Amazon A+ Content lets brand-registered publishers replace the plain-text product description with a rich, visual layout — images, formatted text, comparison tables, and brand story carousels. It’s free, it improves conversion rates, and most indie publishers have never touched it.
This guide walks through every step, from Brand Registry prerequisites to your first approved A+ Content page.
Prerequisites
Before you can create A+ Content, you need two things:
1. A Registered Trademark
Amazon Brand Registry requires an active registered trademark — not a pending application (with one exception noted below). In the US, this means a trademark registered with the USPTO.
What to trademark: Your imprint name (e.g., “Caliana Press”), not individual book titles. A single trademark on your imprint covers every book you publish under that name.
Timeline: 8 to 12 months from filing to registration with the USPTO, assuming no office actions. Budget $250 to $350 per class for TEAS Plus filing.
The exception — IP Accelerator: Amazon’s IP Accelerator program connects you with vetted law firms that file your trademark. If you use an IP Accelerator firm, Amazon grants Brand Registry access based on the pending application — before registration completes. This can save you 6 to 10 months of waiting.
2. Amazon Brand Registry Enrollment
Once you have a registered trademark (or a pending application through IP Accelerator):
- Go to brandregistry.amazon.com
- Sign in with your Amazon Seller Central or KDP account
- Click Enroll a new brand
- Enter your trademark registration number, the brand name, and the product categories you sell in
- Amazon verifies the trademark with the trademark office — this takes 1 to 10 business days
- Once approved, you have full Brand Registry access including A+ Content
Accessing the A+ Content Manager
A+ Content is managed through Seller Central, not through the KDP dashboard. If you publish through KDP and don’t have a separate Seller Central account, you may need to create one or link your KDP account.
Navigation path: Seller Central → Advertising → A+ Content Manager
If you don’t see the A+ Content option in your Advertising menu, your Brand Registry enrollment may not have propagated yet. Allow 48 hours after Brand Registry approval, then check again.
Building Your Brand Story (Do This First)
The Brand Story is a carousel that appears at the top of the A+ Content section on every product page that shares it. Build it once, apply it to your entire catalog.
Step 1: Start the Brand Story
In the A+ Content Manager, click Start creating A+ content → select Brand Story.
Step 2: Add Your Brand Card
The Brand Story uses a card-based carousel. Each card can contain:
- A background image (1464 × 625 pixels)
- A brand logo (315 × 145 pixels)
- A headline (up to 30 characters)
- Body text (up to 135 characters)
For your first card, use:
- Background image: A lifestyle image or branded graphic that represents your publishing house
- Logo: Your imprint logo on a transparent background
- Headline: Your imprint name or tagline
- Body text: A one-sentence description of what you publish
Step 3: Add Product Cards
After your brand card, add product cards that showcase individual titles. Each product card includes:
- A product image (166 × 182 pixels)
- A link to the product’s ASIN
- The product title (auto-populated from the ASIN)
Add 3 to 8 of your best-selling or newest titles. When a reader views any of your books, these product cards appear in the Brand Story carousel — driving cross-discovery across your catalog.
Step 4: Apply to ASINs
After building the Brand Story, apply it to every ASIN in your catalog. When you publish a new book, remember to add the new ASIN to the Brand Story and apply the Brand Story to the new listing.
Building Product-Level A+ Content
Each book gets its own A+ Content page in addition to the shared Brand Story. This is where you build a custom sales page for the individual title.
Step 1: Create New A+ Content
In the A+ Content Manager, click Start creating A+ content → select Basic.
Name your content something recognizable (e.g., “The Long Amen — A+ Content”). This name is internal only — readers won’t see it.
Step 2: Choose Your Modules
Amazon offers approximately 17 module types. You can use up to 7 modules per product page. Here are the modules that work best for books, in recommended order:
Module: Standard Company Logo
What it does: Displays your imprint logo.
Image spec: 600 × 180 pixels, PNG with transparent background
When to use: As the first module, establishing your publisher identity before the book-specific content begins. Skip this if your Brand Story already prominently features your logo.
Module: Standard Image and Light Text Overlay
What it does: A full-width image with text overlaid on a light background.
Image spec: 970 × 600 pixels
When to use: As a hero module — a high-impact visual that immediately communicates the book’s genre and tone. Use an atmospheric image that evokes the book’s world (a cityscape for a thriller, a landscape for literary fiction, a study for nonfiction).
Text: A one-line tagline or the book’s premise in a single sentence.
Module: Standard Single Image and Sidebar
What it does: An image on one side with a text block on the other.
Image spec: 300 × 400 pixels
When to use: For the book cover alongside a longer pitch. This gives you more text space than the product description allows — use it to elaborate on the premise, introduce the protagonist, or establish the stakes.
Text: 200 to 300 words. Write as a sales page, not a synopsis. Focus on what the reader will experience, not a plot summary.
Module: Standard Three Images and Text
What it does: Three image-text pairs in a row.
Image spec: 300 × 300 pixels each
When to use: To highlight three key aspects of the book — themes, settings, or selling points. For fiction: three locations, three characters, or three reasons to read. For nonfiction: three topics covered, three problems solved, or three reader outcomes.
Text: 50 to 75 words per image block. Keep it punchy.
Module: Standard Four Images and Text
What it does: Four image-text pairs in a grid.
Image spec: 220 × 220 pixels each
When to use: For chapter previews, theme highlights, or a “what’s inside” breakdown. Four modules give enough granularity to showcase the book’s depth without overwhelming the reader.
Module: Standard Comparison Table
What it does: A side-by-side comparison of up to six products with feature rows.
Image spec: 150 × 300 pixels per product
When to use: To showcase your series or related titles. List each book with its cover image, and use the feature rows for page count, format availability, genre, or series order. Each product cell links to its ASIN — readers can click through to buy.
This is the highest-value module for publishers with multiple titles. It turns a single product page into a catalog.
Module: Standard Single Image and Highlights
What it does: One image with a bulleted highlight list.
Image spec: 300 × 300 pixels
When to use: For author bios. Place your author photo alongside 4 to 6 bullet points — credentials, previous works, awards, and a personal connection to the subject matter.
Step 3: Add Content to Each Module
For each module:
- Upload images at the exact pixel dimensions specified. Images that don’t match will be rejected or distorted.
- Write the text. Keep it within the character limits shown in the editor.
- Add alt text for every image (required for accessibility and recommended for SEO).
Step 4: Apply to ASINs
At the bottom of the editor, search for and add the ASINs this content should appear on. For a standalone book, that’s one ASIN. For a book available in multiple formats (paperback, hardcover), apply to all format ASINs.
Step 5: Submit for Review
Click Submit for approval. Amazon’s review team checks for policy compliance — no prohibited claims, no competitor mentions, no pricing or availability statements, no external URLs.
Review timeline: 24 hours to 7 days. Most approvals happen within 3 business days.
If rejected: Amazon provides a reason code. The most common rejections:
- Prohibited claims: Remove any mention of “bestseller,” “#1,” “award-winning” (unless verifiable), or time-sensitive promotions
- Image quality: Replace blurry, low-resolution, or improperly sized images
- Competitor references: Remove any mention of other publishers, authors (unless they wrote a blurb for your book), or competing titles
- Contact information: Remove email addresses, phone numbers, and website URLs — Amazon doesn’t allow off-platform redirection
Fix the issue and resubmit. Rejected content doesn’t go live — your listing keeps its existing description until the A+ Content is approved.
Image Creation Tips
You don’t need a graphic designer for every image. Here’s how to create effective A+ Content images with minimal resources:
Book cover mockups: Use your existing cover file. Place it on a complementary background in Canva, Photoshop, or Affinity Photo. A 3D mockup (available through free mockup generators) looks more polished than a flat cover image.
Atmospheric images: Use royalty-free stock photos that match your book’s genre and tone. Unsplash, Pexels, and Pixabay offer high-quality free options. Avoid generic “person reading” or “open book” images — they add nothing.
Text-based graphics: For nonfiction, create simple graphics with key statistics, chapter titles, or pull quotes. Use your brand colors and fonts for consistency.
Consistent style: Use the same color palette, font family, and visual treatment across all modules. The A+ Content section should feel like a cohesive page, not a collage of unrelated images.
Content Strategy by Genre
Fiction (Thrillers, Mystery, Literary)
- Hero module: Atmospheric image that sets the mood — dark, tense, evocative
- Sidebar module: Extended premise that goes deeper than the product description
- Three-image module: Three settings, time periods, or tension points from the story
- Author bio module: Photo and credentials
- Comparison table: Other books in the series or by the same author
Nonfiction (Self-Help, Business, Reference)
- Hero module: Image that visualizes the transformation or outcome the book delivers
- Sidebar module: “Who this book is for” — describe the ideal reader and their pain points
- Four-image module: Four key topics or chapters with brief descriptions
- Highlights module: Bullet list of specific outcomes or takeaways
- Comparison table: Related titles in your catalog
Devotional / Inspirational
- Hero module: Peaceful, contemplative image with a scripture reference or thematic tagline
- Sidebar module: The book’s purpose and how to use it (daily readings, group study, personal reflection)
- Three-image module: Three themes or seasons the devotional covers
- Author bio module: Personal faith journey and writing motivation
- Comparison table: Other devotional or faith-based titles
Children’s / Young Adult
- Hero module: Character art or illustrated scene from the book
- Sidebar module: Age range, reading level, and what parents/educators should know
- Four-image module: Characters, settings, or themes with brief introductions
- Author bio module: Author photo and credentials relevant to young readers
Measuring A+ Content Performance
Amazon doesn’t provide A+ Content-specific analytics. You’ll need to measure impact indirectly:
Conversion rate: Check your Unit Session Percentage in Seller Central → Business Reports → Detail Page Sales and Traffic. Compare the 30 days before A+ Content to the 30 days after.
Session duration: Not directly available, but higher conversion rates generally correlate with more engaged page visitors.
Cross-title sales: If your comparison table drives discovery, you should see increases in sales of the linked titles after the A+ Content goes live.
A/B testing: Amazon offers A+ Content Experiments (previously Manage Your Experiments) for brand-registered sellers. You can run a controlled test comparing two versions of your A+ Content to see which converts better. Tests run for a minimum of 4 weeks and require sufficient traffic for statistical significance.
Maintenance
A+ Content isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it asset. Update it when:
- You publish a new book (add it to comparison tables and Brand Story)
- You update your cover design (swap the images in relevant modules)
- You receive a notable endorsement or award (add it — but avoid “bestseller” or “#1” claims)
- Seasonal relevance changes (update imagery or taglines for gift-giving seasons if applicable)
Review your A+ Content quarterly. Five minutes of maintenance keeps your listings current and maximizes their selling power.
Caliana Press publishes fiction, nonfiction, textbooks, and educational content across all genres and formats.
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