Amazon is an important sales and discovery channel for many of our books. While Trotman manages the relationship with Amazon and provides the information and assets needed to list and sell your book, there are also things you can do as an author to help your book stand out and reach the right readers. 

Your professional profile, network and subject expertise can be particularly valuable. By directing people to your Amazon listing, sharing your book with relevant communities and encouraging genuine engagement with the book, you can help increase awareness and make it easier for potential readers to discover it. 

Your Amazon Author Page 

If you have an Amazon Author Page, make sure it is up to date and presents you professionally. Your author profile is an opportunity to tell readers who you are, what you specialise in and what other books or publications you have written. 

If you have multiple books available on Amazon, make sure they are correctly associated with your author profile. You can also check that your biography and author information are current. 

Visit the Amazon Author Area

Help drive traffic to your book 

One of the simplest things you can do is share your Amazon book page with people who may be interested in your subject. 

You could: 

  • Include the Amazon link when announcing your book on social media 
  • Share it with relevant professional networks and organisations 
  • Include it in your email signature or newsletter 
  • Add it to your website or professional profile 
  • Share it when speaking at conferences, webinars or other events 
  • Include it in relevant articles, blogs or online resources 
  • Send the link to colleagues or contacts who may genuinely find the book useful 

Where possible, use the specific Amazon link for your book rather than asking people to search for the title. 

Reviews matter 

Genuine reader reviews can help potential customers understand whether a book is right for them. If you have people in your professional network who have read your book and found it useful, you can let them know that leaving an honest review on Amazon is one way they can support the book. 

Reviews should always be genuine and reflect the reader's own experience. Please don't offer incentives in exchange for reviews or ask people to leave a positive review. 

You can also share reviews that your book receives on your own social media channels, website or newsletter, where appropriate. 

Make the most of your network 

Think about the people and organisations who may have an interest in your subject. 

For example, depending on your book, this might include: 

  • Professional bodies 
  • Teachers and education professionals 
  • Careers professionals 
  • Universities and academics 
  • Employers and HR professionals 
  • SEND professionals 
  • Researchers 
  • Students and graduates 
  • Policy organisations 
  • Charities and third-sector organisations 
  • Conference organisers 
  • Relevant journalists, bloggers and podcasters 

You don't need to contact everyone. Focus on people and organisations where your book is genuinely relevant and explain why you think it could be useful to their audience. 

Amazon's algorithm 

Amazon uses a range of factors to determine how products appear in search results and recommendations. Rankings can change frequently, and authors cannot directly control them. 

Rather than focusing on trying to "beat the algorithm", concentrate on the things you can influence: 

Get your book in front of the right people → Make it easy for them to find → Give them a reason to be interested → Encourage genuine engagement. 

What Trotman does 

Our sales and marketing team works to ensure that your book is available through Amazon and that the relevant information and assets are supplied. 

This can include managing: 

  • Product information and metadata 
  • Cover and book details 
  • A+ content 
  • Adding key endorsements & reviews to the product page. 
  • Availability and supply 
  • Sales through our distribution channels 
  • Promotional activity where appropriate 
  • Amazon-specific marketing assets for selected titles 
  • Sponsored ads & promotions 

We will also work with you to identify opportunities to support your book's visibility. 

What you can do 

As the author, you can help by: 

☐ Sharing your Amazon book page with relevant audiences 
☐ Keeping your author profile up to date 
☐ Sharing genuine reviews and endorsements 
☐ Encouraging people to purchase from Amazon 
☐ Encouraging people to leave a review for your book, even if it is just a rating 

A note about Amazon sales 

Amazon sales and rankings can fluctuate for many reasons, including seasonality, demand, availability and changes to Amazon's search and recommendation systems. 

Don't be discouraged if your ranking changes from one day to the next. The most valuable thing you can do is continue to build awareness of your book among the audiences who are most likely to read, recommend or purchase it. 

Your expertise gets people interested. Your book gives them somewhere to go next.