What is a catalog health diagnostic for a fiction publisher?

A fixed-scope, roughly 10-business-day review of a multi-title fiction catalog's economics: series read-through, pricing and promo positioning, ad efficiency where data is provided, and backlist triage, delivered as a written pack plus a 90-minute workshop with a ranked 90-day action plan. It uses CSV/exports or screen-share only; no KDP password or ad-account access.

What data do I need for a catalog review without sharing my KDP password?

KDP sales and KENP CSV exports for the last 90 to 180 days, optionally Amazon Ads and Meta Ads exports for the same window, and a series list with price ladder. You can also screen-share while you click. We never request KDP, ad-account, or banking passwords. Amazon's own guidance is that KDP will not ask for passwords over email.

How much does a publisher catalog audit cost?

Design-partner slots (first logos, case-study rights) run $497 to $750. A standard Diagnostic of up to 40 ASINs or 8 series is $1,000 to $1,500. A large catalog slice or a 3-plus-brand multi-pen review is $1,800 to $2,500. Pricing is published up front; there is no long contract for the Diagnostic itself.

Catalog Health Diagnostic for Multi-Title Fiction

What it is

A fixed-scope, 10-business-day review of your live catalog economics — what is working, what is leaking, and the five highest-ROI moves for the next 90 days. Delivered as a written pack plus a 90-minute workshop. Exports only. No KDP passwords. No ads management.

Standard: $1,000–$1,500 · Design partner (case-study rights): $497–$750 · Large slice (40–100 ASINs or multi-brand): $1,800–$2,500

Request Diagnostic SOW See sample scorecard first

Why operators buy this before a retainer

Cold monthly "analytics retainers" are hard to trust. A fixed Diagnostic is a project your marketing lead can approve without a board meeting — and it forces the only question that matters: are there material leaks worth a monthly scorecard?

You already know series read-through matters. Paid Book 1 → Book 2 around 50 to 60% is a widely cited community band; below ~50% is commonly treated as a diagnose-before-scaling-ads signal (Kindlepreneur; Authors Game). The Diagnostic applies that discipline across your portfolio, not one hero series in a blog example.

What's included (fixed scope)

Portfolio snapshot — up to 40 ASINs / 8 series (or one imprint slice if larger; overage priced in the SOW)
Series economics — sell-through / KU read-through where data allows (sales last-book ÷ first-book; KU pages ÷ KENPC-style full-read estimates)
Pricing and promo map — current price ladder vs series position; promo history if you provide it
Category / keyword / positioning flags — top 10 to 15 titles only (not a full keyword redo of every ASIN)
Ad efficiency skim — if AMS/Meta exports are provided: which titles look like spend sinks vs engines (recommendations only — no campaign login or ops)
Backlist triage — every reviewed title labeled Push / Fix / Harvest / Pause-invest
90-day action plan — five ranked moves with suggested owner (your team vs optional ongoing Scorecard)
90-minute delivery workshop (Zoom) + written PDF or Notion pack + 14 days email clarification

Explicitly not included

Ad campaign builds, budgets, or daily optimization
Creative production or blurb rewrites as done-for-you labor
Manuscript reading or developmental editing
Social content calendars or publicity pitching
Unlimited strategy calls

If you only need someone to run ads, this is the wrong product — and we will say so.

What we look at (instrumented view)

When sales and ads exports are available, analysis is grounded in the same portfolio views used in multi-title operations work: royalties beside ad spend, net contribution by day, and true cost per new reader — not CTR vanity metrics alone.

Sales dashboard with royalties, ad spend, and net earnings

Illustrative. Royalties, ad spend, and net earnings together. KDP's native reports do not place ad spend next to royalties.

Dashboard highlighting true cost per new reader

Illustrative. Catalog-level cost per new reader and per-title acquisition efficiency.

Series read-through waterfall showing reader flow from book one through the series, with value per new reader versus cost to acquire and the gap to break-even

Illustrative. Series read-through and value-per-new-reader vs cost to acquire — where a weak Book 1 to Book 2 handoff turns cheap clicks into losses. Series title and covers anonymized.

You do not buy software access. You buy the interpretation, the triage, and the workshop.

Data required (designed to reduce fear)

What we need — and what we never ask for
Preferred (secure)	Acceptable fallback	Never requested
KDP sales / KENP CSV exports (last 90–180 days)	Screen-share while you click; we note figures	KDP password
Optional: Amazon Ads and Meta Ads exports for the same window	Your existing Book Report / Publisher Champ / PublishWide export or shared view	Banking access, 2FA codes, full account takeover
Series list and price ladder (spreadsheet is fine)	Publisher catalog URLs for public ASINs	"Send us your login and we'll handle it"

Amazon's own guidance is clear that KDP will not ask for passwords over email, and that authors and publishers should treat credential requests as a red flag (KDP account security). Our workflow treats CSV/export as a feature.

CSV / export only

You send files or screen-share. We never touch a live account.

No passwords, ever

No KDP, Ads Manager, or banking credentials. No 2FA codes.

Mutual NDA available

Signed before you share sample exports, on request.

More detail: Data handling.

Deliverables and timeline

From fit check to workshop
Milestone	Timing
Fit check call	20 minutes, before payment if needed
Data pack received	Day 0
Analysis window	~10 business days from clean data
Written pack delivered	Before workshop
Delivery workshop	90 minutes live
Email clarification	14 days after workshop
Optional: Scorecard pilot offer	On the delivery call (not a week later by email)

Formats: branded PDF or client-owned Notion copy · one-page executive scorecard · detailed appendix · workshop recording on request.

Pricing

Published up front
Situation	Price
Design partner (first logos, case-study rights, honest feedback)	$497–$750
Standard Diagnostic (≤40 ASINs / 8 series)	$1,000–$1,500
Large catalog slice or multi-pen 3+ brands	$1,800–$2,500

Published pricing is intentional. If a service will not state scope and price, budget for the number being large (how book marketing is usually priced).

Payment: invoice, due to start analysis. No long contract for the Diagnostic itself.

FAQ

We already use Book Report / a spreadsheet. Why pay for a memo?

If your process already produces five prioritized moves with owners every month, you do not need a Diagnostic. Most teams have charts and still run promos from habit. The deliverable is a decision queue with expected impact, including flags like "stop scaling ads into Series X until B1→B2 is fixed."

What is a "good" series read-through?

Context matters (paid vs KU vs permafree Book 1). As a planning floor many practitioners use ~50% Book 1 → Book 2 on paid sales before aggressive ad scale; KU transitions often run higher (Kindlepreneur; Authors Game). We calculate your rates on your window and interpret them against your pricing model — not a single magic number.

Can you start from public Amazon data only?

A free teaser can use public ASINs. A paid Diagnostic needs your exports for royalties, KENP, and spend. Public ranks alone are not enough for P&L triage.

Do you work with agencies?

Yes. Agencies often run a Diagnostic on a flagship client portfolio or buy white-label performance packs afterward. See sample agency-style brief concepts.

What happens after the Diagnostic?

If we find material leaks, we may offer a 90-day Monthly Catalog Scorecard pilot at $1,500/mo on the delivery call. If the catalog is already tight, you keep the plan and we part as professionals. Full retainers are not sold cold.

Request a Diagnostic SOW

Email [email protected] — or use the form below — with:

Organization type (press / agency / multi-pen studio)
Approximate active titles or series count
Tools you already use (Book Report, Champ, PublishWide, spreadsheet, none)
Biggest catalog headache in one sentence (read-through, promo allocation, backlist, ad waste, client reporting, other)
Whether you want a mutual NDA before sharing sample exports

You will receive a one-page SOW (scope, price, data checklist, timeline) — not a 45-minute pitch deck.

Prefer to inspect the format first? Download the sample scorecard.

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