I've been sitting on this post for a while because I wanted to make sure I wasn't just being dramatic. After months of watching the space closely, I'm convinced this isn't fear-mongering — it's pattern recognition. Here's my honest breakdown of where Amazon KDP is headed — for all of us. The Ground is Already Shifting Under Our Feet KDP is currently the frontline of AI disruption. The market isn't just "getting competitive" — it's being flooded with synthetic content at a scale we've never seen before. Amazon knows it. That's why they're actively rewriting the rules: algorithm changes, royalty structure tweaks, review policy updates. The A10 algorithm shift wasn't accidental. They're trying to manage a glut they didn't anticipate, and they're doing it in real time. If we've noticed our organic rankings slipping over the past year, we're not imagining it. The playbook that worked in 2022 is now actively working against us. The Next 1–2 Years: We're No Longer Authors. We're Media Buyers. Here's the hard pill: writing a well-structured, 30,000-word book is no longer a differentiator. We can produce it in a day. Execution — the thing we used to compete on — has been commoditized overnight. And before anyone says, "just write better, more human content," readers can't actually tell the difference anymore. That ship has sailed. Competing on the quality of the text itself is a losing game, regardless of how it's produced. So what actually wins now? External attention. Amazon's new algorithm heavily rewards books that arrive with an audience already attached. That means the winners over the next two years won't be the best writers. They'll be the best digital marketers — the ones building newsletters, growing YouTube followings, nurturing Skool communities, and then pointing that audience toward their books. Our identity in this business has to evolve. We need to think of ourselves less as authors and more as media brands that happen to publish books. The second piece of this is what I'm calling the trust premium. Readers are already experiencing AI fatigue, even if they can't name it. They can feel when a person is behind something — not because the writing is better, but because the marketing is authentic, the niche is specific, and the face behind the brand is real and present. Verifiable human presence and transparent, specific marketing will convert dramatically better than anonymous, optimized content. Our humanity isn't in the text anymore. It's in how we show up off the page.

Imagine you are creating a book about decluttering. If you hired two cover designers and gave them a task: Create a cover for a book about decluttering with the title: "Decluttering Made Simple. Subtitle: Practical Strategies to Organize Your Home and Achieve Peace from Clutter in Less than 10 Minutes a Day. By Kate Hansen." Designers returned with their concepts. What offer would you prefer as a prototype to continue with? Your ideas about the quality of designs? Cast your vote for the set you like better. ----- ⚠️ If you recognized some designs, NO SPOILERS please.

Why were we so confused about the reviews last month? I watched the clip and found that there's an easy solution. Okay, I'll save you 22 minutes. "Register on Book Bounty, and you'll have 100 reviews in your pocket in 45 days or less." It's so simple, realistic, and safe. Sometimes it's hard to find the right words to describe the experience of watching YouTube videos.

Great December strategy explainer from Gerald Confienza. The main takeaways: 1️⃣ The Exact Match Test The goal of this strategy is to capture specific, high-converting opportunities without wasting the budget, leveraging the higher buyer urgency and conversion rates seen in December. Implementation and Bidding: 1. Identify Targets: Use a tool like Helium 10 (specifically Cerebro) to find competitors’ books. Extract the top five to ten keywords that competitors are ranking for organically, ideally those with an organic rank between one and five. 2. Campaign Creation: Activate a new exact match sponsored product keyword ad campaign using these extracted keywords. 3. Aggressive Bidding: Start with very aggressive bids, usually at around $2, aiming for the top of search result placement. The intent is to see if the ad is "worthy of top of search placement," which yields the biggest ROI and helps improve the book's organic ranking for that keyword. Monitoring and Management: • Monitor the campaign's performance over a 3 to 7 day window. • If you see sales, break-even, or only very slight losses, keep the keyword active. • If the keyword is profitable, gradually raise the bids so that the performance is maintained at total break-even. • A keyword is considered "working" even if it incurs a slight loss (e.g., 55% ACOS) if it helps maintain or improve the SEO rank for that specific search term, increasing the book's overall visibility. • If the keyword does not perform within the 5 to 7 day window, turn it off immediately. 2️⃣ Prioritizing Gross Royalty Over Low ACOS The expenditure-to-profit ratio is most optimal in December, meaning sellers should focus on maximizing total sales and profit rather than strictly adhering to a low ACOS (Advertising Cost of Sales). Strategy Details: • Avoid the "Low ACOS" Trap: Sometimes, a slightly higher ACOS is beneficial if it causes the gross royalty per day to grow. When gross royalty increases, net profit can actually grow, even if the ACOS goes up.

@Paul Jenkins It reminded me of an important question that I had been thinking about for a while: the opportunity for publishers from Asia to participate in our meetings. Paul said that morning time in Europe would work for Asia. For example, 8:00 am in London. What do you think about it? Do you have any ideas or suggestions?