I’ve made $1.3M in KDP royalties. Here’s a checklist you can use to maximize your profits in Q4 (and the rest of the year).

Use this checklist as a handy guide to review your book listings and optimize them for higher conversion rates and more sales.

You won’t get this from ChatGPT or other sources. These are the same tactics I use for my own books, and that I teach to my students. Every point in this checklist was learned through experience, gained by making a lot of mistakes and learning from them. Everything in this checklist is real, and up-to-date as of 10/6/2025.

How to Optimize Your Cover

Your book cover is arguably the most important part of your book. It shapes how people think about your book.

Checklist:

• [ ] Best Seller badge: Your book gets a Best Seller badge by being the #1 book in a category, based on BSR (your book’s Best Seller Rank).
• [ ] Easy-to-read title: If you can’t easily read the book title in thumbnail size, then people will overlook your book and you will get fewer clicks / lower CTR (Click-Through-Rate).
• [ ] Clear communication: Your cover needs to clearly communicate what the book is about and who it’s for.
• [ ] Effective title: Place the main KW in the title, and be clear about the book’s benefits and who the book is for. (You cannot change the title once the book is published, but you can apply what you’ve learned to your next book.)
• [ ] Good social proof: Keep your ratings above 4.0 (preferably above 4.5) and have enough reviews to compete in your niche (usually more than 10, 30, 50 or 100, depending on the competition).
• [ ] Realistic price based on value and niche: Keep your price within expectations for the niche. That can mean raising your price or lowering it, depending on the niche.

Extra Tips:

• [ ] Hire a professional designer: If budget allows, get a professional cover designer who understands your genre. Homemade covers usually get poor results.
• [ ] Test multiple designs: Use tools like PickFu to split-test different cover options with real feedback from potential readers.
• [ ] Follow genre conventions: Ensure that your cover follows the visual cues your readers expect in your genre (e.g., fonts, colors, imagery).
  • [ ] OR… do the opposite, stand out with a new approach that reframes the subject

How to Optimize Your Book Listing