Building a KDP research tool in public — and why it's $39 $69 $99

Lu Chen — Sat, 03 Oct 2026 00:36:53 +0000

I'm a self-published author, and last month I got tired of waiting for someone else to build the tool I wanted. So I'm building it: NicheScope, a Chrome extension for Amazon KDP research.

Quick context on why. In 2023 I bought KDSPY Pro and KDROI after a YouTuber's recommendation. They work — but Publisher Rocket costs $199 and lives as desktop software, while one of my two tools hasn't been updated since April 2025. And every tool I tried does one job (keywords or reviews or ads) and leaves you alone for the rest.

NicheScope is three tools in one extension: Niche Spy (category/keyword/author research with BSR-to-sales estimates and opportunity scoring), Review Miner (pull any book's reviews, export CSV, AI extracts reader pain points and blurb-worthy phrases), and Promo & Keywords (AMS keyword generation plus free/$0.99/Countdown promo tracking). AI runs through the whole chain — research to listing to ads — instead of spitting out one PDF report.

Since I'm building in public, here's the pricing logic, no theater:

$39 founding pre-order. This validates demand while I build. It locks in lifetime updates at the lowest price ever. Delivered within 30 days or full refund — if I miss, you get every cent back.
$69 at launch. Exactly one-third of Publisher Rocket's $199. The entire value proposition in a single number.
$99 regular. The anchor for later, once there are real users and reviews.

The honest footnote: zero users right now. No testimonials, no revenue screenshots, because the thing isn't built yet. If you're comfortable being founding member #something-small, you get the cheapest price this tool will ever have and a vote on the roadmap.

Grab the $39 founding spot here. Building in the open — I'll post updates as it ships.

DEV Community: Lu Chen

Building a KDP research tool in public — and why it's $39 $69 $99