Keywords first, then KDP Book Design
Look for Amazon Keywords before Starting (Self-Pub Post #3)
Last week, we looked for keywords that Amazon buyers are looking for when they think about habit trackers. Today, we will dig deeper and use 3rd party apps.
I bought Publisher Rocket years ago but did not fully use it. Now that I have a low-content book project, I tested it again and was amazed at what it gave me! When I searched amazon, it gave me a few keywords for habit tracker. Publisher Rocket gave me more, including the number of competitors, estimated monthly searches and earnings. Based on its results, I can target these keywords instead:
habit tracker coloring sheet
habit tracker hournal (wrong spelling due to keyboard error)
2021 (make that 2023 or 24) habit tracker large weekly monthly planner
It quickly showed me similar books and one of those used legal size ( 8.5 x 11 inches ) and has a 100 pages. Remember, book pages are printed on both sides so that only has 50 leaves. You can figure these out without a 3rd-party app using the Amazon site but having Rocket is a shortcut. Learn more about it at Publisher Rocket.
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I also have BookBolt and a Google Chrome extension called KDP Spy Pro. The maker of BookBolt started with an app called Merch Informer for Print-on-Demand shirts and more. When KDP became available for low-content books, he made BookBolt. It’s a comprehensive app that helps low-content book creators from keyword search to book design. KDP Spy Pro, on the other hand, is more about keywords that your competitors are using and how much they are supposedly earning.
Keywords lead to Book Design
So what have we learned so far? To convert our habit tracker guided journal to a KDP book, we can use keywords with less competition like “habit tracker coloring sheet”. Look at the basic pages of the journal here and you’ll see it is for coloring. The other keyword with less competition is large weekly monthly planner. That means, buyers are looking for large fonts. Based on what we found, it is best to use:
paperback instead of hardbound so it can be as light as a notebook
large fonts on the largest page possible - 8.5 x 11 inches - see other sizes offered by KDP from this link
120 interior pages which means 60 leaves to offer more pages than the competitor
ink might bleed on the back page so the back will just be a drawing or free writing space
cover will emphasize that it will be a habit tracker which you can color
We can figure out more details like the buyer persona (age, preferences, buying habit) but we will just keep it simple here: keywords to book design. Next, we will design the interior and cover pages. Subscribe for free so you’ll not miss any post.