Is Amazon A+ Content Worth It, and How Do I Set Up Author Central?

A+ Content is an extra section on your Amazon book page where you can add images, text and comparison tables below the description. KDP lets authors add it for free to books published through KDP. Whether it sells more books for you is a different question, and no help page answers it. Below is what KDP says about how it works, and what to do with Author Central.

What is A+ Content, and who can use it?

KDP’s help page on A+ Content says it “allows you to add images, text, and comparison tables to your Amazon detail page” and that it “is available for published KDP books.” You can add it to live titles and to pre-orders.

A second KDP page, Create A+ Content, says you can only add ASINs from your own KDP account. An ASIN that is not on your Bookshelf returns an error. So you cannot add it to a book you did not publish through your account.

How do I add it?

The steps on that page: open the KDP Marketing page, go to the A+ Content section, choose a marketplace and click Manage A+ Content. Click Start creating A+ content, give it a name and language, and add modules. Then apply your ASINs, preview it and submit for approval.

Images are where people get stuck. KDP recommends JPG or PNG at 300 DPI or more and says anything under 200 DPI counts as low resolution. Amazon does not resize your files, so size them correctly before you upload. If you do not have a designer, how to hire a book cover designer covers what to ask for, and the same questions apply to a set of A+ images.

How long does approval take, and what about other stores?

KDP says content that follows its A+ Content Guidelines “will appear on your detail page within eight business days,” and review can take longer during high volume. If it does not comply, Amazon emails you what to change.

Content shows only on the store where you published it. If your book sells on Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.de, you publish a copy there too. KDP says you can duplicate the content as a draft to save time.

Is A+ Content worth the effort?

I have no number to give you, and I will not make one up. KDP does not publish how much A+ Content lifts sales. What I can say is that it sits below the description, so a reader has to get past the cover, title and description first. Fix those before you spend an afternoon on images. Optimize your Amazon book page goes through that order.

If you add A+ Content, change one thing at a time and keep a note of the date. Watch your KDP sales and your page views for a few weeks. If nothing moves, you lost an afternoon. If sales move, you have your own data, which is worth more than anyone’s advice.

What about Author Central and several pen names?

Author Central is Amazon’s separate site for the author page that readers see when they click your name. Amazon changes how Author Central works from time to time, so follow the steps in its own help pages when you set up your page and claim your books, not an old guide. Third-party guides disagree on how many pen names one login can hold, so check Amazon’s current help before you plan around a number.

The KDP side is easier. KDP asks for the author name you want printed on each book, and a pen name is a different author name on a different book. If you are weighing a pen name, am I allowed to use an alias on KDP covers that.

If your page is the weak spot and you want a second pair of eyes on it, coaching is where we go through it together.