How to Get Your Book Noticed on Amazon

Published on: 01/17/2023
Published By: Liz Jalkiewicz
how to get your book noticed on amazon

Whether it’s a low or lower content book, or a manuscript heavy book, writing a book is a huge accomplishment. However, once you are done with the file and are ready to hit upload, many self-published authors quickly realize that writing the book was just half the battle. Once you hit publish and your book is LIVE to the world, it’s time for all things post-release marketing & promotion. Figuring out how to get your book noticed on Amazon can be a struggle for some but here are some strategic steps to take to help increase your discoverability and ultimately, your sales of your book listing on Amazon.

Here are 7+ Ways on How to Get Your Book Noticed on Amazon:

Set Up Your Author Central Account

Create a Beautiful Cover Design

An eye-catching cover is a sure fire way to get people to click on your book listing to learn more. Take a look at the competition in your genre or for your keyword that you are using for your book. How can your cover stand out among the rest when customers are scrolling and scrolling?

You can hire a freelance cover designer to create a professional cover design for your book, or you can take a stab at creating one yourself through Canva Pro. This tool is so user-friendly and there are so many fonts, elements, graphics, and more that you can utilize in your cover creation for your book.

Enhance Your Author Bio

Connect with your readers through your author bio. Let you personality shine through so the reader gets a sense of who you are.

Optimize the Metadata

Book Title and Subtitle Matters

The title is an important factor in your book’s metadata. It should include the keyword you are writing for so that when customers type it in the search box, your book title appears in the top searches. Including your keyword in the title is just one of several places you should be highlighting it. As far as the subtitle, this is something that authors don’t include, but they should. The subtitle is another way to describe your book and it does not have to be featured on the book’s cover. It can just be part of the book’s metadata on the product detail page. So, you would be silly not to include it.

Product Description

Your book description is one of the first things customers will check out when looking at your product detail page for your book. Take the time to craft an engaging and informative book description, so that readers feel compelled to buy your book. Keep it skimmable by using bulleted lists. And make certain words or sections of the description stand out by using making them bold, italicized, or underlined, or perhaps a larger font size.

Focus on Keywords

Keywords are the words they type in the Amazon search bar to ultimately find the product they are looking to purchase. Using the appropriate keywords can help readers find your book more easily, and also help your book show up in the search results when they type it that particular word or phrase. The challenge is to find keywords that aren’t too generic in a saturated market and aren’t too niched down where there is little to no market.

Select the Right Categories

Amazon uses categories to organize their database. That means that when you browse or look at bestselling books, you’re seeing results based on their categories. When you upload your book to Amazon KDP, you get to select your two categories. However, understand that what you’re choosing is a BISAC subject heading, and not an actual Amazon Category.

Amazon will use the two categories you select, along with your selected keywords, to place your book into Amazon Categories, accordingly. They reserve the right to change the browse categories of a book at any time to ensure a positive customer experience.  

Additionally, Amazon also use the keywords you set (up to 7) to put your book in the most accurate browse category. This is why sometimes you don’t end up in the category you selecting upon upload when choose your two categories. It’s also a good idea to check what categories your book was placed in after it’s been published. Then you can request changes from there through Amazon customer service.

Maximize A+ Content

According to Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, A+ Content allows you to add images, text, and comparison tables to your Amazon detail page to engage readers and give them more information as they consider buying your book.

The benefit of adding A+ Content, also known as Enhanced Brand Content, to your detail page is to differentiate your book from the competition, better engage and connect readers with your books, and share more about your author story.

Distribute in Multiple Formats

One way to increase your book listing’s discoverability and sales is to offer it in multiple formats, when appropriate. For example, low-content books would not work well as ebooks. Otherwise, when possible, list your book as an ebook, paperback, and hardback. This way you can link all the formats together on one detail page and appeal to your customers different preferences when it comes to the version of the book they want to buy.

Gather and Respond to Reviews

Reviews are a very important factor to selling books on Amazon. When you first launch your book, you’ll want to get as many reviews as you can from readers. And be sure to respond back and engage with those who leave reviews for your book. Let readers know that you appreciate them taking the time to write a positive review for your book.

Some other recommendations include:

  • Editing and proofreading your book well
  • Promoting your book online on your social networks
  • Running a social media giveaway
  • Buying or gifting your ebook for others as part of a promotion
  • Opting in to KDP Select for a free 5-day promotional period of your ebook

Summary

There are many different strategies you can utilize on how to get your book noticed on Amazon. I hope the above 7+ ways showcased some simple things you can do today to improve your book listing’s discoverability and sales.


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