Make your book an identifiable entity
If a title has no dedicated page, people and crawlers may have to infer everything from a post and an image. Publish a stable page for each title with an exact name, author, original language, edition language, genre, cover, honest blurb, sample chapter and real buying options. Make the series relation and navigation clear.
Bilingual sites need correct language signals
Use different URLs for each language and reciprocal hreflang. Use self-canonical links, accurate translations and an English x-default if English is your main international landing. Don't make up ISBNs, release years, review counts or rights statements to fill rich snippets.
Structured data is descriptive, not a shortcut
Use valid Book/Person or Article JSON-LD where appropriate. Google's book action specification has extra feed and eligibility requirements, so basic Book markup does not automatically earn purchase buttons in Search. Validate the markup and page content, not just a test score.
What AI search actually uses
Google says ordinary Search fundamentals also apply to AI Overviews and AI Mode. There is no guaranteed 'LLM ranking file'. An llms.txt may provide a readable resource directory, but its existence alone doesn't guarantee any assistant will crawl or cite the site.
Earn real citations rather than buying links
Independent reviews, original author interviews, translators discussing their process and book-club reading guides offer publishers and readers factual reasons to link. A genuine interview can be quoted and discovered for years. Do not manufacture fake review identities, claim coverage you haven't earned or trade free copies for favourable ratings.
What to include in an author media kit
Author bio and headshot, correct cover JPEGs, two-sentence book descriptions, verified retailer and sample links, publication status, representative contact, honest rights notes and reading-group questions. A real example is Nadi Petrova's media kit paired with free club questions.
How to notify search engines
Update sitemap.xml and robots.txt's Sitemap directive and submit the sitemap to Google Search Console. For a few priority pages, URL Inspection lets verified owners request indexing; it is not guaranteed. Google's official documentation says sitemap submission is best for many URLs. IndexNow notifies participating engines such as Bing and Yandex, not Google.
Measure meaningful outcomes
Track branded title queries in Search Console, book-page impressions/clicks, actual review URL links and retailer click-throughs. Don't confuse sent pitches with published backlinks or indexing with sales. For a first outreach campaign, see the editorial pitch templates and choose reviewers by genre.
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Outreach email templates · Women's fiction · Fantasy and sci-fi