Tag: amazon.com author central

Tutorial: Author Central Book Merge & More

There’s been a lot of talk lately about reviews on Amazon and Amazon being the big, evil corporate entity. No matter what your feelings are about that, if you have books listed for sale on Amazon.com and you’re not taking advantage of their Author Central platform, you’re shooting yourself in the feet. No, not the foot: both feet. Repeatedly. Yes, authors really are not using this service. I see it EVERY day. (Yes, Author Central is a FREE service. If you missed our very first tutorial on setting it up, see that HERE.)

A new feature was announced by Amazon for the Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Fire HD readers – About the Author. Here is what they have to say: About the Author gives readers access to your biography and lists all your books in a single place on Kindle. Readers can tap on any of your books and be directed to the Kindle store where they can download the book in under 60 seconds. Also, any time you update your biography or claim a new book through Author Central, About the Author will update on Kindle giving your readers access to the most recent information.

Still think you don’t need to be on Author Central? Step closer to the screen so I can slap you.

My original tutorial on setting up your Author Central page can be found here. If you haven’t already, read it. Do it. Then come right back here and I’ll show you how to merge your books. I heard that grumble. Yes, you need to merge your books. Here’s why. Continue reading “Tutorial: Author Central Book Merge & More”

Should I Care About Amazon Author Rankings?

As if we didn’t have enough things to make us crazy, Amazon has come up with a new one—Amazon Author Rank. This is different from the “sales” rank for individual books on individual platforms. The new ranking combines all your books sold on Amazon—Kindle, hard-copy, and multiple titles.

Where are you in respect to other authors on Amazon?

You can access this new ranking on your Author Central Page. A new tab, “Rank,” appears right next to the old “Sales Info” tab. Click on that and you’ll see how you rank from Amazon’s perspective. Continue reading “Should I Care About Amazon Author Rankings?”

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): Continue reading “Amazon.com: Author Central Pages”