Should You Update Your Backlist for Amazon's "A11" Changes?
If you’ve been hanging around author Facebook groups lately, you’ve probably heard whispers about Amazon’s new A11 algorithm. Here’s a great technical breakdown.
Amazon has publicly said they haven’t rolled out some giant new algorithm update. But as a customer—and an author who spends way too much time on Amazon—I can absolutely see changes happening on the user side, especially in search.
Whether that’s because of one giant update or hundreds of tiny ones behind the scenes almost doesn’t matter. The shopping experience feels different. From everything I’ve been reading and observing, here’s what many of us believe is happening.
Amazon appears to be moving away from simply matching keywords and toward understanding reader intent.
Instead of asking: “Does this book contain these words?”
The search engine seems to be asking: “Is this actually the kind of book this reader wants?”
That means Amazon appears to be placing greater emphasis on things like:
Better metadata and category alignment
Stronger product pages
Conversion rates
Reviews
Reader engagement
Author branding
External traffic
Overall customer satisfaction
Again, Amazon hasn’t confirmed all of this.
This is simply what many of us in the author community are observing as we watch search results change and compare notes.
Which brings me to my own little experiment.
Instead of arguing on the internet about whether A11 exists, I picked a handful of low-performing books in my Shanae Johnson backlist.
I updated them.
I refreshed metadata.
I tightened descriptions.
I looked at keywords.
I made sure the books accurately reflected what readers would actually search for.
Then I waited.
Two weeks later...
I’m seeing an increase in sales.
Now, am I claiming this proves the existence of A11? Absolutely not. Correlation isn’t causation.
Maybe the updates helped.
Maybe Amazon reindexed the books.
Maybe the algorithm gods smiled upon me.
Maybe all three.
But here’s what I do know. Refreshing your backlist is almost never wasted effort. At worst, you’ve cleaned up your metadata and improved your product pages. At best, you’ve made your books easier for readers to discover. Whether Amazon changed the algorithm or not, that’s a worthwhile project.
One thing I’ve learned after twelve years in publishing is that authors who thrive aren’t the ones who panic every time someone says “Amazon changed the algorithm.” They’re the ones who keep improving their assets.
So instead of spending hours trying to reverse engineer Amazon...
Open up your backlist.
Look at your blurbs.
Look at your keywords.
Look at your categories.
Ask yourself if your product page accurately reflects the book you wrote and the readers who will love it.
That’s something you can control.
And I don’t know about you, but I sleep a whole lot better when I’m focused on the things I can actually control.
Want more launch strategies? You should check out my Page Turner Planning series where I give you a year’s worth of marketing, business, and writing advice.
And don’t forget to follow my Diversified Author Blueprint Kickstarter. I’m currently documenting my processes for selling across various platforms and strategies so that I’m not dependent on one retailer or algorithm.
