Advertising books on Amazon: A guide for authors

You don’t have to be a marketing expert to excel at advertising your books on Amazon. This guide will teach you how to build your presence as an author on Amazon, launch your first Amazon Ads campaign, and create a comprehensive advertising strategy to help you drive book sales and reach new readers.

77% of book buyers discovered a new title or author when shopping on Amazon.¹

To make the most of your book’s ad campaign, start by building your Amazon presence. That means sharing content about your book(s) and yourself, including setting up an Author Page on Author Central and/or registering for an account on Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). Next, access Amazon Ads from KDP or Author Central. Follow these steps:

How to access Amazon Ads from KDP:

1. Sign in to http://kdp.amazon.com/.
2. Select the book you want to advertise from your KDP bookshelf.
3. Click “promote and advertise.”
4. Under “Run an ad campaign,” choose a marketplace and click “Create an ad campaign.”
5. Sign in to Amazon Ads using your KDP credentials.

How to access Amazon Ads from Author Central:

1. Sign in to Author Central (you can use your KDP credentials if you have them).
2. Add your books to your Author Central account. Click on the “Books” tab and then click “Add it now.” In the “Search” field enter the book title, ISBN, ASIN, or author name. Find your book and click on the book cover, then click “Add this book.”
3. Click on the “Reports and marketing tab.” In the Amazon Ads tile, select the country you want to advertise in from the drop-down menu. Then click “Go to ads console.”

Optimize your Author Page

Here are a few steps to get you started with your author page:

• Add your books to your author page to help readers discover their next read.
• Upload an author photo and bio to help readers get to know you.

57% of global surveyed book buyers shop without a specific title in mind.² Forty-six percent of book buyers on Amazon use shopping results to research their book purchase.³

Choose the ad that’s right for you

When your book and author content are complete, it’s time to strategize your advertising approach. Amazon Ads can help drive sales by reaching millions of readers with active Amazon accounts. The process to launch your first advertising campaign is simple whether you opt for Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, or both.

Sponsored Products help authors put their books in front of readers who are searching for similar books and genres so that they can discover something new. These ads appear in relevant shopping results and on product pages on desktop and mobile devices. When customers click on the ad, they’re directed to the product page of the book that’s featured. When authors create a Sponsored Products ad, they advertise to the most relevant audiences by targeting specific shoppers based on similar searches. There’s no up-front charge for a Sponsored Products ad. Rather, the author sets their budget and only pays when a shopper clicks on the ad. Learn more in our Sponsored Products guide.

Sponsored Brands ads are for authors who have three or more eligible titles under the same author’s name, and want to highlight a collection of books or tell their author story in their own way. These ads help readers discover new authors and books, and can include video ads or ads with custom images. Sponsored Brands appear below the top of shopping results, within shopping results, and on product detail pages on desktop and mobile devices. Similar to Sponsored Products, authors target these ads to the most relevant audiences and set their own budgets. Amazon Ads uses a “cost-per-click” model, meaning authors only pay when a shopper clicks on your ad. Learn more in our Sponsored Brands guide.

Amazon is an important stop for readers looking for their next book. 51% of shoppers visit Amazon early in their purchase journey to gather information and for help finding books.⁴

After you’ve determined which advertising products are best suited for your goals, it’s time to develop—and optimize—your campaign. Keep these best practices in mind:

• Familiarize yourself with Amazon Ads guidelines for book advertisers. Amazon Ads has specific requirements. Read the guidelines here.
• Start early. Amazon has an ad moderation process, meaning every ad goes through a review and approval process, which typically takes 24 hours but could take up to three business days. For a better chance of approval, check out these tips.
• Understand your reader. As you think about advertising, put yourself in the mind of your reader. How would they shop for a book? What categories and keywords might they respond to? Compile a list. This will help you when you start targeting your ad.
• Plan for events and seasons. If you expect your book sales to increase around a particular date, we recommend ramping up your advertising campaigns early and running them for at least four to six weeks.
• Monitor and optimize your ad performance. Reports are available for Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands that share insights around how your ad is performing so you can make changes accordingly. It’s important to optimize your campaigns to help you reach more readers and drive book sales.

On average, book buyers who visited Amazon considered 22% more titles than book buyers who did not visit Amazon⁵