An Amazon Author Central page is an important part of an author’s online presence.
Similar to a Facebook author page, it’s a hub for showcasing your books and highlighting your website and blog with one key difference: it’s conveniently located on the largest online marketplace for books – Amazon.
At Booklinker, we understand that you’re writer first, and a marketer second. The idea of setting up a perfect Amazon Author profile from head to toe can be a daunting task.
For that purpose, we’ve teamed up with K J Waters, an international bestselling author, creator of the Stealing Time Series, and an author consultant to create the ultimate guide to Amazon Author Central Pages.
Let’s jump right into it!
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What is an Amazon Author Central Page?
Amazon Author Central is the home page of an author’s Amazon listing.
Inside Author Central is where you can customize your Amazon Author page, and host at a custom URL on Amazon.
All you need to have to customize this listing is a book published on Amazon.
Why are Amazon Author Central Pages Important?
Amazon author pages help establish credibility and relatability with potential readers.
Authors can put all of their published books in one place, making it easy for readers to find all their content.
On top of a feed of all your books, authors share status updates, allowing readers to build a relationship with their favorite authors.
Most readers will arrive at your Amazon Author Central page through Amazon’s own search engine or through a Google search.
Below is an example of what a hyperlink to KJ’s Amazon Author Central page would look like inside an Amazon store page.
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How to Create Your Amazon Author Central Account
In the US, head to author.amazon.com to start the account creation process.
Remember, you must have a published book listed on Amazon to make an Amazon Author Central account.
Also, make sure that you’re signed into the Amazon account you want to claim the book from, either from your Amazon shopping site, or signed in to KDP.com where you manage your books directly on Amazon.
After doing this, you’ll need to go through Amazon’s verification process to make sure that the account and claim are legitimate.
This shouldn’t take more than a few days to a week max. In the meantime, you can fill out your profile, which we’ll show you how to do below.
Creating a Compelling Author Bio
A compelling author bio is one of the most important elements of an Amazon Author central page.
This bio should be professional, regardless of whether you’re writing fiction or nonfiction. Keep it brief, as people don’t have long attention spans when browsing the web.
Inside the bio, you’ll want to mention any related accomplishments, accolades, and credentials you can share to strike a chord with a potential reader.
Have you won any writing awards?
Are you an expert on the topic of your book?
If not, no worries, you’re looking to make a connection with potential readers, be genuine and personable.
Share who you are, and what type of books they can expect to read from you.
Do you write heart-warming romance, suspense with a side of murder, and self-help to change your life?
Is there something you’re working on that will be released soon readers can look forward to? This is a great place to add this information.
If you’re comfortable with it, sharing personal information, like where you live, details about your children and/or family, and what you like to do in your free time can help readers relate to your work.
Lastly, mentioning your author’s website and social channels to keep up with you is a great idea.
Amazon doesn’t allow links in this section, but you can mention these links in plain text, for example, booklinker.com.
Adding a Professional Photo
Next up, add a photo to your profile that connects to your brand. Try to capture the mood of your books in the details of your photo.
Below is mystery/thriller legend, Michael Connelly’s profile picture capturing the mood of his books: intense, serious, and professional.
He’s done a good job sharing the flavor of his work in the small details in the photo including his jacket and open-collared shirt, serious expression, and hint at an exotic locale.
If you’re a romance author, it might make sense to have a stylish dress on in your photo.
Tiana Cole does a nice job in her photo. Note the soft colors, wistful expression. They match the mood of her romance books.
If you haven’t taken your photo yet, here are some tips:
- Don’t wear red.
- Angle your shoulders toward the camera
- Avoid wearing any “busy” clothing with stripes Stay away from distracting backgrounds
When selecting a photo for your page, it’s extremely important to be consistent with your branding. Use this photo on your other socials, book cover, and any other place your author name is mentioned.
If you make a change to one place’s photo, you should also make that change in other places.
Humans are visual creatures, so a photo will resonate in a potential reader’s brain much more than the last name will.
Add Author Updates
Author Updates are one of the best ways to help your Amazon Author Central page appear more “alive” to potential readers.
Keeping your Amazon Author Central profile up to date and active is key for both algorithms and people. In this section, we’ll cover all of the different update types, and how to best utilize them.
Blog Posts
The first type of content would be a link to a blog post. Blog Posts are great for short or long-form content, where you can engage with your readers much more than on Amazon’s page.
Blog posts are great for collecting email addresses, as well as cookie data, for you to use in your online advertising efforts.
Blog posts should be linked by an RSS feed, as it just requires an initial setup, and your Amazon author central page will be updated constantly with any of the data sources you provide it. Amazon has a guide on this linking process.
Pictures and Videos
Pictures and videos can go a long way to help share your personality and daily life with fans.
These are easy to embed into an author profile and are oftentimes shared elsewhere by authors on places like Twitter, Instagram, or their Facebook page.
Learn more about Amazon’s photo and video guidelines.
Editorial Reviews
Editorial reviews are a key way to boost the credibility of your Author page. We’d recommend adding well-known authors inside your niche that readers of that genre will recognize.
Adding a reviewer’s accomplishments like “New York Times Best Selling Author” will certainly leave a good impression.
While these editorial reviews should certainly be real, they don’t need to be verified reviews through Amazon.
Creating an Author Profile URL
Amazon also gives you the opportunity to host your page at a custom URL. If you leave this unedited, Amazon will generate one for you, which is not recommended, as it will look messy with a string of letters and numbers.
Pretty much all authors should utilize a custom URL so they can appear professional and send readers to one consistent page. Keep the URL as simple and easy to read as possible. Use hyphens in between your names.
Below are some examples:
https://www.amazon.com/KJ-Waters/
https://www.amazon.com/J-K-Rowling/
If you’d like to customize this URL even further, check out Geniuslink.
By setting up your page with a Geniuslink, you can customize the domain name and the slug, and receive advanced analytics.
International Author Pages
By default, Authors don’t need to create different pages for all of the different Amazon stores. They will be automatically generated.
That being said, if you have books that are translated into different languages, it could be worth setting up country-specific Amazon Author central pages, to help build a connection with a potential reader by writing it in their language or adding custom elements specific to a country.
Below are some logins for the main international pages.
- United Kingdom: https://author.amazon.co.uk
- Germany: https://author.amazon.de
- Japan: https://author.amazon.co.jp
- France: https://author.amazon.fr
Follow Button
Every Amazon Author Central page will come with a follow button for prospective readers to follow an author.
From the author’s perspective, they will not receive any notification that they’ve received a follower, or even know how many followers they have.
But from the reader’s perspective, they will get emails from Amazon for any updates that come from that author’s central page, or any future book launches.
Due to Amazon’s popularity, emails from them typically land inside your main inbox, making it a super powerful book marketing tool.
A great tip is to give your audience reminders and calls to action on your social media accounts, asking them to follow your Amazon page.
This should certainly boost sales in the long run.
Customers Also Bought Items By
The customers also bought items by a section on an Amazon Author Central page is not something you have the ability to control.
This section changes in real-time, depending on sales data from Amazon.
However, the authors listed here on your profile would be ideal to use for lookalike audiences in your ad campaigns or for newsletter swaps.
FAQS
Is Amazon author Central free?
Amazon Author central is a completely free service, you just need to have a book published.
Where Do I Sign Up For Amazon Author Central?
You can sign up for Amazon Author central here: https://author.amazon.com/claim/join, but remember you must have a book published to create a profile.
How Do I Claim Books?
In order to attach a book to your Amazon Author central page, you can go to https://author.amazon.com/claim/join, or find the book on Amazon naturally and claim a book directly from the page it’s hosted on.
Can you claim coauthored books?
Amazon Author Central will let you claim co-authored books.
Does Booklinker Support Amazon Author Central?
Booklinker doesn’t currently allow you to generate links to author pages or review pages.
Can You Delete an Amazon Author Central Page?
Yes, you can delete your Amazon Author Central page, although it’s not recommended. Once it’s done, the page will be gone forever, and you’d need to rebuild it from the ground up again.
Conclusion
Now that you have an idea of what an Amazon Author page is, and why it’s useful, it’s time to create your own!
If creating an Amazon Author page seems intimidating, just focus on adding one component at a time. When first creating a page, just start out with a photo, bio, and claim your books.
As your book marketing efforts grow, you can continue to add more elements.
Let us know if you have any questions about Amazon Author Central or Author pages in the comments below!
Introducing:
Booklinker Collections
One landing page for all your books. 100% free.
One link for easy sharing of your books across your backmatter, websites, emails, and social media.
