Creating Journals to Sell on Amazon KDP: The Easy Canva Method (No Design Skills Needed)

This post is all about creating journals to sell and how regular people are turning simple notebooks into real, passive income using Amazon KDP and Canva — without writing a novel or having design skills.

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If you’ve ever thought,

“Hey, I could totally make something like this…..”

And the best part?
Journals are one of the easiest ways to start selling digital products online.

I know a girl who makes 7 figures just selling planners. And I’m not even being dramatic… they’re pretty basic. Like, “how is this real life?” basic.

But that’s the point…….

You don’t need something fancy.
You need something people actually want, and you need to show up consistently.

Grab your coffee. Let’s break this down step by step.

TL;DR

If you want to start creating journals to sell, here’s the simple version:

➡️ You design a journal in Canva
➡️ You upload it to Amazon KDP
➡️ Amazon prints and ships it for you
➡️ You get paid every time it sells

No inventory.
No shipping.
No customer service emails at 2 a.m.

Now let’s get into how this actually works.

Why Creating Journals to Sell Is So Powerful

Journals are considered low-content books.

That means:

• No long writing
• No research
• No editing stress

People buy journals for:

✔ organization
✔ productivity
✔ mental health
✔ gifts
✔ humor

And here’s the wild part…

Some journals make 100’s of $$$ a day with very few reviews.

That’s why creating journals to sell is such a popular entry point into Amazon KDP.

You can create your free account and upload your journal directly through Amazon KDP here.

Real Proof This Works (Not Just Theory)

In the video, the creator shared real results:

• One journal making $28–$34 per day
• Another making $349–$460 per day
• Over $300,000 earned across formats
• One journal pulling in over $100K per month

And these journals?
Some of them are literally just text on a plain background.

No fancy art. No complicated layouts. Just smart ideas and clean execution.

Step 1: Pick a Journal Size That Actually Sells

If you’re new to creating journals to sell, don’t overthink this.

The most common size:
✔ 6 x 9 inches
✔ Paperback
✔ Black and white interior
✔ White paper
✔ About 120 pages

This is the standard size most best-selling journals use — and it’s beginner-friendly.

Step 2: Design the Cover in Canva (Yes, Free Canva)

You don’t need Photoshop.
You don’t need design experience.

You just need Canva.

Here’s how it works:

1. Use Amazon KDP’s cover calculator
2. Download the template
3. Upload it to Canva
4. Design inside the safe lines

Maya’s tip:
Simple covers sell. A lot.

Some top journals use:

• Solid colors
• Bold fonts
• Funny or relatable phrases

Images are optional. Text alone works great in many niches.

Step 3: Come Up with a Title That Sells

This is where things get fun.

Instead of guessing titles, you can use AI tools to help brainstorm ideas like:

• Funny sayings
• Relatable phrases
• Gift-style wording

Examples:

• “I’m Not Aging, I’m Increasing My Note-Taking Efficiency”
• “Crap I’ll Forget Unless I Write It Down”

People buy journals because they feel seen. Humor and relatability sell.

Step 4: Create the Journal Interior (Way Easier Than You Think)

Your journal pages don’t need to be fancy.

Most interiors include:

• Light gray lines
• Even spacing
• Clean margins
• Optional quotes at the top

You set this up once, then duplicate the page until you reach your page count.

That’s it.

Creating journals to sell is more about consistency than creativity.

Step 5: Upload to Amazon KDP

Amazon KDP is free to use.

You’ll:

• Upload your cover PDF
• Upload your interior PDF
• Choose categories
• Add keywords
• Set your price

Most journals are priced around:

💲 $5.99 – $7.99

Amazon prints, ships, and handles everything else.

You get paid monthly.

Step 6: Let It Sell (Even Without Ads)

Here’s what surprises most beginners:

You don’t need ads to start.

Many journals:
✔ sit on Amazon
✔ slowly collect sales
✔ build reviews over time
✔ increase income passively

This is why creating journals to sell works so well as a side hustle.

Pretty Covers Don’t Sell… Ideas Do

Creating journals to sell isn’t hard.

But selling journals is where people get stuck.

Because most beginners do this:

✅ Open Canva
✅ Pick a cute pastel background
✅ Add a quote
✅ Title it “Gratitude Journal”
✅ Hit publish

And then they wonder why it doesn’t sell.

Here’s the truth:

You need more than good vibes and a pretty cover.
You need a journal idea that makes someone feel seen.

Because nobody is searching Amazon thinking:
“Wow, I hope I find another basic journal with beige lines.”

They’re searching for something that feels like:
“OMG… this is exactly what I need right now.”

That’s how you win at creating journals to sell.

The Best Journal Ideas Come from Real Life

The real secret to creating journals that sell life wildfire is this….

Stop Googling. Start talking to real people.

Like… your parents. Your grandparents. Your kids. Your friends. Coworkers. Anyone.

Ask them questions like:

✅ “What’s something you wish you had a guide for?”
✅ “What season of life felt chaotic, and you wish you had help?”
✅ “What do you wish you could process faster?”

And BOOM… you get journal ideas people want.

✔ first breakup
✔ learning to be a better dad
✔ quitting alcohol
✔ imposter syndrome
✔ grief after losing a pet

These aren’t “Pinterest aesthetic” ideas…

These are real-life pain points.

And when your journal helps someone through something real?
That’s when creating journals to sell turns into actual income.

Guided Journals = Bigger Money Than Blank Journals

Okay so yes, lined journals can sell.

But guided journals can sell even better… because they feel more valuable.

A guided journal is basically a journal that includes:

✅ prompts
✅ questions
✅ sections
✅ check-ins
✅ trackers

And people LOVE them because they don’t have to think. They just follow the pages.

That’s why guided journals are so powerful for creating journals to sell.

Use Amazon Reviews to Steal (Smart) Ideas

This is such a sneaky-smart tip.

When you find a journal doing well on Amazon:

➡️ click it
➡️ read the reviews
➡️ look for complaints like:

❌ “I wish it had more space to write”
❌ “I wanted prompts for anxiety”
❌ “It needed a habit tracker”
❌ “I wish it included goals”

That’s literally your business plan.

If people are telling you what’s missing…
you just make the better version.

That’s how you stand out while creating journals to sell.

How to Find Winning Journal Niches (Without Guessing)

You can do journal research using:

✅ Amazon
✅ Etsy
✅ TikTok
✅ OR just real-life conversations

But the best ADVICE that I could ever give you is this:

Do NOT make what you like. Make what people already buy.

This is how you stop wasting time making journals that sit there collecting dust.

Tools That Make Creating Journals to Sell Faster

We already talked about Canva, but here’s another option.

✅ BookBolt (Optional, But Powerful)

BookBolt helps you with:

✔ journal research
✔ templates for interiors
✔ faster layout building
✔ quick exporting PDFs

Maya’s take:

FYI you do NOT need BookBolt to start……just sayin’.

Buuuuut ……once you do start making more journals and want speed?
Bookbolt can be a gigantic time-saver for you.

⚠️ Copyright Warning (Don’t Get Your KDP Account Banned)

This part is important and most people ignore it.

Be careful using random graphics online because you might not have the right commercial license.

So, here’s the safe rule:

✅ Use Canva elements you’re allowed to use
✅ Create your own simple designs
✅ If using AI art, modify it a lot
❌ Don’t grab random images from Google or Pinterest

Because the LAST thing you want is to get your Amazon KDP account flagged.

Creating journals to sell is supposed to be easy money… not a legal headache.

How Much Can You Make Creating Journals to Sell?

Amazon pays you a cut of the sale (around 60%)
minus printing costs (usually under $3 for many journals).

So, if your journal sells for $9.99, you might make around:

✅ a few dollars profit per sale

Yeah, I get it…that that sounds pretty small… until you have:

📌 5 journals selling daily
📌 10 journals selling daily
📌 30 journals selling daily

That’s how people end up making rent money on autopilot.

That’s the long game of creating journals to sell.

The 10 Best Journal Themes To Sell

Here are journal theme ideas that tend to sell well:

✔  “Tell me your story” journals (mom/dad/grandma)
✔  grief + healing journals
✔  confidence + anxiety journals
✔  sobriety + recovery journals
✔  finance + budgeting journals
✔  breakup recovery journals
✔  new dad / new mom journals
✔  teen mental health journals
✔  imposter syndrome journals
✔  habit tracker journals

These work because they’re emotional. Personal. Specific.

And “specific” sells.

Use ChatGPT to Create Prompts Fast

Once you pick your journal theme, you can use ChatGPT like this:

Prompt idea:

“Act like a psychologist and help me write reflective prompts for a guided journal for [new dads / grief / confidence / sobriety].”

Then ChatGPT gives you categories + prompts you can use inside the journal.

That means creating journals to sell doesn’t have to take weeks.

It can take an afternoon.

3 Common Mistakes Beginners Make

❌ Overdesigning
❌ Spending weeks on one journal
❌ Expecting instant viral sales

This is a numbers game. More quality journals = more chances to earn.

Truth Bomb

Here’s the part nobody wants to hear:

Creating journals to sell isn’t about making ONE perfect journal.

It’s about making a small catalog of good journals that people actually want.

And once they’re live?
They can sell while you’re doing literally anything else.

Eating. Working. Sleeping. Living your life. That’s the whole point. 😉

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Creating Journals to Sell FAQ

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The Bottom Line

Creating journals to sell is one of the simplest online businesses you can start.

You don’t need:
❌ inventory
❌ shipping
❌ a following
❌ design skills

You DO need:

✔ Consistency
✔ Patience
✔ Willingness to Publish Imperfectly

That last one above? It’s huge. And honestly? It applies to almost everything you do online.

So many people never make it to the finish line because they make it way too complicated. They get stuck trying to make everything “perfect” … usually because they’re comparing themselves to people who’ve been doing it for years.

But here’s the truth: you have to learn to hit publish even when it’s not perfect.

TRUTH BOMB: “Good enough” is good enough.

Post it. List it. Upload it.
Then keep going.

Because the fastest way to figure out what works is to try stuff. Throw things out there, test ideas, and see what sticks. Once you find the thing that starts selling or getting traction, then you improve it and level it up.

Until you know what direction your journey is even going… there’s no point trying to make everything perfect.

Because once your journal is live, it can sell while you’re sleeping.

And that’s the kind of side hustle we like around here. 😉