Amazon Author Central is a fantastic promotional tool for self-published authors.
But why does Amazon Author Central UK persist with a separate page for Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) self-publishers?
An Amazon author page should be just that. A page, and only one.
Why are UK authors penalized by having their Amazon Author Central UK pages so totally disconnected from the rest of the Amazon world?
Author Central is not central
Why do authors have to duplicate everything, including their author profile and bio and editorial reviews, from their Amazon Author Central account UK pages to the Amazon Central US site?
In reverse, why do authors outside the UK have to set up a separate UK page to reach UK potential readers?
There is nothing quick, easy, or central about it.
Does the UK have an Amazon problem? Or does Amazon have a UK problem?
An Amazon UK history lesson
Perhaps a little history is needed to answer all these questions.
Most importantly, is that Amazon did not set up business in the UK from scratch.
It did it by acquiring BookPages Ltd in 1998.
These two press headlines from the time tell this part of the story.
LEADING INTERNET BOOKSELLER AMAZON.COM ACQUIRES U.K.-BASED INTERNET BOOKSTORE BOOKPAGES LTD.
and
AMAZON.COM ACQUIRES THREE LEADING UK INTERNET COMPANIES
Okay, so these news headlines are nearly twenty years old when traditional publishing was king.
But they do begin to tell the story of why Amazon UK is so separated from the rest of the Amazon world. And why Author Central UK is (still) on the outer.
Without being privy to the fine print of the takeover of Bookpages, history tells me that there must have been an agreement to keep the UK Amazon market separate and protected.
From who, and for who, I have no idea. But the separation has been clear now for many years.
Amazon Author Central UK
Many new UK self-publishing authors don’t realize that when they post their Amazon book pages buy links from their Amazon UK page, no one outside of the UK can buy their book.
While I can buy ebooks from Amazon US, Germany, France, and many other countries, Amazon UK is a ‘no-go‘ sales zone for anyone outside the UK.
Worse still is that Amazon UK DOES NOT share book reviews from the Amazon UK store onto the Amazon US store.
Why are book and customer reviews from Amazon UK readers only posted on Amazon UK, and not on the whole world of Amazon? So much for being an international author.
If a reader posts a review on Amazon.com, Amazon.de, or Amazon.fr, they appear on the Amazon.com page, along with all other countries, including the UK. However, reviews posted on Amazon.co.uk stay there, and only there. Why?
It is not only a problem for UK authors. Non – UK authors have a problem too.
Why are UK reader reviews only accessible to a non-UK author if they go to the trouble of setting up a separate UK author page? It’s a fragmented nightmare for a book publisher.
Why are book rankings separated?
On the book tab of my US (the whole of the world, in fact) Amazon Central account page, I can get my book and author rankings, but they are minus any UK data.
Then, if I go to my UK (only UK) Amazon Central account page, I can get my book sales rank, but there is no author ranking. So much for being central.
On some occasions, titles on a US author page don’t appear on the UK page. So you have to claim your books again to get them listed.
While Amazon UK operates on a separatist model, it can only hurt UK self-publishing ebook authors. For those authors outside the UK, it is simply a real pain in the neck.
Either way, though, it proves that Amazon Central is definitely not central at all.
Isn’t it about time that Amazon UK joined the rest of the Amazon world? Or for Amazon as a company to make this happen?
Authors have one KDP account, so why not have one global Amazon Author Central page with one author page URL?
And then there are even more un-central Author Central locations
If the confusion between Amazon Central US and UK is not bad enough for many authors, did you know that you can have even more decentralized pages on Amazon DE in Germany, Amazon FR in France, and Amazon JP in Japan?
Oddly enough, however, although Australia has an Amazon Kindle store, it does not have an Author Central page of its own as yet.
So Australian authors miss out completely because they can’t create an author bio page for their Australian readers.
The best advice I can give authors at present is to set up multiple Amazon Author Central pages for the US and UK.
If you are keen, you can set up a German author website site as well.
Why Germany?
Germany is one of the biggest ebook markets after the US and UK. There are a lot of Germans who read in English. So it might just be worth the effort.
Kindle Direct Publishing is a wonderful self-publishing platform.
But wouldn’t it all be so much easier if Amazon Author Central was, well, you know, Central?
Related Reading: Should You Enrol Your Ebooks In Amazon Kindle KDP Select?
If it’s not possible to transfer reviews between Amazon’s .uk and .com sites, you could try this great suggestion I just found for getting people looking at the .com page to go to the .uk page (or wherever the reviews are). I’ve adapted it as follows (shameless self-promotion :)). On the .com page I explain I’m a UK-based author, then say, “Carly’s debut novel BLACK DOG SUNDAY was published as a special ‘lock-down e-book’ edition in May 2020. Since then it has received several 5-star reviews.
This is really helpful stuff! So, is it currently possible to ‘transfer’ UK reviews to the .com pages, or not? and if so, how? Thanks!
No, you can’t transfer your reviews. But you can add snippets to your book description.
Then your reviews or part of them will appear on your book sales page.
Thanks again for information about something I didn’t know. It is a complete puzzle why the various Amazon outlets don’t talk to one another more. As you say it’s in their interests as well as ours.
I find it so frustrating that as a UK author readers in the US can only see my books if they search my name. Amazon don’t seem to publish all books on all platforms equally resulting in almost no sales exposure in the US. Not a lot to ask considering we spend hours of hard work providing them with free product to make a profit with. Constant requests to put a Book 1 as free to get series sales are also repeatedly ignored. Very demoralising for an author.
I’ve read with great interest the postings about reviews. My first book was purchased in France and sent to England as a gift. The child who received it wrote a review (in English) which then had to be e-mailed to her friend in France who then posted it on Amazon.fr. The review does not appear on either Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com. Doesn’t make sense to me!
Hi,
thanks for the information. I have a slightly different question about setting up dedicated author central pages for uk, jp etc. I have one US author central page. What are the pros and cons of setting up multiple dedicated author central pages for uk, germany, japan etc.? any ideas on this?
in addition to US and UK Author Central pages, these great features also exist in other countries. And this facet of Amazon may be the single most overlooked sales tool! One of our clients recently noticed that she’s been selling lots of books in Japan and wondered how she could capitalize on this trend and sell even more books there. It really doesn’t take much time or effort to claim your international Author Central pages. The best part is that all the international Author Central pages are the same. Before we dig too far into this, countries that do not (yet) have Author Central pages set up include:
Brazil
Canada
China
Mexico
Netherlands
These countries all list your book, but don’t have a page connecting all of your titles. And, unless your book is specifically connected to one of these countries, either in terms of subject, setting, or plot, you probably won’t sell as many books. Still watch for future developments, because once Amazon debuts Author Central Pages for these countries, you’ll want to hop aboard that train!
Lisa, that link only takes you to a home page. A search of the site yields no results for ‘author central.’ Can you supply the full link please.
Good article, Derek, and spot on. I encounter this discrimination against UK-based authors constantly. Let me give you two quick examples: BGS operate an excellent and cost-effective NetGalley service but won’t entertain your book if it has less than 5 reviews on Amazon US notwithstanding it may have well over the required 5 on the UK site.
Also the US site now operates a beta Top 100 Authors in any Amazon category. Amazon UK does not. That puts us Brits at a distinct disadvantage yet again compared with out US brethren.
It’s about time Amazon created a level playing field for all Amazon authors no matter where they happen to reside.
Australia needs an author central and Australian authors need to be able to buy their print books at cost like everyone else.
There is a mention of amazon.com.au and print books in this announcement by Amazon. https://www.kdpcommunity.com/s/article/CreateSpace-and-Kindle-Direct-Publishing-to-become-one-service?language=en_US
Derek, up until recently UK readers of books purchased on the UK site), have been able to copy and post their reviews of the books to ,USA, Australia, Canada, et al. All of a sudden, this facility has been withdrawn and I have had many regular readers contact me to say they find it frustratin that they can no longer share their thoughts on UK purchases to the Amazon community around the world. Likewise, i have read books by both UK and US authors and whereas I used to post my reviews of those books on Amazon USA and other Amazon sites but suddenly, without any explanation, i am unable to do so. All I get when attempting to do so is a message saying “There is a problem with publishing your review,Please try again later.” This change of police by Amazon is clearly unfair to authors, not just in the UK, but all over the world. i have just finished a book by an American author but am limited to posting my review on Amazon UK, therefore US readers can’t see my review at all. Something seems totally skewed with regards to Amazon’s policy on reviews at present. Surely any reader should have the option of sharing their review with readers in other countries as they have always been able to do, until approximately a month ago?
There is definitely a problem with book reviews on Amazon, Brian. Yet again!
Whenever Amazon decides to go after a few bad actors, it is never with a fine scalpel, but a sledgehammer that affects a lot of innocent people.
It’s not just Amazon US and Amazon UK that are separate. Amazon also owns Goodreads, yet reviews posted there are not transferable to Amazon.com (and visa versa). Why???
Amazon also owns Createspace, yet they have separate policies for authors. This has been a source of frustration for me for years. I have emailed them about this in the past and, if answered at all, I only get pat on the head deflections for answers that they will pass on my concerns.
It doesn’t make sense that Amazon would allow this bad business practice to continue.
I agree, John. It’s immensely frustrating for all authors. It seems such a simple thing to do, but for some reason, Amazon resists.
I have previously had US reviews appear on the UK listing – that has, for reasons I know not, stopped happening. I never had it the other way around.
The Author Central business is even more confusing to me – why on earth do they want to maintain multiple versions of the same thing? It must be painful for Amazon, it is certainly painful for authors.
I know Amazon is the Daddy when it comes to selling our books, but surely there must be somewhere else? Someone who is prepared to give authors and readers a good service, to satisfy a genuine demand from both suppliers and consumers? That’s what capitalism is all about, right? I’m a writer, not an entrepreneur (yes, yes, I know we all have to wear 2 or 3 hats these days, but you get my drift) so maybe someone could have a word in someone’s ear and we might see an eager young David warm up his slingshot and take aim at Amazon’s Goliath dominance?
One can hope, Dave. But the alternatives to Amazon at present are few, and none of them are setting the world on fire.
Thanks for this again, Derek, I do like your blog. I didn’t know that about Author Central, guess I’d better go to amazon.com and create one if my co.uk stuff isn’t showing up there. Have never understood why they are all so separate.
Glad to hear you are enjoying my posts, Patsy. Yes, Author Central is a bit confusing, because, well, as you discovered, it certainly isn’t at all central. Good luck!
It’s certainly true that some books don’t travel well, Susie. But it would be helpful if UK reviews (and indeed, Canadian, Australian and South African) got better exposure, instead of being locked up on Amazon UK and the other individual country sites. As you say, US reviews are added to Amazon UK (about US taxation!), but the same is not done in reverse. I think my main point is that every review adds value, no matter where it comes from.
No, US reviews are not added to Amazon UK. That’s how I knew it was a book on US taxation. The Brits who’d bought it and reviewed it, were disappointed,. They were the only reviewers on the UK site. On the US site, the reviewers loved the book, because it was relevant to them.
I can see your argument, I’m just saying, in some instances the separation is justified. But yes, on novels, it would be nice to have reviews across borders. And it would be nice not to have to recreate your author page on every different market. Def agree on that one!
The suitability of books for different markets is a genuine concern. For example, some British readers of American books say, “It’s very Americanised” which is valuable feedback if as a Brit, you want a British perspective. Also, writing books written by US authors on writing markets for example, would be less relevant to people living in the UK, because writers in the UK probably don’t have access to the same magazines. That’s all very well if you want to sell overseas, but tricky if you can’t get a copy. I’ve also seen books on taxation, sold in the UK, and the reviews say it’s about US taxation – different laws altogether! My point is, some literature doesn’t travel as well as other literature. Sometimes, it’s useful to have a different British perspective, to warn you off buying an American book about taxation! After all, if you only read the US reviews, you might walk away thinking it’s perfect!
For sure, and confusing for everyone!
I contacted Amazon UK about this a few months ago about this so it’s great to see this movement being taken up by others. Amazon said they’d look into merging all reviews regardless of which site they were posted on. As we know, this hasn’t happened yet. I hope they do make this change as most readers will not search for reviews on other random Amazon sites and those other sites may just hold many more reviews than the one they are buying from. Frustrating for the authors…
Ok, Thanks!
I believe there are only two Author Centrals, Pollyesther. US and UK, So don’t hold your breath for an AU site anytime soon.
PS: After successfully managing to sign up and fill out my Author Central page at Amazon UK, I went to Amazon AU to find no such option at all! It seems that Author Central has not made it “Downunder” yet!
Thank you for your information and reply! Still figuring it all out, but so far no appearance of my US reviews on the UK site. I checked my author central page on the UK site and indeed, no info there, besides the book.
From what I understand in this blog post, I have to become an Amazon UK member first and set up my Author central page to be able to see the US reviews appear there?
Currently I am only subscribed to the AU site and KDP. Still feeling a little confused :(
Yes, Pollyesther. Book reviews that are posted on Amazon stores other than the US store, seem to only appear on the originating store site. Not very helpful. However, US reviews do get added to the UK store. But on my Author Central page, I only receive notifications of US reviews. Again, not very helpful.
I published my first book on Amazon last week and thought that it was interesting that I got reviews on Amazon.com, however none on UK, AU or NL, which are the ones I know have sold books on and looked at so far.
From that observation I concluded that reviews are only displayed on the department where the book was bought, but would love this to be wrong…
(I am in Australia)