Self-Publishing through Amazon KDP
Started 8 August 2025
What happened
Created and published a journal through Amazon KDP. The product successfully went live and generated two sales. The publishing process itself was relatively straightforward, but discoverability and driving consistent sales proved to be the main challenge. October 2026 update: The experiment has now expanded to two film-related journals. After finding that both were difficult to discover through normal Amazon searches, we reviewed and improved their descriptions, keywords, categories and pricing. The next test will focus on visibility rather than creating more products, using a small UK Amazon Ads campaign alongside a Christmas marketing push through WhichVenture and social channels.
Lessons learned
KDP makes it easy to publish a product, but publishing is not the same as building demand. Without a clear audience, niche, traffic source or marketing plan, even a completed product can struggle to generate meaningful sales.
Current verdict
A viable low-cost route into self-publishing, but not passive by default. The opportunity is strongest when the product serves a clear niche and is supported by strong positioning, search demand or an existing audience.