If you are like me, you like to keep a tab on how many books you sell and the reviews you get. Many of you will check your sales through the basic KDP report page and maybe view your books on Amazon UK and USA for reviews and ratings. This is fine, but there are three great ways to make this easier and a more rewarding.
First, I would suggest that you utilise all that Amazon offers.
For a better view of royalties, check out Amazon KDP’s beta reports. You can view a whole range of reports that are easy on the eye and include a better breakdown of earnings. To find these reports, Open the Reports page in your KDP console and click on ‘Try the new KDP Reports beta’ near the top of the page – if you have not used this feature yet it may wow you. To easily your reviews pop along to ‘author central’. If logged into Amazon use this link https://author.amazon.co.uk/home
You will need to add your books and once this is done, take a look at ‘Reports + Marketing’. Here you will be able to each book’s sales rank and reviews across different Amazon markets.
Second, there are third-party platforms to help you.
My favourite (and it’s free for the first five books) is Datahawk. You can follow 5 books in the free version and then add more books and more features for small incremental payments. Check the pricing information as it is a little complicated and you may find that you can pay less than indicated at first sight.
Third, look at apps that overlay information on top of KDP reports within your browser.
I have only tried these apps on a laptop, but they work well. You will see some live stats including book sales (yes they show in real-time), averages, a trend line and predicted monthly sales. If you are also advertising your books, this may help you calculate your likely monthly profit. My favourite is Datasprout. I have it in a pinned tab so I can just op over and see how things are going.
So there we have it, three things to say about how best to monitor your KDP book and ebook sales – enjoy. Be sure also to check out Three Ways to Promote Your KDP Paperback book (and ebook)