The complete guide to Amazon A+ Content for self-published authors
Amazon A+ Content is one of the most underused tools available to KDP self-publishers. It's free. It typically improves conversion rates. And the majority of self-published books on Amazon still don't have it — which means the opportunity is wide open for authors who take thirty minutes to implement it properly.
What A+ Content actually is
Amazon A+ Content (previously called Enhanced Brand Content, or EBC) is a visual content layer you add to your Amazon book listing through Author Central. Instead of the standard text description, your listing gains a set of structured modules — image banners, product highlight grids, comparison charts, text-and-image blocks — that transform your listing from a basic product page into a mini landing page for your book.
For KDP authors, A+ Content is available through Author Central (authorcentral.amazon.com). You'll need at minimum one published book under your author name and the ability to upload images. The standard A+ Content tier is free; Amazon also offers A+ Premium Content with additional modules for vendors, but that tier is not available to KDP authors.
The five modules that work best for book listings
Amazon offers many module types, but for book listings specifically, five modules consistently perform:
Module 1: Hero Banner. A full-width image with minimal text overlay. Use your book cover prominently, a genre-aligned background image, and a single tagline (ten words or fewer). This is the first thing readers see and sets the visual tone for everything below.
Module 2: Product Highlights Grid. Three columns, each pairing a simple icon with a brief headline and one-sentence description. Use these to surface your book's three strongest selling points — not generic ("well-written") but specific and reader-benefit-focused ("chapters under 20 minutes, perfect for commuters").
Module 3: Comparison / Feature Table. Most commonly used in non-fiction, but also powerful for series fiction. Compare key attributes of your book, use it to highlight how your book handles specific elements that readers in your genre care about, or (for a series) show how each book relates to the others.
Module 4: From the Author. An image-and-text module with your author headshot and a short, personal message about why you wrote this book. This is where personality converts browsers. Keep it under 150 words. Be specific. Be human.
Module 5: Social Proof / Quotes. A quote module that you populate with reader testimonials, endorsements, or early reviewer comments. Even a single compelling quote ("I read this in one sitting" — ARC reader) can break a purchase-hesitation loop.
What A+ Content cannot do
Amazon has strict content policies for A+ Content. You cannot include: competitor product references, external website URLs, time-sensitive claims ("bestseller this week"), customer review text that hasn't come from Amazon directly, or superlative claims ("the best thriller ever written"). Violating these policies results in rejection and revision cycles. Always review Amazon's current A+ Content guidelines before submission.
A+ Content is also not indexed by Amazon for keyword search. Your ranking is determined by your title, subtitle, and backend keywords — not by A+ module text. The conversion rate impact of A+ Content is real, and higher conversion indirectly improves ranking, but A+ Content is a conversion tool, not a discoverability tool.
How long does A+ Content take to implement?
With your copy planned and images assembled, building A+ Content in Author Central takes approximately 30–60 minutes per book. The approval process takes 5–7 business days. Once approved, A+ Content is live immediately and remains live until you modify or remove it.
The bottleneck for most authors is gathering the images — particularly the author headshot and the hero banner background. Invest in a professional headshot; it appears everywhere your author brand appears, not just in A+ Content. For hero banner imagery, high-quality genre mood photography from Unsplash or Pexels works well and is free for commercial use.