A+ Content

[Eric Thomson]

I thought I'd share my experiences with A+ Content now that it's been opened to everyone. The nice thing is, it puts us indies on a more even footing with the trads by giving us the ability to fill the "From the Publisher" section on a book page and have our stuff use up the most real estate rather than ads for other stuff. After a day and a half of work, all of my books now have a standardized "From the Publisher" with the top half particular to the series they belong to and the bottom half particular to the universe (all of my series are in the same universe and with this change, I decided to brand said universe, tying all the separate series together.)

But, it being Amazon, it's somewhat clunky. At its core, the A+ Content construct is very much like a low rent website builder, which means you're limited to certain modules and layouts, and only a limited number of those. You also have to create your content for each market - it's not do once, use many times - but after futzing around a bit, I finally figured out how to copy from .com to other stores. One hiccup for me, I'm using A+ Content to market my other series and put links to the series pages rather than individual books, but few markets beyond .com have series pages, so that strategy will not work on, for example, .ca. Time will tell whether using the A+ Content real estate to market my universe of five series brings me more sales.

If you want to see what it looks like, hit me up on .com

[TimothyEllis]

Can you explain that some more?

I've never heard of it.

But I have been wondering how people like Glynn Stewart get to put in such huge and graphical product pages. Is that how?

If so, where do you find the facility?

[Eric Thomson]

Go to your bookshelf, click on marketing at the very top and scroll down until you find A+ Content. That is indeed how Glynn does it.

Essentially what it does is give us the ability to add content to our book pages, content we control. I can't really explain it in words. There are resources available on the Marketing page, but since a picture is worth a thousand words, take a look at what I did

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OPJENFU

[TimothyEllis]

Thanks.

Guess what I'll be doing for a while? 

 

 

[Eric Thomson]

Within the last five minutes, I've set it up on .uk and .de, though it isn't live yet and won't be until they're reviewed. All you need to do once you're on the non .com store's A+ Content page is click the "show auto-generated content" box and everything from .com will appear. Then, simply open each in turn, hit the edit button and click through until you reach the submit. Done.

[alhawke]

Go to your bookshelf, click on marketing at the very top and scroll down until you find A+ Content.

THANK YOU

[R. C.]

Go to your bookshelf, click on marketing at the very top and scroll down until you find A+ Content..;

Sadly, when I follow the Marketing option at the top of the Book Shelf, I receive the "Marketing Resources" which contains nothing to indicate "A+ Content."

R.C.

[Eric Thomson]

Go to your bookshelf, click on marketing at the very top and scroll down until you find A+ Content..;

Sadly, when I follow the Marketing option at the top of the Book Shelf, I receive the "Marketing Resources" which contains nothing to indicate "A+ Content."

R.C.

[LilyBLily]

Thanks! This gives me something fun to do this weekend instead of, you know, actually writing.

[R. C.]

Go to your bookshelf, click on marketing at the very top and scroll down until you find A+ Content..;

Sadly, when I follow the Marketing option at the top of the Book Shelf, I receive the "Marketing Resources" which contains nothing to indicate "A+ Content."

R.C.

Nope...



R.C.

[Eric Thomson]

Amazon hates you.

[alhawke]

Sizing can be a bit fiddly for writers who use outside cover artists. I'm playing with this.

I'm also thinking of using this new feature to advertise my book trailer. Anyone done that?

And how do you link things? I don't see any links available in the module templates.

[alhawke]

Sadly, when I follow the Marketing option at the top of the Book Shelf, I receive the "Marketing Resources" which contains nothing to indicate "A+ Content."

Did you create an Amazon seller account? This might be why I was good to go. A couple years ago I registered. It had something to do with selling the paperbacks direct, I can't recall why I did it at the moment. I'd check with Amazon or try looking into that.

[RPatton]

Thank you so much for some great ideas Eric. I was stumbling with this trying to find a happy place and it's a challenge and a half getting the branding down and keeping things nice and streamlined. I was fiddling with stuff, trying to figure out how to showcase my series, but have a better idea now.

[Post-Crisis D]

Sadly, when I follow the Marketing option at the top of the Book Shelf, I receive the "Marketing Resources" which contains nothing to indicate "A+ Content."

Did you create an Amazon seller account? This might be why I was good to go. A couple years ago I registered. It had something to do with selling the paperbacks direct, I can't recall why I did it at the moment. I'd check with Amazon or try looking into that.

I don't think that's it because I don't have an Amazon seller account and "A+ Content" is available for me.

[TimothyEllis]

Most likely, Amazon are rolling it out as usual.

It wasn't there as an option for me only a few weeks ago.

[alhawke]

The question is ... is creating this new content going to be a benefit for book sales? 

[Jeff Tanyard]

Go to your bookshelf, click on marketing at the very top and scroll down until you find A+ Content. That is indeed how Glynn does it.

Essentially what it does is give us the ability to add content to our book pages, content we control. I can't really explain it in words. There are resources available on the Marketing page, but since a picture is worth a thousand words, take a look at what I did

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OPJENFU

That's pretty cool, man.   

[Eric Thomson]

Sizing can be a bit fiddly for writers who use outside cover artists. I'm playing with this.

I'm also thinking of using this new feature to advertise my book trailer. Anyone done that?

And how do you link things? I don't see any links available in the module templates.

The only module where you can enter links in the form of ASINs is the one with the comparative chart.

[R. C.]

From the 'Zon

-----
Hello R.c.,

I hope that you are doing well.

We are currently in the process of rolling out the new A+ Content to all of our publishers. However, this process will take some time to complete. We hope to have all publishers enrolled in A+ Content in the coming weeks.

You can follow our Community forums for the latest KDP news:
https://www.kdpcommunity.com

I hope that you have a wonderful day.

Thanks for using Amazon KDP,

-----

R.C.

[DmGuay]

Go to your bookshelf, click on marketing at the very top and scroll down until you find A+ Content..;

Sadly, when I follow the Marketing option at the top of the Book Shelf, I receive the "Marketing Resources" which contains nothing to indicate "A+ Content."

R.C.

Nope...



R.C.

Like anything, they're rolling it out in stages to authors. I didn't have it and then suddenly did. Yesterday. So keep checking back.

[alhawke]

What I love is this is finally a way to advertise my boxed set AND trailer on the product page. That's if the images get approved. We'll see.

[TimothyEllis]

What I love is this is finally a way to advertise my boxed set AND trailer on the product page. That's if the images get approved. We'll see.

I've just done my universe banner and one I made up of my 5 series logos, just for book 1 to see if it gets approved.

[cecilia_writer]

Thanks so much for this information - I hadn't even noticed the marketing option! I have the A+ thing and also some beta thing  called 'Nominate your ebooks'.
Must have a go at A+ - I recently made a graphic on which I managed to fit all 22 books in my main mystery series - surely I can use it with this somehow.

[alhawke]

Thanks so much for this information - I hadn't even noticed the marketing option! I have the A+ thing and also some beta thing  called 'Nominate your ebooks'.
Must have a go at A+ - I recently made a graphic on which I managed to fit all 22 books in my main mystery series - surely I can use it with this somehow.

"Nominate your ebooks".
Anything else I'm missing out there?  Many thanks for the tip!

[cecilia_writer]

Thanks so much for this information - I hadn't even noticed the marketing option! I have the A+ thing and also some beta thing  called 'Nominate your ebooks'.
Must have a go at A+ - I recently made a graphic on which I managed to fit all 22 books in my main mystery series - surely I can use it with this somehow.

"Nominate your ebooks".
Anything else I'm missing out there?  Many thanks for the tip!

Apparently you can nominate them for Kindle deals and Prime promotions.

[Wonder]

Go to your bookshelf, click on marketing at the very top and scroll down until you find A+ Content. That is indeed how Glynn does it.

Essentially what it does is give us the ability to add content to our book pages, content we control. I can't really explain it in words. There are resources available on the Marketing page, but since a picture is worth a thousand words, take a look at what I did

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OPJENFU

That looks fantastic, Eric! Well done and thanks for sharing.

[TimothyEllis]

My first test just got approved, and is live.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WL26P8G

It's short and compact, with a universe logo, and the five series logos to date.

Anyone care to comment on it before I apply it to all of my books?

[LilyBLily]

No text? The various series illustrations mashed together look as if they are pieces that have been stretched at different ratios. Maybe they weren't, but that's how they strike me. I think this would be better with the illos separated by some text.

[R. C.]

No text? The various series illustrations mashed together look as if they are pieces that have been stretched at different ratios. Maybe they weren't, but that's how they strike me. I think this would be better with the illos separated by some text.

I agreed with Lily, on my hi-res monitor, the images are pixilated.

R.C.

[TimothyEllis]

I agreed with Lily, on my hi-res monitor, the images are pixilated.

I'm using a high res monitor, and they look fine to me.

I only want to convey 2 things.

The fact that a universe exists, and the series connections for it.

There's no text, because I intend this to go on all books.

[RPatton]

I agreed with Lily, on my hi-res monitor, the images are pixilated.

I'm using a high res monitor, and they look fine to me.

I only want to convey 2 things.

The fact that a universe exists, and the series connections for it.

There's no text, because I intend this to go on all books.

It doesn't do either of those. Nothing is differentiated and it's not easy to look at. Right now it looks like a collage more than a universe page.

[idontknowyet]

one of those nominations requires a keyword addition in your book details where you enter your 7 keywords. its like they make it tricky so you can't figure these things out.

[j tanner]

I only want to convey 2 things.

The fact that a universe exists, and the series connections for it.

It's not working for the intended purpose. It just looks like a mess, and the distorted aspect ratios are a particular eyesore.

[alhawke]

My first test just got approved, and is live
Anyone care to comment on it before I apply it to all of my books?

It's stretched on my web screen. Anyway to redo normal size? I understand that working with the templates can be difficult do to the size requirements.

[alhawke]

I'm open to critique too. I just got mine up: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086T63YCS
I added an image for my trailer. I'm super excited that I can advertise it But ... turns out under mobile you can't see it in my Amazon Author site.
    Not sure if I'm going to leave as is or maybe add "viewed in desktop mode only". The other option is to write in my YouTube page, but I'm pretty sure that's against TOC.

The best part about all of it is it seems to be a good loophole to add in our boxsets and trailers. 

[cecilia_writer]

I've only looked at these from my Kindle Fire so everyone else's mileage may vary. At the moment Tim's images seem to have distorted themselves a bit - are they the wrong shape or too large for the space, I wonder? Alhawke's example is looking very good though.
I have something waiting to be approved just now. I have all 22 book covers in one image so not sure if it will be acceptable.

[j tanner]

I'm open to critique too. I just got mine up: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086T63YCS
I added an image for my trailer. I'm super excited that I can advertise it But ... turns out under mobile you can't see it in my Amazon Author site.
    Not sure if I'm going to leave as is or maybe add "viewed in desktop mode only". The other option is to write in my YouTube page, but I'm pretty sure that's against TOC.

The best part about all of it is it seems to be a good loophole to add in our boxsets and trailers. 

The main block looks excellent. The trailer and directions to view it are kind of clunky. Not sure if it's worth the effort when the end result is driving people away from your book page.

[LilyBLily]

I'm open to critique too. I just got mine up: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086T63YCS
I added an image for my trailer. I'm super excited that I can advertise it But ... turns out under mobile you can't see it in my Amazon Author site.
    Not sure if I'm going to leave as is or maybe add "viewed in desktop mode only". The other option is to write in my YouTube page, but I'm pretty sure that's against TOC.

The best part about all of it is it seems to be a good loophole to add in our boxsets and trailers. 

It looks good. The last sentence describing Book 1 is only half a sentence; might want to optimize it. The best part is the beautiful and large top illo. Very nice.

[R. C.]

I'm open to critique too. I just got mine up: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086T63YCS
I added an image for my trailer. I'm super excited that I can advertise it But ... turns out under mobile you can't see it in my Amazon Author site.
    Not sure if I'm going to leave as is or maybe add "viewed in desktop mode only". The other option is to write in my YouTube page, but I'm pretty sure that's against TOC.

The best part about all of it is it seems to be a good loophole to add in our boxsets and trailers. 

Damn... Now I have to work harder on mine...  (Desktop)

R.C.

[alhawke]

The main block looks excellent. The trailer and directions to view it are kind of clunky. Not sure if it's worth the effort when the end result is driving people away from your book page.

Thanks! I used the creative for my website which fits my trilogy. I have the same cover artist working on two more website sections which I hope will also work for a couple other books. I agree about clunky. I'll work on it. I just really wanted to showcase the trailer (can't understand why Amazon doesn't give us an easier option for trailers).

The last sentence describing Book 1 is only half a sentence; might want to optimize it. The best part is the beautiful and large top illo. Very nice.

Why didn't I notice that before?  I'll fix.

I'm guessing pretty soon everyone will be doing similar things for this A+ content. Right now it seems like the Wild West, which is fun.

I really like Eric Thomson's links. Not only does it look great, it's a practical link to his other series. That's one thing I haven't done, but am considering somehow in the future. The problem is having the covers fit the template right (I don't create my own covers and creatives).

[TimothyEllis]

At the moment Tim's images seem to have distorted themselves a bit - are they the wrong shape or too large for the space, I wonder?

I was thinking about that, and the problem is the image size for that insert is very non-standard, and I had to resize the image to fit. That resulted in some distortion.

It would be easier to add each series logo singly down the page, but I don't want to make the whole thing too big.

[cecilia_writer]

I was thinking about that, and the problem is the image size for that insert is very non-standard, and I had to resize the image to fit. That resulted in some distortion.

It would be easier to add each series logo singly down the page, but I don't want to make the whole thing too big.

It's quite hard to tell which image box is the right shape.
Feel free to laugh at mine - it has erred on the understated side I think! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005DFEFDU

[TimothyEllis]

It's quite hard to tell which image box is the right shape.

All of the are. The top right is dragged out a bit, but the ship remains viable. The 2 squares show the rings are just slightly not round.

Maybe I should just replace both with what I have in my backmatter:

[LilyBLily]

<snip>

It's quite hard to tell which image box is the right shape.
Feel free to laugh at mine - it has erred on the understated side I think! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005DFEFDU

Yours is so modest I scrolled right past it. Can you make it larger? At least so the titles are legible?

[Post-Crisis D]

It's quite hard to tell which image box is the right shape.

All of the are. The top right is dragged out a bit, but the ship remains viable. The 2 squares show the rings are just slightly not round.

Do you have the images as layered PSDs/TIFFs?

My thought is to make a space background whatever size the image needs to be.  Then, take the different series titles and ships/rings (reduced proportionally to fit) and place them over the space background.  That way, everything is proportional and everything shares a common background so it all ties in together.

[cecilia_writer]

<snip>

It's quite hard to tell which image box is the right shape.
Feel free to laugh at mine - it has erred on the understated side I think! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005DFEFDU

Yours is so modest I scrolled right past it. Can you make it larger? At least so the titles are legible?

Yes - that's what I thought too. I found it hard to see what the thing would look like on the page until it went live - I realised almost at once that I'd have to go back and have another go. Thanks for having a look!

[TimothyEllis]

Do you have the images as layered PSDs/TIFFs?

My thought is to make a space background whatever size the image needs to be.  Then, take the different series titles and ships/rings (reduced proportionally to fit) and place them over the space background.  That way, everything is proportional and everything shares a common background so it all ties in together.

No, I don't. They're all jpg's.

I have some of the components as psd, but the 2 Hunter logos were done by someone else, and I only have the jpg's.

Probably not worth the effort to try and rebuild something custom.

[alhawke]

Do you have the images as layered PSDs/TIFFs?

My thought is to make a space background whatever size the image needs to be.  Then, take the different series titles and ships/rings (reduced proportionally to fit) and place them over the space background.  That way, everything is proportional and everything shares a common background so it all ties in together.

No, I don't. They're all jpg's.

I have some of the components as psd, but the 2 Hunter logos were done by someone else, and I only have the jpg's.

Probably not worth the effort to try and rebuild something custom.

You could "cheat" and experiment by adding borders to the sides that match the cover color. Just black square borders or something. I used gray borders for my home YouTube page (because I don't create my own creative and otherwise it would look stretched). I think your top image looks great but the bottom might look better with added borders.

It's a shame that Amazon doesn't allow different sizes. Perhaps that will be in future upgrades.

[Post-Crisis D]

Do you have the images as layered PSDs/TIFFs?

My thought is to make a space background whatever size the image needs to be.  Then, take the different series titles and ships/rings (reduced proportionally to fit) and place them over the space background.  That way, everything is proportional and everything shares a common background so it all ties in together.

No, I don't. They're all jpg's.

I have some of the components as psd, but the 2 Hunter logos were done by someone else, and I only have the jpg's.

Probably not worth the effort to try and rebuild something custom.

If you want to send me the files, I can see what I can do.

[TimothyEllis]

If you want to send me the files, I can see what I can do.

I'm not sure it's worthwhile bothering with.

The ongoing poster of covers might be better, and just put it on all my books. And update it as I do a new one.

Thinking about what else I might add with it.

[LilyBLily]

It took me forever to get an image the right size, and I hope it's got enough pixels. Then I wrote some text.

Now the A+ content manager says I should find ASINs and apply them. I don't see a way to do that without using the comparison chart module. Here's what it says:
Add ASINs

"Search for ASINs to apply to this content. Note search results will be returned within the context of product families."

I don't know what that second sentence means. And I can't see how to apply even one ASIN, let alone multiples.

[alhawke]

I just plugged in the ASIN under find and the books came up. Then I added another (which is still under review). It's not showing your book?

[LilyBLily]

Nope. The book comes up and then nothing happens at all and there's no way to plug it in anywhere.

I'll figure out what's happening eventually.

[alhawke]

Nope. The book comes up and then nothing happens at all and there's no way to plug it in anywhere.

Seems glitchy right now. For curiosity, I tried to add a different ASIN and the book didn't come up. Maybe you should give it a try later?

I'm also still waiting for it to update my content.

[TimothyEllis]

Is the book added to AC yet?

[alhawke]

Is the book added to AC yet?

Mine are all on Author Central. And now the book is showing up.
Lily, seems like the best way is to add the ASIN and let the system run a search and then select the book displayed. If you hit enter after you input name or ASIN, it reverts back to an empty search. Hope that helps.

[TimothyEllis]

I redid my main poster to be the correct size, and submitted it.

[cecilia_writer]

Is the book added to AC yet?

Mine are all on Author Central. And now the book is showing up.
Lily, seems like the best way is to add the ASIN and let the system run a search and then select the book displayed. If you hit enter after you input name or ASIN, it reverts back to an empty search. Hope that helps.

The instructions are a bit minimalist - at first I thought you could maybe search by book title or something.

[TimothyEllis]

The instructions are a bit minimalist - at first I thought you could maybe search by book title or something.

The whole thing is minimalist.

Adding asins by entering them is a joke.

They should be displaying a list of all our books, and letting us check a box for the ones to use this setup.

[cecilia_writer]

I've now made a sort of author header image and put it in the 'logo' module, then added another module for the things that are specific to the series. I didn't understand you could add more than one module at first so I tried to cram in everything all at once.
At least it has stopped me from writing for a while!

[TimothyEllis]

They approved my covers poster, which was redesigned for the shape.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WL26P8G

The way I'm making these makes it very easy to change the shape as the covers get added, so once I get it on all the books, changing it won't be a problem.

[notthatamanda]

Oh that's cool.

[LilyBLily]

I finally got it together to try again and this time the ASINs produced the information correctly. Then I was automatically rejected for using the words "tortured" and "sexual(ity)," so I removed them. In fact my heroine was tortured, and I had the words "mild sexuality," but fine, I get it.

What I did not see was a way to include all the text with a side illustration; my text was too long for that format. So I went with full-width text.

I don't know if this will do anything useful but it might, so why not?

[R. C.]

Amazon gave in... Maybe they don't hate me after all.

Aalborinn

Miranda

World domination is on hold, four more A+ Content to complete.

R.C.

[LilyBLily]

Amazon gave in... Maybe they don't hate me after all.

Aalborinn

Miranda

World domination is on hold, four more A+ Content to complete.

R.C.

They look good, and I like the idea that a reader is getting extra visual content. Some readers (like me) appreciate it.

[alhawke]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WL26P8G

Looks great now!

Amazon gave in... Maybe they don't hate me after all.

I really like what you did with this! It's crisp, clean, and awesome.

Updates from all your suggestions for my book are still pending review for some reason. I'm wondering if it's stuck with Amazon's bots. This is pushing 3 days.    Good thing the updates are small and the original's still up. I might have to contact them soon.

[cecilia_writer]

Amazon gave in... Maybe they don't hate me after all.

Aalborinn

Miranda

World domination is on hold, four more A+ Content to complete.

R.C.

They look great - a good example of what can be done.

[Vijaya]

Thanks for posting links, Timothy, RC et al. I love all the big pictures! Nicely done!!! And Eric, thank you for starting this topic. I had no idea until now.

[LilyBLily]

How long did it take Amazon to approve the A+ content?

[Eric Thomson]

It took about 8 hours for my .com submission. Changes to said submission after it went live was in the order of 90 seconds. My .uk, .ca, and .au submissions took 3 days. My .de submission is lost in the ether somewhere and never went live.

[alhawke]

About 8 hrs for me too for the initial added content in the US. But beware of updating. Updating is still in review after three days

[Eric Thomson]

About 8 hrs for me too for the initial added content in the US. But beware of updating. Updating is still in review after three days

Wow! Three days? When I updated my initial submissions after they went live, I received the approval email literally 90 seconds after I hit the magic button, and when I went to check, there it was. Perhaps they're being a little overwhelmed right now. I get the sneaking suspicion I was one of the early adopters.

[alhawke]

Wow! Three days? When I updated my initial submissions after they went live, I received the approval email literally 90 seconds after I hit the magic button, and when I went to check, there it was. Perhaps they're being a little overwhelmed right now. I get the sneaking suspicion I was one of the early adopters.

Per their instructions:"All content in compliance with our A+ Content Guidelines will appear on your detail page within eight business days. If your content requires changes, we'll send you an email with further instructions." 
I just updated a comma and added two words. It's like they knew my updates were minimal (I doubt they knew).    oh well.

[TimothyEllis]

Just submitted all my eBook asins for the same image.

I didn't know until I did this that I have 51 distinct books in the universe now. 

[R. C.]

How long did it take Amazon to approve the A+ content?

About 2.5 days for the first two. About 4 hours for the third.

R.C.

[Pemry Janes]

Amazon gave in... Maybe they don't hate me after all.

Aalborinn

Miranda

World domination is on hold, four more A+ Content to complete.

R.C.

That looks very clean but it does catch the eye.

[cecilia_writer]

I had an update and a new addition go through almost as soon as I finished typing just now - the last update took a day or two.
I think I'm getting a little better at this!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GD3VD2R

[R. C.]

Third attempt. This one connects the initial trilogy to the follow-on, five-part, space opera.

Biomass

Also, the title alignment will be corrected and I am considering changing the banner to something that emotes superpowers.

R.C.

[R. C.]

I had an update and a new addition go through almost as soon as I finished typing just now - the last update took a day or two.
I think I'm getting a little better at this!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GD3VD2R

Looks good! The banner appears washed out due to age (like and old document).  Hopefully, that was the intent.

R.C.

[LilyBLily]

I had an update and a new addition go through almost as soon as I finished typing just now - the last update took a day or two.
I think I'm getting a little better at this!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GD3VD2R

Good stuff. Did you take the photos yourself or are they from a photo company such as Depositphotos? It's an unusual angle for the Royal Pavilion.

[cecilia_writer]

Good stuff. Did you take the photos yourself or are they from a photo company such as Depositphotos? It's an unusual angle for the Royal Pavilion.

Thanks - these are my  own photographs. When I had a day job I used to go to some interesting places for meetings and conferences as I worked with museum collection software - when our group met at Brighton Museums we had a free lunch in the Royal Pavilion. (The Rye visit was a side trip when I went to a conference in London)

[Jeff Tanyard]

Just out of curiosity, has anyone noticed a change in sales or reads as a result of adding A+ content?

[TimothyEllis]

Just out of curiosity, has anyone noticed a change in sales or reads as a result of adding A+ content?

Not yet. But it's only been there on all books a day or so.

[R. C.]

Just out of curiosity, has anyone noticed a change in sales or reads as a result of adding A+ content?

The reads for this: Miranda have bumped since the A+ Content went live.

R.C.

[Eric Thomson]

Just out of curiosity, has anyone noticed a change in sales or reads as a result of adding A+ content?

I couldn't swear to it, especially since I released book 7 in my series that always sold best on July 12. But my sales pattern for this new release is different in that I'm not seeing a rapidly decreasing tail. In fact, after the Amazon new release notification spike, sales dropped a bit and are now cresting again, and it's not just the new release, but almost my entire catalog is seeing sales. It could well be that using A+ Content to showcase the fact my five series are in the same universe and related in some fashion is helping drive readers to explore them, especially since I conveniently offer links to each series. Make of that what you will, but July was my best month since June of last year and even though we're only the first of August and early afternoon EDT, it's looking good for another strong month.

[Simon Haynes]

Amazon gave in... Maybe they don't hate me after all.

Aalborinn

Miranda

World domination is on hold, four more A+ Content to complete.

R.C.

They look good, and I like the idea that a reader is getting extra visual content. Some readers (like me) appreciate it.

I like the fact that the more of my own content I add to my product pages, the less other people's content (aka ads) take over the whole thing.

[alhawke]

Finally got approval. I transferred the content to all English speaking countries. For some reason approval is much faster.

Are you all sticking to English speaking countries? Or are some of you copying the content everywhere available? Of course, the content would be in English in some non-English speaking countries, but I'm thinking so are our blurbs. ??

[TimothyEllis]

How do you duplicate what you did on .com to the other stores?

Since I'm only using a poster of the covers, there's no language consideration, so all I need to do is have the same thing on all the stores.

But how do you do it?

Or do you have to rebuild it for every store?

Needing to add all 51 books manually again doesn't thrill me, even once, let alone for all stores.

[Eric Thomson]

How do you duplicate what you did on .com to the other stores?

Since I'm only using a poster of the covers, there's no language consideration, so all I need to do is have the same thing on all the stores.

But how do you do it?

Or do you have to rebuild it for every store?

Needing to add all 51 books manually again doesn't thrill me, even once, let alone for all stores.

Go to each of the stores from the "Marketing Page" and tick the "Show auto-created content" box.

[TimothyEllis]

How do you duplicate what you did on .com to the other stores?

Since I'm only using a poster of the covers, there's no language consideration, so all I need to do is have the same thing on all the stores.

But how do you do it?

Or do you have to rebuild it for every store?

Needing to add all 51 books manually again doesn't thrill me, even once, let alone for all stores.

Go to each of the stores from the "Marketing Page" and tick the "Show auto-created content" box.

 

[LilyBLily]

I got a reply saying, "Contains text or images which do not meet our content guidelines. Please make the following revisions before resubmitting:

    A+ content requires images and product text. Please add product images to this submission."

I have one large image only. Does this mean that I'm supposed to use one of the other modules in addition and absolutely must include images in it? I think that's what it means, but I'm not sure.

[R. C.]

It is probably anecdotal, but I have definitely seen a bump in page reads (KENP) since the A+ Content was approved.

Also, I receive a lot of "violates content guidelines" but alternative wording works fine.  My newest versions were approved within an hour.

R.C.

[LilyBLily]

The strange thing is my A+ content is showing when I look on Amazon at the books' sales pages, and it is listed on Amazon's A+ management page as "Approved." Left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing?

I think I'll do one for some of my other books next.

[alhawke]

Sounds like you're good to go. 
The system's definitely a bit glitchy. I'd probably wait till tomorrow to see if everything checks out.

[LilyBLily]

Definitely glitchy today. No trouble before noon but now it won't pull up any ASINs.

[cecilia_writer]

I had a spell of getting random Java type errors but I just left it to the next day and it was fine with the same content.
Just about to work through my series of 22 mysteries - eeek.

[R. C.]

Definitely glitchy today. No trouble before noon but now it won't pull up any ASINs.

Something was up yesterday, the tool was broken.  I saved a new content page and ended up with FOUR copies of the same item in A+ Content Manager list. 

Today seems fine.

R.C.

[TimothyEllis]

More Amazon stupidity.

My content which was approved on the US store, was just rejected for Can and Aus stores.

No reasons given, but if I interpret the guidelines correctly, a poster with small covers on it means all the writing is too small.

Why is it so small? Because their image size is too small! 

ETA: And UK accepted it as well. So WTF?

[alhawke]

My content which was approved on the US store, was just rejected for Can and Aus stores.

Same with me. They don't like me referring to links to their own store. 
I only hope they don't go back and change their mind in the countries that approved it.

[LilyBLily]

No action by Amazon over the weekend, but one of mine was approved this morning for the US. Another that was rejected, approved, and then rejected is still pending after I did a massive overhaul on it.

The UK dashboard is not up to date on the status of content I've submitted; everything appears to be in draft only. I will wait a bit until all my submissions clear with the US store before before trying again with other markets.

[LilyBLily]

My third A+ was approved and now I have submitted all three for Amazon UK. I made some changes in the content, too.

[alhawke]

My third A+ was approved and now I have submitted all three for Amazon UK. I made some changes in the content, too.

Great! So far it seems once the ad is tweaked, it's easy to get approved.
I'll be working on a few new ones on other books soon, all thanks to Eric Thomson's post here.
 

[LilyBLily]

All three UK versions for approved in a couple of hours. On to Europe!

[TimothyEllis]

Why do the AUS and CAN stores not accept something the US and UK stores did?

They both want "product specific content in addition to any brand story content."

The image is a poster of all the book covers. Can't get more product than that.

The question is though, why are the stores using different rules?

They're using no reply email addresses too, so you can't ask them anything, or ask why they're rejecting something the US has accepted.

[LilyBLily]

Also, in doing the A+ for the next country, one has to start from the US version all over again instead of getting to choose the content one put up for any other of the Amazon stores.

Regardless, chances are it's much ado about nothing.

[RPatton]

Just a thought, but I wonder when they are going to start charging for A+? I can't imagine Amazon would give that much real estate on the book page away for free.

[LilyBLily]

Just a thought, but I wonder when they are going to start charging for A+? I can't imagine Amazon would give that much real estate on the book page away for free.

Good point. That would be like charging us for a listing. Only authors with plenty of extra cash would pay, and then there would be at least two tiers of page visuals. Possibly more. I could see high-selling indie authors throwing a chunk of cash down to make sure their pages are bigger and fancier than other people's. Sigh. Sure, strictly as a moneymaker, it gives more space to the books and authors probably selling the most and would be to Amazon's advantage. Sigh. Let's hope we retain a level playing field.

[LilyBLily]

My AU A+ content floated through, no problems. I think I sell more books in Australia than I do in all of Europe.

[Simon Haynes]

My AU A+ content floated through, no problems. I think I sell more books in Australia than I do in all of Europe.

Australia is (or used to be) the third largest English-language market for books after the US and UK.

From what I recall, a UK publisher would expect to sell 30% of their print run here in Aus, and 70% in the UK.

Dwarfed by the US, no doubt, but then the competition there is higher too.


Bear in mind Aus keeps going into Covid lockdowns (we're in another now, pretty much everywhere but Western Australia.) And Amazon started offering local paperback printing recently, at a rate that makes my books as cheap as trad pubbed paperbacks. (We don't do those disposable el-cheapo paperbacks here, our cheapest are A-format trade paperbacks in the $20-$25 range.)

[LilyBLily]

I grew up on cheap mass market paperbacks. They were the only formats in which most romances were available, and they were well within my budget even as a teenager with no allowance. (I had an allowance, but my mom was too broke to pay it. She always claimed she was keeping track of what she owed, and after her death I found the proof that she did. Meanwhile, though, I had only the money I'd saved from Christmas and birthday gifts. It was enough, because our local public library system was great and supplied me with all the latest in fiction. Well, except for Valley of the Dolls, which they would not carry, claiming it "wasn't a book.")

 

[TimothyEllis]

I grew up on cheap mass market paperbacks.

I did too.

I seriously don't like the new sizes.

[littleauthor]

Just had to share. My Wuthering Heights retelling has been flagged for content for use of the word 'penis.' The word I used is Penistone Crag.
Ah, and  just when I thought AI was going to take over the world!
I can't stop laughing.

[Eric Thomson]

Just had to share. My Wuthering Heights retelling has been flagged for content for use of the word 'penis.' The word I used is Penistone Crag.
Ah, and  just when I thought AI was going to take over the world!
I can't stop laughing.

That's a pretty dick move on Amazon's part. 

[PJ Post]

Has anyone seen improved sales?

[TimothyEllis]

Has anyone seen improved sales?

Not as such, but just after my last release I think someone bought the entire universe in one go.

This does happen periodically, but it might be because all the covers are now visible on all books.

[LilyBLily]

No improved sales, but the page is more mine than previously. There are just as many ads for other people's books, but my A+ content is larger.

[Eric Thomson]

Has anyone seen improved sales?

Yep. I put the A+ in shortly after my July release. Sales outside of Amazon (Apple, Kobo, Google, etc) followed the normal pattern through August, September and October, but Amazon sales didn't. They remained unusually high and stable. In other words, I had the normal tailing off everywhere but on Amazon where I kept selling at a much higher pace, enough so to carry me through to my 1st of November release. Never seen anything like it since I started 7 years ago. Since A+ is the only thing I changed in my strategy, it has to be the driver.

[Anarchist]

I've been watching from the sidelines. I'm sure A+ does more good than harm, but I've got my hands full with AMS right now.

[spin52]

Has anyone seen improved sales?

I didn't get mine up and running until October, but both October and November were better than average months, so ... a qualified yes.

[littleauthor]

No improvement in sales, but the page looks more polished and as a consumer, when I see A+content on product pages, I read it over and it helps me decide. I think it'll translate into sales in time.

[LilyBLily]

I've seen some fancy A+ content on other author pages, but frankly, it's not anything that would influence me as a reader. I'm probably too cynical about such things, though.

Having seen those pages, I now feel a need to revise my own and make them slicker. Which means I'll have to re-learn how to do it. A project for the back burner, as are so many others.

[TimothyEllis]

I've seen some fancy A+ content on other author pages, but frankly, it's not anything that would influence me as a reader.

I've seen several which acted to put me off.

In one case, it highlighted the MC change in a long series, and the fact I wasn't invested in the new MC at all, just convinced me not to buy the next book.

A case of too much information.

[Post-Crisis D]

I've seen several which acted to put me off.

In one case, it highlighted the MC change in a long series, and the fact I wasn't invested in the new MC at all, just convinced me not to buy the next book.

A case of too much information.

But that might prevent bad reviews, no?

[LilyBLily]

I've never gotten bad reviews. Reviews that hated the story and thought I was sick in the head, yes, but not what I consider a bad review, since they weren't ragging on my ability to write. To me, that's a bad review. Everything else is reader reaction. Basically, free social proof.

[Eric Thomson]

I've never gotten bad reviews. Reviews that hated the story and thought I was sick in the head, yes, but not what I consider a bad review, since they weren't ragging on my ability to write. To me, that's a bad review. Everything else is reader reaction. Basically, free social proof.

This
 

[TimothyEllis]

But that might prevent bad reviews, no?

Not really. The first one got a lot of review comments about the MC not being in the picture for very long.

Those who did read on in the series would then be reviewing as they normally would. So minor review hiccup on a single book, then business as usual.