I would definitely like to see Amazon create a categories system for LC books. Trying to find proper categories for lined journals or logbooks, for example, is no easy task.
Agree that the spammers are less likely to create A+ content, making their spammy stuff sink to the bottom faster. Question - What do you think the best month is to release an annual planner calendar for kids?
I've usually had the best luck releasing planners in November or December. Most people don't shop for planners until the end of the year-or even the beginning of the next year-so I don't publish them early. I've even had luck publishing a few in January!
It Happend with me today. I publised my Book but after 48 hrs i got mail that had written you didn't check the Box of Low content Category....Then i edit and book detials & Resubmit it again Now waiting for Publishing Mail. 🙂
I had a series of KDP books that were not low content, but KDP wrongly sent them back as low content. Problem is that no one at KDP knows how to correct the mistake once they make it. They gray out the low content button so you can't change it and apparently, they don't know how to un-gray it. What I had to do was delete the 2 they wrongly branded as low content (they put through the other 5 just fine) and resubmit them. Then they were published just fine. Just an FYI so others don't have the headache of contacting Amazon via email, chat, and phone 7 times like I did, only to get nowhere.
I definitely see this being an issue for many people, especially with the amount of staff they must have going through all the submissions on a daily basis.
Try taking them off then submit for review again. This happened to me with my second word search book. I just took it off and resubmitted. I do admit it had one spelling error I could fix, but I noticed it had been refused an ISBN for no/low content reason, even though guidelines state that game books are eligible. So I deleted my first try and resubmitted and all went well.
@@sdube001 Yes, that's what I said I did in my comment. Just trying to save other authors from wasting time contacting KDP customer service, who don't know what to do to fix the issue.
@@sdube001 Amazon is a hot mess right now. At least your books are not selling for at cost you get nothing. Example elsewhere that's going on. People on the back end not submitting products. I got on them finally 4 complaints in the past week or so. Not just the book dept just saying. I don't know why. Some ppl should not be working there. They have people just they are not trained well. Some should get the door after some conducts. Very hard to get to higher up cuz all claim they are. So if it doesn't get past them company not aware of major issues etc. Put it this way if these people I spoke with were actually supervisors it explains this hot mess. Terrible omg. Not funny at all. But it's happened before with a shipping dept let driver be a thief and cover for him. That was the supervisor. No need for excuses for how Amazon conducts business. Atrocious. In my situation it's like theft. Selling my stuff taking profit giving me nothing. Ya no.
This is super helpful - I've got a notebook that I self-published a few years back and I'm just realizing it would make a great low content book on KDP! Thanks for all the tips!
Great video summary! Just curious if you know whether Amazon will still own the book if we choose not to apply an ISBN to it. Will we be able to take our low - content book elsewhere in addition to Amazon? Thanks!
I'm hoping these changes lead to a searchable category on the site. QUESTION: What do you think about previously published books? Should we update metadata?
It would be very helpful to have a searchable category. As for previously published books, I wouldn't go back and adjust anything, especially on books that are selling well. Those books already have an ISBN, already probably aren't eligible for ED, and already don't show the Look Inside feature on mobile. The only thing I might consider doing is adding A+ Content to books that are generating sales.
@@RachelHarrisonSund in the browser. You can't buy books via the kindle app anymore so I don't use it to look at books, just to read stuff and to check the formatting of my books. But even the app lets you download a sample. You made some very good points in your video. The only one that's too optimistic is the one about categories. I publish novels and the level if category pollution is horrific. I hope you're right though. I'd be so happy if Amazon decides to introduce more granular categories. Even more if they restrict the number of categories a book can be in so people are forced to choose more wisely.
Thank you Rachel for such an informative video. I am currently working on a journal, which I wouldn't describe as low-content, as it has a lot more inside than just dated pages I.E. original artwork, meditations, and inspirational messages. Because it is a journal, will I still have to list it as low-content?
I know you’re not asking me, but yes, it will still be considered low-content. I made a few guided journals with custom artwork for the borders and pages but they flagged it as low content and after correspondence with the review team, I was told that it is a journal lol
I think that guided journals are in a grey area and it might well depend on who is looking over your submission on a given day. If the journal is mostly repetitive with only simple changes from page to page, or the structure was the same from page to page with only quotes or prompts swapped out, it will definitely be classed as a LC book. If each page is completely different it won't be. But I do think each page would need to be completely different.
Hi, Rachel. Thanks for this very helpful video. I feel like I have a better understanding of how Amazon is handling LC books now. My books fall into the grey area, I think. There’s actually a lot of content in them, and not every page is the same, but there is a prompted section, and that entire prompted section repeats several times to make the book useful for more than one event. The book also includes lists and a customizable index. That said, a couple of my books with this design are called journals or planners, so I do wonder if they will still require me to publish them as LC. Do you think I should skip the LC box, and wait to see what they do? I guess I always have the option to not use the words planner or journal in the title/subtitle, but that might make my books more difficult to classify. How about a book described as a workbook? Do you think it would be classified with activity books or LC? Thanks so much for all your help. You truly are the best!!!
Hi JoLyn! Yes, your books definitely sound like they fall into a bit of a grey area. If you think that your books don't fall into the LC category, as defined by KDP, go ahead and submit them without checking the box. I would keep the title that you think best describes your book so as not to confuse the customer. Ultimately, KDP will decide, and if they disagree with your classification you'll be prompted to change it. Either way, you'll end up with a published book, so don't stress about it!
@JoLyn Branch I've just come across this thread and I think my books are in the same 'category' as yours... grey! Do you mind me asking what ended up happening with yours? I've just submitted a couple as low content and KDP are taking ages to approve/reject so just curious what your outcome was!
@@annabelbateman Hi, Annabel. I recently submitted a book I would call a hybrid. It has a lot of content, but also includes some daily journal type pages, about 30 of them, so about 25% of the book. I applied for the free ISBN and didn’t check the low content box, then held my breath. That book went live so fast it made my head spin! In less than 24 hours it was live with the description in place, the Look Inside feature up, everything! I was truly shocked and thought maybe they hired some extra people for Q4.🤷🏼♀️ They haven’t quite so fast since then, but I would say a book with a good amount of content should through. Good luck!
Amazon was putting people in the weird categories. I know they did it to me. I know darn well I did not pick those cats.Amazon also has a slew of tec problems. Not on my books but other stuff giving my stuff away for free this min. Some people mighta but Amazon eventually determines it. Possible like gen catag. be like with cats example. then it went into some weird thing best seller two mins. Not me that was amazon. Speaking over here. I think that general whatever option left it up in the air so if im on science of cats brain pops up cat book.. then it got cat under science of cat brains. Some weird thing.
Great video, Rachel! Question: Is a book of writing prompts/writing exercises considered low content? I don't think so, but I'd love to hear your thoughts.
@@betticougar07 I replied that , but then began to wonder.....lol. I think a plain journal is considered no content, so I imagine a journal with prompts would be considered low content, but it might depend on the amount of content in it. If a colouring book or an activity book is not considered low content then it's possible a journal with a good amount of prompts and exercises to follow might be seen as an activity book??
Hi Laura! I think that prompted journals are in a grey area, but if the journal is mostly repetitive with only simple changes from page to page, or the structure was the same from page to page with only quotes or prompts swapped out, it will definitely be classed as a LC book. If each page is completely different it won't be. But I do think each page would need to be completely different.
On another note of issues... I heard someone say to delete books do not sell. So I went crazy took a lot off then my sales stopped. Before this change but not helping. I dont know if that is an issue in the future? I dont wanna do it again I feel it hurt me some unknown reason. I wanted to keep page with only the ones that sell and that I'm ok with design etc.
You can't technically delete any books, only un-publish them. Even if your book is un-published it will still show up in search results, so it may not be of any use to go through the trouble. Having said that, un-publishing certain books shouldn't have any impact of the sales of your remaining books.
What’s your take on the latest KDP update for low-content books? Tell me in the comments!
I would definitely like to see Amazon create a categories system for LC books. Trying to find proper categories for lined journals or logbooks, for example, is no easy task.
Absolutely! Finding relevant categories has always been a challenge!
Agree that the spammers are less likely to create A+ content, making their spammy stuff sink to the bottom faster.
Question - What do you think the best month is to release an annual planner calendar for kids?
I've usually had the best luck releasing planners in November or December. Most people don't shop for planners until the end of the year-or even the beginning of the next year-so I don't publish them early. I've even had luck publishing a few in January!
@@RachelHarrisonSund Great--good to know!
It Happend with me today. I publised my Book but after 48 hrs i got mail that had written you didn't check the Box of Low content Category....Then i edit and book detials & Resubmit it again Now waiting for Publishing Mail. 🙂
A+ content is crucial. Glad they let you link that for low content! Bravo
I agree!
I had a series of KDP books that were not low content, but KDP wrongly sent them back as low content. Problem is that no one at KDP knows how to correct the mistake once they make it. They gray out the low content button so you can't change it and apparently, they don't know how to un-gray it. What I had to do was delete the 2 they wrongly branded as low content (they put through the other 5 just fine) and resubmit them. Then they were published just fine. Just an FYI so others don't have the headache of contacting Amazon via email, chat, and phone 7 times like I did, only to get nowhere.
I have had many if my books that have a lot if content, just not written content be changed to low content, and I'm unable to change them either
I definitely see this being an issue for many people, especially with the amount of staff they must have going through all the submissions on a daily basis.
Try taking them off then submit for review again. This happened to me with my second word search book. I just took it off and resubmitted. I do admit it had one spelling error I could fix, but I noticed it had been refused an ISBN for no/low content reason, even though guidelines state that game books are eligible. So I deleted my first try and resubmitted and all went well.
@@sdube001 Yes, that's what I said I did in my comment. Just trying to save other authors from wasting time contacting KDP customer service, who don't know what to do to fix the issue.
@@sdube001 Amazon is a hot mess right now. At least your books are not selling for at cost you get nothing. Example elsewhere that's going on. People on the back end not submitting products. I got on them finally 4 complaints in the past week or so. Not just the book dept just saying. I don't know why. Some ppl should not be working there. They have people just they are not trained well. Some should get the door after some conducts. Very hard to get to higher up cuz all claim they are. So if it doesn't get past them company not aware of major issues etc. Put it this way if these people I spoke with were actually supervisors it explains this hot mess. Terrible omg. Not funny at all. But it's happened before with a shipping dept let driver be a thief and cover for him. That was the supervisor. No need for excuses for how Amazon conducts business. Atrocious. In my situation it's like theft. Selling my stuff taking profit giving me nothing. Ya no.
This is super helpful - I've got a notebook that I self-published a few years back and I'm just realizing it would make a great low content book on KDP!
Thanks for all the tips!
Thanks for keeping us informed. You're appreciated.
Thanks for watching, Dana! You are so appreciated as well!
Great video summary! Just curious if you know whether Amazon will still own the book if we choose not to apply an ISBN to it. Will we be able to take our low - content book elsewhere in addition to Amazon? Thanks!
Have you noticed the "Non-Classifiable" option box at the bottom of the categories list?
Yes. I tend not to use that if I can help it, but I truly can't find any categories that my book might fit into, I'll use it.
I'm hoping these changes lead to a searchable category on the site. QUESTION: What do you think about previously published books? Should we update metadata?
It would be very helpful to have a searchable category. As for previously published books, I wouldn't go back and adjust anything, especially on books that are selling well. Those books already have an ISBN, already probably aren't eligible for ED, and already don't show the Look Inside feature on mobile. The only thing I might consider doing is adding A+ Content to books that are generating sales.
@@RachelHarrisonSund Thank you!
Great info and very well explained! Thanks Rachell
Glad it was helpful, Brandon!
Thank you for your simple explanation, you are the best always...
Thanks for watching, Amy!
The look inside option works just fine for me on my Android phone.
Interesting! Is that on the Amazon app, or are you visiting Amazon inside a browser on your phone?
@@RachelHarrisonSund in the browser. You can't buy books via the kindle app anymore so I don't use it to look at books, just to read stuff and to check the formatting of my books. But even the app lets you download a sample.
You made some very good points in your video. The only one that's too optimistic is the one about categories. I publish novels and the level if category pollution is horrific.
I hope you're right though. I'd be so happy if Amazon decides to introduce more granular categories. Even more if they restrict the number of categories a book can be in so people are forced to choose more wisely.
And my low content book was given a "Look Inside" feature. It's up right now and working!
Will you be updating your course material to consider these changes Rachel?
Hi Marilyn! Yes, in my next round of updates I will address this.
Thank you Rachel for such an informative video. I am currently working on a journal, which I wouldn't describe as low-content, as it has a lot more inside than just dated pages I.E. original artwork, meditations, and inspirational messages. Because it is a journal, will I still have to list it as low-content?
I know you’re not asking me, but yes, it will still be considered low-content. I made a few guided journals with custom artwork for the borders and pages but they flagged it as low content and after correspondence with the review team, I was told that it is a journal lol
I think that guided journals are in a grey area and it might well depend on who is looking over your submission on a given day. If the journal is mostly repetitive with only simple changes from page to page, or the structure was the same from page to page with only quotes or prompts swapped out, it will definitely be classed as a LC book. If each page is completely different it won't be. But I do think each page would need to be completely different.
Hi, Rachel. Thanks for this very helpful video. I feel like I have a better understanding of how Amazon is handling LC books now. My books fall into the grey area, I think. There’s actually a lot of content in them, and not every page is the same, but there is a prompted section, and that entire prompted section repeats several times to make the book useful for more than one event. The book also includes lists and a customizable index. That said, a couple of my books with this design are called journals or planners, so I do wonder if they will still require me to publish them as LC. Do you think I should skip the LC box, and wait to see what they do? I guess I always have the option to not use the words planner or journal in the title/subtitle, but that might make my books more difficult to classify. How about a book described as a workbook? Do you think it would be classified with activity books or LC? Thanks so much for all your help. You truly are the best!!!
Hi JoLyn! Yes, your books definitely sound like they fall into a bit of a grey area. If you think that your books don't fall into the LC category, as defined by KDP, go ahead and submit them without checking the box. I would keep the title that you think best describes your book so as not to confuse the customer. Ultimately, KDP will decide, and if they disagree with your classification you'll be prompted to change it. Either way, you'll end up with a published book, so don't stress about it!
@@RachelHarrisonSund Thanks!
@JoLyn Branch I've just come across this thread and I think my books are in the same 'category' as yours... grey! Do you mind me asking what ended up happening with yours? I've just submitted a couple as low content and KDP are taking ages to approve/reject so just curious what your outcome was!
@@annabelbateman Hi, Annabel. I recently submitted a book I would call a hybrid. It has a lot of content, but also includes some daily journal type pages, about 30 of them, so about 25% of the book. I applied for the free ISBN and didn’t check the low content box, then held my breath. That book went live so fast it made my head spin! In less than 24 hours it was live with the description in place, the Look Inside feature up, everything! I was truly shocked and thought maybe they hired some extra people for Q4.🤷🏼♀️ They haven’t quite so fast since then, but I would say a book with a good amount of content should through. Good luck!
@@jolynbranch1211 thank you so much for getting back to me! Yes it's a bit hard to know what is 'best'.
Thank you so much.🙂
You're welcome, Jean! 😊 Have you published any LC books under KDP's new LC book guidelines yet?
Amazon was putting people in the weird categories. I know they did it to me. I know darn well I did not pick those cats.Amazon also has a slew of tec problems. Not on my books but other stuff giving my stuff away for free this min. Some people mighta but Amazon eventually determines it. Possible like gen catag. be like with cats example. then it went into some weird thing best seller two mins. Not me that was amazon. Speaking over here. I think that general whatever option left it up in the air so if im on science of cats brain pops up cat book.. then it got cat under science of cat brains. Some weird thing.
Great video, Rachel! Question: Is a book of writing prompts/writing exercises considered low content? I don't think so, but I'd love to hear your thoughts.
it is low content yes.
@@BonMooney Thanks! I appreciate your reply! :)
@@betticougar07 I replied that , but then began to wonder.....lol. I think a plain journal is considered no content, so I imagine a journal with prompts would be considered low content, but it might depend on the amount of content in it. If a colouring book or an activity book is not considered low content then it's possible a journal with a good amount of prompts and exercises to follow might be seen as an activity book??
Hi Laura! I think that prompted journals are in a grey area, but if the journal is mostly repetitive with only simple changes from page to page, or the structure was the same from page to page with only quotes or prompts swapped out, it will definitely be classed as a LC book. If each page is completely different it won't be. But I do think each page would need to be completely different.
@@RachelHarrisonSund Thanks so much for your insight! And you as well, @Siobhan Tomkinson!
On another note of issues... I heard someone say to delete books do not sell. So I went crazy took a lot off then my sales stopped. Before this change but not helping. I dont know if that is an issue in the future? I dont wanna do it again I feel it hurt me some unknown reason. I wanted to keep page with only the ones that sell and that I'm ok with design etc.
You can't technically delete any books, only un-publish them. Even if your book is un-published it will still show up in search results, so it may not be of any use to go through the trouble. Having said that, un-publishing certain books shouldn't have any impact of the sales of your remaining books.