Amazon has come up with a redesign of Author Pages that displays books, blog posts and social media updates in a much improved format.
The new layout, illustrated by Kendra Elliott’s Author Page above, makes it easier for readers to learn more about authors and their books and to stay informed about updates and new releases.
Readers can add an author to their list of favorite authors to receive emails about new releases and follow authors on Twitter without leaving the Author Page.
Some of the features of Author Pages are available only on Amazon.com. Authors on Amazon.co.uk and other country sites are unable to link their blog feeds, although they can link in their Twitter feed, events and videos.
Author Pages are set up under Author Central, which is a separate part of Amazon rather than being incorporated within Kindle Direct Publishing or CreateSpace. You have to set up and populate an Author Page separately for each Amazon country store where you want to display a Page.
How to set up Amazon Author Central Pages around the world
Here are the international links for Author Central if you want to set up or enhance your Author Page around the world:
Amazon.com (USA)
Amazon.co.uk (UK)
Amazon.de (Germany)
Amazon.fr (France)
Amazon.jp (Japan)
Amazon Author Pages are only available at present in the US, UK, Germany, France and Japan. You might not be getting many sales on Amazon stores other than the USA and the UK, but some authors have reported that once they’ve set up Author Pages on other country stores they have started getting sales there.
Google’s Chrome browser can translate foreign language sites to make it much easier to set up an Amazon Author PageThere are no problems with setting up Author Pages for Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk, but for France, Germany and Japan, you’ll be best off with Google’s Chrome browser and using its translation tool.
If you use your normal Amazon log-in, you’ll be told it’s not recognised, so you’ll need to join Author Central on that country site, which is a simple process of just using the same log-in and password you use on your local Amazon site, but as a new account.
A link will be sent to your email address and you’ll need to click this, which will take you back to the country’s Author Central site where you can set up your Author Page.
Insert your author name if it’s different from your log-in and select your books. Copy and paste your biography and upload your photo (remember to tick the photo terms & conditions box).
Photos must be a minimum of 300 pixels and a maximum of 8,000 pixels in width and height and no more than 4Mb. Supported formats include JPEG, PNG, GIF.
A Twitter feed and videos can also be added.
You could use Google Translate to convert your biography into French, German or Japanese, but you could end up with a ‘quaint’ translation, as you might have seen in converting a foreign language into English using an auto-translator. It’s probably better to keep your bio in English if your books are in English as readers might otherwise think your books are in the local language.
Here are author Mary Rizza’s Amazon Author Pages at all the Amazon country stores available, so you can see the difference. If you click on the screenshots, you’ll be taken to the Author Page at the various Amazon country sites.
This is the new design for an Author Page on Amazon.com, showing author photo, biography, books and blog post links. This is an Author Page on Amazon.co.uk, which doesn’t have the facility to include links to blog posts. The Author Page on the German Amazon.de website Here is the French version of an Author Page at Amazon.fr The most complicated Author Page to set up is the Japanese version at Amazon.jpSome authors aren’t even aware of Author Central or can’t be bothered to do much about it, but it’s worthwhile to establish a presence.
Here are a few best practices suggested by Amazon to make your Author Page more appealing to readers:
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Profile image
Square headshots will look best (same width and height). Use an image that is already cropped square and has high resolution.
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Biography
Amazon recommends a brief biography of about 100 words written in the third person, including relevant facts that provide readers with insights into how your personal story influences your books, and mentioning awards and achievements.
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Books
Review the books on your Author Page to ensure it includes all the books you’ve written that are sold at Amazon. If something is missing, add them in the Books tab.