Top 10 Amazon KDP Mistakes to Avoid in 2025

Mistake #1: Book Title Doesn't Match Your Cover

When uploading your book to Amazon KDP, the title you enter in the "Book Title" field needs to match exactly what appears on your book's cover. Amazon reviewers are strict about this, and depending on who reviews your submission, they may require every word from your cover to be included in the title field.

The title on your cover and the title in Amazon KDP should align closely. While sometimes slight variations are accepted, if your book keeps getting rejected, try different combinations of words that appear on your cover until you find what works.

Quick Fix

If your book isn't getting approved, experiment with matching the exact wording from your cover. Sometimes being more precise or including additional descriptive words from the cover solves the issue.

Mistake #2: Subtitle Problems

Your subtitle appears after a colon in your Amazon listing. Everything after the colon is considered your subtitle, even though it's all entered in one subtitle field on the back end. There are two common mistakes that get books rejected:

Using Restricted Keywords

Amazon doesn't allow certain keywords in subtitles. The most common ones that get flagged are:

"Free": Even if you mean "free times" (leisure), Amazon may flag this. Use "relaxing" or "leisure" instead.
"Best Seller": You can't claim your book is a bestseller unless it actually is.

Keyword Stuffing from Title

Amazon considers repeating keywords from your title in your subtitle as keyword stuffing, which is an attempt to game the system. Your subtitle should complement your title, not repeat it.

For example, if your title includes "Horse Word Search Puzzle Book," don't repeat those exact words in your subtitle. Create unique, descriptive text that adds value without duplicating your title.

Mistake #3: Cover Margin Issues

When creating your cover file, your background color needs to extend all the way past the edge of your cover. Don't just line it up at the edge. Zoom in and make sure there's no white space showing through.

Additionally, all important elements (graphics, text, and images) must stay within the safe area (typically marked by a dotted line in cover design software). Anything outside this area risks being cut off during printing.

Cover Design Checklist

Background color extends past all edges (bleed area)
All important text and graphics within the safe area
No white space visible when zoomed in

Mistake #4: Author Name Conflicts

If your book gets rejected for author name or contributor name issues, know that Amazon often batches these together. Even if you only have an author name and no contributor, they might say your contributor name needs changing. This could actually mean your author name needs to change.

There are two main reasons author names get rejected:

1. Name Already in Use

Someone else on Amazon is already using that author name. Unfortunately, there's no easy way to check this comprehensively on Amazon, but you can try searching for the name to see what comes up.

2. Protected or Trademarked

The name might be protected or trademarked by another author who built a brand, or by a company/brand you haven't heard of. They own the rights to that name.

💡 Pro Tip

You don't have to use the same author name for every book on Amazon. If your author name gets rejected, simply change it to something completely different and resubmit. Many successful sellers use different pen names for different books.

Mistake #5: Using Copyrighted or Trademarked Material

Copyrights and trademarks protect specific things that belong to other people or companies. This includes names, graphics, logos, and even people's reputations (like celebrities). Many sellers make the mistake of putting copyrighted materials on their book covers.

Common examples of what NOT to include on your covers:

What to Avoid

Celebrity photos: Using identifiable photos of athletes, actors, or public figures. Amazon may flag this as violating "right of publicity" or "right of privacy" - essentially using someone's reputation to profit.
Company names and logos: Brand names, car logos, sports team logos - anything that represents an established brand.
Movie or TV characters: Fictional characters from movies, shows, or books that are protected intellectual property.

✅ Safe Approach

Create generic, non-branded covers. For example, instead of using a specific baseball team logo, use generic baseball imagery. Instead of celebrity photos, use illustrations or stock photos of generic characters.

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Mistake #6: Thinking You Need Paid Ads

Many sellers believe paid advertising is necessary to succeed on Amazon KDP. While you'll see sponsored listings at the top of search results, you can achieve organic visibility without spending on ads.

The key is finding smaller, underserved niches. If you search for something specific like "horse word search," you'll notice the first two results are often sponsored, but the remaining organic results show up on the first page without any paid promotion.

The Strategy

By targeting smaller niches where there's real search volume but limited competition, your books can naturally rank on the first page of Amazon search results. Many sellers have found their books outranking competitors without any ad spend simply by finding and filling these underserved niches.

Mistake #7: Targeting Oversaturated Markets

Many new sellers make the mistake of going after books that are already selling well and trying to create their own version or something better. While this sounds logical, the competition is fierce, and it's hard to stand out.

Instead, use the strategy mentioned above: find smaller sub-niches where there are still plenty of people searching, but not many sellers have discovered and filled those niches yet.

The Winning Approach

Find underserved niches with good search volume
Create multiple books to fill those niches
Rinse and repeat with new niches
Become the go-to option in smaller markets

When you're one of the few options in an underserved niche, you'll naturally get organic sales because readers have limited choices, and you're one of them.

Mistake #8: Creating High-Content Books Instead of Low/Medium-Content

Back when starting in 2018, many sellers created high-content books (full novels or substantial nonfiction works). While these can still sell, they rarely generate significant revenue for new authors competing against established bestselling authors.

The better approach: focus on low and medium-content books. These are functional books where people buy based on what the book does, not who wrote it.

Examples of Low/Medium-Content Books

Word search puzzle books
Crossword puzzles
Coloring books
Journal or planner templates
Activity books
Log books (travel, fitness, meal planning, etc.)

These books sell because they serve a specific function. Readers don't care who the author is. They care that the book meets their needs.

Mistake #9: Not Nicheing Down Enough

Once you've decided to create low or medium-content books, you need to go one step further: find sub-niches within that book type.

For example, word searches are a great sub-niche within medium-content books. But then niche down even more: create horse-themed word searches, baseball-themed word searches, or travel-themed word searches.

The Secret Sauce

This extra layer of niching down is often the difference between struggling for visibility and ranking organically. These highly specific niches have plenty of people searching but very few sellers creating content, making it much easier to rank and sell.

Mistake #10: Paralysis by Analysis

The biggest mistake that affects the most people: overthinking and never actually getting started. Many would-be sellers spend too much time analyzing what's the best way to start, what's the best business to pursue, that they become paralyzed and never take action.

After 10+ years of starting online businesses, Amazon KDP has consistently been one of the easiest to start and begin making money, and this holds true even in 2025. The barrier to entry is low, the process is straightforward, and the potential for passive income is real.

Just Get Started

The best way to learn Amazon KDP is by doing it. Make your first book, upload it, see what happens, and learn from the experience. Every successful seller started with their first book.

There are comprehensive, free step-by-step tutorials available that walk you through the entire process, from finding niches to creating books to uploading and publishing. Use these resources, but most importantly, take action.

Key Takeaways

✓Match your book title exactly to what's on your cover
✓Avoid restricted keywords in subtitles and don't repeat title keywords
✓Ensure proper cover margins and keep elements in the safe area
✓Use unique author names and avoid copyrighted/trademarked material
✓Focus on underserved niches instead of oversaturated markets
✓Create low/medium-content books and niche down as much as possible
✓Don't overthink. Start creating and learn as you go