Amazon recently changed its rules to allow anyone – yes, even indie authors! – to add A+ content to their book sales page. But how do you do it and what should you put in there?

What should you upload?

When it comes to books, A+ banners are perfect for:

• Enticing book quotes
• Praise from well-known authors*
• Character introductions (opportunity to show your cover illustrations / photos up close!)
• Moodboards

Basically, any of the high-end content you’d share on social media etc. to get readers excited about your story can go in here.

*With non-fiction, these quotes can be from other industry professionals.

Need help creating A+ content?

Check out my book promo Canva templates. There’s a template for an A+ banner to get you started!

The rules are strict, though!

When I first started experimenting with A+ content, I had my banners rejected three times in a row, each time for a different reason (although all the mistakes were there from the start). To help you avoid wasting time like me, here are the main things to avoid:

• Don’t use your Amazon reviews, or the word review/reviewer
• Don’t include a download link to a bonus epilogue (or use the word ‘bonus’!)
• Don’t include any limited time offers, reference prices or other deals
• Basically, make sure the content is just about the book/story/author

You can advertise an award you/your book has received, if it’s less than 2 years old. Make sure the graphics are high quality and look professional. And if you want to be really smart, check out the official GUIDELINES.

How to upload A+ content

Okay, this is not for the faint-hearted (it’s so not user friendly!), but stay with me and we’ll go through it step by step. Deep breaths…

First, go to your KDP dashboard and click on the ‘marketing’ link (top right corner). There, you’ll find the A+ content right under Amazon Ads.  Click on the yellow button.

Click the blue button to get started.

Click on the faint button below to ‘add a module’.

Now, the pop up window that opens looks confusing. But don’t worry. These are just different sized modules. To add a narrow banner (a popular size, 970x300px – the one I offer a Canva template for), click on the middle one (or the one to its right, same difference). You can try different ones to see what size they are, to find ones you want to use.

Here’s where you upload the image you’ve prepared. (Check out my Canva templates to get started!) Be careful when adding keywords – see the earlier checklist under ‘The rules are strict, though’ for what to avoid!

There you go! Your image should appear below. Don’t add any text in the text boxes (it will appear on top). If you want more than one banner, add another module (I would keep to 3 modules, tops). Once you’re done, click the top right link to proceed!

Now you just have to wait for Amazon to (manually?) check your content and approve it. If they don’t, they’ll send an email asking you to review the content and make changes. Don’t despair! You know the process now, you’ve got this!

Good luck!!!