Did you know that it is possible to publish a complete book without writing a single word? That's right – no words at all. The content can also be limited to 300 words or less. This is known as low content publishing. If you go on Amazon and other self-publishing platforms right now, you will find that there are thousands of these low content books.
What is this new trend? Why are content creators choosing to come up with books that do not have a lot of words rather than writing the usual chapter books that we are used to buying? Let's discover what this trend is all about and answer the question, "Is Low Content Publishing Worth It?"
What Is Low Content Publishing?
Low content publishing is a method where you publish books and articles that are less than 300 words with little to no images. Examples of such are planner inserts, journals, recipe books, and more. They are usually guides for your audience rather than something that they will read. Low content materials take only a few hours to create.
The idea behind low content publishing is that it can be helpful for companies and individuals who have small budgets, to make content that will get their names out there. Writing is not an easy task. It can take days or weeks to come up with quality material. Even then, you can't be sure that people will buy your work.
If writing chapters is not a good option, then publishing low content material is a person's best choice to become known as a "published" author. Not only will it give you credibility, but it can also provide you with passive income.
How To Create Low Content Books On KDP
The first step to creating low content books is coming up with topics that you can write about in the next hour or so. Popular low content books on Amazon are coloring books for children and adults, creative planners and schedulers, fill-in recipe pages, and prompt notebooks. To create your low content book, these are the steps you can follow.
Find your niche
Thinking of your niche will help you come up with so many ideas. For instance, you can focus on different professions. Common choices are teachers, nurses, gardeners, doctors, and so on. You can also consider making content for children. Many parents love buying materials that will help their kids learn or keep them busy.
Next, you can start creating materials by researching what the people in your chosen niche can use. For example, you can make letter writing practice sheets for preschoolers. Another idea is calligraphy sheets for gardeners. There are thousands of materials that you can make for every profession.
Once you have finished choosing a niche, you will need to sit down and find the perfect keywords to use on your content title, subtitle, and back-end boxes. Thinking of the keywords will give you a better idea about the actual content that you will include in the book.
Begin making the content
At this point, you'd want to think of the number of pages you want to include, the interior type, and probably the size of the pages of your book. You can check Amazon for ideas by searching for similar books that are listed there.
You can also look for inspiration from Google. Simply search for the title of the books that you are thinking of making. However, you mustn't copy from the images you find there. You need to add your touches to make the pages unique.
You will also need to choose which software you will use to create your content. The easiest ones to use are PowerPoint and Canva. Both allow you to select the trim size of the slides. These also let you create tables and use shapes and images. Most importantly, you can save your work as PDF files.
Be sure to organize your pages and resources in separate folders on your computer, so that you can keep track of these pages as you create more content. Additionally, it would be easier to find a file and use that for your next projects. You may opt to organize your file into Interior Files, Resource Files, and Cover Files.
Don't forget to make a cover for your low content book. You can download cover templates online to make this step easier. After you've done the cover, you'd want to create metadata for your work. It should contain the work's title, subtitle (if any), a short book description, and its features.
Upload your work on your chosen platform
Once you have finished and proofread your book, you can upload it on a self-publishing platform like Amazon KDP. That's it. The next steps you must take are no longer part of publishing the work. It has more to do with marketing the book so that people can get their hands on it.
Is it Profitable?
This question cannot be answered by a simple yes or no. As a writer, will it help your credibility if you have a lot of low content books under your name? Probably not. However, if the goal is to get your name recognized by more people, then low content publishing can be profitable for you.
When it comes to actual money, low content publishing can be profitable if you find the right niche and develop a style that your audience loves. According to a few articles on publishing, some authors can generate as much as six-figure incomes a month. That's not bad if you are only spending a few minutes a day coming up with content.
Additionally, your overhead is pretty low when you start publishing such materials. You won't need to buy any special software. You don't have to invest in printing actual copies of your book. You won't need to worry about dealing with inventory either. And finally, you don't have to spend hours and hours in front of your computer.
The main problem that you will face in this industry is the competition. Many content creators recognize that publishing low content material can be profitable. Because you can churn the material in a short time, you can make a lot of materials in one sitting. And once they are available for download, you can simply forget about them and wait.
The Benefits of Low Content Publishing
The main benefit of publishing low content materials is that it doesn't take too long to make. Nor does it require too much knowledge. You don't have to do a lot of research to start producing materials. Publishing is open to everyone, no matter where you are. As long as you have access to a computer and Internet service, you'd be able to publish.
Another benefit is that it doesn't cost too much to start publishing. The only actual cost involved in this is the time and effort you put into making the product. You don't have to pay any printer to make physical copies of your book. You don't have to hire a ghostwriter if writing is not your forte.
If you upload your material on Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), then you won't have to worry about marketing your work. Amazon is going to do that for you. All you need to do is to upload your work on KDP and everyone can buy it. Since this platform is available in 175 countries, people all over the world will have access to your work.
The Cons of Low Content Publishing
While having Amazon have full control over marketing your work can be advantageous, it also poses a disadvantage. Yes, there are some things that you can do to help boost the sales of your material. You can find a good niche or effectively use keywords to make it easily discoverable. But that's pretty much it.
The algorithm of Amazon changes very frequently and you will have zero control over how your work is going to show up on the platform. One day your work may rank highly and result in thousands of sales. The next day, it might not. So, you can't expect stability in this deal.
Another disadvantage is that competition is very high. You will even have to go up against spam. You will often see materials that are almost identical to yours. The large number of low-quality materials can turn off potential customers before they get to see what you have to offer.
As mentioned, once your work is already published, somebody can buy it and then copy it. If they publish their copied work, they will become your competition. While you can report this, it can take time before Amazon takes it down. Additionally, if the people who copied your work changed the material a little, it might not even be taken down.
Is KDP Low Content Publishing Worth It?
Since it costs very little to start publishing low content books, it can be a great idea to try it out if you want to enter the world of self-publishing. Of course, what will make it worth it is the sales. To sell your product, you need to think carefully about the niche that you are going to explore. You will also need to make sure that your work is unique.
If you are just going to copy from the thousands of already available content on Amazon, it may not be worth the time and effort. Unless you get lucky and rank highly numerous times, then you won't stand against thousands of competitors. Customers will need to find a reason to buy your product.
Tangent Templates is a good place to get ideas as well as low content outlines and tips to list low content books on Amazon KDP, however, if you are not creative, you will just be listing the same things as everybody else, and in 2021, this is not the way to go!
Some Low Content Book Ideas
When you go on Amazon, you will see that the most popular types of low content books are the blank kind. This means your buyers purchase the books so that they can fill them up themselves. These are very much sought after and can be priced higher depending on how well it has been formatted and how unique the concept is.
The most common ones you will find are journals and diaries. There are all kinds of journals available online. They can be made specifically to target a profession or a hobby. You can also create compositions or write notebooks.
Sketchbooks and doodling journals are also quite popular. You have to find a good hook or niche to be able to sell more of these materials. For example, you can make a doodle book or sketchbook that asks the user to draw cats. You can also have a daily drawing challenge so that the user can have an idea of what to produce that day.
