A Complete Guide to Using Your Amazon Author Page to Garner the Maximum Sales Potential of Your Books

The Amazon author page allows us to connect on a deeper level with our readers. It’s not only a sales pitch, but it’s also a way for us to form a bond with the people who’ll help us grow to new heights.

Readers choose our books based on having an interest in the topic as a first factor. However, they can become much more than this. An author isn’t just someone who bangs words together to give someone answers or open their minds to a new world.

Writers are artists whom I love to call wordmongers. Every word we place on paper is another story on its own. We can conjure sentences that draw people into the realm of our minds.

But, some readers will shy away from a book because it screams technical. They cannot see the human soul that went into the words and only see a robotic textbook that tells them how to breathe, make friends, and what to eat.

This information can be found online as the world has mastered information highways that are available to every person with a smartphone. No, your reader chooses to purchase your book because of the skillful method you use to tell a story.

Introduce the creator to the person who is gobsmacked by your compilation of words. Use this guide to build an unbreakable connection with readers to turn your book into a tornado of sales.

Understanding the Author Account on Amazon

New self-publishers aren’t always aware of the pot of gold they can find at the end of the rainbow. They’re excited about finishing their book and they want to get it onto Kindles across the globe as soon as they click upload.

They’re encouraged to open a Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) account and sit back, waiting for sales to swarm in. However, there’s one more little trick to making this happen. It’s not so much a trick as a vital part of creating your professional image.

The Hidden Gem: Amazon Author Central

Amazon has given us the tools to promote our work, inspire people, and tell a story that brings readers to their knees. However, new and seasoned writers need to know what this platform is.

The platform provided by Amazon can:

• Help you keep track of all your books (I assure you that this is an art that doesn’t die after the first release. We gather courage and confidence before we create an empire of books in our names.)
• Build your brand and reputation
• Establish relationships with your readers
• Allow you to interact with followers
• Track reviews from your audience and respond to them
• Repair any issues with your book listings

An added bonus is that you can have three author personalities on one central account, which is useful for people writing under different names.

You can take full control of what happens to your piece of art through this intricate platform. Setting it up isn’t that complicated either. Emeka Ossai is an incredible entrepreneur who has shared a simple video for us to see the interface.

I know we love using words to convey a story, but it’s often easier to get the layout of such an in-depth platform from a five-minute video. Otherwise, I’d have to write an entire book to describe where each button is.

The best you can do is register for a central account and experiment with it. I’ll do the rest by sharing the most important inputs you need to make yours stand above the average and boring accounts.

Fortunately, there’s no self-destruct button that you can press either. Go click crazy as you learn to look out for key changes you must make. You can also follow get tips from Amazon on how to make changes.

The 10 Golden Commandments 

You should add as many of these strengths to your account if you want to have a smash hit among the pieces of coal.

Rule One

A biography will allow your readers to meet you, get to know you, and determine whether you have any authority to talk about the subject. It can also act as a sales pitch that brings hordes of buyers. We’ll discuss the perfect bio soon enough.

Rule Two

Make your account exciting beyond words. Amazon allows us to add links to our website, social media pages, and even stories of success.

You can hyperlink information in your biography that sends a reader to an article where you received an award. Social media is a touchy subject because you should only link to accounts that are monitored carefully.

Your Amazon account shows a personal side but being an author is also a profession. Don’t link your Facebook account where you got into a heated debate with someone about politics. You can create new social media accounts instead.

This doesn’t mean that you don’t want your personal life exposed. There’s nothing wrong with an author who shares pictures of her children on her social media. She might even share images of a great treat she had at an amazing restaurant.

Just keep your Amazon account links clean from any questionable connections. You don’t want to link it to a Twitter account where you’ve tweeted photos of hunks in their bare minimum covers.

Anyway, you can see where blogs can be uploaded on the video above and you can use the information from Amazon to set it up. It’s a little complex for people who aren’t internet savvy as many of us are still evolving in it. 

Rule Three

Keywords are important in every line of marketing. You want to unravel a few that will get your author’s page to the top of search engines. Besides, Amazon is also a search engine.

We can use the same techniques used in search engine optimization (SEO) articles because they teach us how, when, and where to place keywords for success. 

We can also learn about sourcing the right words to blow our author pages up on Google and Amazon.

Rule Four

Photos and videos are great additions. You can add a professional-looking profile photo and spice your page up with some regular ones. Show your readers two sides of yourself—the artistic author and the person who’s as down to earth as mud.

Videos are restricted by certain rules. They must be shorter than 10 minutes, not bigger than 500 megabytes, and should be in an avi, wmv, mov, flv, or mpeg format. Keep your language and demeanor inviting in your videos.

Add videos where you give a speech on the relevant or similar topics, practice your advice in the books, or give your readers a short insight into their author.

Rule Five

Make sure your “follow button” isn’t deactivated. This is usually activated in new accounts as a standard rule, but you can double-check it.  

Rule Six

Create international author pages so you’re not only selling in your country. Amazon has different engines around the world and you can open an account in each of them. You can even go as far as translating your bio for Germany as an example.

Not every country makes author central pages available yet, but the following web addresses for Amazon do.

Rule Seven

This one is optional because not everyone has multiple versions of their books. However, you should upload each version if you do. This can depend on various languages you might have published in or whether you offer paperback as well. 

Rule Eight

Another optional attribute is when you’ve co-authored a book. You should hyperlink your author’s page to the contributor who wrote the book with you. 

Rule Nine

Customize your author’s URL to use it as a signature in emails. This URL is a customized name and address for your page.

Now all you have to do is learn how to add an automated signature to your emails.

Rule Ten: The Best Salesman

This is especially useful for new authors as we can use the authority of respected people to confirm our book’s advice. You can target people who are knowledgeable about the topic and email them with invitations to read your book.

Offer them a free copy because their potential reviews can make the difference between your book being perceived as great advice or a bunch of bolognas. Send them short snippets to entice them if you must. 

Editorial reviews are a priceless marketing tool for us. Authors must update editorial reviews from their central account. 

Writing the Perfect Author Bio 

The gates have jerked open and we want to win this race at all costs. We can see the trophy at the finish line and sprint to reach it. You want to tell readers about your amazing camp at school and your favorite color and spice.

You can’t wait to express how proud you are of completing this book, but I urge you to hold your horses. There are actionable tips you implement before uploading the bio that exposes you to millions of potential readers.

Let’s see how you can be the tortoise who beats the hare at this race.

Tip One

Treat your bio like any other written material by creating an outline. Make sure everything you add to the outline is relevant to you and the reader.

You can include research, achievements that correlate to your books, and a small personal touch to connect with your readers.

Tip Two

Author biographies shouldn’t be about them entirely. You’re trying to assure a reader that their interest is at heart and that your information is useful to them. So, don’t direct all the attention at yourself.

You must talk about what brought you to write books, but you also want people to relate to the stories of parents who can’t control their children (for example). Focus on how your reader’s problems make you want to help them find ways to resolve the problem.

There should be a perfect balance between “you” and “I” in the bio.

Tip Three

First-person biographies can be difficult to follow, so use your magic of third-person writing to do the deed. This will also add quality to tip number two. 

Tip Four

Add some credibility to your author bio that people can understand. It doesn’t matter if you’re not a licensed psychologist. You can add links to medical journals and scientific studies that have confirmed what you wrote about.

Tip Five

Add character to your bio that readers can expect to find in your work. This can include a story of an experience where you were the least likable person at work until you used positive psychology to embrace your colleagues.

Remember to keep your direction to a minimum, but it does add flavor. How does your character in your books convey a story? Add some saucy humor that can lighten a reader’s day.

Make sure your character is the same as your books and be careful not to offend readers. Jokes should be in general and not directed at the person who has a problem and wants to read a book on solving it.

Another caution I should warn you of is bringing humor into a book that contains a serious topic. An author who writes about grief, death, or serious mental illnesses might want to avoid humor.

Someone who writes on these depressing topics can use emotion to draw their readers in instead. Use examples in your bio that can relate to the reader.

Tip Six

Watch out for using derogatory language in your biography because too many readers can shy away from your books for this reason.

Tip Seven

Trim the edges of your final piece and proofread your bio five times before you upload it. Make sure that it sends a message and doesn’t contain fluff and bore your readers. 

Short is the new long and gives new meaning to the phrase: “Dynamite comes in small packages.” You want readers to get to know you but you don’t want to write a 100-page book because they’ll surely lose interest quickly. 

Keep your paragraphs short and keep changing your outline as you need to.

Tip Eight

Customization and flexibility don’t disappear into thin air after you upload your bio. You can go back and change it as you wish.

Tip Nine

You can encourage readers to find your websites and blogs with a call-to-action by saying: “You can get your hands on my new book before the release date by visiting my website.”

Hyperlink the word website and offer discounts for people who click on it.

Tip Ten

Go with an expert to write up a storm about you. The Urban Writer’s team of specialists will give you the extra bang you need to bring sales to your Amazon account. 

They know how to remove fluff or redundant writing and replace it with wow moments that make readers’ jaws drop to the floor. 

Final Thoughts 

Becoming an author is an indescribably profound moment in our lives. The world’s greatest writers have poured every ounce of their passion into the book they sell.

Reader reviews can be a confirmation of our passion or it can be a break in our pride. However, you should be on the frontline of communications with your readers because they’ll help you achieve greatness.

Don’t let it knock you off your stance when you get a negative review. Respond to the reader and promise them that you’ll work on bettering the next book. They give us a valuable external perception of our work.

However, being actively involved with your readers is positive in most cases and will give you the chance of strengthening your connection and influence with them.