Amazon.com: Author Central Pages

Whether you think Amazon.com is too big for its own good, or not, doesn’t matter. As Indie authors, we’re all on it, and we all need it. One thing Amazon does do well is providing authors with tools to get the word out about their work(s). You’ve got to give them that.

But not all authors are taking advantage of the free tools offered by Amazon.com. Today, we’re going to start with Amazon Author Central pages – because this is the FIRST thing an author should do.

One way Amazon makes Author Central pages convenient is that you don’t need to set up a special author account. You can use your existing customer account log-in (if you’re already a customer). If you’re not, you can set up an account. This account is NOT linked to your Kindle Direct or Createspace accounts, if you have those. This is completely separate.

Before I show you how to claim and set up your author page, you’d probably like to know why you need one. #1 – they’re free. It’s like having your own multi-media website from which people can also buy your books. #2 – you can post your biography, video trailers and even rss feeds from your blog(s) and twitter there. #3 – you can post upcoming events, signings, appearances, etc. #4 – potential readers can post questions directly to you in the “discussions” forum. And lastly #5 – All your books will be linked to one page where people can see everything: how many books, how many reviews, and the cost. Here’s a screen shot of my Amazon.com Author Central page to give you an idea (click on it to enlarge):

Amazon Author CentralThat’s a lot of functionality for free, isn’t it? So what are you waiting for?

If you already have a book listed with Amazon, here’s what you do. Go to https://authorcentral.amazon.com/. On the right hand side of the screen, it says “New to Author Central?” And under that is a yellow button which reads “Join Now”. Click on that.

On the next screen, if you’re already an Amazon.com customer, fill in your log-in information there and sign in. (If you don’t already have an account, type in your email address, then click “no” and follow the instructions from there.) You’ll be asked to accept their terms etc., etc. You know what to do. Next, fill in how your author name appears on your book(s) so they can match you up. They’ll ask you to confirm your identity. Continue to follow the instructions from there.

Now there are lots of things you can do with your Author Central page. You can update your page to include multimedia, blog feeds, a Twitter feed, or events, you can edit your list of books, and you can add more books when they become available. Their instructions are very user friendly.

Author Central Dashboard
Author Central Dashboard

If you click “profile” on the blue bar in your Author Central dashboard, it will bring up a screen with everything you need to customize your page. It even gives you the opportunity to customize a shortcut url for your Author Central page.  Click on the screenshot to the right to enlarge it.

So there you have it. Set up your Author Central page and share it!

We’ll talk about Amazon Affiliates in installment #2.

Want to know more about other great Author Central features? This article will help: https://indiesunlimited.com/2014/02/18/amazon-author-central-refresher-course/

Author: K.S. Brooks

K.S. Brooks is an award-winning novelist, photographer, and photo-journalist, author of over 30 titles, and executive director and administrator of Indies Unlimited. Brooks is currently a photo-journalist and chief copy editor for two NE Washington newspapers.  She teaches self-publishing and writing topics for the Community Colleges of Spokane, and served on the Indie Author Day advisory board. For more about K.S. Brooks, visit her website and her Amazon author page.

26 thoughts on “Amazon.com: Author Central Pages”

    1. True that Linda! Be forewarned, those sites are of course in foreign languages. Beware the Google translator if you decide to be adventurous and try to write your bio in the appropriate language. You have to apply for an Author Central account in each country, and they can take a while to get back to you, so do it now.
      🙂

      1. I asked a French friend to translate my bio for amazon.fr, which she graciously did. Of course, she could have written anything and I'd be none the wiser!

        1. I was being lazy and cautious, so I pasted my English bio into Google translated and converted it to French. Good thing I speak French! I did the same thing for German, and was glad that I can pretty much understand German (although I can't speak it). Funny how some things just don't translate well!

  3. OK, I wised up. But Japanese? Makes sense though as so many learn English. I could only see one format of each book but don't know if it was paper or e-book. Maybe I'll never know. 🙂

  4. Thank you! I had no idea this feature was even available. This tutorial is being bookmarked right now.

    I don't have anything published yet but I know some wonderful writers who do so I'm going to send them the link to this tutorial as well.

    Well done IU and K.S. Brooks. Looking forward to the next instalment.

  8. Thank you K.S. Your timing was perfect.

    Here's my author page link –

    amazon.com/author/dickcwaters

    For anyone interested – my latest novel Scent of Gardenia will be free this Friday and Saturday on Amazon.

      1. K.S. Brooks,

        I have an excel file I used to like everyone's author links. Should you want to pass it along please let me know and tell me how to attach.

        Thanks,

        Dick

    1. Or <a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/entity/Renee-Pierce-Williams/B0083UFTY6/?ie=UTF8&tag=indieunlim-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957&quot; rel="nofollow"&gt <a href="http://;http://www.amazon.com/author/reneepiercewilliams<img” target=”_blank”>;http://www.amazon.com/author/reneepiercewilliams<img src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=indieunlim-20&l=ur2&o=1&quot; width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />

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