Reading Time: 7 minutes

For most authors, book marketing on Amazon is a moving target. You think you have it set and then you realize, you really don’t. Or maybe you aren’t sure if what you’re doing is right. I mean it feels right, but you still aren’t selling any books, or very few.

So this begs the question: how do you know if your Amazon book page is attracting new readers or turning them away?

One quick way to guage this is with any ads that you’re running. If you’re running Amazon ads or Facebook ads and sending tons of traffic to your book page but very few of them convert into a sale. This could be  a red flag that something is wrong with your Amazon retail page and should be fixed, before you continue to spend money on ads that aren’t selling books. Yes, it could also mean that your ads aren’t targeted correctly, or the ad copy isn’t appealing to your reader. But in general, poor ad performance indicates a problem with your retail page.

Keep in mind that Amazon’s number #1 goal is to sell the consumer something – and they don’t care if that’s your book or someone else’s. They just want to make a sale. So the idea here is not just to polish your retail page, but to take back more of the real estate on the Amazon website.

Let’s dig into how to polish your page as well as how to add some new and exciting content!

Your Book Description Matters

Beyond having an outstanding cover (more on that in a minute), you should have a book description that resonates with your reader.

A book description should ‘breathe’ and by that I mean, have some white space with short paragraphs. If you’ve written a nonfiction book, add in a bulleted list of features. I also love using bold and italics whenever I can – to really help certain words or phrases stand out. You have room to spread out, and I encourage you do to that.

And don’t forget to lead with a stand-out review – and it doesn’t have to be an editorial review, it can be an excerpt from an Amazon review.

Just remember that consumers don’t read, they scan – so the more scannable your book description is, the more enticing it’ll be to a future reader. Nix the long-winded sentences and long paragraphs and instead keep it short, enticing, and above all, make sure it addresses the things that matter to your reader.

Maximizing Author Central Matters

I’m always surprised at how many authors ignore Author Central. But with over 2 million visits a year any author who ignores this important (and free) tool, does so at their own peril.

If you’ve never accessed your Author Central page, you can do so by going here: author.amazon.com and log in using your Amazon credentials. This will take you to the backend of your Author Central where you can start making changes, adding content, and adding all your books under one author name.

Pay close attention to your author bio, which is now front and center with the revised pages – you also have the ability to highlight books for readers to check out, and yes I mean your own books.

The Amazon Video Shorts Feature Matters

I love this feature – and it’s not just for readers to add their video review of your book, it’s a great tool for authors to use to add enhanced content to their page. You can add a short unboxing video, or an excerpt from a talk you did, or a portion of a book trailer. The video limits are a bit iffy, I’ve known folks to upload full 3 minute videos and Amazon let’s them go live, but I’d recommend keeping your video to 50 seconds. Several studies show that consumers start to lose interest once they pass the 50 second mark.

But again, video shorts can be used for just about anything. From just a quick “thank you for visiting my Amazon book page”, to digging deep and giving readers a sense of where the story came from, why you wrote it, and so on.

They’ll help you get your book noticed on Amazon because they’re unique to your brand.

Your Author Bio Matters

I’m always surprissed at how often authors overlook their bio or leave it for last. But your bio is an important connection with your reader. Your author bio is one way to get personal with your readers and, your bio should reflect the tone of your book.

Did you write a humor book? Make your bio a bit funny, or a lot funny, depending on the nature of your book.

Did you write a book about cooking? Then it’s probably a good idea to tell readers why you loved creating these recipes or maybe where your love for cooking came from.

If you’ve written romance, for example, maybe start by telling your readers if you’re a hopeless romantic, and why? Or why you love writing about strong female characters.

You get the idea. The thing is: every piece of content on your Amazon book page sells your book – your about the author is no different.

Finally, I’m always astounded by how many authors forget their profile picture. Yes, you need one and yes, it needs to be current. Don’t be a grey box on Amazon!

Amazon’s A+ Content

This feature is a really fantastic addition to the free stuff that Amazon will let you do. Whether you work with a publisher, or are self-publishing your book. Make sure to add some A+ content to your retail page.

Why does it matter? Well for one, it helps keep readers on the page longer, which helps to convert a consumer into a buyer. It also helps to make the sale.

Remember that our minds are image processors, not word processors so having imagry on the page can really enhance the reader’s experience.

So what can you do with your A+ content? Well, all kinds of things. You can use it to elaborate on the content of your book, highlight editorial reviews, share (short) excerpts from your book – the options are endless. Here are a few examples of A+ content for you to consider!

If you’re a KDP author, A+ content can be accessed by clicking the marketing button on the backend of the KDP website. If you have a publisher, you’ll have to ask them to do this for you, but it’s worth it, because book marketing on Amazon is often going to be work you need to advocate for if you’re using a publisher or publishing service.

Here are a couple examples:

Your Book Cover Matters

Is your book cover really right for your market? Are you sure? Because if you’re not, or the sales have been sluggish or non-existent, it could be your book cover.

Book covers are tricky, I get it. We become emotionally attached to our covers, we fall in love with them – so to speak. But the reality is this: your book cover is the bait – and you, the author, are fishing for sales. A fisherman doesn’t have to like the bait he uses, but the fish have to love it. So if your market isn’t resonating with your cover, you’ll probably know pretty quickly. Meaning that the book struggles to take off, or gain traction and reviews.

If you’re still uncertain, take a look at similar books in your genre, dig through the bestseller lists on Amazon. Can your book stand alongside these books. Does it have the same “look”? A good book cover should stand out, while still matching the genre it’s in.

If you’ve gotten some less-than-stellar feedback on your book cover, maybe now is a good time to consider a revamp of it! Because all of this book promotion you’re doing won’t mean a single thing to get your book noticed on Amazon (or help you sell more books) if your book cover isn’t appealing to the reader market you’re serving. 

Your Book Title Matters

Book marketing on Amazon is more than just promotions, it includes how you brand yourself as well. And as crazy as it sounds, a lot of authors get their subtitle wrong. Picking a title is as important as naming a child – though unlike your child’s name – you can probably change a title, or rename your book, if you feel it’s not working for you anymore.

A good book title shouldn’t be hard to pronounce, or be lacking in clear benefits. Readers don’t want to have to guess what your book is about – your book title should be sufficiently angsty if you’ve written a thriller, or sexy of you’ve written romance and benefit driven if you’ve written self-help.

Especially if you’ve written non-fiction – and whether it’s self-help or not – your title should be clear and punchy.

Or clear and punchy if you’ve written non-fiction. Take a look at some of these covers, which are a mix of fiction and non-fiction.

Your Subtitle Matters

Whether your book is fiction or non-fiction, subtitles matter. And while many books (fiction in particular) don’t have subtitles,  that doesn’t mean they can’t still utilize this feature on their Amazon page!

A good subtitle is one that helps pull the reader in more, or future defines the core of the book:

A fast-paced international thriller

A sweet, sexy billionaire romance

Quick ways to get healthy, without a lot of effort

These are just examples, but you get the idea. The subtitle doesn’t have to appear on the actual book cover, you can add it after the fact when you upload your book onto Amazon, and if your book is already live, you can still add it after the fact. If you’ve published a non-fiction book though, having a subtitle on the cover is always helpful to make the sale.

While very little seems “free” in book marketing, there are still a lot of free ways to enhance your Amazon book page with great content, touches of your personality, and enhancements that readers will love. Before you take another step down your book marketing path, make sure your Amazon book page is working with you, not against you.

Resources and Free Downloads

The #1 strategy to get more reviews on Amazon

Amazon ads for books: success tips and troubleshooting

Navigating the literary agent landscape

Book marketing on Amazon: creating an audiobook for free

Self-publishing a book and taking advantage of awards and contests