How to Set Up an ‘Also by the Author’ Page Readers Can Actually Find

An “Also by the Author” page is the list of your other books inside each book you publish. Convention puts it near the front of a print book and at the back of an ebook. List each series in reading order, use links each store allows, and mirror the same list on your author website.

What Goes on an “Also by the Author” Page, and Where Does It Sit?

The “Also by the Author” page is sometimes headed “Also by [Your Name]” or “Books by [Your Name]”. It lists every other book you have published, so a reader who enjoyed this one can find the rest. It belongs to the furniture of the book rather than the story. The pages before your first chapter are called front matter. The pages after the story ends are called back matter.

Where it sits depends on the format. In print, the convention is front matter. The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) layout guide places “Also by Author Name” on page 3 of a paperback, before the copyright and title pages. In an ebook, the same guide moves the list to the back matter. The reason is practical. E-reading apps usually open a new book at the first chapter, so front matter goes unseen. The sample a potential reader previews in an online store is also built from the start of the file. As a result, every page of furniture at the front costs you a page of story in the sample. The list earns more at the back, where a reader who has just finished the book is deciding what to read next.

Keep the page itself simple: your other titles, grouped under headings, in a type size smaller than the body text. It can also carry a “coming soon” line for the next book, which is covered in the FAQ below.

Should You List Books in Series Order or Publication Order?

Order your “Also by the Author” list the way a reader would want to read the books, not the order you happened to publish them. For a series, that means reading order: book 1 first, numbered, under the series name as a heading. Amazon KDP draws the same distinction in its own series setup. It separates ordered series (one story, read in sequence) from unordered series (linked books readable in any order). If your books stand alone, publication order or genre groupings work fine.

With more than one series, give each series its own heading and its own numbered list, then group standalones under a separate heading. A reader who has just finished book 3 of one series is looking for book 4 of that series. Make that the easiest thing to find; do not bury it in one long alphabetical list.

Pen names get their own lists. If you write cozy mysteries under one name and thrillers under another, each name’s books stay under that name. The two lists only meet if you openly connect the identities. Whatever grouping you choose, use the same one everywhere: in every book, on your website, and in your store metadata. Metadata simply means the title, series, and author details you enter when you publish. Consistency is what lets readers, and the stores’ own systems, assemble your catalogue correctly.

Which Links Are Allowed Inside an Ebook’s Book List?

In an ebook, each title on your “Also by the Author” page can be a live link. The store you publish through, however, has a say in where those links point. Amazon’s KDP hyperlink guidelines welcome links to previous or subsequent books in a series, and prohibit links to commercial ebook stores other than Amazon. The same page prohibits links to web forms that collect customer information, such as an email address. It also states that Amazon may remove links at its discretion. Other major stores publish less prescriptive rules. None of the publishing guidelines we reviewed states an equivalent ban on rival store links. Every store, however, polices content it considers primarily promotional.

Those rules create a practical problem for authors who publish wide (sell through many stores rather than one). A link that suits the Kindle edition is wrong for every other store’s edition. Two tools solve it. A universal book link, such as a free Books2Read link, is a single URL that shows the reader every store carrying the book. It also remembers their preferred store for next time. Because it points to a chooser page rather than a rival store, it travels safely across editions. An aggregator (a service that sends one uploaded book out to many stores) can even build the page for you. Draft2Digital’s automated end matter (“end matter” is simply another name for back matter) generates the “Also by” page and inserts store-correct links per channel. The copy delivered to each store then links to that store’s edition.

If you build the list yourself, build it once with universal links and reuse it across every edition, rather than maintaining a separate list per store. One well-made page is easier to keep truthful than five slightly different ones. Links also need to work on the devices your readers actually use; we have covered which hyperlinks break on Kindle devices separately.

How Do You Handle the Book List in a Print Book?

A print book list has no live links, and it does not need any. The titles themselves do the work: a reader who finishes your paperback and wants more will search the next title by name. A clean list of titles, grouped by series in reading order, is a complete “Also by the Author” page for print.

If you do add a pointer, send readers to one short address you control, such as your website’s book list, rather than printing a store URL under every title. Style it for typing, not clicking: drop the “https://”, and drop the “www.” if the address still resolves without it. Never let a URL hyphenate across a line break, because a reader will type the hyphen. A QR code beside the address gives smartphone readers a no-typing route to the same page.

Print also outlives links. A paperback sold this year may be read in ten, and store URLs change or die in that time. That is the strongest argument for pointing print readers at a page on your own domain. It is the only address you will still control when the book turns up on a shelf years from now.

How Do You Keep the List Current After Publishing?

Publishing a new book instantly dates the “Also by the Author” list in every book you published before it. The fix is routine maintenance, not a new edition. An updated book list counts as a minor correction. Minor corrections do not need a new ISBN, the 13-digit identifier assigned to that edition of the book. A new ISBN is only for significant changes to the work itself, such as new chapters or a new title. Every major platform lets you replace the interior file of a published book. On KDP, for example, you upload the revised file to the existing book from your bookshelf.

Two caveats keep expectations realistic. First, updating the file changes what new buyers receive; stores do not automatically push a revised file to people who already own the book. Second, the work is manual unless your distributor automates it. The Draft2Digital end matter feature described above also adds newly published titles to your earlier books automatically.

You can also design the list so it ages well. A line such as “Find the complete, current list at yourauthorname.com/books” never goes stale, because the page it points to is the thing you update. Hard-coded phrases like “my newest book” are the first thing to rot; the evergreen pointer is the last.

How Do Readers Find Your Full Book List Outside the Book?

Readers who want your full catalogue rarely open a book to find it; they search your name. Queries like “[author name] books in order” and “[author name] bibliography” are common ways readers look up a writer’s works list. For most indie authors, the top results are retailer pages rather than anything the author controls. Three assets answer those searches.

The first is a works list page on your own website: one page listing every title, grouped and ordered exactly as in your books. Add a buy link beside each entry; a universal link works well here too. Because you control it, it is the one version of the list that is always complete and current. It is also the page your evergreen back matter pointer should target. But it only works if readers can reach it, which is part of why owning your author audience matters more than any single store presence.

The second is your store author page. Amazon Author Central is free, lets you gather all your books on one author page, and gives readers a Follow button for new-release notifications.

The third is the store-built series page. The major ebook stores assemble these automatically, provided the series details in your metadata match exactly across every book. That means the same series name, spelled and punctuated identically, and each book’s position given as a plain number. KDP, for example, requires the digit alone: “3”, not “Book 3”. We have covered setting up an Amazon series page in detail. The in-book list, the website list, and the store pages all draw on the same grouping and ordering decisions; make them once, then repeat them everywhere.

The “Also by the Author” page is small, cheap to maintain, and one of the few marketing assets that ships inside the product itself. Decide the grouping and order once, and place the list where each format’s readers will actually see it. Keep ebook links within the stores’ rules, and let one page on your own website hold the master copy that everything else points to.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where does the “Also by the Author” page go in a book?

In a print book, convention places the “Also by the Author” page in the front matter, typically on the page before (and facing) the title page. In an ebook, it moves to the back matter, because e-reading apps open at the first chapter and store samples are built from the front of the file.

Should you include a book that is not published yet?

Yes: an unpublished book can appear as a “coming soon” line under its series, and in an ebook that line can link to the book’s pre-order listing. In print, avoid dated promises such as “out this spring”; an undated title, or a pointer to your website for news, ages better.

Do you need a new ISBN to update your back matter?

No: an updated book list counts as a minor correction, and platforms let you upload a revised file to the existing edition under the same ISBN. A new ISBN is only needed for significant changes to the work, such as new chapters or a changed title.

Is the “Also by the Author” page the same as an Amazon series page?

No. The “Also by the Author” page is static content you write and maintain inside each book file. An Amazon series page, like an Author Central author page, is generated by the store from your metadata and updates as you publish. They complement each other; neither replaces the other.

What is a universal book link?

A universal book link is a single URL that shows the reader every store carrying a book and lets them choose where to buy it. Free services build one from any store URL, and the link can be updated later without changing what you printed or published.