It may appear to be confusing during your first glance but in reality, it is not really that hard to start with. Let me help you understand KDP Amazon self publishing dashboard better now.
Today's question has three answers and the third answer is a secret you are not going to want to miss.
Because it's going to show you exactly how understanding your dashboard can help make a lot more money when selling books on KDP Amazon. So let's get into it.
One of the things when we first get started with self-publishing is that we discover quickly that there's a lot of confusing dashboards. They've got analytics going on, they've got numbers.
Inside KDP Amazon Dashboard
You've got bookshelves, you've got all of these different areas when we are first getting started with KDP publishing. It can be confusing to know where exactly should you start on your dashboard.
That is something I'm hoping I can clear up today. Check out my Self-Publishing Secrets Checklist. You can get it for free and it will help you on your self-publishing journey.
Let's get into today's answers. The first answer is the KDP Amazon self publishing dashboard itself is broken into four different sections. Each of the sections fulfills a different purpose.
The first is your bookshelf. This is where on your Amazon account you are going to see all of the books that you've released. That includes your paperback and also your hardback books.
Check out this related article: What Can You Learn About Self Publishing On Amazon Reddit?
You can start your new books here. You can add new books to the library and slowly work through the production of a new book. You can run ads against your books here and you can run promotions against them.
You have the option of changing data, some of the metadata that goes with your books. So, this is the place you are going to want to go to. When you have new books or you have old books that you are wanting to change some of the things on.
Take A Closer Look
The second area is the reports. This is where we can see your sales reports. Now, you'll be able to see the free books that you've given away.
You'll be able to see the number of books that you've sold from each of the different ones you have. You'll also be able to see the extended sales. These are the sales that are extended out to the paperback.
For example, sold through other people about once a month, they will show you those figures. Under reports, you will also be able to see the royalty payouts. Usually, you have to wait 2 to 3 months before you get money from the sales that you've made.
Check out this related article: Is Self Publishing Worth It?
But you'll be able to see that data there. You will need it for your accountant to register and file the royalties that are coming in. You'll also see the area for 'community' under your dashboard.
This is a great place you can ask questions to other self-publishers. Just like yourself who will have already thought through most of the questions and many of the answers that you are going to need on your self-publishing journey.
Also, you will find the KDP Select enrollment. That brings us to our third answer, our secret answer for today. And that is make sure you enroll in KDP Select that is under that KDP Select area.
So that you can run ads against your books. This is incredibly important since most books on Amazon will not sell. Even if you tell people they are free.
Or if you try to post it in different groups on Facebook. It won't make much of a difference. But running ads against it will put your books in front of your reader's eyes.
Maximizing Book Sales
For similar keywords, I use a tool when I'm running my ads to find the correct keywords called Publisher Rocket. But otherwise, you will find that if you don't run ads, it's very difficult to sell your books.
This is by far the most important. You want to make sure the books are on subjects people are looking for. I use Kindle Spy or KDP Spy for that.
I use Publisher Rocket to find out the keywords that are going to be used in the ads. To make sure I maximize my total sales of the books that I'm selling.
So, this is the key if you want to make money. You need to register your books in KDP Select. That means that for 90 days you cannot run your Kindle books on other platforms.
Conclusion
You are agreeing with Amazon to only use just their platform. That's an issue that you'll have to decide. I highly recommend it because it will be the difference between selling a lot of books and selling very few books.
So what about you, what have you found? Have you found that the dashboard itself is confusing? Are there any other questions you might have relating to the KDP Amazon self publishing dashboard?
Let me know below in the comments. And check out my other blogs and videos that answer your self-publishing questions.