How to Set Up and Edit Your Amazon.com Author Profile
UPDATE: This post is out of date. Amazon has updated its author portal.
KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) is widely seen as a self-publishing portal. This is funny both because publishers use it to manage their titles in the Kindle Store, and also because there is actually very little in the way of author tools in KDP – it is strictly a publishing portal.
Amazon does have an author portal called Author Central. This is where authors can upload their head shot, bio, and other details for their author page on Amazon.com. They can also use it to track the Amazon sales rank for their books.
Note: In December 2017 Amazon started beta-testing a new portal called Amazon Author. It is still in a closed beta test, so far as I know. I still don’t have access, and in fact most authors haven’t even heard of it. I will update this post if and when the new portal is opened to the public.
I recently set up my profile on Author Central, and here’s how you can set up yours.
The first thing you need to do is gather your materials, including:
- your head shot, and other photos you want to share
- any videos you want to share
- a brief bio (this post will help you write one)
- a link to your blog’s RSS feed
- a list of events you will be attending
Once you have everything, go to https://authorcentral.amazon.com. If you have already visited Author Central and created an account, log in. (Skip the next couple paragraphs, and the image.)
If you are visiting for the first time, click the "Join Now" button found on the right side of the page on Author Central. Amazon will take you through a few steps, including accepting the TOS and claiming the books you have listed on Amazon.com, etc. Once you have finished the steps, you should see a page with a "Welcome to Author Central" message.
Click on the "Author Page" option, and you should see a page that looks like this (only not filled it):
This is the page where you will upload your your photos and videos, link to your blog’s RSS feed, and list any public events.
At a minimum you should add a biography and a head shot, and then go to the "Books" page and make sure you have claimed all of your books that are listed on Amazon.com, because Amazon is going to take the information you provide and publish it on your author page on Amazon.com.
Mine looks like this. I uploaded two of my workbooks to KDP. I don’t really expect to sell any; I just did it so I could set up an account on Author Central and see how it worked.
No Comments