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Reader, Having sold a million copies, author Mike Michalowicz writes in Get Different that we have a responsibility to market. “If you’ve created something better than what’s out there, you’re actually doing a disservice to people by not marketing it.” The fear of being selfish holds back a surprising amount of would-be bestselling authors. The next time you’re unsure whether to send your pitch, hand your book to someone, or reach out to influencers – think about the people who will have to settle for something worse-or nothing at all. In some cases, 3 Secrets: 1. The 200 list: A mandatory list to be made by any author who launches a book. This is going to be 200 people who you will directly reach out to to leave an Amazon rating and/or reviews. They consist of: Because reaching out to 200 means you have a better chance at getting 100 because not everyone is going to leave one. No book should launch with with less than 100 reviews within 3 months if you make your list and execute on it. Little tip I recently stole from Sierra from Red Thread Publishing: Mention in your ask message to them that a video review would be helpful or if they’re busy, even just just giving it a 1-5 star rating would be huge so they don’t even have to write anything. It makes giving the quick star rating seem like nothing compared to leaving a video review and you may even get some video reviews. “I was selling 10 books a day and now I’m just selling 2!? WTF!?” This can happen overnight when someone leaves a nasty review and Amazon makes it your “Top” review. I’ve seen it happen time and time again. If you notice a drop in sales, check if there’s been a change to what reviews Amazon is showing first on your product page.
What can you do about it? First, Amazon prioritizes richness in detail and length when determining whose review to show first. If you’ve received a bad rating, reach out to a fan or reader to update an existing review or leave a review that’s even long and more detailed than the current Top Reviews. Secondly, Amazon prioritizes reviews that have been marked as “helpful”
Under each review you have the option to click Helpful. Get your team to hop on and click helpful for the most accurate reviews. After a week or two, you should any bad reviews move their way down the list so it’s not the first thing readers see. 3. The 100 Myth: However, the truth is that there is not a specific number of ratings that Amazon starts pushing your book on their platform. I believe this myth comes from the fact that if you have 100 ratings from legitimate readers who read within your niche, you’ve given Amazon enough data to start promoting your book to the right people organically or with Amazon Ads. One hundred is not some magical number. However, 100 is a good number to shoot for, so Amazon has enough data to make effective recommendations. Amazon makes money when a book sells, so they actively work to collect data about who your book is for. With 100 ratings, they know what people who read your book also read, so they can make more informed conclusions about who your book is for. 2 Links
1 Quote “It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.” with love and sincere appreciation,
Alex |
