Amazon.com Reviews – A How To Guide for Authors

Recently, I highlighted a book on this blog sent to me by the author. When I checked the book on Amazon.com I noticed there were no reviews. Usually, this would mean the book may not be very good. However, I noticed the book was published by a company I am familiar with and one I'm sure wouldn't put their name on a book that wouldn't sell.

Why were there no reviews?

Granted, it was a new book, only out for about two months. But many authors have reviews ready, some before the book is officially launched. I suspect this particular publisher relies more on sales through their own website and isn't as interested in Amazon.com. However, let's face it, Amazon is where many buyers turn for books. As authors, we need to use Amazon to help sell books as much as possible.

The notes below are from my own experience. However, I have read Brent Sampson's book, Sell Your Book on Amazon, and you may want to check it for more information.

A higher number of reviews implies a higher number of sales. A potential buyer would think books with more reviews are more popular and therefore, must be good. Karen Kingsbury's Leaving, published by Zondervan less than two months ago has 355 reviews.

Amazon reviews are rated with 1-5 stars, with 5 being the best. A potential buyer would think If all reviews are fours or fives, they are probably written by friends of the author and therefore not as reliable as books with some lower-rated reviews. Of the 355 reviews, Kingsbury's Leaving has 302 five stars, 31 four stars, 13 three stars, 5 two stars, and 4 one stars. That's a good mix. Remember, ratings are very subjective. Some readers save their five star ratings for Pulitzer Prize winning books, while others will give a one star to a book just because the author changed her genre since the last book.

At the end of each review is this question: Was this review helpful to you? followed by a Yes button and a No button. When checked, the results are tallied and presented at the beginning of each review in the form of x of y people found the following review helpful: As you might think, even these x and y numbers may affect book sales. What this implies to the potential buyer is that x + y people are interested enough in the book that they have read and commented on the review. Authors should periodically click the Yes and No buttons of reviews for their books to increase the numbers.

How do you get reviews?

To get reviews on Amazon, start with your friends. They're going to buy books anyway, or perhaps you've given them a complimentary copy because they helped you with the book by being an early reader. If your friends are not familiar with writing or posting reviews, teach them.

Next, find bloggers who write reviews for free copies of books. There are many of them, myself included. Most of us stay busy and will not take on more than we can handle, so you may need to look around to find the right person at the time you need the review. Also, these reviewers tend to specialize in what they review. Recent laws have made it necessary for reviewers who receive free books to say so. However, I don't feel this takes away from the review since they are not obligated to give a good review.

Writing book reviews helps publicize your book.

If you haven't already done so, you may want to review books you have read to get a feel for how it works and to get your name out there on the Internet more. If you bought the book through Amazon.com, be sure to go to the edition you purchased before submitting your review. Why? Because Amazon will say your review is based on a verified purchase and that will add credibility. I recently reviewed Already Home by Susan Mallery and forgot to switch to the Kindle edition before posting my review, so, even though I had paid for the book, the review doesn't include the verified purchase message. I wish Amazon would change to where they would check all editions automatically.

Another benefit of writing reviews for Amazon is that you can post the same review elsewhere. I use Goodreads and Shelfari. This gives you more hits on your name when someone Google's you. That, in turn, leads to more book sales.

Have you had experience with book reviews? If so, let me hear from you.

Amazon.com Tags -- Yea or Nay?

In Amazon.com, product tags are used to make it easier for buyers to find products. It is a convenient way for book sellers to encourage people looking for a particular type of book to check yours, too. For example, if a reader enjoys books about Austin, Texas, tags will help find them. Of course there are many such books, so this might not be practical. The hits include fiction and non-fiction. I tried searching on bookmobile and found a much smaller list.

According to specialists on the subject, tagging helps sell books because it adds a particular search keyword to the book. In addition, the tag becomes more important as more people agree with the tag.

In addition to agreeing with tags already there, you can also add tags.

In Brent Sampson's book, Sell Your Book on Amazon, I learned that multiple tag words are best, but only if they are relevant. Multiple tag words increase the likelihood that more people will agree with one of the tags. This, in turn, tells the Amazon search engine that the tag is more appropriate for the book.

Where Love Once Lived had two tags when I first looked: austin and texas. I'm not sure if Rollo added those or if the publisher did, but they are good.

I added the following:

1. alzheimers
2. austin texas
3. austin public library
4. bookmobile
5. christian fiction
6. christianity
7. clarksville
8. inspirational
9. interracial romance
10. librarian
11. race relations
12. romance
13. teacher

As you enter a new tag, you see tags that are already in the database for all books. I noticed that there are variations of the tags in Amazon.com. Librarian and librarians, for example. Teacher and teachers. I tried using both to increase hits, but I then learned there is a 15-tag limit for each person.

If you have read Where Love Once Lived, would you review the tags there now by going to http://www.amazon.com/Where-Love-Lived-Sidney-Frost/dp/1451511817/ and scrolling down to the tag section (just below my photo) and click agree if you agree and add tags if you think others may apply.

Also, I would like your opinion about some of the tags I added such as Alzheimer's, interracial romance, race relations, etc. Will these mislead people searching or help them? If I leave these tags in, should I add the subject matter to the book description? What about Christianity? Is that too general?

Selling books isn't as easy as it looks.

BOOK REVIEW: Sell Your Book on Amazon

I read Sell Your Book on Amazon, Second Edition, by Brent Sampson, published in 2010 by OutskirtsPress.com.

This book provides an insight into the many ways you can sell books on Amazon.com. These techniques could be useful to book publishers of all sizes, but I believe the independent publisher or self publisher will benefit most. Sampson describes ways to increase sales and profits in a simple, easy to follow format.

I bought this book because I have a self-published book due out soon and I know it will be up to me to create interest in the book. Amazon is the best known online bookstore in the world and it is profitable because it helps publishers sell books. Sampson's book tells how to take advantage of the many ways Amazon can help.

Sell Your Book on Amazon describes how to set up your author center and profile. It describes how to take advantage of reviews, lists, and guides. It tells you how to automatically add your blog to Amazon.

The book also tells the reader how Amazon works and how it changes. It also tells you how you might make more profit on each sale.

Although my book is not out yet and I haven't used what I learned, I feel confident now that I can get more out of the Amazon services. The only trouble I had with the book was that there tended to be some repetition. Sampson would describe a technique in detail in an introductory summary and then again in a detail chapter.