Amazon KDP Income Report September 2023

My KDP income has continued its downward trend this month as expected. It is even lower than the income reported last month – August 2023. The difference is not much though, as you will see below.

Previously, I’ve predicted that the summer months (July – September) would be lull months for me based on past years. And this had been the case for me this year and for most KDP low-content publishers as well.

My guess is summer months are generally where a flurry of activities take place. Schools are out in August and people are traveling and going out more often rather than staying indoors, so it does get quieter in the low-content space.

September is where schools re-open, with families busy preparing their kids going back to school. If you’ve got lots of books in the back-to-school niche such as composition notebooks or teacher planners, then these months might be good months for you. Remember to niche down though! Note to self: to create more books in the back-to-school niche next year.

New Amazon KDP Rule

Again?!

With the onslaught of Amazon’s changes, including Amazon’s printing cost increase in June 2023 and the disclosure of AI-generated content in August 2023, you’d think you can finally take a breather.

But no! Here comes yet another update – the number of books you can upload to KDP per day.

Amazon has come up with a new ruling that publishers can upload up to 3 books per day in order to deter spammers. This is great news for ‘serious’ publishers like us who take this side hustle as a real business.

Amazon should have taken this step long time ago. Better late than never!

Previously, there was no limit to the number of books publishers can upload a day. Even if there was a limit, no one knows how many. But I believe it’s in the thousands per day.

I get annoyed whenever I go to Amazon to do my research. There were so many (I mean tons!) low-quality low-content books flooding the Amazon marketplace. With the rise of AI usage, spammers will take every opportunity to use the power of AI to create and upload even more books (or rubbish) faster!

This is not a good user experience at all.

In order to retain their customers and attract new customers, Amazon has taken the right steps in the right direction by limiting the number of books publishers can upload.

September 2023 Income Report – With No Ads

Now on to the numbers! How did I do for September?

My KDP income has continued its slide this month. However, it is still above the minimum expectation to get at least $300 every month from this side hustle. So I’m happy with it.

Highest day: $20.35

Lowest days: $2.54

My Top-Selling Books

The #1 top-selling book goes to a book in the children’s niche. It has been my best-seller since I published it in April 2020. It brought in 36% of my KDP income this month. Keep up the good work!

My #2 best-seller has remained in its spot yet again. It brought in 11.6% of my KDP earnings this month. This is in a specific children’s niche. I’ll be building a brand around this niche, so follow along in my branding journey if you’re interested.

The third best-selling book brought in 8% of my KDP earnings. It’s a specific type of tracker in the women’s niche. It sells for me every month since it was published in October 2020.

Any surprises this month?

My #3 best-selling book has shot up to take its place to become one of the top 3 best-sellers this month. It usually does sell a few copies every month, but nothing to write home about.

What I Made in September 2022 – With No Ads (In Comparison)

This month’s income is almost the same as last year’s September. It’s $10.81 slightly more than last year’s and above the $300 baseline I’ve set for myself. Happy with this passive income source I get from KDP every month. Can’t complain.