You need to get your book noticed on Amazon, so is your Amazon book page selling your book, or turning readers away?

If you thought that all you had to do was pop your book up on Amazon and that’s it, you’re not alone. The majority of authors who sell their book on Amazon don’t do anything beyond uploading the book, adding a book description, and maybe an author bio.

The challenge here is that the Amazon book page won’t just *sell your book*, meaning there’s a lot that can be done to help increase your chances of an actual book sale.

Nowadays there’s a lot of “stuff” on any book page. You’re competing with book ads, Amazon’s latest movie or television series, and a host of other stuff that Amazon decides to cram onto your page.

But there’s a way, despite how noisy these pages have gotten, that you can still take back your page and turn it into something that helps to convert your browser into a customer.

Your Book Description Matters

Let’s start here, because beyond having an outstanding cover (more on that in a minute), you should have a book description that doesn’t look like a whole bunch of text crammed into a small space in order to get your book noticed on Amazon. You have room to spread out, and I encourage you do to that.

Format your description in a way that allows for short, punchy paragraphs, maybe add a bulleted list of features if your book is non-fiction. I also love using bold and italics whenever I can – to really help certain words or phrases stand out.

And you may decide to use a standout review as a lead-in to your book description, too.

Remember that readers scan, they don’t actually read – that’s just how the mind often works when reading online. So, create a book description that accommodates this and doesn’t force the reader to sift through one long, endless paragraph to see what your book is about.

Maximizing Author Central Matters

This author-exclusive portal is one that I find is often underused when it comes to figuring out how to get your book noticed on Amazon – and there’s literally so much you can do with it. From adding additional reviews (maybe highlighting sections from ones that already appear on Amazon), to adding your author bio, maybe an author interview, or five things about me you didn’t know (which is a really fun way for readers to get to know you).

You can also link up your blog, add in images and video content (your book trailer or recent author event!). One way that I also used Author Central was to upload the entire Table of Contents for my books, so readers know what they’re getting right away!

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.

For example we’re working with an attorney who worked on a case against GM a number of years ago – this was a highly publicized case, which was essentially GM allowing a known deadly issue to exist in their cars, because it was cheaper to let people die and get sued, rather than issue a fix for it.

Sounds horrifying doesn’t it? So, in this instance the attorney (who won the case, by the way) is putting up short clips of his experience working on and winning this case.

For example: what it was like to go up against a gorilla like GM, what was it like working with parents who had lost children in these accidents and so on. I encouraged him to do this series to really start to give readers a flavor of what they can expect from the book – as well as a personal glimpse into the author.

In one video, he talks briefly about the personal toll this case took on him and his family, too.

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

One thing that helps to get your book noticed on Amazon and actually sell more of them is the personal connection readers have with the author. 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.

Responding to Reader Reviews Matters

I am personally a huge fan of this – I love letting readers know that I appreciate them taking the time to review the book on Amazon. Just a short note that thanks them and then calling out a specific point that they’ve addressed to make sure your comment is customized to the actual review.

If you want to get to all of your reviews, head on over to Author Central and click on “Customer Reviews” (far right on the top navigation).

Once you’re there, you’ll see all of the reviews for your books. They aren’t stacked by individual book, but rather by most recent review. Click on “Add a Comment” and it’ll take you to another screen where it allows you to place a comment!

It’s a free and easy way to get your book noticed on Amazon and generate more positive word of mouth.

Your Book Cover Matters

It goes without saying that your cover should be outstanding, and while this is probably the single most important thing you need to sell more books, I realize that some of you probably already have a cover, or feel like you’re stuck with what you’ve got.

If you aren’t sure if the cover is exactly what it should be, have a look at other/similar books in your genre. A good book cover should match the genre it’s in – there’s always a particular “look” that each genre has, and while subsets of genres vary in terms of layout, imagery, etc. there’s always a general theme that readers come to expect.

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

As crazy as it sounds, a lot of authors get this 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.

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.

You can see that the romance title is fun and flirty, while the others evoke some strong emotion (along with a cover that really adds a punch to the title). These books are all best sellers, and from the cover alone, you can see why.

Your Subtitle Matters

I love subtitles, regardless of whether your book is fiction or non-fiction. And while the books above don’t have them on their covers, that doesn’t mean they can’t still utilize this feature on their Amazon page!

That’s the beauty of it, it’s not static, you can test different approaches as a way to get your book noticed on Amazon by your different buyer markets – and if you’re unsure of who those people are, download our free reader profile brainstorm in the resources section!

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.

There are 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. Good luck!

Resources and Free Downloads

Master Amazon Video Series

Get your FREE Reader Profile Brainstorm

Anatomy of a Bestselling Amazon Book Promotion

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