How to Create an Amazon Author Central Account Step-by-Step

Amazon is the largest online bookstore in the world, and as a result it’s the most direct channel for authors to connect to a global audience by leveraging the marketing power of the Amazon brand.

Amazon Author Central is the tool they’ve created to provide authors like you with the ability to upload information about you and your books to capitalize on this powerful promotional lever.

You can use your Amazon Author Central account to:

• Upload Photographs (e.g. author head shots, relevant pictures related to your books or to your life as an author
• Upload Images (e.g. drawings, your artwork, charts, tables, etc)
• Upload your author bio
• Upload videos relevant to your work as an author or relevant to your books
• Add any type of written communication that enhances your profile as an author in the eyes of your audience (e.g. your bibliography, and extended author bio)
• Add a feed to your blog
• Add and update editorial reviews for any of your titles (e.g. reviews from influential book review sources such as the New York Times Book Review and Publishers Weekly)
• Create a customized URL to your Amazon author page so you can link it from other websites and platforms, like your blog, your Facebook page, etc. (I’ll tell you more about this later on in the article)
• Notifying Amazon.com that your copyrighted material has been infringed

Make sure that you own the copyright to all submitted information and (here’s the legalese) be aware that you’ll be granting Amazon a non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free right and license to use, reproduce, distribute, transmit, perform, modify and display all your materials in any way they see fit.

Also, keep in mind that Amazon Author Central accounts can only be created by the individual author or by representatives of the author who have the legal right to act on their behalf (e.g. their publisher) and that in order to create an account you must already have at least one book published on Amazon.

Where do I Start?

In order to create a new Amazon Author Central account, visit: https://authorcentral.amazon.com, and you’ll see the page below:

Next, click “Join Now” and read their terms and conditions:

Click “Accept” and the following page will come up:

Next, confirm your identity by typing your author name (or pen name) and click “Continue.” Now the system will list all the books on the Amazon database that match the author name you just entered:

Select your book from the list by clicking “This is my book.”

Next, confirm you are the author of the book by clicking “This is me” below:

Finally, Author Central will send you an email to confirm your identity:

Next open the confirmation email:

and click on the confirmation link to open the Registration Complete screen:

Finally click on “Go to Author Central” and you’ll see the welcome screen:

Voila! your account is now created.

Amazon will now automatically create a basic author page for you and email you a link to it within 7 days, although most times they’ll do this minutes after your account is created. This is what the email will look like:

At this point, it’s time to start uploading your promotional information, beginning by completing your Author Central Profile via the welcome page.

Next, you want to work on your Author Page, which is where Amazon customers will be taken when they click on your author name as they view your book details in the bookstore. Learning how to develop a great author page is outside the scope of this article, but here’s a post that covers all the bases.

Good luck!

If you enjoyed this article and are in the process of writing a nonfiction book, be sure to check out my free nonfiction success guide, drawn from years of experience editing books for bestselling authors (including a New York Times bestseller) and ghostwriting for CEOs and politicians. Simply click here to get instant access.

Ben

Leave me a comment below if you have any questions or a specific need that I can help you address – I operate an author services firm that specializes in helping entrepreneurs, professionals and business owners who want to publish books as a calling card for prospects, to establish their status as an expert or to just to generate additional leads for their businesses.

Here are some related posts I highly recommend:

How to Write a Compelling Book in 12 Steps: A Must-Read Guide for Nonfiction Authors

Write Your Own Book and Become an Expert: 11 Reasons Why You Should

How to Grow Your Business Writing a Nonfiction Book

How Long Does it Take to Write a Book to Help Grow Your Business?

5 Book Cover Maker Mistakes to Avoid When Designing a Nonfiction Cover

Bennett R. Coles is an award-winning author of six books published through Harper Collins (New York) and Titan Publishing Group (London). He is also the publisher at Promontory Press, editor for multiple bestselling authors (including a NY Times bestseller), ghostwriter for CEOs and politicians and the founder of Cascadia Author Services, a boutique full-service firm that specializes in premium author services specifically designed for busy professionals. Our end-to-end services include writer coaching, ghostwriting, editing, proofing, cover design, book layout, eBook production, marketing, printing and distribution.