Amazon’s A+ Content Now Available to Authors and Publishers

by Susan U. Neal RN, MBA, MHS @SusanNealYoga

Would you like to improve your book Amazon sales by up to 10 percent? There is a new technique to increase the likelihood that a reader will push the buy button when they get to your book’s Amazon sales page. You can improve your chances of closing that sale through using Amazon’s A+ Content, and it is free. 

Recently, Amazon offered small publishers and self-published authors the opportunity to improve their book’s product page with visuals and enhanced marketing to overcome a buyer’s hesitation. You can create and post rich images, charts, and additional product details to help customers choose to purchase your product. According to Amazon, the A+ Content can increase your sales by 3 to 10 percent. 

Authors should use Amazon’s A+ Content because it improves book sales, but it can also improve an author’s overall search engine optimization efforts because Google indexes the content. A+ Content improves a book’s Amazon page conversion rate too, if done correctly. If you are traditionally published, contact your publisher to see if you can send them A+ Content to upload to Kindle Direct Publishing. There is no additional cost to using A+ Content other than creating the graphic.

If you are self-published, to find the A+ premier features, sign into your Kindle
Direct Publishing (KDP) account and click on Marketing. Scroll down the page and you will find A+ Content that states, “With A+ Content, you can add images, text, and comparison tables to your product detail page to engage readers and give more information as they consider buying your book.”

Read the A+ Content guidelines, otherwise your submission may be rejected. For example: 

• Do not include pricing, promotional details or discounts, promotion references.
• Do not mention time sensitive information such as now, new, latest, yet, on sale now, etc.
• A maximum of four quotes or endorsements is allowed. 
• No customer reviews.
• No reference to Kindle Unlimited.
• No satisfaction guarantee claims.
• No links or contact information.
• Only awards won in the last two years can be mentioned.
• Supported image file types include jpg and png under 2 MB with at least 72 dpi. 

You can review the full guidelines at the KDP site.

Where do you start? Use images that allow the Amazon customer to scan your content, so the image is not cluttered. Add descriptive content about your book. Tie the A+ Content into your branding. Use images beyond the book cover that convey what you want the reader to experience through reading your book. 

• Nonfiction authors could cross-promote products and upsell other books. 
• Fiction authors can portray complex storylines. 
• Fantasy authors might create maps. 
• Children’s picture book authors could display their best book pages. 
• Or you could highlight the author’s background, passion, qualifications, or awards. 

As you can see, A+ Content allows authors to provide more information about the content of their book. The following section provides examples of A+ Content currently used by authors.

Nonfiction

Sample content (recipes, how-to tutorials, tips, etc.)

• Beekeeping for Beginners

Comparison grid to cross-sell similar/related works

• The Lego Ideas Book

Children’s

Reinforce brand identity and feature connected series

• Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Expanded interiors and images that provide additional context

• Our Class Is a Family

Comparison grid to cross-sell similar/related works

• Super Shark Encyclopedia
• I Love You to the Moon and Back

Fiction

Author features and interviews

• The Prison Healer
• On the Come Up

Social media style quote images highlighting select review quotes

• The Other Black Girl

Comparison grid to cross-sell similar/related works

• Dune
• My Dear Hamilton

On mobile devices, which is what most readers use, the A+ Content is shown first above the sales copy. Make sure your content is visually appealing. For those of you who are crafty and excellent copy writers—you got this. You can create gorgeous graphics on Canva or BookBrush. For those of you, like me, who need help in that area, you could use my graphic designer here. It is prudent for authors to use this new free service offered by Amazon. Think of Amazon as a store and your book’s A+ Content tells the buyer about the extra benefits of acquiring your book, just like a salesperson would do in person at a store. 

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Susan U. Neal, RN, MBA, MHS: Susan’s mission is to improve the health of the body of Christ. She has her RN and MBA degrees, as well as a master’s in health science. She is a CERTIFIED HEALTH AND WELLNESS COACHwith the American Association of Christian Counselors. She published five books, the Selah award winner 7 STEPS TO GET OFF SUGAR AND CARBOHYDRATES, CHRISTIAN STUDY GUIDE FOR 7 STEPS TO GET OFF SUGAR AND CARBOHYDRATES, HEALTHY LIVING JOURNAL, SCRIPTURE YOGAa #1 Amazon best-selling yoga book, and YOGA FOR BEGINNERSwhich ranked #3. She published two sets of Christian Yoga Card Decks and two Christian Yoga DVDs that are available at CHRISTINAYOGA.COM. Her digital product HOW TO PREVENT, IMPROVE, AND REVERSE ALZHEIMER’S AND DEMENTIAis a great resource. To learn more about Susan visit her website SUSANUNEAL.COM You can also connect with Susan on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, and INSTAGRAM.

Featured Image: Photo by Sunrise King on Unsplash