The Best Series is based on a presentation by Wheatmark author James D. Best, author of The Shopkeeper, The Shut Mouth Society, and the upcoming release Leadville. Best has offered 10 tips on how to use Amazon to sell your book and we'll look at each tip in depth in a series of blog posts.
Tip No. 4: Get Customer Reviews
When getting ready to purchase something, how do you determine whether the product is one of quality? Most people do research, they read up on the item and weigh the pros and cons from the reviews the item has received online.
If you were to go on Amazon.com and look up, say, weed whackers, you are not likely to purchase the model that received zero stars and horrible reviews. Books are the same way. You need reviews and you really, really want good ones.
Reviews help to entice people to make a buy decision. Having reviews that talk positively and intelligently about your book will help persuade your buyer to put your book in their shopping cart.
How do you get reviews? You ask for them.
The majority of your first book sales will most likely be to people you know. Ask them to review your book on Amazon. That is, if they liked it. If they didn't, ask them to stay mum about it. You don't want them to pretend they liked it either. You also don't really want to go on there and write your own glowing review. Readers can spot phony reviews fairly easily.
Although you don't really want a negative review on your page, a well-written lukewarm review won't necessarily hurt you. Often a not-quite a rave will realistically portray your work and often will have nice things to say about it despite a low-star rating.
It is often easy to get people to agree to review your book. It is even more of a battle to get them to follow through. People are busy. You need to ask early and follow up. You'll probably have to follow up with them several times. Despite your discomfort in "nagging" them, in the end, their excellent review could make the difference in a sale. So keep pushing. Don't threaten their kneecaps or anything, but gentle pushes reminding them to log on and review your book won't likely break a friendly relationship.
If you do receive a negative review, well, that's life. Find someone who likes you and likes your book to put up their positive review soon. As the favorable reviews stack up, you'll be able to push that negative review lower on the page and it will have less weight to the buyer.
What if no one likes your book? The truth is difficult sometimes. If no one likes your book and the reviews are going badly, it is time to look at your product. Take the feedback into consideration and get ready to go back to the drawing board. You may need to consider some revisions and more professional editing.
Remember, having an excellent book is tip No. 1.
Another thing you might want to consider is who you are giving the book to. It might not be fruitful to give your sci-fi erotica novel to your Aunt Mona, whose views make the mother in Carrie seem lenient. Get reviews from readers who are familiar with your book's genre and can accurately review it.
Upcoming in the Best Series is Tip No. 5: Get Lots of Tags.
Tip No. 4: Get Customer Reviews
- Get Real Reviews--People Spot Phonies
- Ask Early & Follow Up--People are Busy
- Make Sure They Like It--Otherwise, Mum's the Word
- Manage Helpful Votes--Keep Selling Reviews on Top
When getting ready to purchase something, how do you determine whether the product is one of quality? Most people do research, they read up on the item and weigh the pros and cons from the reviews the item has received online.
If you were to go on Amazon.com and look up, say, weed whackers, you are not likely to purchase the model that received zero stars and horrible reviews. Books are the same way. You need reviews and you really, really want good ones.
Reviews help to entice people to make a buy decision. Having reviews that talk positively and intelligently about your book will help persuade your buyer to put your book in their shopping cart.
How do you get reviews? You ask for them.
The majority of your first book sales will most likely be to people you know. Ask them to review your book on Amazon. That is, if they liked it. If they didn't, ask them to stay mum about it. You don't want them to pretend they liked it either. You also don't really want to go on there and write your own glowing review. Readers can spot phony reviews fairly easily.
Although you don't really want a negative review on your page, a well-written lukewarm review won't necessarily hurt you. Often a not-quite a rave will realistically portray your work and often will have nice things to say about it despite a low-star rating.
It is often easy to get people to agree to review your book. It is even more of a battle to get them to follow through. People are busy. You need to ask early and follow up. You'll probably have to follow up with them several times. Despite your discomfort in "nagging" them, in the end, their excellent review could make the difference in a sale. So keep pushing. Don't threaten their kneecaps or anything, but gentle pushes reminding them to log on and review your book won't likely break a friendly relationship.
If you do receive a negative review, well, that's life. Find someone who likes you and likes your book to put up their positive review soon. As the favorable reviews stack up, you'll be able to push that negative review lower on the page and it will have less weight to the buyer.
What if no one likes your book? The truth is difficult sometimes. If no one likes your book and the reviews are going badly, it is time to look at your product. Take the feedback into consideration and get ready to go back to the drawing board. You may need to consider some revisions and more professional editing.
Remember, having an excellent book is tip No. 1.
Another thing you might want to consider is who you are giving the book to. It might not be fruitful to give your sci-fi erotica novel to your Aunt Mona, whose views make the mother in Carrie seem lenient. Get reviews from readers who are familiar with your book's genre and can accurately review it.
Upcoming in the Best Series is Tip No. 5: Get Lots of Tags.
Labels: Amazon, Best Series, book marketing, book reviews
posted by KatG on 2/23/2009
Permalink
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home