How to use A+ Content for KDP books.
Are you wondering how to use A+ Content for your KDP books? Six ways to use A+ Content for KDP to make your low content books stand out from the competition.
Whether you are new to KDP book publishing or have been creating books for a while you might be wondering how you should use A+ content for your KDP books because it is relatively new.
What exactly is A+ Content and how should you use it for your A+ books? And does A+ content really matter?
I personally love A+ content for my KDP books. I see it as my chance to showcase my brand and increase my low-content book sales with KDP’s newest feature, A+ Content.
In this post I will look at six ways to use KDP A-Plus content to boost your brand and hopefully sell more low content books.
If you spend any time watching KDP publishing videos on You Tube or chatting in KDP facebook groups you will hear time and again people saying that A+ Content is a ‘game changer’ for KDP, and I would tend to agree. By taking advantage of A-plus content you have a fantastic way for low content publishers to show off our book interiors and show exactly what our books have to offer and potential customers get to see it right on our Amazon sales page where they can buy directly.
What is A+ Content for KDP books?
What is A-Plus content for KDP all about? Well, it is a series of text boxes and images that you can choose to display in an ‘about the publisher’ section on your book’s detail page, right on the Amazon website. You choose what to include from a list of predefined ‘content blocks’- you can include things like text, images and comparison charts. This is a relatively new feature for KDP publishers, being introduced in the summer of 2021, it was previously only available to Amazon sellers. A+ content was a brand new feature that us independent publishers taking advantage of A-plus content really is a great way for low content publishers to really showcase what they have on offer and make our Amazon book listings look more professional.
Six ways to use A+ content for KDP books
So I’ve told you how much I love A+ Content for my KDP books and how to create A+Content mockups for KDP using my Canva templates. But what content should you add to your A+ content sections? Here are six ways to use your A+ Content for KDP with a little inspiration of how I use the A+content blocks for my KDP books.
Show off your book interior
This is the best thing about A+ Content for KDP books in my opinion. Prior to A+ Content we had to rely on the ‘Look Inside’ feature to get interior images of our low content books on our Amazon listing and it was fraught with frustrations. There were often delays activating the ‘Look Inside’ and it was not available to view via the Amazon app. Perhaps most annoying of all – we couldn’t choose which pages to show customers- so we couldn’t showcase a variety of page layouts from our low content books to show what the book is really like.
Stand out from the crowd
Not only does A+ content help you stand out from the crowd but it really helps differentiate your book from all those pesky spammers. If you focus on quality over quantity then A+ content is the way you demonstrate to buyers that you are a quality publisher. All those pesky spammers who publish thousands of spammy books are unlikely to put in the time and effort required to make and upload A+ content. And even if they did it would just show the low quality inside their books. So this is brilliant opportunity for those of us that publish quality books.
I prefer to use mockups of my low content books rather than actual photos, unless you plan on having professional photos and buy all your books which can end up costly and time consuming. I created Canva templates in KDP sizes to make creating book mockups for A+ content really quick and easy. You can find out more about my templates HERE. They are fully customisable in Canva so you can produce outstanding A+ content that fits your brand and target audience.
Tell your story on the ‘About the Author section’
Do you have a special reason or credentials that led you to create your book? Or are you creating a brand with several books in a similar niche? One way to engage your potential buyers and make your book stand out is to tell your author story and include an author profile picture. This doesn’t have to be
about you – if you have a made up pen name then you might make up a story about the pen name behind the books- for example:
‘Catherine Flexipreneur has been passionate about fishing since her first fishing trip aged 4, even though she didn’t catch anything on that occasion. She has fished all over the world and now enjoys sharing her fishing adventures with her young nephews. She was inspired to create a range of fishing themed journals and activities books for children to keep them occupied whilst waiting for a bite!’
You should accompany the bio with an appropriate picture – a woman fishing.
Below is the example Amazon give us for using the ‘About The Author’ section.
You can use the same text and image on your Author Central profile too.
One word of caution- if you are using a made up pen name don’t make up actual qualifications (like medical qualifications!) which would mislead the buyer, and if you mention an award there are rules about what you can say and how.
List the benefits of your book
It might seem obvious what the book is for- but listing the benefits of your book help the buyer to understand exactly what they are getting. I love to use the three square images plus text modules for this. So for example- for a scissor skills book I would have two of the blocks showing mockups of different pages of the interior, with text underneath describing how the book is used and what skills they will practice by using the book. In the third block I would show a picture of a preschooler with a pair of scissors and use the text box to say something like ‘perfect for developing scissor skills and motor control in age three to five year olds’ Just make sure you use a picture that is age appropriate. A quick search on Canva, Pixabay or Pexels usually yields something appropriate. Make sure you check the licence and rights to use the image.
Show off your other books
If you have multiple books in a niche or want to introduce buyers to your other brand offerings A+ Content is your friend as you can show off matching or complimentary products and might just sell multiple books in one go.
So if you have a planner and a matching notebook or journal you can show those along with their various interiors. There are a couple of ways of doing this with the A+ content. You can use the comparison chart A+ content block, although this will only allow you to show covers and list features, not show the book interiors. Alternatively you can use a mockup layout feature multiple books and interiors .
Build a brand
A+ content allows you to start communicating the ethos and tone of your books and begin to build a brand identity. By carefully selecting the images and colour palette you use in your A content you can create a cohesive look across your different offerings so you become recognisable as a brand. This isn’t somethig you need to worry about when you are first starting out with KDP publishing. You can add or change modules later on so don’t overthink or plan too far ahead.
What do you think about A+ Content and how do you use it? Let me know in the comments below.
