I have watched my
friend, Jodie, traverse the many obstacles of Independent Publishing and it
takes me back to my first few months as a Newbie.

I remember when I first heard about Amazon Central and how the books were to be set up there in order
for us to be able to watch statistics, fill in book descriptions and share other
necessary information such as our author profile. The information here is going
to show up on each of your book’s Amazon pages so don’t make the mistakes I
made – no typing errors J
(Go to Google and look up Amazon Central Sign In.)

I wonder how many new authors still have their back page
blurb that they uploaded when they published the book as their main description
on their Amazon book page. Mine sat there for quite some time until I found out
about Amazon Central and how very important this whole site is.

Once you’ve joined, check out the link at the top that says “BOOKS”.
And read very carefully. Then add your book.

It can take more than 24 hours before that book will show up
on the page so keep going back to check and see when it appears. When it does,
be prepared to spend some time. Cclick on your book title to take you to the
working page and the first slot you will see is Reviews.

Everyone must have is at least one review to put here. If
you don’t have one, get a friend or a colleague to read your book and write
something for you. (It must be under 600 characters or they won’t allow it.)

Next, and most
important, your book description is not the same thing as the back page
write-up. This is where the promoter in you must be allowed to go a little
insane.  The place is where you can sell
your book to the lurker who wants to know WHY
they should buy it. Your chance is here to WOW them so they can’t help but
push the buy-now button. Persuasive adjectives
are necessary—words with impact that will evoke either shock or titillation.  It’s the movie trailer with strong language that
sparks your interest and all the best shots from the movie put together that
will whet your appetite. Use your talent as a wordsmith and let yourself go a
bit crazy.

The rest of the slots,” From the Author”, “From the Inside
Flap”, “From the Back Cover” (your back-page blurb goes here) and “About the Author”
are all areas where you can share more information about you and the book. In
case it’s not your habit to read through this collection of material, just know
that many readers do or else Amazon wouldn’t have it there. So, if you want to dot
all your I’s and cross all your T’s, then do your best.

 

***Next blog will focus on the Author Profile on Amazon
Central