eBook Publishing & Marketing Glossary
Plain-English definitions for the terms you'll meet on the way from manuscript to market. Written for authors, not accountants.
Author brand
- Pen Name
- A pen name (or pseudonym) is a fictional author name used on a book cover instead of the author's legal name. It's legal everywhere and common in self-publishing — especially for authors writing across multiple genres, protecting career identity, or running scale operations with multiple brand identities. Royalties still flow to the legal person; the pen name is just a marketing surface.
KDP and Amazon
- Amazon A+ Content
- Amazon A+ Content (formerly Enhanced Brand Content) replaces the plain-text book description on your KDP product page with rich image and text modules — banners, comparison tables, author bio blocks. Amazon data shows products using A+ Content see ~5.6% higher conversion on average; for books the lift is typically 8–15%. Basic A+ is free for all KDP authors.
- ASIN
- An ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number) is a 10-character code Amazon assigns to every product, including every Kindle ebook. It's Amazon-only and works as the product's unique identifier in Amazon's ecosystem. Unlike ISBN, you can't buy an ASIN or use it outside Amazon — it's generated automatically when you publish through KDP.
- KDP Select
- KDP Select is Amazon's optional enrollment program that grants Kindle Direct Publishing authors access to Kindle Unlimited page-read revenue, Kindle Countdown Deals, and Free Book Promotions in exchange for 90-day Amazon exclusivity on the digital edition.
- KENP
- KENP (Kindle Edition Normalized Pages) is Amazon's standardized page-count measurement for Kindle Unlimited. It normalizes every eBook to a common font, spacing, and margin model so KU per-page revenue is fair across the catalog. KENP is typically 1.0–1.3× your manuscript's page count.
- Kindle Countdown Deal
- A Kindle Countdown Deal (KCD) is a 7-day promotional pricing feature for books enrolled in KDP Select. During a KCD, authors can temporarily drop their book's price while keeping the 70% royalty rate (normally restricted to $2.99+). Available in US and UK only; limit one per 90-day Select period per book.
- Kindle Unlimited
- Kindle Unlimited (KU) is Amazon's subscription eBook service. Subscribers pay ~$12/month to read unlimited eligible books. Authors whose books are enrolled in KDP Select earn per-page-read revenue from Amazon's KDP Select Global Fund — typically $0.004–$0.005 per normalized page.
Marketing and ads
- ACoS
- ACoS (Advertising Cost of Sale) is the percentage of ad-attributed sale revenue spent on advertising. Formula: (ad spend ÷ ad revenue) × 100. Lower ACoS means more efficient advertising. Most indie authors target ACoS under 40% for non-fiction, under 60% for fiction in Kindle Unlimited.
- Lead Magnet
- A lead magnet is a free piece of content (typically an 8–15 page eBook, cheat sheet, template, or video) offered in exchange for a prospect's email address. Lead magnets are the primary mechanism for turning anonymous website visitors into email subscribers who can later be nurtured into paying customers.
- Tripwire Offer
- A tripwire offer is a low-priced product ($5–$25) offered immediately after a prospect opts in to a lead magnet. Its purpose isn't primarily revenue — it's to convert a freebie-seeker into a first-time buyer, because paying customers are 4–10× more likely to buy again at higher price points.
Publishing
- Book Blurb
- A book blurb is the short marketing description (typically 120–250 words) that appears on a book's back cover, Amazon product listing, and sales pages. Its job is not to summarize the plot — it's to convert a browser into a buyer in 30–60 seconds of reading, by signaling genre, introducing the hook, and making the reader feel the book is for them.
Publishing and distribution
- BISAC Codes
- BISAC codes are standardized category codes that classify books by subject for publishers, bookstores, and retailers. Each code has a letter prefix (like FIC for fiction) and six digits identifying the subcategory. Choosing the right BISAC codes determines which Amazon categories your book can rank in — a high-leverage decision for self-publishers.
- Book Metadata
- Book metadata is the structured information that describes your book to retailers — title, subtitle, author, description, keywords, categories, ISBN, price, series info, and more. It's how readers find your book via Amazon search, Google, and Apple Books discovery. Good metadata drives discoverability; bad metadata is why 95% of self-published books never get seen.
- ISBN
- An ISBN (International Standard Book Number) is a unique 13-digit identifier assigned to every edition and format of a published book. Bookstores, libraries, and retailers use it to track a specific title across the supply chain. For ebook-only Amazon KDP, it's optional; for wide distribution, print, or libraries, it's essential.
- Print on Demand (POD)
- Print on demand (POD) is a publishing model where physical books are printed one at a time after an order is placed — no inventory, no bulk printing. Author uploads manuscript + cover; the printer (Amazon KDP Print, IngramSpark, Lulu) produces and ships each copy when sold. Lower margin per unit than bulk printing, but zero inventory risk makes it the default choice for 95% of indie authors.
Publishing economics
- Author Royalty
- An author royalty is the payment an author receives per sale or per page read. Self-publishers on Amazon KDP earn 35% or 70% of list price depending on tier; other retailers like Apple Books and Kobo pay up to 70%. Traditional publishers typically pay 7.5–15% on print and 25% of net on ebooks. Royalties are paid monthly ~60 days after the sale month ends.
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