ad and assuming the high-content book was priced at $12.99, the ‘sales’ tab on the dashboard would reflect $64.95 in total. This campaign would give you an ACOS of around 32%. In this instance, your campaign would be profitable. The profit would only be about $5 or so, but it would be a profitable campaign that you would be able to afford to leave open because you know that it has the potential to continue on an upward trajectory and scale.
This example shows that low-content publishers do not have the same leeway with Amazon ads that high-content publishers would. This then makes Amazon ads not only more expensive for low-content publishers, but it also makes it a lot harder to succeed with them compared to high-content publishing.
What Do We Think?
Honestly, low-content and high-content books are both great, and we know a tonne of publishers who are smashing it with both genres.
If you are a beginner to self-publishing, you are on a bit of a budget, and you want to test the waters with the business model before going all in, then we would recommend starting out with low-content publishing.
However, if you are a beginner with a budget of at least $2000-$2500 to spend, then we would recommend taking the high-content route, as it is far more leveraged than low-content publishing.
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