I completely missed putting my KDP April income report on YouTube, or on my blog!
I’m not going go into the all the reasons why in this post, but I have talked previously about struggling to manage YouTube and the blog on top of the other things I’m trying to do.
I decided to spend more time on tasks that create more money long term. While I know that if I focused on YouTube long term it could bring in money in the long run, it’s not something I want to make the number 1 priority right now.
Also, if I put too much pressure myself to stick to a publishing schedule…. I will rebel against it. 😂
So, I’m trying to take a more relaxed approach and to try and put more effort into posting weekly to my blog because my blog traffic has gone up recently and in turn, my Ad revenue income has gone up!
That’s been pretty exciting, since I’ve been cruising along with the same number of visitors for a long time now.
THE AMAZON NEWS!
Just recently, Amazon shared the news that their printing costs are going to be increasing. This is going to effect people with larger books more than anything, (such as the 8.5 by 11 books – especially if they are over 108 pages).
I’ve already been increasing some of my prices. Many of my books are of the smaller size. But I do have some selling well in 8 x 10 inches.
So, we will just see what happens!
You can actually find by combined income report for April & May 2023 below!
April Income Report:
This April was really good and a lot more than April in 2022 as well, which you will see below.
Most of the top selling books were largely the same though.
Partly the good month was due to two crazy high days! One day I made over $700 and one day was over $800!!
One of the high days, was simply due to a bulk order of a book that is usually in my top 2 or 3 best selling ones.
The other high day was due to a book that isn’t a best seller. I sell several a month maybe, but not usually a daily seller.
However, I have had the odd bulk order of this before so, I presume it’s the same company re-ordering it…. But who knows.
Nevertheless, this must have been the highest order to date for this book.
Highest Day: $866
Second Highest: $767
Lowest: $85
All in all, for April – this was a crazy surprise to me and one of the great things about KDP in general. When things are going well, you can get these surprises and it’s amazing when it happens.
APRIL 2022 – By Comparison:
While April in 2022 was still good, it didn’t quite have the same peak days.
That being said… There was still a jump up on April 30th and another on the 11th. The 11th was still over $500.
But neither were a bulk order of this particular book in 2023.
So, April 2023 was over $2300 more. It was certainly unexpected but I’m very grateful for it!
I really wonder how the summer months will compare to last year now, especially after this price increase starts on June 20th.
As July/August/September are the lower months of the year for me usually – I think that’s the case for most low content publishers.
That is, unless you have a bunch of books in the back to school niche. In which case, I imagine August is a good month!
AMAZON ADS APRIL 2023:
UK ADS
I barely looked at Ads this month – just checking in once or twice per week to optimise things.
But the ACOS remained good. This month the spend was low at £88 and the ACOS 19.88% in the UK.
CANADA ADS
Canada was even lower Ad spend wise – only $41!!
I really need to get some more campaigns running again over there. Or perhaps raise the bids – as it may be the bids are no longer high enough.
That’s why Amazon really isn’t a set it and forget it thing…… I pretty much treated it that way in April but it’s not something I recommend.
You do need to go in and check that you’re not overspending in certain areas – but also check that you are actually still getting impressions and sales with your campaigns.
USA ADS
I spent the most in the US in April and that came to $115, with an ACOS of 21.
Again, I probably should have gone in more to tweak things though, as you will always find something that you should have adjusted if you leave things too long.
Which Marketplace Made The Most Sales?
This month, both of those large bulk order days were in the USA and that is by far the highest earning platform this month, with over $4000 of the sales coming from there in April 2023.
In second place was the UK, making over $2000.
Third was Canada With Over $645.
What Did I Learn This Month?
I think most of all, I was reminded about the importance of seasonality.
I do have certain books that just start selling more depending on the time of year.
This is not something I have ever paid much attention to, because I’ve generally always made books that are evergreen. That is, they sell anytime of year.
But it is very nice to have these upticks in sales as well, so I would like to create some more books that focus a little bit more on the time of year.
It makes sense to do so at this point, as I already have a large catalogue of evergreen books.
Spending & Expenses:
Ad Spend:
UK: £88.42 (109.30)
Canada: $41.35 (31.82 dollars)
USA: $115.42
total: $256.54
+ 20% VAT – approx 51 + 256.54 = $307.54
Tools – With A Monthly Subscription:
Midjourney
Enhance.
I do have a bunch of other tools I’m using and paying monthly for, but I don’t include here – as they aren’t for KDP.
For example; Aweber for email marketing or ERANK for Etsy. You can find a list of tools I use here.
In any case, these tools right now come to around $115.
So, that would be 307.54 + 115 = $422.54
So, based on this then, the profit for KDP in April was……
$75341.62
How Did You Get On In April?
I’d love to know!
Please let me know in the comments!
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