You saw the chart. Eight months, 22x royalty growth, 15x profit. Not magic – process. Now I'm setting the next target: $5,000/month by the end of 2026. And I'm doing it publicly, with full transparency on what works and what doesn't. Here's what changed in my thinking going into this year. Low-content got me to $50/month on autopilot. Switching to a quality-first mindset got me past $3,000. But scaling further requires something I spent the last few months building: a repeatable system that doesn't depend on my mood, my schedule, or lucky niche picks. I'm calling it the Guided Publishing System. It's not a course. It's not a prompt pack. It's a structured workflow — built around the idea that AI can do the heavy lifting in execution, while the decisions, creative direction, and judgment calls stay with us. That's what produces defensible, platform-compliant books that actually sell. And that's what separates publishers who plateau from publishers who compound. I'm not ready to open it up fully yet. But I'm looking for a group of serious publishers – people already making something on KDP, already past the "does this even work?" phase – who want to run this alongside me in 2026. What that looks like in practice: Real numbers shared. Real process documented. No cheerleading – just what's working, what broke, and how I'm adjusting. If you're plateaued somewhere between $50 and $1,000/month and you're done waiting to figure out what the next level actually requires, this is worth paying attention to. If $5,000/month is a thing of the past for you, it's amazing! Let's target 5x growth, for example. More details on the Premium tier upgrades will be available soon. Watch this space. --- The chart shows my trajectory from Jan-25 through Dec-25. Your numbers will be different. I hope you will crash it.

Since I understand these get free copies, and will go and post their review as a free unverified review...

Yesterday was an interesting day: @Matt Radkiewicz and @Barry Georgiou published videos on how to structure Amazon Ads campaigns. Matt and Barry are accomplished publishers, and clearly, we can extract a lot of value from both videos. But on the surface, they seem to contradict each other in some areas. For example, using an auto campaign at the start. I would like to give my perspective on the topic, and we could continue in the comments. Barry provided a clear, simple structure: Phase 1, Phase 2, and Phase 3, with exact goals for each phase. And it's great if we assume the promoted book is great, the niche has potential, and the promotion timeline is infinite. Matt, on the other hand, provided the structure for a publisher that cannot make a long-term commitment to the book yet due to insufficient data. His $500 campaign provides a framework for gathering initial data to determine whether the promotion should continue. As for me, Matt and Barry described frameworks for completely different scenarios, and we should not compare them; rather, we should consider them for different use cases. What is your opinion on the topic? @Robert Enochs does it make sense for you?

Have anyone tried converting their book cover from ebook to paperback, hardback, acx using AI? If so, what tool did you use? And what was the result?

Most authors worry about piracy. But there's a much more dangerous threat: Copyright Weaponization. On Amazon, your original content isn't just an asset - it's a vulnerability. Bad-faith actors are now using Amazon's own "Safe Harbor" tools to sabotage legitimate creators. Here is how the "Strategic Sabotage" loop works and how to protect your account. The Trap: "Guilty Until Proven Innocent" Amazon operates under a "notice-and-takedown" regime. Because they want to avoid legal liability, their systems are hard-wired to: - Act First, Verify Later: They remove content immediately upon a claim, favoring the claimant by default. - Shift the Burden: You are forced to "prove a negative" (that you didn’t steal your own work), usually within a 5-7 day window. - Automated Bias: AI bots handle these claims. If a bot sees a similarity, you get the "strike" - even if the other person stole from you. Tactics to Watch For - "Ghost" Content: Thieves using your manuscripts or scrape your "Look Inside" preview, publish it themselves, and then report you for plagiarism. - Retaliatory Strikes: If you report a copycat, they file a false counterclaim against you, resulting in a "confidentiality deadlock" where both accounts are suspended. - Trademark Trolling: Bad actors trademark common phrases used in titles (e.g., "Mamma Bear" or specific niche keywords) to retroactively wipe out top-selling competitors. Your Defensive Checklist To survive the "copycat era," you need a defense-first workflow. Don't wait for a strike to happen: 1. Register with the USCO: A formal Federal Copyright Registration is your "Silver Bullet." 2. Use Independent Witnesses: Services that provide digital timestamps are available. This creates an indisputable record that your work existed before the thief's version. 3. Keep the "Paper" Trail: Always save your original layered files (PSD, AI) and early manuscript drafts. Flattened PDFs or Canva receipts are often rejected as "low-weight" evidence.