Believe it or not, I wrote a book called the “Pheasant Hunter’s Journal” that is being published by Amazon. But, like many of the sound bites coming out of Washington these days, there is more to the story.
Background
In mid-January, after many years of putting it off, I had my left knee replaced. The recovery from a knee replacement is non-trivial and requires a lot of down time. So, I ended up watching a lot of YouTube videos.
The YouTube algorithm suggested multiple videos about the Amazon program for “Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)” which effectively allows people to self publish. In particular, some people have had success publishing “low-content” books. Low-content books range from journals with just blank pages up to books with some content plus lots of pages that the buyer can write on.
We have been talking about publishing some books on various subjects in the past and this seemed like a good time to see how KDP worked. I knew that the low-content book market is pretty well saturated I needed a subject that was not main stream. I decided to focus on what I know, which is pheasant hunting. Specifically, the logging of hunting trips, which is something I have been doing for years.
So, now I had an idea for the book. Given how limited the audience is I know that I will be lucky to sell more than a handful of books. But that is okay. The biggest benefit of the project is to learn the process.
Process
The Amazon KDP process is very well documented. I spent quite a bit of time reading, taking notes and watching KDP related YouTube videos. I put together a checklist of things I needed to do, a lot of which has nothing to do with actually writing the book.
Create an Outline
Even though the book would be considered low-content I still wanted to provide information that would make the book useful and hopefully encourage people to actually buy it. The book starts with a chapter about the benefits of trip logging. The second chapter would be about how to use the forms that would make up the bulk of the book along with an explanation of the various form fields. The third chapter would describe various online resources that would be available. The rest of the book would consist of blank trip logging forms.
Select Trim Size
With the outline completed, I needed to select a “trim” size, which means what size the pages would be. The most common trim size for paperbacks is 6″ x 9″ but I wanted the pages to be large enough to easily fill out the forms. So, I selected a 8″ x 10″ trim size. KDP provides templates compatible with Microsoft Word for all of the common trim size. I downloaded a template and populated it with the book structure based on the Outline.
Write Content
Concurrently with starting the book I was also taking an Online Course about using AI tools, ChatGPT specifically. It was a perfect opportunity to try using ChatGPT to help develop the actual content for the chapters I outlined. Using ChatGPT, I described in general terms what the benefits of logging were and then the AI took that information and created content. The result was impressive. Using the same process I created content for the remaining chapters.
Next, I went back and edited all of the AI generated content. I changed it to match my writing style and to adjust the content to be consistent with my intent. Using the AI generated content saved me a lot of time but still required work to make it what I wanted.
Create Cover
An important step in the process is to create a cover. KDP provides an online tool that can be used to create a cover using a picture as the starting point. I used one of my videos from which I captured a specific scene as the starting point. I then updated some of the text and I had a cover.
Upload and Review
The next step is to upload everything and then preview the finished book. Once I could see the book, as it would be printed, I had to make multiple edits. The process is simple but does take some time. Once I had everything the way I wanted it then I ordered a “proof” copy. Amazon will print the book and ship it to you for a final review. You pay the printing cost and shipping.
Publish
Marketing
According to the KDP related YouTube videos, reviews are extremely important. There is kind of a catch-22. Without reviews, it is hard to sell the book. Without sales, it is hard to get reviews. There are ways to get reviews but those ways may not make sense given the limited audience for this type of book. I am going to show the book to some pheasant hunters I know and see if they would do some reviews for me.
Book Details
As noted above, this is considered a low-content book. What follows below is effectively the Amazon listing for the book, entitled “The Pheasant Hunter’s Journal”.
Whether you’re a seasoned pheasant hunter or just starting out, The Pheasant Hunter’s Journal is designed to help you track and reflect on your hunting experiences. With a structured log entry format, a sample filled-in log for guidance, and space for 50 detailed hunting records, this journal makes it easy to document your trips, monitor patterns, and refine your strategies.
Inside this journal, you’ll find:
- The Benefits of Logging – Why keeping a hunting journal helps improve success.
- Sample Log Entry – A fully completed example to guide your own record-keeping.
- Trip Index Pages – A quick-reference section to locate past hunts.
- 50 Two-Page Log Entries – Record details such as date, location, weather, hunting conditions, dog performance, bird activity, and personal notes.
Start documenting your hunts today and build a personal hunting history that will serve you for seasons to come!”
Summary
While it is true that I wrote a book called the “Pheasant Hunter’s Journal” it is not that big of an accomplishment. It is a “low-content” book that will have a very limited audience.
More important, it was a learning opportunity. The KDP process is really pretty easy to navigate. Learning how to use ChatGPT was also valuable. I am working on a second book which will be a “high-content” book on building wood duck houses.
