If you’re an author, your Amazon Author Page isn’t just another profile — it’s one of the most powerful pieces of (free) real estate you control on the world’s largest bookstore.
Amazon continues to dominate the book market — accounting for nearly 67% of all U.S. eBook sales and over 50% of print sales — and its site attracts roughly 2.7 billion visits per month. That means your Author Page could easily be seen by thousands of potential readers every single year. I would also argue that the eBook sales are higher, I’ve heard upwards of 90% – but Amazon is pretty “cone of silence” in terms of their numbers.
If it’s been a while since you last looked at your Author Central dashboard, it’s time to give your page a tune-up. Let’s dig into what matters most in 2026 — and how to make your author page stand out.
Why Amazon Author Pages Still Matter in 2026
Even with social media, newsletters, and your website, your Amazon Author Page remains one of your most visible marketing tools. It’s where readers confirm who you are, check your catalog, and decide whether to buy. The other element of this is the A10 algorithm change that Amazon did in mid-2025. This has impacted a lot of authors with little to no content on Amazon, outside of their published books. The reasoning behing this A10 algorithm update was due to a lot of the fake AI generated content being pushed to Amazon. These “authors” aren’t taking the time to invest in their presence on Amazon, relying solely on hot and trending keywords to sell their AI generated books. That’s where spending time with your author page not only makes sense, but is mandatory!
A well-optimized Author Page builds trust, shows professionalism, and showcases you, the author. The good news? Amazon continues refining how these pages look and function — and the updates that were made in 2025 make it even easier to build authority.
What You Can (and Can’t) Do Now
While many authors still mourn the loss of older features like blog feeds and image uploads (I’m one of them!), Amazon has introduced tools that, when used correctly, can help you drive more reader engagment and sell more books.
- Author bio & photo: Front and center — this is your digital handshake. And this is important because of all of the things authors forget to do on Amazon, their bio and photo tops the list. I’ve seen so many author bios that are outdated or not relevant to the content the author is publishing. Even worse, authors who don’t add a photo. As I often say: don’t be a grey box on Amazon!
- “Follow” button: Readers can follow you for updates on new releases. This is free marketing! If readers follow you, they’ll get notified when you have a book up for pre-order and when your book launches. We work with an author who has over 30,000 followers on Amazon and every time she publishes they all get notified!
- Book Recommendations: Feature your own titles and recommend others. This is another fun feature – showcase your backlist or trade recommendations with other authors!
- Custom Author URL: Create a clean, sharable and branded link that looks professional.
- International profiles: Sometimes Amazon streamlines Author Central pages in other countries and sometimes they don’t. So be sure to check these and manage versions across multiple Amazon marketplaces.
And yes, some restrictions remain. Amazon no longer supports clickable links in bios — a change that rolled out quietly last year — and media uploads (videos, images) must be added per book page rather than globally.
Pro Tip: Many authors skip this step — don’t. You can still upload video clips to individual book pages, like trailers, event clips, or short author messages. It’s worth the effort.
Optimize Your Author Bio and Photo
Your bio isn’t just a resume — it’s a sales tool. Readers aren’t just looking for credentials; they want to know who you are, what inspired you to write in this genre and, if you’ve written non-fiction, what’s your expertise?
Make Your Bio Work Harder:
- Lead with why you write or the promise of your work, not a list of achievements. Yes achievements are great and if you have them, include them for sure.
- Did you optimize your book on Amazon? If you didn’t you should. Because you can indluce some of the keywords in your bio, too. Just make sure they sound authentic.
- End with something personal and likable — it helps create connection. Or end your bio with a call to action. If you have achievements you haven’t dug into yet, maybe this is a good place to list them!
- Lean into the vibe of your book. For example if you wrote a humor book, your bio can be funny! We worked with a parenting author who wrote a funny book on parenting and her bio was hilarious. So be sure that your bio vibes with what you’ve written, too!
- Keep it under 300 words and update it regularly.
Choose the Right Photo:
- Nonfiction authors: Go for professional and polished.
- Fiction authors: Be creative, but stay genre-appropriate.
- Avoid social media selfies — quality matters more than you think.
Make the Most of Book Recommendations
Amazon’s Book Recommendations feature is a subtle but powerful way to build trust and expand reach. You can highlight your own books and those by other authors your readers might enjoy. And as I mentioned above, you could also swap recommendations with similar authors!
When used strategically, this becomes both a marketing and networking tool.
Use It Wisely:
- Lead with your best-performing book or newest release.
- Include 1–2 complementary titles (yours or others’) to signal expertise.
- Avoid off-brand recommendations — they confuse buyers.
- Update quarterly to stay relevant and visible.
Recommending other authors can also strengthen relationships and create goodwill. You can feature titles from authors who’ve supported you, blurbed your book, or write in a related niche.
Want to go deeper?
Check out our Book Marketing Tips & Author Success Podcast for insider tips on Amazon optimization, platform growth, and real-world author strategies.
Customizing Your Author URL
Your custom URL makes your Amazon presence look professional and polished. Instead of a long, messy string, you can set it to something clean like:
amazon.com/author/YourName
Here’s mine! https://amazon.com/author/therealbookgal
How to Create or Edit Yours:
- Log in at author.amazon.com.
- Click “Edit Profile.”
- Scroll to the “Customize URL” section and set your link.
Use this URL everywhere: your website, email signature, social media bios, and even printed materials (maybe use a QR code for bookmarks and such!)
Don’t Forget Your Global Reach
Amazon automatically creates author pages in international marketplaces — but many authors never claim them. And as I mentioned earlier, Amazon doesn’t always sync these up. Meaning you have to go to each of these pages and make sure that the branding is consistent througout. Log into these Author Central portals using the same credentials and check them out:
You should also be able to access these from your U.S. author portal though, but I included the links just in case.
Common Mistakes Authors Still Make
Even now, I see too many authors missing out on easy wins. Here are the biggest culprits:
- Outdated bios or missing photos.
- Not claiming all book editions (hardcover, paperback, eBook). You can also do this in Author Central!
- Ignoring Book Recommendations entirely.
- Forgetting to update URLs after a rebrand.
- “Set and forget” syndrome — never refreshing the page.
Your Author Page is live 24/7. Treat it like a storefront: polish it often, check for errors, and keep it aligned with your latest releases.
Your 2025 Author Page Audit Checklist
- Bio is keyword-rich and emotionally engaging.
- Photo is current and genre-appropriate.
- Custom URL is clean and in use everywhere.
- All book editions are claimed.
- Book Recommendations updated quarterly.
- International pages verified.
- Videos uploaded to key book pages.
- Quarterly reminders set for updates.
Final Thoughts: Keep Showing Up
Amazon may continue tweaking Author Central, but one thing stays constant: authors who show up consistently get seen more.
So, whether it’s updating your photo, refining your bio, or adding smart book recommendations, every small tweak compounds your visibility and sales potential.
Want to supercharge your Amazon presence?
Grab your copy of The Amazon Author Formula Workbook — your hands-on guide to mastering Amazon SEO, keywords, and book optimization.Or tune in to the Book Marketing Tips & Author Success Podcast for weekly, practical strategies that move the needle.
Resources & Free Downloads
What is book bundling and how does it work?
How book marketing fundamentals drive sales.
Avoid these common book title mistakes.
Understand if Kindle Unlimited is right for your book.
How do Amazon ads work for books?
What’s the best pricing strategy to hit a bestseller list?
Check out all the episodes of our book promotion podcast anywhere you listen to podcasts!
Be sure to sign up for our newsletter on the right-hand side of our blog homepage. If you haven’t opened a recent one your registration may have lapsed.
Follow us on Instagram for book marketing tips and some much-needed levity
Thanks for the news. I didn’t know about the changes. Wow. My page looks kind of stark and impersonal. That’s a shame.
I know it, I dislike this new update. The other one just seemed more interesting.
Like Anna, My page also looks kind of stark and impersonal.
I have become your groupie after watching your recent ASJA presentation 4/19/23 and I get what you say about the Author Page. I want my most recent book Francis and Clare The Struggles of the Saints of Assisi to appear at the top of my list of books. Sorting by Customer Review would do this, but I can’t make the edit “stick.” There’s no way to save it. Will Amazon allow me to make this change? Thank you!
Kathleen right now they’re sticking with Popularity as the default, but I like to give shoppers credit for being pretty savvy, so don’t stress too much, if you’ve already gotten them to your Author Central page they’ll likely do a little digging, sort by Publication Date, etc.