Please Write Reviews
Every so often, I remind people to write reviews. I do it for the books I read whenever possible. Reviews are not feedback for the author. They're sales tools for booksellers. The more reviews a book receives, the more likely it is to be promoted by online agencies, and thus, the more the book will inevitably sell.
Obviously, negative reviews sometimes hurt a product's sales, unless that product is outrageously bad to the point where people buy it just to make sure they are seeing what they thought they were seeing. ("The Room," anyone? "Birdemic." "Manos: Hands of Fate.") But, positive reviews can make or break a book for a small time fool like myself.
The moment AFTER EVERYONE DIED hit 50 reviews on Amazon, it was like a light switch someplace got flipped and book sellers said, "Hey--this might be something important!" The book started showing up in Amazon's promotional materials and the "Customers Also Bought..." sections. I noticed a considerable change overnight. Prior to AED hitting the low-lists for sales, my biggest book had been THE SEVEN. I think in its lifetime, THE SEVEN sold around five or six thousand copies. It sells a copy about once every blue moon now. I think it got 19 reviews on Amazon. Obviously, it's a dead book now. It receives no promotion, and unless someone stumbles across it, it will never, ever been found browsing Amazon.
Today, I received a sales email from Amazon. My "buying" account and my "author" account are two different emails. Amazon does not know Sean the buyer and Sean the writer are the same person, so it's always nice when I get the promo email and see my book in it. But, it's just a reminder of how important reviews are to all authors, not just small fry guys like myself.
Reviews tell others about the book. They tell Amazon who is looking at books, who is reading books, and what genres are popular. Reviews tell agents what sort of books people are reading, and thus encourages those agents to seek out more of that material. Reviews tell publishers what people are seeking.
Reviews don't have to be long, like I write, but a sentence or two and a four-or-five star rating can be the difference between a book breaking out and becoming something for an author, and a book dying on the vine before it has a chance to be fully realized.
Too long, didn't read: Help people out--write a review.
Obviously, negative reviews sometimes hurt a product's sales, unless that product is outrageously bad to the point where people buy it just to make sure they are seeing what they thought they were seeing. ("The Room," anyone? "Birdemic." "Manos: Hands of Fate.") But, positive reviews can make or break a book for a small time fool like myself.
The moment AFTER EVERYONE DIED hit 50 reviews on Amazon, it was like a light switch someplace got flipped and book sellers said, "Hey--this might be something important!" The book started showing up in Amazon's promotional materials and the "Customers Also Bought..." sections. I noticed a considerable change overnight. Prior to AED hitting the low-lists for sales, my biggest book had been THE SEVEN. I think in its lifetime, THE SEVEN sold around five or six thousand copies. It sells a copy about once every blue moon now. I think it got 19 reviews on Amazon. Obviously, it's a dead book now. It receives no promotion, and unless someone stumbles across it, it will never, ever been found browsing Amazon.
Today, I received a sales email from Amazon. My "buying" account and my "author" account are two different emails. Amazon does not know Sean the buyer and Sean the writer are the same person, so it's always nice when I get the promo email and see my book in it. But, it's just a reminder of how important reviews are to all authors, not just small fry guys like myself.
Reviews tell others about the book. They tell Amazon who is looking at books, who is reading books, and what genres are popular. Reviews tell agents what sort of books people are reading, and thus encourages those agents to seek out more of that material. Reviews tell publishers what people are seeking.
Reviews don't have to be long, like I write, but a sentence or two and a four-or-five star rating can be the difference between a book breaking out and becoming something for an author, and a book dying on the vine before it has a chance to be fully realized.
Too long, didn't read: Help people out--write a review.
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Still in Wisco
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I don't update often because studies show very few people actually bother to read blogs. Like podcasts, they're an oversatu ...more
I don't update often because studies show very few people actually bother to read blogs. Like podcasts, they're an oversatu ...more
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