Amazon X-RAY User Manual

X-RAY FOR AUTHORS

WHAT IS X-RAY?

The X-Ray feature is unique to the Kindle eBook reading experience. It allows the reader to learn more about people, places, and interesting phrases (known as “items”) from within the eBook. Customers can access X-Ray by long-pressing a word to see descriptions from Wikipedia and other sources on a Kindle device (see Figure 1). Customers who have already bought your eBook will receive the updated X-Ray content when their device is connected to the internet. Customer-facing information for this feature is available here. Feedback from readers has helped us identify great features like X-Ray as ways to enhance their non-fiction reading experience. At this time, X-Ray only supports books published in English.

FIGURE 1: X-RAY EXAMPLE

WHY IS X-RAY IMPORTANT?

X-Ray content from authors allows readers to explore a more immersive experience than they can get in the print book. With X-Ray, readers don’t have to leave the eBook to look up a term with another application or device. X-Ray helps customers get answers to their questions as they read, enriching their reading experience.

Through our other content programs, such as Search Inside the Book, Kindle Unlimited, and sample downloads, Amazon has learned that when we give customers a richer and more immersive experience with content, they become more engaged with both the content and the author. We have discovered that not only does X-Ray improve a reader’s ability to understand and immerse themselves in the reading, but it also makes them more likely to go further into your title.

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WHAT IS X-RAY FOR AUTHORS?

X-Ray for Authors is a web-based tool that allows authors to provide descriptions for items in a book. Over the past few years, Amazon has enabled X-Ray on thousands of Kindle titles to improve the customer reading experience. Because of the positive response that X-Ray has received from customers, we have created this new tool so that authors can add content to further deepen and enrich the reading experience that customers want.

WHAT DO I NEED TO DO?

Our goal is to identify and define 100% of important terms and characters in your title. We will do our best to find as many Wikipedia links and definitions as we can to enhance the reader’s experience. We are asking you to review and publish these items and add any additional content you would like using the X-Ray for Authors tool. In addition to adding any links and providing your own definitions, you can add commentary that will further enrich the reading experience.

The X-Ray for Author tool automatically prioritizes the most frequently used terms in your book. Amazon recommends starting with these frequently used terms, since they are likely to be important to understanding the book. Also, the more times a term shows up, the more likely a reader is to want information about it. The X-Ray content will not appear to readers until you have reviewed and published the links and definitions. As you publish definitions and character descriptions, you can see your progress in the tool.

WHAT CONTENT CAN BE ADDED?

The X-Ray for Author tool allows you to use a Wikipedia description or a custom description, but not both. Both types of content are detailed more fully below in Choosing Custom or Wikipedia Descriptions. Custom content adds an opportunity for you to further engage with your readers by providing insight and commentary that offer additional context. This content will appear as notes to the reader on their device. X-Ray content is not clickable and cannot link to external sites beyond Wikipedia. For this reason, we do not recommend including URLs to external websites.

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HOW TO USE X-RAY FOR AUTHORS

ACCESSING X-RAY FOR AUTHORS

To access X-Ray for Authors:

1.Sign in to kdp.amazon.com and go to your Bookshelf.

2.Click the ellipsis button ("…") under KINDLE EBOOK ACTIONS for the title you want to review and a menu pops up.

3.Select Launch X-Ray from the menu.

If you have enabled X-Ray for Authors for your account, X-Ray for Authors opens in a new tab.

If you have not enabled X-Ray for Authors for your account, the X-Ray content is not turned on for this book message is displayed. Click the Request X-Ray button. The process could take up to four hours and you will be notified when it is complete.

VIEWING THE TUTORIAL AND FAQS

By default, the X-Ray for Authors tool has a tutorial that pops up when you open the tool (see Figure 2). As long as the Always show this message box is left checked, the tutorial opens whenever you open the X-Ray for Authors site. If you uncheck this box and want to view the tutorial later, click the Tutorial link at the top of the screen. For detailed information regarding the X-Ray for Author tool, click the FAQ link at the top of the screen.

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