Make Money Publishing Low-Content Books on Amazon KDP

When most people talk about publishing books, they often think about creating fiction or nonfiction books that can take months to write. However, there is another option: creating low-content books. So what are low content books, and how can you make money with them?

Low content books are those with very little written content, such as journals, logbooks, or activity books. Find a niche that is underserved on Amazon KDP, create and upload a digital file of the book, and when someone buys the book, Amazon will print it on demand, and you will earn a share of the earnings of around $2 to $3 per book.

If you’ve been curious about how to make money publishing low content books and actually turn them into passive income, you’re in the right place. I’m going to walk you through everything—from understanding what these books actually are, to finding profitable niches, designing your interiors, and getting your first sale. No fluff, no outdated tactics, just the real deal.

Ready? Let’s dive in.

What Exactly Are Low Content and Medium Content Books?

Before we get into the money-making part, let’s clear up what we’re even talking about here.

Medium content books are publications with minimal written content. Think journals with prompts, planners with date fields, logbooks with tracking templates, or activity books with puzzles. The reader fills in most of the pages themselves. You’re essentially creating the framework, and they’re doing the heavy lifting.

Low content books take this even further—they’re completely blank inside. Lined notebooks, blank sketchbooks, composition books. Pure white space (or lines, or grids) waiting to be filled.

Here’s why this matters: you’re not writing a novel or researching a non-fiction book for six months. You’re creating useful tools that people actually need. A fitness tracker. A gratitude journal. A meal planner. A password logbook (yes, people still use these).

The beauty? Once you create and upload these books to Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing), they sit there and earn you royalties every time someone buys one. That’s the passive income part everyone gets excited about—and honestly, it’s pretty cool when you wake up to see you made sales while you were sleeping.

Can You Still Make Money with Low-Content Books on Amazon KDP in 2026?

Okay, let’s address the elephant in the room.

Yes, you can still make money with low content KDP books in 2026—but (and this is a big but), the landscape has changed. Back in 2017-2019, you could slap together a basic journal, upload it with a half-decent cover, and watch the sales roll in. Those days are long gone.

The market is saturated now. Search for “gratitude journal” on Amazon, and you’ll find thousands of results. Competition is fierce, and Amazon’s algorithm has gotten pickier about what it promotes.

So what does this mean for you?

It means you need to be strategic. You can’t just copy what everyone else is doing and expect results. You need to find those profitable low-content KDP niches that aren’t completely overrun yet. You need better designs. You need to understand basic keyword research. And honestly? You might need to run some Amazon Ads to get initial traction.

But here’s the good news: because the barrier to entry is higher now, fewer people stick with it long enough to succeed. If you’re willing to put in the work upfront and treat this like an actual business rather than a lottery ticket, you can absolutely carve out your slice of the pie.

I’ve seen beginners make anywhere from $100 to $500 in their first few months. More experienced publishers? Some are pulling in $2,000-$5,000 monthly. The top-tier folks are hitting five figures, but let’s be real—that takes time, volume (think 100+ books), and often some ad spend.

Stage	Timeframe	Monthly Earnings (Realistic)	Key Characteristics
Beginner	0–6 Months	$0 – $200	Focus is on learning keyword research, cover design, and interior formatting. Most publishers make nothing in their first 1–2 months.
Intermediate	6–18 Months	$500 – $1,500	Scaling the “backlist” to 50+ quality books. Use of Amazon Ads begins to stabilize sales. Finding a “hero niche” (one book that sells daily) usually happens here.
Advanced	18+ Months	$2,500 – $7,000+	Niche dominance and brand building. High-level ad management and potentially outsourcing design. Heavy reliance on Q4 (October–December) for up to 40% of annual income.

Step 1: Finding Your Profitable Low-Content KDP Niche

This is where most people either set themselves up for success or doom themselves to crickets. Niche selection is everything.

You want to find that sweet spot where there’s decent demand but not insane competition. Think of it like finding a cozy coffee shop in a neighborhood that’s busy enough to have customers but not so trendy that Starbucks has already moved in.

How to Spot a Good Niche

Start by asking yourself: what specific problems or needs can a low-content book solve?

Instead of “journal” (way too broad), think:

“Fishing log for bass anglers”
“Prayer journal for Christian women”
“Hiking trail logbook with elevation tracker”
“Recipe organizer for meal prep enthusiasts”
“Car maintenance log with service schedules”

See the difference? You’re getting specific. You’re targeting a defined audience with a clear need.

The Research Process (Let’s Get Practical)

Here’s my actual workflow for finding profitable niches:

Browse Amazon like a detective. Go to Amazon’s book section and start searching broad terms like “planner,” “journal,” “logbook,” or “tracker.” Look at what’s selling (check those Best Seller Rank numbers—anything under 100,000 is decent; under 30,000 is great).

Pay attention to the reviews. What are people loving? What are they complaining about? Those complaints are gold—they’re telling you exactly how to improve on existing books.

Use keyword research tools. This is where you level up from amateur to pro. Tools like Book Bolt let you plug in keywords and see search volume, competition levels, and what similar books are earning. Yes, they cost money ($9.99-$97), but consider it an investment in not wasting weeks creating books nobody wants.

For the free route, try the AMZ Suggestion Expander Chrome extension—it reveals hidden Amazon autocomplete suggestions that show you what real people are actually searching for.

Check the BSR (Best Seller Rank). This number tells you how well a book is selling. Lower is better. If you find a low content book in your target niche sitting at a BSR of 50,000, that book is probably making 2-3 sales per day. Multiple books in that range? You’ve found demand.

[Insert image: Screenshot showing Amazon BSR and how to interpret sales velocity]

Types of Low Content Books That Sell Best

From what I’ve seen (and from diving into actual sales data), these categories consistently perform well:

Planners and organizers: Academic planners, budget planners, wedding planners, meal prep planners
Journals with prompts: Gratitude journals, prayer journals, travel journals, fitness journals
Logbooks and trackers: Fishing logs, reading logs, medication trackers, habit trackers
Activity books: Puzzle books (word searches, crosswords, sudoku), coloring books for adults, kids’ activity books
Specialty notebooks: Music composition notebooks, recipe books, password logbooks, garden planning journals

The secret sauce? Go narrow. A “dog training journal” will get lost. A “positive reinforcement training log for rescue dogs” has a fighting chance.

Step 2: Creating Your Low Content Book Interior (Without Going Insane)

Alright, you’ve found your niche. Now it’s time to actually create the thing. And no, you don’t need to be a graphic designer to pull this off.

The Free Route: Canva

Canva (especially Canva Pro) has become the go-to tool for low content publishers, and for good reason. It’s intuitive, has tons of templates, and you can create KDP-ready interiors without touching complicated design software.

Here’s the basic process:

Set up your document correctly. Amazon KDP has specific trim size requirements. The most popular sizes for low content books are:

6″ x 9″ (standard for journals and planners)
8.5″ x 11″ (great for activity books and larger planners)
5″ x 8″ (pocket-size journals)

In Canva, create a custom size matching your chosen dimensions. Don’t forget to add bleed (an extra 0.125 inches on all sides) if your design extends to the edge of the page.

Design your interior pages. For a basic lined journal, you’re literally creating pages with evenly-spaced horizontal lines. For a planner, you’re setting up sections for dates, to-do lists, and notes. For a logbook, you’re creating fields to track specific information.

Keep it simple. White or off-white backgrounds work best. Use readable fonts (nothing too fancy). Leave enough margin space so nothing gets cut off during printing—Amazon recommends at least 0.25″ margins on the inside edge and 0.125″ on other edges.

Create your master pages, then duplicate. Once you’ve got one perfect page, just copy it 100+ times. Most low content books are 100-120 pages (that’s the sweet spot for pricing and perceived value).

Export as PDF. Canva lets you download your design as a PDF—make sure to select “PDF Print” for the best quality, not “PDF Standard.”

The Premium Route: Specialized Tools

If you’re planning to create multiple books and want to speed things up, consider investing in tools built specifically for KDP low content publishing.

Book Bolt ($9.99-$19.99/month) is the Swiss Army knife of KDP tools. Beyond niche research, it has an interior generator that creates puzzle books, activity pages, and templated interiors. You can literally create a word search book in minutes.

What About Those Interior Mistakes Everyone Makes?

Let me save you some headaches:

Don’t use copyrighted fonts or images. Stick to commercial-use licenses only. Canva Pro elements are safe; free Google Fonts with commercial licenses are safe. Random Pinterest images? Not safe.
Test your file before uploading. Download Amazon’s Kindle Previewer tool and check how your interior looks. What looks perfect on your screen might have alignment issues in print.
Keep it printer-friendly. Avoid large, solid black areas—they can look blotchy when printed. Stick to clean, simple designs.
Odd number of pages only. KDP requires an odd number of pages because of how books are bound. So 101, 103, 105 pages—not 100 or 102.

Step 3: Designing a Cover That Actually Sells

Here’s a hard truth: people do judge a book by its cover. Especially with low content books where they can’t read a sample chapter to get hooked.

Your cover needs to communicate instantly what the book is and make someone want it. It’s competing with dozens of other books in the search results, and you’ve got maybe two seconds to grab attention.

Cover Design Basics

Use Canva or hire out. You can design covers in Canva Pro using their book cover templates (just make sure to adjust dimensions for your specific trim size + spine + bleed). If design isn’t your thing, sites like Fiverr or 99designs have designers who specialize in KDP covers for $15-$100.

Follow the formula. Look at best-selling books in your niche. Notice patterns? Most low content book covers include:

A clear title (large, readable font)
A subtitle that explains what it is
Simple, appealing graphics or patterns
Colors that stand out in thumbnails

Think thumbnail-sized. Your cover will mostly be seen as a tiny thumbnail on Amazon. Zoom out and squint—can you still read the title? Does it grab your eye?

Stay on-brand for your niche. A fishing logbook should look rugged and outdoorsy. A prayer journal might be soft and inspirational. An academic planner needs to look organized and professional. Match the aesthetic to your audience’s expectations.

Below is a cover I designed with Book Bolt.

Tools for Cover Design

Canva Pro – Most versatile option with templates and design elements
Book Bolt Designer – Built into Book Bolt subscription, KDP-focused
Tangent Templates Cover Designer – Part of their toolkit
Placeit – Mockup generator that creates realistic book images for marketing

Pro tip: Create 3-4 cover variations and test them. Amazon lets you switch covers after publishing, so if one isn’t performing, try another.

Step 4: Keyword Research and Amazon Listing Optimization

This is the part that separates books that sell from books that sit invisible in the Amazon abyss.

Amazon is a search engine, just like Google. People type in what they’re looking for, and Amazon shows them relevant results. Your job is to make sure your book shows up for the right searches—the ones where people actually have their wallets out.

Finding the Right Keywords

Use Publisher Rocket or Book Bolt. These tools show you:

What keywords are people searching for
How much search volume do those keywords get
How competitive they are
What books are already ranking for them

You want keywords with decent search volume (1,000+ monthly searches) but not crazy competition (avoid anything where the top 10 results all have thousands of reviews).

Mine Amazon autocomplete. Start typing your main keyword into Amazon’s search bar. Those suggestions? That’s Amazon telling you what real people are searching for. Write them all down.

Check your competitors’ listings. Look at the titles and descriptions of best-selling books in your niche. What keywords are they using? Don’t copy them word-for-word (that’s tacky and might hurt your ranking), but note the terms that keep appearing.

Optimizing Your KDP Listing

Amazon gives you several places to insert keywords:

Title (critical): Your main keyword should be in your title. Example: “Fishing Log Book: Bass Fishing Journal with 120 Pages for Tracking Location, Weather, Lures, and Catches”

Notice how that packs in multiple search terms naturally? That’s not keyword stuffing—it’s strategic.

Subtitle (helpful): Another chance to work in secondary keywords and benefits. Keep it readable and helpful to humans, not just the algorithm.

Seven backend keyword boxes (important): When you upload to KDP, you get seven boxes to enter keywords. Use all of them. Enter relevant phrases (not single words, full phrases like “fishing logbook for men” or “bass fishing tracker”). Don’t repeat words—if “fishing” is in your title, use those backend slots for related terms like “angler,” “tackle,” “sportfishing.”

Description (matters for conversion): This isn’t just for SEO—it’s your sales pitch. Use HTML formatting to make it scannable:

Bold key features
Use bullet points to highlight benefits
Include social proof if you have it later (“Loved by over 1,000 anglers!”)

Categories (underrated): Amazon lets you choose two categories. Pick the most specific, relevant ones where your book can actually compete. Browse the categories manually to see where similar best-sellers live.

[Insert table: Sample keyword strategy for a fitness tracker journal]

Keyword Type	Example Keywords	Where to Use
Primary	fitness journal, workout tracker	Title
Secondary	gym log book, exercise planner	Subtitle, Backend
Long-tail	weight lifting progress tracker, bodybuilding journal for men	Backend, Description
Related	health journal, fitness diary, training log	Backend

Step 5: Formatting and Uploading to Amazon KDP

You’ve done the hard work. Now it’s time to get your book live on Amazon.

The KDP Upload Process

Create your KDP account. Head to kdp.amazon.com and sign up (it’s free). You’ll need to enter tax information and banking details for royalty payments.

Start a new paperback project. Click “Create” and choose “Paperback.”

Enter your book details:

Book title and subtitle
Author name (you can use a pen name or “Created by [Your Name]”)
Description (paste in your formatted HTML)
Publishing rights (you own them if you created it yourself)
Keywords (those seven boxes we talked about)
Categories (choose two)

Upload your interior PDF. Amazon will check it for issues. If there’s a problem (like margins too small or an even number of pages), they’ll let you know. Use the online previewer to flip through and make sure everything looks right.

Upload your cover. You can either upload a single PDF that includes front, spine, and back cover (with correct dimensions), or use Amazon’s Cover Creator tool to design a simple cover. The Cover Creator is fine for basic books, but a custom cover usually looks more professional.

Choose your ISBN option. Here’s a common question: do you need to buy ISBNs for low content KDP books? No. Amazon provides free ISBNs for books published through KDP. The only reason to buy your own is if you want to use the same ISBN across multiple platforms (like if you’re also selling through IngramSpark). For most low content publishers, the free KDP ISBN is perfectly fine.

Set your pricing. This is part strategy, part math. Amazon pays you royalties based on the list price minus printing costs. Use the KDP royalty calculator built into the platform to see your profit per sale at different price points.

For a 6″ x 9″, 110-page journal:

Print cost might be around $2.50
If you price it at $8.99, your royalty is roughly $2.18 per sale with a 50% royalty
If you price it at $9.99, your royalty jumps to roughly $3.64 per sale with a 60% royalty

Higher prices mean more profit per sale but might reduce sales volume. Look at what similar books in your niche are priced at and stay competitive.

Publish! Hit that publish button. Amazon reviews your book (usually within 24-72 hours), and then it goes live.

Common Formatting Mistakes to Avoid

Forgetting bleed: If your design goes to the page edge, you need bleed. Without it, you’ll get white edges or cut-off designs.
Wrong trim size selected: Double-check that the trim size you selected in KDP matches your PDF dimensions exactly.
Low-resolution images: If you’ve included graphics, they should be at least 300 DPI for print. Anything less looks pixelated.
Copyright violations: Never use someone else’s copyrighted content. No Disney characters, no sports team logos, no song lyrics you don’t have rights to. Amazon will reject your book, and repeated violations can get your account suspended.

Step 6: Marketing Your Low-Content Books (Because Uploading Isn’t Enough)

Real talk: just because your book is on Amazon doesn’t mean anyone will see it. You need to actively market, especially when you’re brand new and have zero reviews or sales history.

Internal Amazon Strategies

Amazon Ads are almost essential now. The organic reach for new books is brutal. Running Amazon Sponsored Product ads can give you that initial visibility boost. Start with a small daily budget ($5-$10) and target relevant keywords or competitor ASINs (the unique Amazon product IDs).

You’re essentially paying to show up in search results and on competitor product pages. It takes some learning, but Kindlepreneur has a free Amazon Ads course that’s solid.

Get those first reviews. Reviews build trust and boost your ranking. You can’t pay for reviews (Amazon will ban you), but you can:

Give copies to friends/family and ask for honest reviews (but tell them NOT to mention they know you—Amazon can flag suspicious patterns)
Include a call-to-action in your book’s description asking satisfied customers to leave feedback
Enroll in Amazon’s Vine program once you’re eligible (requires a Professional Seller account)

Create a series. One book is nice. Five books in a coordinated niche is better. Think “Fitness Tracker Journal Series” with separate books for different workout types. Readers who like one might buy others, and it makes your brand look established.

External Traffic Sources

Pinterest is gold for low content books. Create pins showcasing your book covers with text overlays like “Perfect Gift for Fishing Enthusiasts” or “Stay Organized with This Meal Planner.” Link directly to your Amazon listing. Pinterest users are actively looking for products to buy—capture them.

Facebook groups related to your niche. Join groups where your target audience hangs out. Don’t spam your book link (you’ll get kicked), but engage genuinely and mention it when relevant. “Hey, I created a fishing log specifically for bass anglers because I was frustrated with generic ones—here’s the link if anyone’s interested.”

Instagram and TikTok. If your niche has visual appeal, create content around it. Show the interior pages, demonstrate how someone might use your planner, share organization tips. Build an audience, then promote your books.

Your own simple website. Create a one-page site showcasing all your books with affiliate links to Amazon. This gives you a home base you control, and you can build an email list to announce new releases.

[Insert image: Example of a Pinterest pin designed to drive traffic to a KDP low content book]

How Much Money Can You Realistically Make?

Let’s get into the numbers everyone cares about.

First month: If you launch one book with decent keyword research and run some Amazon Ads, you might make $0-$100. Don’t quit your day job yet.

Months 2-3: With 3-5 books published and some optimization based on early data, realistic earnings are $100-$300/month.

Months 4-6: At 10-15 books with at least a few gaining traction (reviews, organic ranking), you could hit $300-$700/month.

Six months to a year: With 30+ books, refined niche selection, and maybe some bestsellers in less competitive niches, earnings of $1,000-$3,000/month are achievable.

Beyond that: Publishers who treat this as a real business and scale to 100+ books, run ads strategically, and continuously research new niches can reach $5,000-$10,000+/month.

The key word here is realistic. This isn’t overnight wealth. It’s a numbers game combined with smart strategy. More quality books in profitable niches = more earning potential.

[Insert table: Income progression roadmap]

Timeline	Books Published	Estimated Monthly Earnings	Key Focus
Month 1	1-2	$0-$100	Learning the process, first launch
Months 2-3	3-5	$100-$300	Niche validation, initial optimization
Months 4-6	10-15	$300-$700	Scaling production, getting reviews
Months 7-12	30+	$1,000-$3,000	Running ads, finding bestsellers
Year 2+	50-100+	$3,000-$10,000+	Full business mode, series, branding

Top Tools and Resources to Accelerate Your Success

You don’t need to buy every tool out there, but these are the ones that actually move the needle:

Research Tools

Publisher Rocket ($97 one-time): Best for keyword and category research
Book Bolt ($9.99-$19.99/month): All-in-one niche research, interior creation, and keyword tools
AMZ Suggestion Expander (Free Chrome extension): Reveals hidden Amazon search suggestions
DS Amazon Quick View (Free Chrome extension): Shows BSR and category info right in search results

Design Tools

Canva Pro ($12.99/month): Covers 90% of your design needs for interiors and covers
Tangent Templates ($27-$97 one-time): Ready-made KDP interiors to customize
Creative Fabrica (Subscription): Commercial-use graphics, fonts, and templates
Book Bolt Designer (Included in subscription): Quick interior generation

Learning Resources

Self-Publishing Titans Free KDP Tools: Collection of calculators and niche finders
Amazon KDP Help Center: Official docs and guidelines (free, essential reading)
Skillshare KDP Courses: Step-by-step tutorials on low content creation
Kindlepreneur Amazon Ads Course: Free training on running profitable ads

Productivity Tools

MazeMindKDP: Automation tool for workflow and publishing tasks
Amazon Kindle Previewer: Official tool to preview your interior before publishing
Puzzle creation software: If you’re going into activity books (word searches, crosswords, sudoku)

I’m not saying buy everything on day one. Start with the free tools and Canva, get your first book up, then invest in premium tools as you validate that this works for you.

Avoiding the Most Common Low Content KDP Mistakes

Let me rapid-fire through the pitfalls I see beginners fall into constantly:

Choosing saturated niches. “Gratitude journal” has 50,000 results on Amazon. You’ll drown. Go niche.

Terrible covers. Your cover is your storefront. Invest time or money in making it good.

Ignoring keywords. If you don’t optimize your listing, Amazon doesn’t know who to show your book to. Do the research.

Publishing once and waiting for magic. One book won’t change your life. This is a volume game—you need multiple books to see consistent income.

Copying competitors exactly. Inspiration is fine; copying is lazy and might get you in legal trouble. Always add your own spin.

Pricing too low. Don’t race to the bottom. A $4.99 journal makes you barely anything after printing costs. Price for profit.

Giving up too soon. Your first book probably won’t be a bestseller. Nor your second. Treat it as a learning process.

Violating Amazon’s content policy. No copyrighted material, no adult content in books not marked as such, no misleading listings. Read the rules.

Is This Still Worth It in 2026?

I keep coming back to this question because I know it’s on your mind.

Here’s my honest take: if you’re expecting to upload three journals and retire next month, no, this isn’t for you. But if you’re willing to treat this like a legitimate side business—research niches, create quality products, learn basic marketing, and scale consistently—then absolutely, yes.

The passive income aspect is real. I have books that I published over a year ago that still generate sales every single month without me touching them. That’s powerful.

The flexibility is real. You can do this from anywhere with a laptop. You set your own schedule.

The barrier to entry is still relatively low. You don’t need to write a 300-page novel or become a coding expert. You’re creating useful tools that serve a need.

But it does require:

Initial time investment (learning the process, creating your first books)
Some money for tools or ads (though you can start scrappy)
Patience (results compound over time)
Willingness to learn and adapt (what worked in 2019 doesn’t work now)

The publishers making serious money in 2025 are the ones who stayed curious, kept testing, and didn’t give up after book number five flopped.

Your Next Steps

So where do you go from here?

Step 1: Pick one niche idea. Just one. Don’t overthink it—you can always publish more books in different niches later. Start with something you’re personally interested in or have some knowledge about.

Step 2: Do 1-2 hours of research on that niche using the free tools. Check Amazon search results, look at BSRs, read reviews. Validate there’s actual demand.

Step 3: Create your first interior. Use Canva and aim for “good enough,” not perfect. A simple lined journal or basic planner is fine for book #1.

Step 4: Design a cover. Again, good enough beats perfect. You can always update it later.

Step 5: Upload to KDP. Follow the steps carefully, double-check your formatting, price it competitively, and hit publish.

Step 6: While you wait for Amazon to approve it, start working on book #2. Momentum is everything.

Step 7: Once live, consider running a small Amazon Ad campaign ($5/day for a week) to get initial visibility. Track what happens.

Step 8: Repeat. Publish your next book. Then the next. Learn from each one.

The beautiful thing about this business model is that you can start today. No inventory to buy. No upfront manufacturing costs. No warehouse needed. Just you, your computer, and a willingness to figure it out as you go.

Will every book be a winner? No. But you only need a few solid performers to start seeing meaningful income. And once you crack the code on what works in your chosen niches, you can scale it.

Look, I’m not going to promise you’ll make $10,000 next month. But if you commit to publishing consistently, learning from your results, and treating this as a real business rather than a hobby? There’s absolutely money to be made here.

The question is: are you willing to put in the work to claim it?

[Insert image: Motivational graphic showing a timeline from “First Book” to “Passive Income” with key milestones]

Final Thoughts

Making money publishing low content books on Amazon KDP in 2025 is absolutely possible—but it’s not the easy-money opportunity some gurus make it sound like. It’s a real business that rewards research, consistency, and strategic thinking.

The people crushing it right now are the ones who treat it seriously: they research their niches carefully, create quality products, optimize their listings like pros, and market their books both on and off Amazon. They publish regularly, test different approaches, and learn from their data.

If you’re just looking for another get-rich-quick scheme, you’re going to be disappointed. But if you’re genuinely interested in building a side income stream that can scale over time and provide actual passive revenue, then low content KDP publishing deserves your attention.

My advice? Start with one book. Just one. Go through the entire process, make your mistakes on something small, and learn. Then do it again, but better. And again. Six months from now, you’ll have a portfolio of books generating income while you sleep.

That first royalty notification from Amazon? It’s a pretty great feeling. Trust me.

Now stop reading and go create something. Your first book is waiting.

Ready to dive deeper? Check out the official Amazon KDP Help Center for technical guidelines, explore Book Bolt or Publisher Rocket for serious niche research, and join online communities where low-content publishers share strategies and support each other. The resources are out there—you need to take the first step.

What are you waiting for?