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Amazon Now Automatically Embeds Video Clips in Book Listings

Amazon has quietly added a new feature to book listings on Amazon.com that will quickly prove to be both a boon and a bane.

Authors on Facebook and KBoards have told me that Amazon has added a new "Related Video Shorts" section under the editorial reviews and product descriptions. At first glance this looks like it is intended for book trailers, but it turns out anyone can upload a video for any product. When you upload a video, you get to choose from a list of categories of what the video is about ( unboxing, product demonstration, etc.).

I found several book listings with reviews, including Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere. No one appears to be using the feature to post book trailers or other positive reviews yet, but I have found a few videos where buyers had uploaded a video as part their review and detailed problems with the print edition of a book.

Edit: I’ve just read in a (closed) FB group that author can’t upload videos to their book listing. This explains the lack of adoption. Thanks, Mark!

Edit: And apparently Amazon changed the rules some time before August 2018, because Indies Unlimited says authors can upload their own video.

Amazon has supported uploading video reviews of products for several years now, but this option is still not widely used. But now that the videos are being added to listing pages, authors would be wise to upload their own videos and take advantage of the new promotion opportunities.

This could be a great way to get readers interested in not just this one book but also the author’s other work.

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Comments


Hannah Steenbock April 27, 2018 um 4:40 am

I’ve been seeing that icon for a few days now. Pity we authors can’t upload little videos about our own books. I’d be game!

Nate Hoffelder April 30, 2018 um 7:35 am

Indeed!


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