Easier Than I Thought
Back in March 2021, I released my first ever low content book 45 Writing Prompts for Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced Writers. What is a low content book you might ask?
A low content book is a book that is mostly empty, allowing the user to fill in the information. Examples of these include planners, calendars, journals, etc.
At the time, I'd been doing an array of short stories using words, sentences, phrases or character's names from a random generator. I had loved the challenge so much I thought I would create my own to sell on Amazon. My goal, spend no money while creating and publishing a low content book. Here's how you can too!
Where to Start
The first thing I did was pull up the trusty Canva website. There, you'll find thousands of templates to choose from. Check out Amazon's printing requirements before selecting your desired size. This way you shouldn't have any problems once it comes to printing your finalized product.
Things to be Aware of
Once you've picked the correct template, the second item you will want to be aware of is bleed and margin. This means giving yourself enough space from the sides to avoiding them being cut off in the final stages. If you do not do this part, most likely your book will not print correctly. Double check your margins based on your template you have chosen for the correct sizing.
The Inside
Now the fun part! We will be working on the inside of the book first before starting the cover.
This is important!
If you start with the cover first, it will not be the correct printing size and you will have to start from scratch.
When creating my journal, I started with the easiest part first. This included spacing the writing lines evenly, making sure there was a header, picking out the color I wanted (in this case black), and duplicating the page up to 100 times once everything was set. I left this in a project separate to the prompt pages to avoid any weird mishaps.
Now onto the design. I wasn't sure how I wanted my book to look. At first, I wanted it to look mature and sophisticated as that's how authors are usually represented. But I quickly changed course when I saw a more school like design within the elements tab. From there, I began designing. Make sure to choose fonts, the correct sizing and pictures that go well together to give your low content book a more cohesive feel as well as professional look.
This can take some time! I believe mine took several days of doing small adjustments here and there until the final version was complete. If you aren't certain about your spelling, I suggest having a friend look it over beforehand.
The Cover
Now that the inside is done, it's time for the cover! Amazon has templates you can download based on the final page count of your book to help design the final look of your cover. Once you have it downloaded, upload it to Canva and start creating! Once again, be mindful of your margins and bleed areas.
For my cover, I had a similar style that matched the inside design I went with. I even added color to make things pop! Make sure to add your name and title on the front. Leave room for the Amazon ISBN barcode on the back as well.
Tying it all together!
Everything is done, which means it's time to tie it all together. In my case, I had three different files I was working with. The cover pages, the prompt pages, and the journal pages. I downloaded all three in PDF formatting. Using a free PDF Converter site, I was able to combine all three into one PDF which I could download straight to the Kindle Direct Publishing account.
Final Thoughts
Besides figuring out the final dimensions and margins your will need for your book, the rest is honestly super easy! Also, free if you don't have a ton of extra cash laying around.
Once you've done it and are able to manage everything you can create hundreds of low content books to sell on Amazon. Just make sure each is unique as you don't want your account suspended!
Subscribe to the blog to get more writing content. Check out my post about Amazon versus Blurb: Who Self-Publishes Better if you want to know more about other sites to publish.
