Amazon KDP Income November 2025: My Honest Earnings and What I Spent on Ads!
November is usually one of the strongest months of the year for Amazon KDP, so this income report was a little disappointing compared to previous Q4s. However, it was also entirely expected. This is due to various factors such as…
- Amazon’s royalty reduction earlier this year,
- VAT added to the UK prices sometime ago,
- Less visibility on the platform for certain keywords,
- Amazon prioritising other non KDP specific books in the search results in certain niches.
That said, it did push me to make some changes, including raising some prices in early December, and I’ll be watching closely to see how that impacts sales over the next month.
In this post, I’m breaking down my November 2025 KDP income, what I spent on Amazon ads, how different marketplaces performed, and how this year compares to previous Q4s.
A Quick Overview of November 2025
I primarily sell low and medium content books, with the majority of my catalogue being low content. Over the past year, I’ve seen a noticeable dip in royalties, particularly in the UK and US.
This is partly due to Amazon showing low content books less frequently for many broader keywords, something I’ve covered in previous videos. In the UK specifically, the addition of 20 percent VAT on top of listing prices has had a significant impact on royalties, especially where price increases weren’t feasible.
My November 2025 KDP Income:
In November 2025, I made $5,160 in royalties.
My highest day was around $330, and towards the end of the month there were several days in the $200 range.
For comparison, in November 2024, I made around $9,300, so this was a substantial drop year-on-year. While that’s never nice to see, it was also fairly expected based on what I’ve been seeing across marketplaces.
A Positive Result: Dated Planners
One positive surprise this month was the performance of a small number of dated planners. I haven’t focused on dated planners for years, but one of the new ones performed particularly well and ended up as my ninth best-selling book in November.
Considering it was brand new, that’s encouraging. A couple of others also placed in the top 20 for the month, which has made me rethink my strategy for 2026.
Low content planners don’t show consistently for broad planner keywords in the US and UK, but they do still appear for more niched-down keywords, and visibility is noticeably better in Canada and Australia.
November Ad Spend Breakdown
In November 2025, I spent $1,028 on Amazon ads.
For comparison, in November 2024, I spent $1,543, so ad spend was over $500 lower this year.
My ACoS was 18.67 percent, with an average cost per click of $0.21, which is still really decent. There was a small discrepancy between Publisher Champ and Amazon’s ad dashboard, which showed closer to $900 spent, so I’ll be double-checking that.
Although I spent less on ads this year, overall profit was still significantly lower due to reduced royalties, particularly in the UK.
Marketplace Performance
The UK remained my strongest marketplace, followed by the US. However, when comparing year-on-year results, the biggest decline came from the UK.
The introduction of VAT has reduced royalties per book, and combined with lower visibility for low content books, this has made a noticeable difference. In contrast, Canada and Australia performed similarly to last year, largely because I raised prices in those marketplaces to reach the $13.99 threshold for higher royalties.
Even though sales volumes were lower, earnings per book increased, which helped offset that decline.
Raising Prices Going Into December
Over the past few weeks, I’ve noticed more publishers gradually raising prices, and I’ve decided to do the same for a portion of my catalogue.
December is typically the month with the highest sales volume, so it made sense to test price increases now. In some cases, raising prices could more than double the royalty per book, making it worth experimenting even if sales volume drops slightly.
I’ll be monitoring this closely and will share how it impacts December’s results.
Looking Ahead to December and Beyond
Historically, I don’t always see December double November’s income, despite what’s often suggested. There have been exceptions, such as 2023, which was an unusual year driven by a new book and some favourable algorithm behaviour, including gift bundle placements.
Those kinds of boosts are unpredictable, and ultimately December’s performance often comes down to how the algorithm treats specific books.
Exploring Amazon Merch as a Side Hustle
Alongside KDP, I’ve recently been putting more consistent effort into Amazon Merch on Demand. I’ve tried it on and off over the years, but in recent months I’ve started to see some early potential and a few sales.
I’m not uploading daily, but I am aiming for regular weekly uploads to see how it progresses. I’ve written a free Substack post about restarting Amazon Merch and how it performed in November, you can read it here.
Final Thoughts
November 2025 wasn’t the strongest month I’ve had on Amazon KDP, but it has helped clarify a few things:
- Pricing matters more than ever
- Marketplace behaviour is changing
- Diversifying income streams feels increasingly important
If you’re sticking with KDP into 2026, or thinking about trying something new, I’d love to hear how Q4 is going for you.
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