Almost a month ago, I took charge of a dead KDP account that had been making zero sales for years…

This account belongs to one of my KDP student and ex-coworker who had published over 100 low-content books during the first few months.

He only got a couple of sales during the first two years. Later on, he stopped publishing new books as he wasn’t seeing any sales.

Fast forward 4 years, he contacted me again, and I agreed to help him with his KDP account.

He doesn’t have access to paid tools and no money to invest in ads.

Therefore, we both agreed that I would handle everything in terms of researching, creating, and advertising books on his account.

What I Did to Get the First KDP Sale

I did thorough research and published 3 new books. Two are low-content, and one is a medium-content book.

The medium-content book is basically a word search puzzle book, created using ChatGPT and Instant Puzzle Generator.

Below, I will share the step-by-step process to create these books and also share which one ended up scoring the very first sale.

KDP Niche & Keyword Research

I used Titans Pro to do my KDP niche and keyword research.

It’s a wonderful KDP tool from Self-Publishing Titans that I have been using since its launch.

I went with niche ideas with decent demand but low competition.

I aim for niches with an opportunity score of 9 and a demand score of at least 5.

Book Interior & Creation

I created book interiors using Affinity Designer for the two low-content books. I made sure the book interiors were high-quality with 300 DPI.

The third one, I created using a separate tool called Instant Puzzle Generator.

I spent a lot of time creating the book covers as I wanted to make them look unique and eye-catching.

I had a long chat with ChatGPT to come up with colors, layouts, and the overall look and feel of the book covers.

Book Listing & A+ Content

I spent a lot of time crafting SEO-optimized book titles, subtitles, and book descriptions.

Again, I took the help of AI to come up with catchy titles and descriptions. I published these books one by one and waited for the approval process.

Once the books were live, I created appealing A+ content images using the layout and color scheme from my book covers.

I submitted the A+ content for three of the titles and again waited for their approval, which took more time for the first A+ content.

Once the book A+ content was live, I moved to the next phase.

Book Promotion via KDP Ads

I started promoting my books via Amazon ads as soon as the A+ content was approved and live.

Firstly, I ran auto-ads and then manual exact-match ads for two of the published books.

For the first book, I spent over $20 and got no sales.

I got a lot of clicks but zero sales, so I stopped all the ads for that book.

For the second book, I created a manual ad campaign with exact-match keywords.

However, it didn’t get any clicks or sales, so I turned it off.

Then came my third and final book, which is the word search book.

I created ad campaigns for it — one auto and one manual ad campaign.

The only thing I did differently was that I started raising the bids for the manual ad campaign.

I wanted it to rank higher on the first page, which it did, and it got a lot of impressions for a couple of keywords.

So far, the manual ad campaign has received 1 click that resulted in 1 sale, and it cost me $1.50.

Going forward, I will continue running this campaign and will try to get as many sales as I can during the next 30 days.

Closing Thoughts

Reviving this KDP account has been an exciting and challenging journey so far.

It reminded me that success in self-publishing isn’t just about publishing books — it’s about persistence, learning, and adapting along the way.

Getting the first sale felt like a small win, but it’s also a big step toward building momentum for this account. It reinforced my belief that with the right research, tools, and strategy, it’s possible to make things work, even on a tight budget.

I know this is just the beginning, and there’s still a long way to go. I’ll keep experimenting, learning from the results, and fine-tuning the process to drive more sales.

If you’ve been struggling with your KDP journey or feel stuck, don’t give up. Start small, keep experimenting, and remember that even one sale can open the door to many more.

Thanks for reading, and if you’ve got questions or your own story to share, drop them in the comments. I’d love to hear from you and help where I can.

Talk soon,

Subha

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