Amazon Author Central Now Displays the Number of Followers!

Amazon Author Central Now Displays the Number of Followers

Amazon Author Central Now Displays the Number of Followers!

Amazon has recently added two cool new features to their Author Central Page that every author needs to know!

 

Amazon Author Central now displays the number of followers you have as an author, but that’s not the only new feature they added. Until recently, your number of followers on Amazon Author Central has always remained a bit of a mystery to authors.

Some authors have tried to work it out based on jumps in pre-order numbers and percentages, but it’s always been a little hit or miss.

While Author Central itself isn’t new, the ability to see how many followers you have on your profile and share book recommendations with your followers certainly are. In the following article, we’ll examine why Amazon Author Central now displays the number of followers, their new book recommendation feature, and why it’s essential to self-published authors.

If you want to learn more about Amazon Author Central, check out the Complete Guide to Amazon Author Central for Authors article we previously wrote. Your Amazon Author Page is where you can turn casual readers into committed fans for life.

 

Author Central and Your Followers

Amazon Author Central Now Displays the Number of FollowersWhen someone looks at one of your books on Amazon, regardless of whether or not they buy it, they always have the option to follow the author, as you can see from the example to the right. For instance, I have the option to follow Andy Elkerton or Adam Wallace, authors of the best-selling book series How to Catch a Mermaid. They can follow you directly from the buy page.

Now, when I go to their Amazon Author Central Page, I will get to see a little blurb about them, their most popular books, and also the other books they’ve written or illustrated.

There’s also an option at the top to follow the author, as well as an option down the bottom to follow the author. Amazon really wants your readers to engage with you, and they’ve now dropped three opportunities to do it.

At the bottom of the Author Central Author page, along with the follow the author button, there’s a little information about what following the author means and what the follower will get out of it. For example, it says, ‘Follow to get new release updates, special offers (including promotional offers), and improved recommendations.

Why is this important? If you ever plan on releasing more than one book, doing a pre-order of a new book, or promoting your existing book on Amazon, it’s crucial.

 

Why Are Amazon Author Central Followers Important?

Having followers on Amazon Author Central won’t help you with your first book, but it will significantly assist you with every book you self-publish after that. Why? Because every time you release a new book, release a pre-order for a new book, or promote one of your existing books on Amazon, Amazon will then send an email or notification to all of your followers telling them about it.

This is a big deal for authors that consistently do pre-orders of new books because Amazon will advertise your upcoming pre-order to anyone that already follows you on Amazon. So if someone loved your book enough to follow your author profile, there’s a real chance they’ll be interested in reading and buying your next book or the next book in the series.

It’s a built-in audience that already likes your work, buys books on the platform you’re selling them, and you don’t even need to email them! If you haven’t been encouraging your readers to follow your Author Central page, then start!

Amazon has the following to say about your followers and why they’re so important:

Your followers are highly engaged book shoppers and your biggest fans, which sets them apart from social network followers. By growing a following on Amazon, more Amazon customers will discover your newest releases and books they may not have considered otherwise.

Grow your number of followers by increasing the number of readers to your books’ detail pages and Author Pages. Add your Author Page link to your website or email communications along with a note that your readers can be notified of your latest release.

However, Amazon also notes that you must have more than 20 followers before seeing how many followers you have using this feature.

 

Amazon Author Central Book Recommendations

Along with now displaying how many followers your Author Central page has on Amazon, you can now recommend your favorite books by other authors on Amazon to your followers.

Amazon has the following to say about its new Book Recommendations feature:

Book recommendations is a feature that allows you to connect with Amazon customers and your followers by providing recommendations about books in your catalog and books from other authors that you enjoy.

These recommendations may be shown on your Amazon Author Page, and Amazon website and can be eligible to be shared with your followers. This feature is available in the US and UK only.

Email notifications can be sent to followers if you submit at least three new recommendations.

So, how could this help you as an author and also help other self-published authors? It means that you can share other authors’ books that you admire and also help them to promote their work to your readers and vice versa.

 

Amazon Author Central Now Displays the Number of Followers! – Conclusion

Hopefully, right now, you’ll be going to check out your Amazon Author Central Author page.

There’s a lot to learn when you first publish a book but don’t worry if you miss out on something. Luckily, you can usually go back and get it all in order.

If you want to find out more about self-publishing in Australia, or you are looking for formatting services, editing services, or writing services in Australia, then don’t hesitate to contact us directly at Author Services Australia. We have years of experience helping self-published authors successfully publish their books.

How are you planning on using the new Amazon Author Central followers to promote your next book, or have you already been promoting your Author Central Page? I’d love to know! Drop a comment below.

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