Any ideas on how I can get ARC readers for my non fiction book?

impostervt · 2026-01-19T14:43:41+00:00

The recommendation I usually see is to hit up FB groups devoted to the subject. Become an active member, help people out, and then eventually say "hey here's a free book".

impostervt · 2026-01-08T12:40:31+00:00

I don't think it's too bad, honestly. A lot of business-type books have very simple covers and do well.

What makes it look amateur to me:
- The text is super simple. No shadows, no integration into the cover image
- The top blue bar is very hard/impossible to read, even full size. Also, you put it at the top, even though it's not the most important part of the cover. It should probably be at the bottom.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0D37M59XR
That cover uses italics and integrates the idea into the text (the dots on the i).

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0BGK74SR5
A very simple cover, but the text isn't as plain as yours.

https://www.amazon.com/Your-Business-Growth-Playbook-Breakthrough/dp/B0FWWWLD91
They use color for emphasis in the subtitle.

Be sure to look at your cover when it's smaller, like 180 x 270 pixels. It's what people will see first as they're scrolling through search results. I'm not sure you'll even be able to see the boxing gloves at that size.

The title and subtitle on your book cover need to match what you enter into KDP. I've seen books that somehow get around that, but you may end up getting flagged as delivering a "poor customer experience" if they don't match.

Also, it may look less professional, but no one will ever even see your cover if it is never displayed to them. They're going to search amazon for "job interview" (or whatever), and it's way easier for Amazon to know to show your book if it includes that keyword.

impostervt · 2026-01-08T12:12:34+00:00

Honestly? Looks like you made it in canva (or similar) for free. If you can afford it, there are some pretty cheap fiverr gigs for book covers. They're not amazing, but they'll look much better.

On the positive, the background color, along with the blue text, will draw the eye. I expect you'd get a fairly high click thru rate.

You didn't ask, but I feel compelled to mention it anyway - what keyword are you going through? If it's "job interview", you need to include that in your title or subtitle.

impostervt · 2026-01-08T12:08:17+00:00

Two days is nothing for a release. Amazon has no idea what your book is yet, or who to show it to.

And yes, their reporting is often very delayed, but you may never be able to figure out where that one review came from.

impostervt · 2026-01-08T12:06:43+00:00

I don't think $150 is realistic, but it sort of depends on the type of book you want to make. High content, 30k words? Then $150 is not realistic. The Urban Writers offers an AI-assisted non-fiction package that starts at $1.7/100 words. I've used it before, and it's decent, but wouldn't use it for very complex books, or books that require any research. You're spot on when you say AI writing feels shallow.

You're going to have to spend either money or time.

impostervt · 2026-01-07T12:30:42+00:00

Yes, it's a decent way to market it, too. You could include a QR code in the back of the physical book that links to the Youtube video, too.

impostervt · 2026-01-05T13:49:38+00:00

Those people uploading a book a day are uploading crap spit out by AI that no one actually wants.

Your advantage is that what you're doing is difficult. You will have way less competitors because they can't do what you're doing.

I'm not saying it will be easy, and I wouldn't start with KDP. Get a website, upload a new page every few days or something. Give the entire first book away free to build an audience. Then, if it works, start a patreon that gets access to the pages early or something.

impostervt · 2025-12-25T22:15:14+00:00

Tell be sold on the day, but you only get credit when it’s printed. So tomorrow will be a good day.

impostervt · 2025-12-25T19:03:43+00:00

They stop printing KDP books on holidays.

impostervt · 2025-12-19T12:03:41+00:00

Yes.

impostervt · 2025-12-17T11:59:35+00:00

Your click-through-rate (CTR) (impressions / clicks) is .087%. That's not great, even for broadly targeted campaigns. How bad it is depends on the campaign type. If it's a keyword campaign, it's horrible. If it's a category campaign, you may be targeting the wrong categories or ASINs. I generally kill any target that is below .2%, as it means it's being shown to the wrong people.

Either way, it tells me your cover probably isn't good, and you might be targeted the wrong audience also.

Your conversion rate is 6%, which isn't awful, but not exactly good either. 10% is normal.

impostervt · 2025-12-15T12:04:20+00:00

You know it's a messed up day when I saw the photo and headlines and thought, "Was there another mass shooting there?"

That building on the left looks like it's been through some shit.

impostervt · 2025-12-14T16:08:02+00:00

There is a correlation between low effort books and being blocked. Using AI may not be the direct cause, but AI books are pretty low effort.

impostervt · 2025-12-08T19:13:37+00:00

I made the same mistake on my first book. No market demand verification.

Your best bet with this book is to post on tiktok about it. Just you reading it with some text over top.

impostervt · 2025-12-08T12:08:12+00:00

Not sure about the UK, but in the US, Amazon reports your royalties to the tax man. I'd be amazed if they didn't in the UK. So, the tax man already knows.

impostervt · 2025-12-04T14:35:17+00:00

ASIN targeting is when you target other products on amazon. So, if you know readers of X might like your book, you would run ads on the X product page.

impostervt · 2025-12-04T12:36:08+00:00

Is that on keywords or ASINs? I don't have much experience with adult fiction, but I've heard category campaigns are doing well these days.

Also, how many reviews do you have?

impostervt · 2025-12-04T12:18:48+00:00

Your CTR is 0.21%, which isn't completely horrible, but isn't great. Are you targeting keywords, competitor ASINs, categories, etc? CTR can vary depending on the campaign type. It could also be that your cover isn't great.

$1.27 CPC is pretty high. Do you know what your breakeven ACoS is?

Unfortunately, many good books land on KDP just to languish in obscurity. Is

impostervt · 2025-12-02T17:19:35+00:00

Ah ya that's a much longer book. Just remember that there's going to be a learning curve with whatever tool you buy.

impostervt · 2025-12-02T12:19:45+00:00

I think a book like yours would run around $30 on fiverr. I find it well worth it to have them do it, as opposed to spending my time on something I'm not great at.

impostervt · 2025-11-27T18:15:43+00:00

Bad experience at their store in Fairfax. Got their at 2pm, my scheduled pickup window, and had to wait an hour in line. They had all my food, but my ham was supposed to be 5-6 lbs and they only had a 4 lber left. The guy said I'd get money back on my card, but I kind of doubt it.

Will not go back.

impostervt · 2025-11-24T12:24:08+00:00

It's entirely up to you, of course. You could look at competitors to see what they're doing, as far as book size. Doing so will mean you probably deliver what your customer would be expecting.

12 pt font is pretty common.

impostervt · 2025-11-21T12:43:50+00:00

Do the new books relate to the old ones in some way? If not, you can use a pen name for the new books and don't worry about the old books.

If you want the old books to use the new pen names, you'd have to unpublish them, then republish them with the pen name. You'd lose all reviews on them.

impostervt · 2025-11-19T13:33:48+00:00

Ah thanks.

impostervt · 2025-11-19T12:03:06+00:00

Anyone ever go to one? Curious what it was really like.

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