Connecting authors and readers: Amazon’s Author Central
In the old days, authors and readers didn’t have much contact OtB (Outside the Book).
Oh, a reader might wait for hours at a bookstore to shake hands, say, “I love your work!” and tell the author how to spell her or his kid’s name for the autograph.
Alternatively, a reader might call into a local talk show when the author was bleary-eyed from the tenth different hotel room night in a row and say, “Where do you get your ideas?” 😉
The internet has been changing that.
Many authors have their own websites…some with forums where readers can ask questions (and even get answers).
One problem with that one, though, is the readers have to find the websites. You have to figure out if they are legitimate. From the authors’ side, creating and maintaining a website can be a lot of work (and have an ongoing cost). An amateur-looking website (or one that is not functioning well) might be worse than none at all.
Enter Amazon.
They host author pages, right in their bookstore. Readers can go directly from a book to the author’s page, find out about (and buy) other books from the author, read a bio, and more.
What does this cost?
Nothing.
That’s right, authors…Amazon will host a professional website for you, with a forum, a picture, links to your books, and charge you nothing.
Readers, you can engage in conversations about your favorite authors…which might involve the authors themselves. You can do this right on Amazon, where you can also click on the author’s book and see what other people are saying, what the sales rank is, and buy it if you want.
Before I talk too much about Amazon Author Central, I do want to bring up a couple of points.
First, there was a thread in the Amazon Kindle Community not too long ago that I found interesting…and a bit odd. The question was whether or not authors should comment on reviews people leave about their books. Not whether or not they should say bad things…whether they should even thank somebody for that person’s interest in the book, or answer a question somebody asked.
Quite a few people were…disdainful of authors who would do that. Maybe disdainful is too strong (although a couple of people seemed to be). However, some people thought it was unprofessional. I don’t find that, personally. I’d be thrilled if an author commented on a review I wrote. A couple of times when I wrote paper letters to authors, way back when, I actually got responses…woo hoo! I don’t make my living writing (although I do get royalties from it), so I’m not a professional by that definition. I usually answer people, though…here on this blog and in the forum and in e-mail. I would not expect an author to refute a review at Amazon, but I’m fine with them commenting on one. That’s the new world…no separation. Politicians tweet, Johnny Depp goes to a classroom in full Captain Jack Sparrow regalia, and I know more about David Hasselhoff than I ever wanted to do…wait, that last one might not be such a good example. 😉
The other thing is that genre authors haven’t always had those separations. That’s been especially true in science fiction and fantasy, although those aren’t the only genres where there are conventions and authors and readers hang out and chat. But in SF/F, fans become authors and authors are fans. At a con, you might chat (face to face) with a famous author, or have dinner with them. That was (and is) great, but it didn’t tend to happen with mainstream authors.
Okay, on to Amazon Author Central:
Authors, to sign up, start here:
https://authorcentral.amazon.com/
You have to have a book in the Amazon store…but a Kindle book is fine. I have an Amazon Author Central page, but no paperbooks. I don’t think a blog is enough, though. They do check…they won’t put your page up unless you qualify.
There are seven tabs right now for when you are setting up or maintaining the page. The service is still in beta (test mode), and they have been adding things (even this week, I believe).
Home
This is just a centralized page. The AAC folks will give you news, there will be suggestions, that kind of thing.
Books
On the Books page, you can add books to it. You can also see the current books, including their sales rankings, ratings, and number of reviews. They’ve added something new, where you can click on a book and make changes to all kinds of things. You can add a From the Author section, suggest changes to the book details, From the Inside Flap…wow, there is a lot of information you can edit!
Profile
You can add a biography…and up to eight photos. I got reminded by Amazon that I don’t have a photo. I know that people like to see them, but for me, it’s a matter of promoting inclusiveness to not use a photo. I feel like people judge authors by their photos, and, well, I don’t want somebody who feels like they might be prejudged by their looks (due to gender, race, age, and so on) to feel obligated to have a picture, because other people do. I may do some kind of novelty picture or something at some point.
Video
You can even upload a video for your page. Stephen King has one on his page: http://www.amazon.com/Stephen-King/e/B000AQ0842/
Events
You can list upcoming events, like book signings. Amazon shares the information with http://www.booktours.com, which will promote your event to local media, event listing services, and so on. Cool! That’s part of what a traditional publisher (tradpub) does for you…
Blog
On the blog tab, you can set it up to use an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed. So, you create the blog somewhere else, and Amazon will list the last five (that’s new…it used to be three) posts. One nice thing: the links from your blog are preserved.
Help
The last tab is for Help. That includes the FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions).
In addition to that, you have your own forum. You can start threads…and so can your readers. Unlike the other forums, you are expected to talk about your books here…hey, that’s the point.
That whole etiquette of authors promoting their books in other forums is a discussion for another time. What I’ll say right now is this: Amazon specifically approved using your Amazon Author Central web address in posts. I like that. I don’t feel like I’m pushing a specific book (I’m usually just answering questions, or commenting, or asking something…I don’t go to the forums just to promote my own books. I started out kind of doing that, but stopped. I like that people can come to my Author Central page if they want to see more…I’m just more comfortable with that relationship.
I’ve been noticing that lots of authors have Author Central pages now, and I do encourage it. It shows up when people search for your name, or when they click on your name from one of your books’ product pages. I like it…I think it’s fun, informative, and I like the social contact between author and reader.
As I sign posts in the forums:
Bufo Calvin
Amazon Author Central page:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B002E0NBIW
🙂
Feel free to let me know what you think about Amazon Author Central pages…and what your experiences have been. Any great stories about contact between readers and authors? Favorite author video or picture? Are you disappointed that they don’t let you list your blog? I’m listening…
This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.
I Love My Kindle 