Look Inside

Look Inside / Search Inside the Book (SItB) and other retail preview capabilities improve search optimization and help to ensure the best possible consumer experience. Enable book previews so consumers can view sample content from your titles. (Marketing Insights assesses whether or not consumers have the option to “Look inside!” on the book’s Amazon page, not the quality or depth of the content itself.)

Potential online buyers cannot pick up a book to see what they will get if they buy. Look Inside allows consumers to virtually leaf through the book as they might in a physical bookstore and ultimately make a more informed purchasing decision. The more content you can provide, the better.

Look Inside can improve discovery and conversion for any book, but it is especially crucial for consumer non-fiction, professional, and academic titles (where content like the table of contents, introduction, and index provide important detail about what is covered) and for highly illustrated titles like children's books, coffee table books, travel guides, and cookbooks where consumers want to see the internal illustrations and images.

How does it work?

Look Inside/SItB rules, features, and functionality vary by book format and publication status. Titles available for Look Inside have a bright orange and blue "Look inside!" message and arrow indicator above the book cover image on the Amazon product detail page.

• Kindle titles
  Look Inside previews are enabled by default on Kindle editions using the defined Kindle sample (10% of the book by default). These are typically made available within one week of the on-sale date for the book. Kindle previews include the book cover, front matter, and a portion of the beginning of the book.
• Print titles
  Print titles are enrolled in Look Inside via PDF submission. Publishers may define a Percent Viewing Limit between 10% and 80% to control the amount of the book consumers may view. (The default limit is 20%.) Front matter and back matter do not count toward this percentage. The same sample may be used for multiple print formats (e.g. hardcover and trade paperback) if the text is the same. See the PDF file submission requirementsin Amazon's FAQ for details on preparing and sending print book files.
• Search
  Consumers may choose to "Search Inside" print books, which can change the portions of a book that are viewable to each consumer. You may request special restrictions ib which pages are available in the Look Inside / Search Inside preview. At this time, users cannot "search inside" Kindle editions.
• Pre-publication
  Look Inside is not available for pre-order titles, though publishers may submit content in advance so the feature is in place when titles go on sale. You may upload the PDF sample prior to publication and set the Minimum Onsite Date to ensure preview content is not available before the on-sale date.

Best Practices & Guidelines

While you may not have precise control over which portions of the book are included or viewed by a consumer, here are a few key things to keep in mind when setting percentage limits or restricting pages.

• Sample percentage limits should be set high enough to ensure that a potential buyer can view a meaningful portion of the book.
• The full table of contentsis particularly useful for non-fiction works and professional, academic, and scholarly titles where buyers may be interested in the depth and breadth of content included in the book.
• The introductionand/or first chapter of both fiction and non-fiction titles can give readers a sense of the content, tone, and style of a book and help to hook them in for more.
• Sample illustrations and imagesare especially critical for highly-illustrated print titles—like children's books, coffee table books, and travel guides—where the quality of the images is a key factor in the purchasing decision.
• The back cover and flapsoften include great sales copy and context for potential buyers that they will not find elsewhere on the online product page.

References & Resources

• Look Inside the Book Program [Amazon]
• Look Inside Frequently Asked Questions [Amazon]