How to Set Up Your Amazon Author Page

My Amazon Author Page at
amazon.com/author/diannebutts

In my July post I wrote:

"Don't have an Amazon author page?! We're going to talk about that next month." 

That would have been August but July got too busy and I didn't get that post done. So let's revisit that idea this month.

I touched on Amazon author pages in my January 2015 post, "25 Free Ways to Market Your Book." (See #2 in that article.) But this month let's go more in depth in how to set up your Amazon author page.

How to Know If an Author has an Amazon Page

When you are looking at books on Amazon, pay attention to the name of the author. Sometimes it's a link. Sometimes it's not. When it is a link, that indicates the author has an Amazon author page set up. Obviously when you click the link, it takes you to the author's page.

When the author's name is not a link, that author has not set up his or her Amazon author page. (Or it's possible they have but that book is not linked to it. If this is the case for you, add that book to your Amazon author page.)

You Must Have a Book on Amazon

Before you may have an Amazon author page, you must have at least one book for sale on Amazon. If you don't, this would be a great time to write an e-book and upload it. See my series of posts "How to Make Your Manuscript Into a Kindle E-book on Amazon (for Free)" I posted in February, March, April, and May 2016. (Links are at the bottom of this post.) 

If you have contributed to a compilation book or anthology, such as a Chicken Soup for the Soul book or another independently published compilation, and if it is available on Amazon, that counts and you can create an Author page. (Tweet that!  ) You may need to contact Amazon and ask them how to set up your page from a compilation. Let me just say...

I set up my Amazon author page about 15 years ago so I don't remember the details of how I did it, and no doubt details have changed. But it should be fairly easy for you to figure out from AuthorCentral.com.

Amazon's Author Central

To get started, go to AuthorCentral.com. Or you can go to your book on Amazon (or other books) and find the small down-pointing arrow next to the author's name which indicates a drop-down menu. Hover over that and you'll see where it asks, "Are you an author? Learn about Author Central."

It's going to take you Amazon's Author Central. This is where you will open your Author Central account with an email address and password.

Once you do that you'll find the "Welcome to Author Central" page with instructions and links to more how-tos. Click the "Help" button in the upper right beside your name to get right to the basics.

Also on this page is "Author Central News" where Amazon posts news and updates about it's programs.

Once you're in your Amazon Author Central account, you can click on four options across the top of the page. Your:

• Author Page
• Books
• Sales Info
• Customer Reviews.

Click on "Books" to find the books you've authored and connect them to your Amazon author page. Simply click the yellow "Add more books" button, search for you book, and there you go.

The Sales Info tab has sub-menus for your:

• Sales Rank: Shows each of your books and where they rank on Amazon. This will show green and a rise when you sell a book. That's exciting!
• Author Rank: Your overall ranking on Amazon. Like a golf score, the lower the number the better. I heard a long time ago if you're under 100,000 that's good. If you're just starting out you won't be that low, but as I've published more e-books that sell regularly I've been in that zone consistently...which is really cool.
• Nielsen BookScan: Shows when a hard copy of your book sells and in which geographic location. Not all book sales are recorded here since not all bookstores are connected to the Nielsen BookScan. But it gives you a good idea of where sales are taking place. If you advertise in a certain region or hold an author event in a certain location you may see those sales reflected here.

At the Customer Reviews tab you can see all the reviews on your books on Amazon. You can sort them by title, by most recent, etc. It's an easy way to see if you have any new reviews.

Finally, you can click on Author Page and set up many options on your page.

What to Set Up on Your Amazon Author Page

It's pretty easy to figure out what you can do when you get there, but let's just go over what you can set up on your Amazon author page:

Biography

Of course you've seen author's bios on Amazon. This is where the author was able to enter that information. You probably already have a bio you've written for another project (or the back of your book). If not, write one now. 

I think shorter is better. Only a portion will show on your author page before visitors must click to read more. So put the most important info up front. (Tweet that!) Plan it as if what shows will be all that your readers ever read.

Let your personality shine through. Readers enjoy that.

Whenever you need to update your bio or wish to change it, come back to your Amazon Central account to do so.

Blogs

Are you writing a blog? You can connect it here and your latest posts will automatically show up. Pretty cool huh?

This is a great way to direct your book readers to your blog to read more of what you write. It's also a great way to increase your blog's readership. (Tweet that!) 

Events

Are you planning a booksigning? Putting together a live author event? Attending a writer's conference or book expo? You can enter the location, hours, description of the event, and which book you're featuring here. It's similar to an event on Facebook. (Tweet that!) 

I've used this several times. I have it listed on my "to do" list when setting up an author event. It's hard to gauge whether it brings in a bigger crowd to author events. I wonder how many authors actually use this feature on Amazon ... or even know it's here. If we remember to use this feature perhaps Amazon visitors will become aware of it and check it more often.

Now that I've encouraged you to use this Events feature, I want to also caution you. As authors we should think about our personal security and that of our families and homes before we tell the whole world exactly where we will be and when. (Tweet that!) Of course we want to attract as big a crowd of book buyers as we can. But we need to somehow balance that with not telling burglars we're traveling and our home is empty and waiting for their visit. Women traveling alone may not want to let the world know the details of where they'll be and when. In the current climate in our nation, if your book might be controversial, you might want to be cautious about posting the location and hours of your event.

Have you ever thought about this?

I don't know the answers to this dilemma, but part of the solution might be:

• Don't post that "we" (your whole family) will be traveling to an event. Say "I" will be there and let people think your strong, armed husband / family is at home guarding the house.



Booksignings

• Don't post your travel plans, such as when you're leaving or arriving. 
• Don't Instagram yourself in the airport or post elsewhere photos, videos, and comments until after you get back home. 

If you'd like to set up a live author event in a bookstore but don't know how, have no idea where to start, or simply want to hear my tips, experiences, and suggestions, check out my e-book Booksignings.

Author Page URL

When your Author Page is created, Amazon will give you a URL here. You can suggest a change if you want to. Make it easy to remember.  (Tweet that!) 

Copy and paste this URL into a place where it is easy for you to access, such as in a Word document or, better I think, an Excel document where you keep all your links (for each of you books, blogs, etc.).

Also keep it written and handy when you do radio interviews so you can state it easily. Keep it simple so people can remember it. The few times I've done TV interviews I've been asked for information to put at the bottom of the screen as I talk. Your Amazon author page is a one-stop shop for all your books (assuming they're all on Amazon) so let your audience know how to find it.

If you wish, create an easy-to-remember short URL on bitly.com. 

What will you want to do with this URL? If you need ideas, I'll list some below under "What Can You Do With Your Amazon Author Page?"

Photos

Add your author photo of your smiling face. A book sales expert told me a nice photo creates a "relationship" with the reader. Relationships are key to book sales. (Tweet that!) 

This is the same reason you should have your smiling face on the back cover of every print book you produce and in the back matter of your e-books.

Videos

You cannot put a YouTube video on your Amazon page. Plus, Amazon has a lot of rules for what they do not want you to include in your video. Be sure to review those guidelines before you try putting a video on your site.

To find those guidelines, click "add video." A box will open with basic guidelines including this one:

• For more guidelines, please visit our video content guidelines.

I'm thinking I shouldn't upload my book trailer videos I've made on Animoto.com because the Animoto logo is embedded at the end. Also not allowed are "comments relating to book reviews and content visible on the Author Page and detail pages" on Amazon.

Amazon states:

You can share video interviews, book signing videos, and other videos with readers. Your videos should focus on specific features of your books or your experience as an author. Uploading Videos

I never thought to take a video at an live author event. I may think about staging that (getting permission first) next time I hold one.

Right now I'm thinking we could just talk to our laptop cameras and tell potential readers interesting information about ourselves or our books, why we wrote it, that sort of thing. We could also "stage" an interview: type the question on a slide for the video then look off camera and answer as if we're answering an interviewer.

How to Create a Video for Your Amazon Page

If you want to create such a video, use your laptop camera. Upload the video to YouTube and edit it.

While you cannot upload a YouTube video to your Amazon author page, you can save it in an Amazon-supported format and then upload it! (Tweet that!) To do that go to your Video Manager on YouTube and click the drop down menu arrow next to "Edit." Choose to save your video to your computer as an MP4 file. MP4 is one of the supported files on Amazon so you can then upload your MP4 file from your computer to your Amazon author page.

(Hmm. Now that I've figured all that out, I may have to try it myself and write a whole post on this topic! Wouldn't that be fun?! I'll work on it when I have time.)

What Can You Do With Your Amazon Author Page?

Here are some ways you can use your Amazon author page URL:

• in your email signature, 
• in Tweets, 
• in an occasional Facebook post,
• in all your social media bios (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.).
• Link to it on your blogs and web sites. 
• Be sure to put it at the end of your book trailers.
• Include it on your business cards. 
• Put it in your guest posts on other blogs and... 
• your bio at the end of your magazine articles. 
• Include it in the back matter of every book you write. 

Anywhere you advertise yourself, your books, or your brand, you should include an easy link to your Amazon author page because your page will list all your books that you have available for sale (on Amazon). With one click visitors can go to the detail page of any of your books and purchase it. (Tweet that!)

One More Tip...

If you're writing under a pseudonym, you can also open an Amazon author page for your pseudonym. (Tweet that!) You can do so from your regular author page; you don't need a separate account. But to everyone viewing your pen name page there will be no connection to who you are unless you put it there.

You can manage up to three Author Pages this way, though they will not be associated in any way on Amazon.com.  Managing Your Bibliography

If you haven't yet set up your Amazon author page, or if there are some steps here you haven't yet completed, why not do so today?

Or if your Amazon author page has been set up for a while, why not schedule some time to update your bio, list an upcoming event, add a new photo, connect a new blog, or create a new video?

Tweetable:

Why not open or update your #AmazonAuthorPage today? Here's how.  Tweet that:  

Related Articles:

• How to Make Your Manuscript a Kindle E-Book on Amazon (for Free) - Part 1: Formatting Your Kindle Document
• How to Make Your Manuscript Into a Kindle E-Book on Amazon (for Free) - Part 2 - Front Matter, Back Matter, and Images
• How to Make Your Manuscript Into a Kindle E-Book on Amazon - Part 3 - Get Your E-Book Covers Here! (Not All Free) 
• How to Make Your Manuscript Into a Kindle E-Book on Amazon (for Free) - Part 4 – Uploading Your Ebook

7 Keys to (SEO-Successful) Blog Posts

from www.Morguefiles.com

I had a feeling if I put "SEO" in the title of this month's post your eyes would glaze over and I wouldn't see your lovely face here reading my post. I tried to sneak it past you by putting "SEO-Successful" in parentheses. It seems like many writers I know don't want to deal with SEO. But really, if you're blogging or if you're the guest on someone else's blog talking about your book or if you're writing online, don't you want people to find your post and read your stuff? That's what SEO is all about. So let's talk about 7 Keys to making your blog posts more SEO-successful so you can draw more readers.

I don't claim to be an expert on SEO. But I've learned some and, as usual, this e-zine-turned-blog is all about sharing what I've learned in the hope it will help you in your own writing journey.

Probably, nowadays, most writers know what SEO is. But I can see some of you still have glazed-over eyes, so let's talk about what SEO is. SEO doesn't have to be complicated. There's a boon of books written on the subject, but those are for people who are interested or who do marketing or publicity for a living. Writers need to know some about SEO to promote their own writing and make the most of every opportunity for their online writing, but we don't have to get overly complicated. Let's keep it simple: SEO stands for "Search Engine Optimization" and that phrase doesn't have to be intimidating. It simply means there are simple things you can do to optimize (make the most of) search engines and help them find you and your writing. That brings more readers to whatever you write. And that's a good thing. After all, that's what we're in it for, right?

So, let's get started and look at 7 Keys to making your blog post more search-engine friendly (also known as search engine optimized):

Key 1: Write Only One Topic Per Post

Seriously, only one topic per post. This sounds easy, doesn't it. But I find it's harder than it looks. Take today for example. I have so much I want to tell you! Besides writing on the topic of the month, I also want to:

1. Tell you that I have a new book out. How exciting is that?!
2. Encourage you to attend the Colorado Christian Writers Conference coming up later this month.

Now see? While I'm dying to tell you all this stuff in my once-a-month post, those are really two different besides the writing topic of SEO for blogs. If I include these other two thoughts in my post, the search engines won't know where to "file" this post. And you know what happens when something gets filed when nobody really knows where it should be filed: it's never seen by anyone again.

So what should I do? Answer: Stick to ONE topic per post so the search engines can figure out where to file this and then when someone comes asking for it, those lovely engines will know right where to send them.

What about those other topics? I have some options so I'll need to make some decisions. I could:

1. Write them in separate posts. They would each need to be in their owns post because they are different topics. The drawback here is that I've agreed with my subscribers, when this was an e-zine, to only put something in their in boxes once a month unless it's really, really important and couldn't wait til the next month's post. I don't want to raise the ire of my subscribers by sending two more posts in the next few days. Still, when this blog was in the form of a newsletter, I could put this "extra" information in a sidebar and deliver all this information to in one newsletter. I can't do that so well in a blog since it will scramble the brains of the search engines.
2. I could write about my new book and CCWC on other Pages on this blog (the tabs at the top). The drawback here is that I don't know if you'll see it.

So which decision should I make? I'll admit it's a tough one. Right now I'm thinking I will send additional posts, one on each topic, in a few days. My thinking here is that those who read this blog, and who read the e-zine this used to be, know me (or have gotten to know me). And when we get to know someone, aren't we interested in what's going on with them? So wouldn't you be interested in knowing I have a new book out? I'll give myself some time to get my pages updated to reflect the new book, and then I'll send a post to tell you all about it.

Also, because the Colorado Christian Writers Conference is coming up in only a couple of weeks, if I'm going to encourage you to go I need to do it soon.

If my subscribers aren't interested in these topics, that's what the delete key is for.

Another advantage of writing only one topic per post:  busy readers can see at a glance if they're interested and they don't miss important announcements because it's one topic per post. On the other hand, if they're not interested, they can simply press delete.

Key 2: Discover Your Key Words

Now that you know what your one topic for your post is, determine what  your key words are. Key words are important. If you want to increase your readership, if you want to reach more people with your message, then you need to pay attention to key words.

Your key words are those words your potential reader is going to type in to a search engine when he or she is trying to find the very information you're writing.

In other words, imagine your future reader: that person who needs what you're writing about. But they don't know you are writing just what they need. How are they going to find you? Here's how: They are going to access a search engine (Google, Bing, or other) and then type in some words. What words are they typing in? Whatever those words are, they are your Key Words.

Make a note of them. Write them down. Type them somewhere. Learn to choose really good key words. You're going to need them.

Now, how can you know if you picked good Key Words? Or do you have that feeling that you haven't quite nailed down your key words and you wished you had some suggestions for alternate words or phrases? You can get some help with your Key Words at the free Google's AdWord: Keyword Tool. With this tool you can put in your key words and get a whole list of related words and phrases.

Google's AdWord Keyword Tool also tells you how many searches were done for those key words or phrases and the level of competition for those words. In other words, are you competing with a lot of other blogs that are also using those key words? A high rating might mean a popular topic but a lot of competition. Medium competition might mean a significant number of people are searching for that topic but not that many people are writing about it, which might be very good for you.

Considering number of searches and the competition, write down the most promising words and phrases for your blog post topic.

Key 3: Use Your Key Words in Your Blog Post Title

Now that you know your key words, use them in your blog post title. For example, this blog post is about helping you create your own blog posts that attract new readers through SEO, it's about helping you create successful blog posts, and it gives you 7 keys. All of those thoughts are reflected in this post's title.

Since I have learned this much about SEO, and since good SEO techniques have started to become familiar enough to me that I recognize them or, better yet, I recognize when they are missing, I have to tell you that sometimes I see blog post titles that make me cringe. Honestly, I'm not trying to pick on anyone here. I'm only trying to help. So if you see yourself in what I'm about to say, please know I'm not picking on you personally. I see these things a lot, and I just wanted to call your attention to it so you can do better in the future. I cringe only because I know it's a lost opportunity.

I've seen (and actually I've been guilty of this myself) blog titles like:

• Great News!
• Announcing...
• Exciting Stuff!

Ah hem. Blog post titles like that tell us NOTHING. If you think people will click on that post title to see what it's about, think again. They won't. And the search engines will only bring people to your blog post who are searching for "great news," "announcing...," or "exciting stuff." Can you see how that doesn't work?

Practice being specific. If your great news is that your book just won an award, give the title of your book and/or the name of the award. If you're announcing your new book, use the key words of what your book is about to attract people who are searching for information on your book's topic. If your exciting stuff is that you're going to be a guest on TV, say which program.

If you're blogging about writing or publishing, put those key words in your title. If you're writing an online article on a current event, use the key words for that event. If you're teaching on your favorite topic, that topic which is the passion of your heart, put that topic in your post title. You get the idea...

Key 4: Use Your Key Words in Beginning, Middle, and Ending of Your Blog Post

Now take those same key words that you used in your title and use them:

1. in the first sentence of your post, or at least in the first paragraph.
2. in the body of your post, in a way that is natural and organic (not stacking or forcing those words unnaturally). You can use them more than once, but use them at least once.
3. in the last sentence of your post, or at least the last paragraph.

This takes discipline, but it makes a huge difference in your search engine optimization.

Try this: I'm now writing the first and last paragraph of my posts at the same time, and then I fill in the middle. That's helping me more easily get those key words at the bottom of the post without forgetting.

Sometimes this feels awkward and forced. That's okay. Do it the best you can. It will get easier. And it's really, really important for your SEO.

Key 5: Include Links

Two things here:

First, it's very helpful to your SEO to have links in your post that actually link to something helpful that you're talking about. So always, always, always put at least a couple of links in your posts.

Second, you must make the words that form your link count. Another thing that makes me cringe is links that use words like:

• Click here
• More info
• Find it here

Another lost opportunity.

Those words don't count for anything! Make your link titles count by actually stating, using key words, where that link will take you. For example the above link I gave you actually takes you to Google's AdWord: Keyword Tool, so those are the words I used for the title of the link! Not hard. Just do it. It will make you points in the SEO department.

Here's another example. This morning, when I was already planning to write about SEO in blog posts, I saw in a Paper.li I subscribe to a blog post by author and speaker Mary DeMuth titled "25 Best Blog Practices That'll Rock Your Blog!" Though her post isn't about SEO, it is about blogging and I thought her post might help you, too, so I wanted to share it.

Take note that the words I made into the links actually tell where that link is taking you. The Paper.li link takes you to a post I wrote about that Twitter-fed Paper that you can create. Putting words in the link that go with the link score you many more SEO points than a link that says "Click here."

Key 6: Include a Photo

Honestly I don't know if a photo helps out with SEO or not. But I do believe a picture helps your article gain attention, so I included it in this list.

I don't know a thing about Pinterest. I haven't joined that one yet. But I have heard that in order to "pin" an online article in Pinterest there has to be a photo with the article. (If you know Pinterest, you can leave a comment and let us know if I've got that right.)

I do know that sharing a post on Facebook gets a lot more attention if it has a picture with it. So do find a photo to go with your post. You can use one of your own photos if you want to, if you don't mind your face on the internet, or use the image of your book cover or award--whatever goes with your post's topic.

Don't have a photo? I'm sure you know better than to just go take one from somewhere. Photos are copyrighted just like your words, so respect others' copyrights.

There are web sites where you can grab free photos to use in your blog. Google "free stock photos" and you'll find some.

I haven't always put a photo with my blog posts unless I was blogging about something that a photo naturally went with, like my book cover or an event I had a photo from. But I've recently come to believe having a photo is very important and I've been overlooking adding one, so I'm going to try to always include one from here on out. (We'll see if I remember!) Last month I used a free photo from Dreamstime.com. For this post I used a free photo from Morguefile.com. Be sure to read the small print to know whether you need to put a credit line on it. Dreamstime wants you to, and tells you what to put. I used that as the lable for the photo in my computer so the two would be stored together and I'd have it when I needed it. Morguefile doesn't require that, but I put their link on the photo both because I appreciate them providing me a photo and so you would know where it came from.

Key 7: Add a Video

I've learned that adding a video from YouTube really scores you SEO points, too. There are thousands of videos on YouTube so you can find a bit of teaching on your topic or an inspiring song.

You can also use your book trailer. Don't have a book trailer? Here's a post I wrote on how to make your own 30-second book trailer for free.

Bonus Key: Make Sure Your Posts are Share-Friendly

I didn't count this one as an SEO key because I don't know that it helps in optimizing your post for search engines, but it is a pet peeve of mine. (Mary DeMuth mentioned this in her article, too.) Be sure that every post you write is easy to "Share." That means installing buttons at the bottom that readers can click to share your post on Twitter, Facebook, and a bunch of other sites.

You'll see Share Buttons at the bottom of this post, and I hope you'll Tweet it and Facebook it and Google+ it. You can also use the e-mail and blog post share buttons.

On other blogs I've seen a whole bunch of other options and I'm frustrated that I haven't been able to figure out how to add those to my blog yet. I'm thinking it must be a plug-in that people get from somewhere else because I've looked on Blogspot and the ones I already have are the only ones I can find. Maybe you can do better with your blog.

Use these techniques elsewhere too

By the way, all these SEO keys can be applied to your web site, too. And to online articles you write, guest posts on other people's blogs...anywhere you write online. So start practicing and soon you'll be a natural at it.

I'm planning to make myself a checklist so I don't forget any of these steps in future posts. You might make your own checklist.

If you practice these 7 Keys to SEO-successful blog posts, you should see an increase in people visiting your blog and reading your messages. And that's what it's all about, right? You're writing because you want people to read what you write, right? Let me know if you find these tips easy or hard to implement in the comments section below. If you have other ideas for SEO success, please share it in a comment. Or if you have questions about this topic, put it in a comment and we'll see what answers we can come up with. I wish you all the success in the world in your own writing and posting!