Affiliate Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means if you click on them and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission (at no extra charge to you).

An author acquaintance recently announced their new book in a manner that almost guarantees the announcement won’t sell any copies.

Why?

Because they provided a purchase link for an obscure book retailer. While I suspect that was probably to make a statement about how the author feels about Amazon, it’s the wrong link to use when you want to sell books.

When it comes to book sales, Amazon is where it’s at.

Amazon’s share of book sales

Simply put, Amazon sells more books online than anyone else.

Market researcher IBISWorld reports that Amazon is responsible for more than 80% of online book sales in the U.S.

More specifically, according to research firm WordsRated, Amazon has at least 40% of the print book market in the U.S. and 50% of that market in the UK. In addition, it claims two-thirds of e-book sales.

“Where should I sell my book?”

You want to sell your book where people are buying books. This data makes it clear that’s Amazon.

It appears that not everybody realizes this, though.

I’m reminded of this lack of awareness when authors-to-be ask in online groups and forums, “Where should I sell my book online?” or “Should I sell my book on Amazon?”

Both questions suggest:

• They didn’t research how book publishing works before they wrote their book – always a mistake.
• They aren’t book buyers, since most who buy online (the only way to purchase e-books) purchase on Amazon. (And book buyers are readers… and all writers should be readers…so writers should buy books.)

Amazon’s dominance means that it’s the most important place to offer your book for sale if your goal is to get it into the hands of readers.

More reasons to sell on Amazon

There are other reasons to use Amazon as your primary sales outlet, too.

One is that the retailer’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) service makes self-publishing effective and affordable. In fact, without KDP, most self-published books would remain on authors’ computers, never reaching the people they wrote them for.

The KDP system also offers sales data and feedback you can use to monitor how and when your book is selling. This information can help determine which of your marketing activities are working – and which aren’t.

Amazon also offers marketing tools you won’t get elsewhere, including:

• The “read sample” feature (the former more obvious/less hidden “Look Inside”) that lets readers preview the book’s quality
• An easy way for readers to write reviews (a must-have)
• The ability to run on-site ads that can help your book show up in Amazon search results
• Amazon A+ Content, which lets you add quote graphics, photos, other images, and videos to your book’s sales page so it stands out and works harder to sell your books

What other online book retailer offers these services?

None.

Plus, this retail powerhouse offers an established customer base accustomed to buying everything from books to balloons to bassoons on the site.

(And did I mention that Amazon sells more books online than anyone else?)

Should you sell your book through other retailers, too?

If you haven’t enrolled your book in Amazon’s KDP Select program that gives Amazon exclusive e-book sales rights, consider selling your e-book on other retail sites as well. (The KDP Select distribution limitation doesn’t apply to print books.)

Barnes & Noble is probably the best known platform, but I regularly hear from authors who do well on Kobo while others like Smashwords. Those with a strong platform – a following – often sell from their websites, too.

Our article, “Where can you buy books online besides Amazon?,” is a good starting point for identifying where else you might want to sell your books.

Where I buy books online

Also consider your own book-buying habits as you explore options. For what it’s worth, here’s where I buy three book formats online. 

E-books

Amazon, because I read on a Kindle. It’s the logical choice.

Print books

Bookshop.org, where my account is linked to my local independent bookseller so it makes money every time I buy a book on the site. I buy in-person at a local bookseller as often as possible, but I use Bookshop to send books as gifts.

Audiobooks

Libro.fm and Chirp. Libro supports indie retailers in the same way Bookshop does, so my purchases there support my designated indie store. Chirp is owned by BookBub, which means that like with BookBub, the daily Chirp emails offer sale prices on audiobooks in categories I’ve selected.

Sell your books on Amazon!

I understand why some people don’t like Amazon. But if you want to sell books, you have no choice but to list there. Consumers have made it clear they want to buy books on Amazon.

So, take advantage of all the retailer offers. Optimize your book’s sales page, too, so it works as hard as it can for you.

And, use your book’s Amazon page link in your marketing, no matter how you feel about the mega-retailer. Sending readers to online retailers they’re not familiar or comfortable with only hurts you, not Amazon.

You’ll serve both yourself and your readers when you use your Amazon link.

Where do you sell your book online besides Amazon? Please tell us in a comment.

I’ve known Richard McCartney, our guest blogger, for several years. He’s the founder of KBookPromotions, a site named by PAID AUTHOR as one of the Best Book Promotions Sites in 2022 and 2023. Richard is also the author of a book series on self-publishing. Each of his books reached #1 on Amazon’s bestseller lists, garnered hundreds of reviews, and won awards such as the Book Excellence Awards for Marketing. Richard is often invited to speak as an expert on publishing, self-publishing, and book marketing.

Huge changes in Amazon KDP: What authors need to know in 2023

By Richard McCartney

Just when you thought it was safe to dip your toes back into KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing), Amazon has changed the rules again.

At the end of May, Amazon KDP announced a raft of immediate new changes, the most important of which concerned book categories. It also increased print on demand services pricing effective June 20.

These changes have much wider repercussions. For example, many books in the Amazon store related to self-publishing and dated before June 2023 will become largely out of date, because most reference book category selection or expected ROI from book sales.

Many authors were alarmed when they heard they could only select three categories. How would this impact their sales and visibility?  To better understand this, let’s look at how book category selection use to work, and how it works now.

Affiliate Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means if you click on them and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission (at no extra charge to you).

Previously, on Amazon…

Previously, Amazon had a pretty flawed system where authors were asked to select two categories when uploading their book into KDP.

Unknown to many, the categories displayed to them were notably limited and different from the larger selection of categories readers could actually browse through on the Amazon website.

Also, unknown to many authors, up to 10 categories could be added to a book, but for this to happen authors had to email KDP Support.

As you can imagine, this was a rather unfair and troublesome system because many authors didn’t know they could add more than the two categories provided in KDP.

This put them at a disadvantage.

Changes in Amazon KDP should eliminate category stuffing issue

Added to this, Amazon Support rarely checked the category selections sent to them, so some more savvy authors started abusing the system by employing what some call “category stuffing.”

This malpractice places a book in niche categories where only a few sales are needed to reach the bestseller lists (perhaps even reach the #1 spot), even if the book is irrelevant in those particular categories. For example, a steamy vampire novel could appear in the bestseller list for photography.

Why it took Amazon so long to resolve this flawed system remains a mystery. However, finally, all that is largely over.

And now …

Amazon has simplified the category selection process by listing all categories inside KDP. That means we can now select from a much broader range of categories than before. And, should we change our minds on the categories selected, we can update them whenever we like through our KDP Bookshelf.

One notable limitation is that Amazon now restricts books to three categories. On the whole, this is a good thing because it should prevent the malpractice of “category stuffing” I mentioned before. It should also fix a glitch many authors reported in November 2022 regarding incorrect categories showing for their books.

NOTE: The three-category limitation takes effect when you update your book. If no change is made, then you remain with the categories you had before the May 2023 changes.

Amazon has simplified the category selection process by listing all categories inside KDP. That means we can now select from a much broader range of categories than before.Click to tweet

Category selection tips

Being limited to just three categories makes your book category selection all the more important.

When publishing an e-book in KDP, most authors will select the first two categories that come to mind when browsing the list of categories now provided in KDP. In many cases, this is a mistake.

One of the objectives in selecting categories for your book is not so much to select the most logical ones, but rather the “best fit” ones. By this, I mean selecting the categories where you book is most likely to be found in the Amazon Store.

Amazon shoppers often discover books by entering keywords in the search box and by searching through the bestseller lists. Amazon has a “Top 100” list in hundreds of categories, and many readers will look at these lists.

Amazon shoppers often discover books by entering keywords in the search box and by searching through the bestseller lists.Click to tweet

So, one of your goals should be to try and select at least one category where your book appears in these lists with minimum sales effort needed. Popular tools like Publisher Rocket help with this, if you don’t mind paying for such products.

If you have a very limited budget, there are books in the Amazon Store showing you how to achieve this, too.

Amazon KDP print cost changes

As for the change in print prices, the largest impact will be for large trim size books, especially those with color printing.

Pricing will vary by format, page numbers, trim size, and even marketplace (CA, EU, UK etc.).

Thankfully, Amazon provides a KDP Printing Costs and Royalty Calculator tool. It’s the best way to determine your new print costs and projected return on investment.

The changes in Amazon KDP aren’t so bad, right?

When selecting book categories, authors now have a full range of category selection within KDP without having to contact Amazon Support. All of this is, I believe, generally good news for all of us published in KDP.

For book pricing, using the KDP Printing Costs and Royalty Calculator which will show you that only large trim size books will be seriously impacted. Calculating costs in advance will help you decide if you want to make changes, too.

What questions do you have about these changes? Please ask Richard in a comment.

As reported by CNBC and a sharp marketer who monitors the world’s largest online retailer for a living, Amazon is testing the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) to summarize some product reviews. Generative AI uses technology to produce content such as text, graphics, audio, and video.

The summaries, which include a disclaimer that Amazon is using AI to create them, pull from user reviews to share what customers do and don’t like about products. (See an example of a review here.)

In theory, they save discerning shoppers time scrolling through reviews for key product features and issues.

Amazon hasn’t officially announced that it’s summarizing product reviews with AI, but it confirmed the news when asked by CNBC.

Will Amazon roll this out to reader reviews?

You might be wondering if and when this will apply to reader reviews and the impact it might have on reviews and book sales.

Nobody knows for certain, but we can make educated guesses.

“Amazon is always testing what converts better on their product pages. If they find that the AI-generated review summaries convert well on laundry machines, then they’ll likely roll it out for books as well,” says Bryan Cohen, author and CEO of Best Page Forward.

Dave Chesson, founder of Kindlepreneur, a top marketing resource for authors, agrees. “I think it makes sense to do it considering that when looking at the reviews of the book, as a shopper, it requires a lot of time to sift through the reviews and find one with legitimate, constructive feedback on the book,” he says.

Impact summarizing product reviews with AI might have on books

Authors engaged in the ongoing struggle to generate reader reviews might be concerned that AI-generated summaries will discourage reviewers. Amazon is probably tracking review trends as part of the test, too.

Once readers realize that too-brief reviews – “Loved it” or “Hated it” – don’t contribute to meaningful summaries, they might get more specific.

Chesson has a concern about AI incorporating those too-brief reviews into summaries, too.

“If they develop the system where it compiles the good and the bad to create two paragraphs, I worry what will happen when the feedback isn’t well-thought-out.

“For example, I’ve seen negative reviews in the past where the reviewer will say something about how they haven’t read the book and then proceed to give an opinion. Or, perhaps there aren’t many negative reviews and so the system reaches and gives full discussions on things that aren’t really a thing,” he says.

Once readers realize that too-brief reviews – “Loved it” or “Hated it” – don’t contribute to meaningful summaries, they might get more specific.Click to tweet

Stephanie Chandler, founder and CEO of the Nonfiction Authors Association, shares his concern, adding, “While they haven’t yet mastered how to distinguish between poor product reviews and positive ones, surely they will figure out how to separate these details based on the starred reviews,” she says.

Encouraging readers to write more helpful reviews

Chandler believes authors can get ahead of this by encouraging readers to write more meaningful reviews.

“As authors we may need to ask reviewers to get more specific with their feedback so that AI-generated review summaries are reflective of the content of the books,” she adds.

Even so, Cohen wonders if readers will be disappointed by the new review experience if it rolls out to all product categories.

“If these changes all come to pass, the next question will be how book reviewers will react to their words being summarized and then passed over,” he notes.

Upsides to summarizing product reviews with AI

Any flaws in the process will likely be eliminated by the time book reviews are summarized. When it happens, it’s possible the AI-generated summaries will help readers make quicker decisions about what to read next.

“If the AI system can help piece this together, which I think it can, this will create a much better shopping experience,” Chesson says.

A better customer experience can lead to higher sales for books that readers review favorably, too.

“If the AI summaries help get a higher percentage of readers to buy, then both Amazon and the authors who publish there will be very happy,” adds Cohen.

Want to help readers write more meaningful reviews now? Download the Build Book Buzz Reader Book Review Forms now. There’s one for fiction; another for nonfiction. They encourage reviews by taking the mystery out of the process for your fans. Learn more at https://buildbookbuzz.com/reader-book-review-form/

Do you think review summaries will help readers make better-informed decisions about what to buy and read? Why or why not? Please tell us in a comment.

It forces me to do something I need to do more often — study what resonates with you here, then deliver more of it.

I start the two-part process with Google Analytics.

Identifying the top book marketing articles

First, I look at the traffic for all of my content, not just what I created for 2021. There are a few perennial favorites, including one article I wrote in 2012 that continues to rank at the top.

Then I narrow the list down to content created this year. Both exercises help me:

• Identify trends
• Uncover surprises (for example, I thought you’d be really interested in “Should you sell books from your website?” You weren’t.  )
• Guide what I write about in the following year

Here are the articles that interested you the most in 2021. I’m looking forward to delivering more information that helps in 2022.

1. 2021 literary calendar with 137 occasions for book lovers

This month-by-month list of occasions that celebrate all things books during the year we’re leaving behind made it easy to find opportunities you could work into your book marketing plans. It includes information on how to use the 137 special days and holidays for year-round book marketing. (And while this article ran at the end of 2020, the vast majority of traffic it attracted came in early 2021.) And, if you’re looking ahead to 2022, here’s the link to that calendar: https://buildbookbuzz.com/2022-literary-calendar/

2. Who are the best BookTubers?

“BookTube” refers to YouTube video bloggers who talk about books; the book lovers who create those videos are “BookTubers.” This article links to seven lists of the top BookTubers so you don’t have to spend hours and hours wading through searches to find the best and most popular options.

3. 11 free things you can do to buzz your book

If your goal is a high-quality book, you’re going to have to spend money on cover design, editing, and proofreading, for starters. But there are lots of effective tactics you can use to promote your book that cost nothing but time. Learn more about 11 of them in this article.

4. How to give readers a direct Amazon review link

Get more reader reviews by giving fans a link that goes directly to the “write a review” section of your book’s description page on Amazon. This demo video shows where to find that section and how to grab and use the corresponding link.

I’d like to do more of these types of “let me show you how to do that” videos, but struggle to come up with ideas for them. What can I show you how to do?

5. Amazon Verified Purchase reviews: Fact versus fiction

Some authors believe that if you didn’t purchase the book on Amazon so that it’s “verified,” you can’t review it. Others think that reviews that aren’t verified have no value and aren’t worth securing. They’re both wrong. Learn how it works in this article.

6. 3 things you need to stop doing on social media

You see people making mistakes on social media all the time, don’t you? In the early days, it was tweeting “buy my book” nonstop. Today, the faux pas are more sophisticated. Here are three that will put distance between you and your readers.

7. Use Amazon’s embed feature to preview your book anywhere

Guest blogger Walter Rhein introduces us to a little-known Amazon marketing tool that every author with an Amazon listing can use. The “here’s what it looks like” images he provides are especially helpful.

8. 3 book marketing tactics you can ignore

To help you find your focus, I’ve identified three popular tactics that aren’t going to work for most authors. There are exceptions, of course. But for most, you can ignore these activities when you see others using them.

9. 10 Amazon changes authors need to know about

In this guest column, book marketing consultant Rob Eagar outlines the 10 most important Amazon updates for authors. They involve Amazon Advertising, Author Central accounts, and self-publishing with KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing).

10. Kindle Vella: Is it a good fit for you?

Kindle Vella is a new storytelling option from KDP that lets authors self-publish serialized stories, one short episode at a time. This article introduces the concept and links to detailed Kindle Vella summaries and specifics on other sites.

What’s your favorite article from this site this year? Is it on this list, or is it something else? Please tell us in a comment. 

10 Amazon changes authors need to know about

By Rob Eagar

Amazon is a company that never sits still. It is constantly experimenting, pioneering, and creating new features for customers to enjoy. Its innovation also applies to authors.

Amazon recently launched numerous updates that benefit authors in the following three areas:

1. Amazon Advertising
2. Author Central account
3. KDP Self-publishing system

Here’s a rundown of the 10 most important updates you need to know.

New features for Amazon Ads

1. The release of Sponsored Brand Ads
Have you seen the special advertising box that appears at the very top of Amazon search results? It’s called a Sponsored Brand Ad, and it represents some of the most coveted and powerful space on their website.

For years, this exclusive ad space was reserved for publishing houses and authors with a vendor account. But, Amazon recently made Sponsored Brand Ads available to authors who self-publish with KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing). This ad feature levels the playing field between self-publishing and traditional publishing.

There is a caveat, though. You must have at least three books published and be willing to pay top dollar for this ad space. But, any author with a reasonable ad budget can promote their books alongside the top publishing houses, including HarperCollins and Penguin Random House.

2. Negative Product keywords
Amazon added another great feature within its advertising system called “Negative Product Targeting.” This option was sorely needed, because Amazon’s “automatic” targeting function sometimes wastes money by showing ads on irrelevant book detail pages.

Fortunately, the addition of Negative Product Targeting gives greater control to limit losses from Amazon’s automatic targeting algorithms. This feature helps improve profitability for author ad campaigns. Nice work, Amazon!

3. Buy international ads in 8 countries
Can you say “Buy my book” in French or Spanish? Amazon makes it possible by offering new ad capabilities on its international websites, including the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Canada, and Australia. More countries will be added soon.

It’s never been easier for authors and publishers to reach readers around the globe. In addition, there’s less competition for ad space on Amazon’s international sites. Those who act quickly can sell more books at a lower advertising cost.

4. KENP reads and royalties results from ads
If you self-published a book using Amazon’s KDP service and enrolled your e-book into KDP Select, now Amazon shows how your ads drive KENP (Kindle edition normalized pages) reads and royalties.

If you’re unfamiliar with KDP Select, it’s the option to sell an e-book exclusively on Amazon in exchange for extra income based on the “page reads.” Amazon currently pays around $.0045 per page. So, an e-book that’s equivalent to a 300-page paperback would yield $1.35 of royalties.

Until now, Amazon’s system didn’t measure the performance of Amazon ads on e-book page reads and royalties. But, the company figured out how to make it happen, which is an impressive feature for KDP Select authors to enjoy.

New features for Author Central

1. Author Central gets a makeover
Every author should create a free Author Central account, regardless if you’re self-published or traditionally published. But, Author Central looked woefully outdated until Amazon released a beautiful redesign last month.

Now, Author Central offers an intuitive interface and easier navigation to find your books, update your author profile, and review helpful reports. If you haven’t visited Author Central, see the new look at: https://authorcentral.amazon.com/

Now, Author Central offers an intuitive interface and easier navigation to find your books, update your author profile, and review helpful reports.Click to tweet2. Easily update multiple formats
The old Author Central version had a major flaw. You couldn’t easily locate every format of your book to update the product descriptions. Amazon addressed this problem by making each book format visually stand out when a title is selected in your account, including Kindle and paperback versions. It’s a much-needed improvement. Nice work, Lord Bezos!

3. Create international author pages
Earlier, I mentioned that Amazon offers multinational advertising in numerous countries. Author Central matched this global update by enabling authors to create “Author Pages” in the US, UK, Germany, France, Japan, and Brazil. Authors can also add bios using multiple foreign languages. Below is my Amazon Author Page in France:

It’s a big world out there. If you’re only focused on selling books in America, Amazon wants to help you think internationally.

Updates to KDP Self-Publishing Service

1. New version of KDP Reports
If you’ve self-published a book using Amazon KDP, you’ll love the new beta reporting features. It’s easier than ever to gauge real-time book sales, compare title performance, and estimate monthly royalties. KENP page reads are also included along with an updated payment history section.

To access the beta reports version, click on the “Reports” tab within your KDP account. Then, look for the link that says, “Try the new KDP Reports beta.”

2. Nominate your e-book for a Kindle Deal
KDP added a new section labelled “Marketing” that acts as one-stop-shop for all of the book promotion tools. There are quick links to KDP Select, Amazon Advertising, Author Central, and Price Promotions.

But, KDP also added a new marketing tool in beta version called “Kindle Deal Nomination.” Kindle Deals are limited-time discounts on e-books typically priced at $.99 – $2.99. If Amazon accepts your nomination, your e-book could be featured on its website for a day and even possibly multiple weeks.

You can nominate up to two eligible e-books at a time. If a book nomination isn’t accepted, you can automatically renew it every 90 days. This is a great opportunity to gain prime promotional access to thousands of Amazon shoppers.

3. Create and manage a book series
Writing books in a series is the smartest way to build your author career. But, arranging a series within KDP used to require reaching out to Amazon’s customer service team. Now, you can create and manage a series on your own directly within KDP. This is a great time-saving feature that makes it easier to cross-promote related books to avid readers. Once again, Amazon did authors a huge favor. Bravo!

Now, you can create and manage a series on your own directly within KDP.Click to tweet

In my 14 years as a book marketing consultant, I’ve never seen Amazon release so many updates in such a short period. These 10 upgrades are good news for authors, because they provide more control over your success.

Learn more about Amazon

Note from Sandra:

Friends, if you still haven’t made Amazon your top priority for selling books, now is the time to get on board.

Register for a FREE WEBINAR on Thursday, July 15th, at 2:00 pm Eastern, where Rob and I will discuss these Amazon updates and answer your questions. Click the link below to reserve your spot:

Register for Free Webinar

Amazon is leading the way with new innovation. Rob and I are here to help you stay on top of all the changes.

Together, let’s make 2021 the best year ever for you and your books!

Are your books selling well on Amazon? What’s your best tip for succeeding on that retail platform? Please tell us in a comment!

3 Amazon secrets every author needs to know

By Rob Eagar

Amazon is more than a website. It’s become the most powerful book-selling machine ever invented. Consider these mind-blowing statistics:

• Amazon sells nearly 50 percent of all print books in the U.S.
• Amazon sells more than 70 percent of all e-books in the U.S.
• Amazon is the largest sales account for almost every publisher in the U.S.

If these facts don’t get your attention, allow me to make things very clear:

Amazon sells more books than anyone else.

If you want to sell more books, then you must

learn how to sell books on Amazon.

You may not be able to control Amazon’s dominance over the publishing industry. But, it’s possible to use Amazon’s power to your advantage if you use these three little-known secrets.

Secret 1: Amazon will help identify how to find your target audience.

Authors constantly wonder who their readers are. Unfortunately, Amazon doesn’t share customer contact information, so you never know who actually buys your books.

However, there is a secret way to identify your target audience.

Go to your book’s detail page on Amazon and look at the section called “Customers Also Bought…” This information reveals titles and authors that are similar to you and your book.

How is this data helpful? It explains where to direct your advertising efforts on Amazon, Facebook, and BookBub.

For instance, if you see “Author X” frequently displayed on your “Customers Also Bought” list, then you should advertise to people who like Author X.

Why? Because Amazon verified that people who like Author X also like your books. This information can help save a lot of time and money determining the best way to maximize your advertising budget.

Secret 2: You can grow your author email list using Amazon’s huge audience.

Amazon attracts more book readers than any other resource on the planet. Did you know you can convert those readers into email subscribers for free?

It’s possible when you use Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) service to set up a permanently free e-book that drives readers to your author email list. I call this free resource a “Bait Book,” because it serves as appealing “bait” that attracts new readers to you.

Here’s how it works:

• Create an e-book using KDP and offer it as a perma-free Kindle download.
• Add a special offer inside the book for more free content that gives readers a link to a landing page (a single-purpose web page) where you make the offer and collect emails.
• When they go to that landing page, they can join your email list to access the bonus content.

Once you set up your Bait Book, it will run nonstop on Amazon’s website to help build your email list while you write your next book.

The best part is that you can create everything for free. Plus, you can purchase inexpensive Amazon ads to help promote your Bait Book and make sure the right type of reader sees it.

Secret 3: You can change your book’s marketing copy at any time for free.

Language is the power of the book sale.

If your book’s marketing description looks bland on Amazon’s website, your sales will be stunted. But, if your marketing copy sizzles, your sales can skyrocket. It’s imperative, then, to make your book appear as enticing as possible to shoppers on Amazon.

While many authors believe that description is locked into place forever, they’re wrong.

Whether you’re a traditionally-published author who is disappointed with the marketing text your publisher used or you self-published with a company that set up your page, you have more control than you think.

Using this third secret, you can make important changes to your book’s marketing copy when you want to change your description or you receive a new endorsement, win an industry award, or hit a bestseller list.

Here’s that third secret: Amazon offers a hidden “back door” into its website that lets authors update their book’s marketing text whenever they desire.

All you have to do is set up a free Author Central Account. Once you’ve done that, you gain full control over your marketing text, editorial reviews, and author bio. This puts the power in your hands to make sure shoppers see the best version of your book on Amazon.

Want to learn more about selling more books on Amazon?

I hope you will take advantage of these three secrets to sell more books on Amazon. There are several other ways to increase your sales at the world’s largest retailer, too.

Please join Build Book Buzz’s Sandra Beckwith and me to learn more in a free webinar on Wednesday, May 6, 2020 at 2 pm ET (calculate for your time zone). This one-hour event will feature additional instruction, an opportunity to ask questions, and an inside look at my popular online training program, “Mastering Amazon for Authors.”

We’ll also offer a special money-saving discount code that’s exclusive to webinar attendees, and Sandra tells me she has a surprise in store, too.

Don’t miss this exclusive Amazon event. Register here today: https://www.startawildfire.com/webinar-registration

What do you want to learn about selling books on Amazon? Tell us in a comment! 

Tip of the Month

I like to share a “Tip of the Month,” a free resource or tool for authors, on the last Wednesday of the month.

This month it’s the free Amazon training webinar described above.

Join us on Wednesday, May 6, 2020, at 2 p.m. ET (calculate for your time zone) to learn:

• The difference between a good and bad Amazon book page
• Why self-publishing a book with Amazon makes sense
• The benefits of using Amazon ads to promote a book

Can’t attend live? Not a problem! We’ll send the replay link to everyone who registers.

Grab your spot now so you don’t miss out! Just click on this link: https://www.startawildfire.com/webinar-registration

What’s one of the most important things you can do to support your book during the COVID-19 shutdown?

It’s maximizing your book’s presence on Amazon.

That’s why I hosted a free Amazon training webinar last month.

Today, I’m reviewing a book that outlines many steps you can take immediately to support your book on that powerful site — and on other retail sites, as well.

What’s covered in this book?

It’s worth noting that the book I’m reviewing, The Author’s Guide to Marketing Books on Amazon (2020 Update), isn’t new.

It was originally published in 2018 and updated in 2020. While most media outlets prefer to review new or new-ish books, bloggers often have fewer restrictions. In my case, I’m more interested in the book’s topic than its publication date.

View this book as a training program or course in book format.

Author Rob Eagar presumes that you understand why mastering Amazon is important to book sales. Instead of dwelling on that, he provides detailed instruction on all things Amazon, including:

• Writing the best book description possible (and offering a template you can use for yours)
• Understanding the power of your Amazon Author Central Account
• Why and how you need to secure reviews
• How Amazon ads work and how to set them up

Think you know all of this already? Read the book anyway.

Content applies to all publishing models

One of the book’s strengths is that it applies to authors using different publishing models. Anyone from a traditionally published author to one using a hybrid publisher or an individual who has gone the DIY route will benefit from Eagar’s wisdom and experience.

That might be one of the book’s weaknesses, though.

For example, in Chapter 2, “Four ways to Get Amazon Customer Reviews for Free,” Eagar’s first tip is to contact your email subscribers and social media fans to remind them to review your book.

This presumes that you have an engaged list or following that includes many, many people who have purchased your book already. For most self-published authors, this simply isn’t the case. You will be better served by using your list to recruit a launch or street team — which is his second method.

In reality, most authors are going to have to give away copies of their books to their ideal readers to get reviews.

My favorite gems

Here are a few of the specifics I think you might find especially useful.

Chapter 1 not only provides specific instructions on how to write a killer book description, it includes templates for both fiction and nonfiction books.

In addition, the author offers the same advice I’ve provided here and elsewhere: Study how the pros do it.

One of the best gems from that chapter, though, is for novelists: “Don’t tell people about the story. Tell people about the conflict.” That should be a light bulb moment for many.

In Chapter 3, “Maximize Your Amazon Author Central Account,” you will learn how to get your book listed in 10 categories, not the three you’re offered.

I especially like Chapter 4, “Amazon’s Secret Marketing Back Door.” Among other things, it explains how traditionally published authors without access to their book’s account information can go around their publisher to make necessary changes on their book’s detail page. (“Ohhh SNAP!” as the Young People would say.)

You’ll see what I hope is a now-familiar message in Chapter 5, “Understanding the Amazon Best Sellers Rank.” It’s that becoming a category best-seller isn’t the big deal so many think it is. Contorting that category status into marketing copy that touts you as a best-selling author is misleading and perhaps unethical.

But becoming an Amazon best-seller? That is something to cheer about!

I recommend this book

I can’t think of a single author who wouldn’t get a few “ahas!” from The Author’s Guide to Marketing Books on Amazon (2020 Update)

At a minimum, you will use it to review every aspect of your book’s sales page to make sure you’ve done everything he recommends.

You might feel like you want more in-depth guidance on some topics covered, including how to secure endorsements and testimonials (blurbs). Even so, I think that after you’ve read this book from cover to cover, you’ll feel like you’ve just received a gift.

I highly recommend it.

Have you read this book? What did you think about it? Tell us in a comment.

Why?

Because the first book of this author’s that I read was profoundly disappointing. It was the length of a long magazine article and lacked depth, detail, and specifics.

Ugh.

I should have known better. There were several warning signs, including a do-it-yourself cover. The “product details” noted the (short) length. But the book’s excellent description hit all the right buttons — it promised the specifics I needed — so I took a chance.

Deliver what you promise

I would have overlooked many flaws if the book’s content had matched its description. All I asked of this book was to teach me something new.

But it didn’t.

Instead, the book was a shallow overview that left me feeling foolish for buying it.

Is this the reaction you want from your readers?

Do you want to give them the impression that you don’t really care about delivering on your book’s promises?

Probably not. I think you want to write a great book that readers will recommend to their friends.

To help make that happen, here’s a short list of what I see on Amazon that sends me back to the search bar for another option.

1. The book’s title is a mess.

Punctuation or spacing is missing. Words run together. A cover blurb is included in the title, even though it’s an endorsement, not part of the title.

For nonfiction, there’s no separation between the title and the subtitle. Almost as bad? There’s no subtitle.

2. It’s obvious you designed your own cover. (And that you’re not a designer.)

Nothing shouts “I don’t really care about my book” more than an obviously do-it-yourself cover.

If you don’t care enough about your book to make sure that the cover is appropriate for the category, why would I care enough to read it? You’re telling me that what’s between the covers will be amateurish, too.

(For tips on how to select the best cover, read “7 tried and true ways to make a book cover decision.”)

3. You aren’t letting me “look inside” the book on Amazon.

The “look inside” feature is the online equivalent of flipping through a book in a bricks-and-mortar bookstore. It gives the reader a preview of content and writing quality.

When you haven’t made it possible for me to peek inside the book, I start to wonder if there’s a reason why. That could mean that a preview might discourage people from buying.

That’s probably not the message you want to send.

4. Your book description is written and formatted like an advertisement.

Nothing shouts, “I’m an internet marketer trying to grab your dollars!” like a book description that looks and reads like a website sales page.

Hype might fool others, but it doesn’t fool me. I want thoughtful text that helps me see what I’ll learn from the book, not a huge, boldfaced font shouting at me.

Major publishers don’t use this approach. Minor publishers shouldn’t either. It’s insulting to the reader.

5. The book description is one long block of text with no paragraph returns.

This is a problem for two reasons. First, I can’t read text with no white space. My brain craves paragraph breaks!

Second, it tells me that you care so little about your book that you didn’t even review your sales page before it went live.

If you don’t care, why would I?

On the other hand … authors have been complaining that the system has messed with their descriptions. To be safe, go to your book’s page and make sure it looks the way you want it to.

6. You don’t have an author bio or the one you’re using isn’t relevant to the book.

Until recently, I was guilty of this. My bio just disappeared — poof! — from my Author Central account. One day it was there, the next, it wasn’t.

So, even if you’ve added your bio to your Author Central Author Page, check your book’s sales page to make sure it’s still there.

You’ll find a lot of helpful information online about how to write your author bio (including on this site), but the one thing that most self-published authors overlook is relevance. Novelists write that they’ve fulfilled a life’s dream by writing a book — not relevant — and nonfiction authors use a generic bio that doesn’t shine a spotlight on their best credentials for the topic.

Whether it’s fiction or nonfiction, I need you to connect your life (and personality) to this book so I understand why you’re the right author for it.

Help me love your self-published book

I want to read more self-published books. I really do. I loved Karen Inglis’s and Kim Norman’s. I’d love to discover fiction that’s as good as their nonfiction.

But what I’m seeing tells me that many authors don’t care much about quality.

Here’s what Apple founder Steve Jobs says about that.

“Quality is more important than quantity. One home run is much better than two doubles.” ~ Steve Jobs

When someone tells you that what counts is quantity — when they tell you that you need a lot of books in the pipeline to be successful — look at the quality of what you’ve already written first. If it’s not as good as you can make it, don’t move on until it is.

Quality still matters.

Convince me to read your self-published book. What’s the best thing about it? 

Author Marketing Secrets: The Comprehensive Guide to Book Marketing

It started with a smile . . . that was my reaction to the “edited by” credit on the cover. That’s not how it’s done, especially for super-short nonfiction. I thought, “Oh, this is going to be interesting . . . .”

Then I laughed when I saw there was no author bio on the Amazon sales page. That was the second clue that the book wasn’t written by an expert.

The next was when I read in the introduction about “people who think they are ‘experienced’ “, adding, “Don’t believe in the range of experience . . . .” Only someone without experience with her book’s topic is compelled to make that kind of statement.

Author Demi Bernice took the mystery out of it completely when she shared her credentials in the first chapter. She’s a graphic artist — or, in her words, “. . . the services that I offer is Graphic Design for Authors.” (Note to self: Beau Norton is not a good editor.)

It doesn’t get better

I laughed again when she recommended a specific strategy and gave as proof the fact that it was recommended in a webinar she watched.

This was followed by a recommendation she saw in a YouTube video (the source wasn’t identified). Then there was the “my boyfriend made a good point when he said. . . ” observation.

Well, you get the point. She has been poking around the interwebs and talking to her beau Beau (the book’s editor) for “stuff” — her word, not mine — to put in a book. And I’ve been having fun reading what she’s learned, even though this isn’t a humor (or humorous) book.

I almost didn’t review Author Marketing Secrets

Because of all of this, I almost didn’t review Author Marketing Secrets. I don’t enjoy writing negative reviews. (And for that reason, you won’t see me review this book on Amazon or Goodreads.)

But here I am, reviewing it anyway, risking accusations of “sour grapes.” I think that pointing out some of the flaws will help anyone who reads it better understand what they can and can’t take away from the book’s information.

Let’s start with the word “comprehensive” in the subtitle. A 45-page/5,000-word book on this topic isn’t comprehensive. It’s not a book — it’s a magazine article or an epic blog post.

One key missing topic, for example, is knowing your target audience and where you’ll reach them with messages about your book. It also doesn’t mention reader reviews.

Speaking of that, at the time of this writing, this book published four months ago has zero reader reviews. Why would you take advice about book marketing from an author who hasn’t been able to garner reviews on a free book?

No documentation for claims

There’s also little documentation supporting Bernice’s claims about what works and what doesn’t.

For example, there’s a chapter on book trailers that reports a book video is “a scarcely-used strategy that works,” but we’re supposed to take her word for it. She offers no data showing that authors who produce book trailers sell more books than those who don’t.

In that chapter, under “what works” with book trailers, the author advises that you “catch and keep your prospective readers’ attention.”

How? In the text following that subhead, rather than offering tips for creating a compelling book trailer, she writes about “how big YouTube is.”

In addition — and sorry, I’m laughing again — the author writes, “Book trailers are a good option for authors who don’t have a ton of money for promotion . . . .” That’s followed by, “You can make your own book trailers if you have good equipment like a DSLR camera, good actors/actresses, and awesome video editing skills.”

Doesn’t sound like a low-budget option to me.

Still . . . that’s not to say that the book doesn’t have value.

The section on Amazon keywords is useful. The book’s title and subtitle are excellent examples of that section’s advice. The problem with the title, though, is that it’s not an accurate reflection of the book’s content.

In addition, while it’s not comprehensive by any means, Author Marketing Secrets does cover a few of the key topics, just not in an authoritative, consistently accurate, or comprehensive way.

Think of it as a table of contents for some of the information you need to know. Plan on doing additional research on the strategies you’d like to explore.

On the bright side, it’s free!

All of this begs the question: Why would somebody with no book marketing experience write a book on that topic?

With several references in the book to Bernice’s work designing author websites and the other services she provides (plus what are probably undisclosed affiliate links to related services), I suspect that the book is a lead magnet for her business.

The author wants other authors as clients and offers Author Marketing Secrets for free as a way to get them — or to try, anyway.

If you decide to read this book, just keep the author’s motivation in mind. It’s quite likely that she wrote it to support her business, not yours.

Know of a book marketing book that delivers on its promise? Share the title in a comment! 

If you truly want to know how to market your book, take a look at the curriculum for each of my Book Marketing 101: How to Build Book Buzz courses. There’s one for fiction, another for nonfiction. You’ll get everything you need (and be sure to click on the down arrow for the course outline for each so you see all four modules).

When you vote on Amazon reviews, you’re “up-voting.”

I was reminded of this recently when a discussion group member and prolific Amazon reviewer wondered why more people don’t do it.

She wondered if authors think it isn’t allowed by the great and powerful ‘zon.

Why authors don’t vote yes or no

Most authors responded one of four ways:

1. They never noticed that question at the end of a review
2. They do it all the time
3. They didn’t think they were allowed to up- or down-vote one of their own reviews with a “yes” or “no” response
4. They didn’t know if they could or couldn’t vote on reviews on their own books, but they’re so terrified of getting kicked off the retail site that they stay as far away from reader reviews of their books as possible

There was a significant amount of back-and-forth in the discussion about whether Amazon allows authors to vote “yes” or “no” on reviews of their own books.

Those who said it is allowed used as proof the fact that they do it, and their books are still sold there.

Those who said it isn’t allowed linked to Amazon’s terms of service, which don’t directly address this specific question, but do say that manipulating reviews is banned. That is close enough to “no” for many.

The definitive answer

But still . . . in spite of what they said, nobody in the discussion really knew for sure if they could vote on Amazon reviews of their books.

So I asked Amazon if authors could vote “yes” and “no” on reviews of their own books.

The answer is “yes.”

Here’s the message I got from Amazon:

“You may vote on any review.”

There you have it.

Why you should vote on Amazon reviews

So vote, because you can. Vote early, vote often.

There are three reasons why you want to vote on reviews of your own books as well as those that helped you make a decision about whether to read someone else’s book.

1. Reviewers want you to.

As already noted, “yes” votes help prolific reviewers move up in rank on Amazon’s list of top reviewers.

There’s no tangible benefit for the reviewer — they do all of this voluntarily, after all — but a higher ranking is validation that their reviews are valued by site customers. Who doesn’t want to feel valued?

(For more on this, read the post on this site, “Book review: How to Get Good Reviews on Amazon.”)

2. It shows that readers are paying attention to your book.

Visitor engagement with reviews suggests activity and momentum. It shows that there’s traffic on the page.

Does that mean that a page with no review votes is bad for your book? No. It’s more that any activity is better than no activity. But the fact that there’s no interaction with reviews isn’t going to crush your book.

3. It might help readers make a decision.

You know what “groupthink” is, right? In short, it’s conformity.

It’s similar to what happens when I’m looking at a menu with too many choices. I get so overwhelmed (heaven forbid I should select something that tastes bad . . . ) that I ask my companion, “What are you getting?” That’s often what I order.

It works that way with review votes, too. If a reader review does a nice job of making a case for reading a book and several people have declared that review helpful, it gives others the courage to take a chance and buy it.

It also works the other way around. If many found the specifics in a one-star review helpful, those noticing the review and the votes might decide to move along without making a purchase.

So vote “yes” . . . or “no”

Consider adding up- and down-voting to your regular Amazon browsing routine for one simple reason: It’s a nice thing to do for reviewers.

They want you to do it because it’s good for them. And, it takes no effort to show that support.

After all, just as they need your books to review, you need their reviews for your books. Do your part in this symbiotic relationship.

Do you vote on reviews on Amazon? Why or why not?