Every independent author needs to work hard at marketing and
selling their books. There is no way that anyone will get noticed by simply
making the book available on Kindle and hoping that readers will arrive in
their droves to buy it; everyone has to make people aware of what is on offer.
Within our ‘How to Self Publish’ courses we dedicate a lot of time to
addressing the options that are available to indie authors and in today’s blog
I am going to look at one of those options in a bit more detail.
Amazon Author Central is a shop window that allows you to
promote your work and let your readers know a little bit more about you. It allows you to collate all the books that you are selling on Amazon in one page and gives you a single link to promote on social media. If you
can’t afford, or decide you don’t want a website, an AAC page is an excellent free
alternative.
The first thing you should do after getting confirmation
that your book is on sale is to set up your AAC profile by visiting
authorcentral.amazon.co.uk (and authorcentral.amazon.com if you are selling
books internationally*) where you can begin to populate your AAC page. Within
the profile you can add your biography and photograph to help your readers to
get to know you a little better. You can put as much or as little detail about
yourself as you wish but I would keep it relevant and friendly. There is also a
section where you can add details of your Twitter account to allow your readers
to connect with you and establish a relationship with you. There is a facility to add videos, you can shoot a personal message or maybe a trailer for your
book. Another great feature is the ability to add any events that you may be
attending or hosting in your capacity as a writer. It allows you to promote
book signings and other personal appearances.
The other section you need to concentrate on is not
surprisingly, books. When you click on the ‘Add more books’ button you will be
able to search for your book, by title, author’s name or the ISBN. Just beware I have found that occasionally a newly published book is not available immediately through this search and
you may have to wait a couple of days before you can add it.
Within your AAC profile you will also be able to track your sales
information, which is an excellent way to see the effectiveness of promotions
and specific marketing techniques. The final section allows you to keep an eye on customer
reviews by compiling all of the information from all your books in one area.
The AAC is just one of the many ways that Amazon has tried
to make selling a book as easy as possible for independent authors and it is
something that I think every writer should take advantage of.
If you already have an AAC page set up, why not stick a link in the comments and let people learn more about you and your work.
*You have set up a profile on each if you are selling in
both the U.S. and U.K.
For more information about Indie Authors Scotland 'How to Self Publish' courses visit our website.
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