Why amazon reviews are important to authors

First, let me thank all of you who have read one or more of my books.  Now, I’m going to beg those same people to write a review on Amazon (but only if you liked the book J).

Let me explain why an Amazon review is so important to independent authors.

Okay.  I’ve finished my first book and I think it’s great.  My beta readers love it and I’m ready to turn it loose on the world.  I publish it on Amazon.  Now what? 

According to a Forbes’ article written January 8, 2013, there are an estimated 600,000 to 1,000,000 books published every year in the US alone.  ( http://www.forbes.com/sites/nickmorgan/2013/01/08/thinking-of-self-publishing-your-book-in-2013-heres-what-you-need-to-know/#2715e4857a0b582eb7429f43 )

The number has only increased since then, so how do I make my book stand out?  First, I have to have a good cover.  The cover is what captures the potential reader’s attention.  Next, my description had better be good.  If the reader likes that then they can read a sample chapter or two using Amazon’s “Look Inside” option.

Okay, I’ve done all that.  The cover is good.  The description is interesting (I’m always tweaking it) and the story is good and although I won’t swear there isn’t a typo it’s not littered with them or grammatical errors.  Okay, so my little grain of sand should shine in the Sahara of books available, but how do I make it stand out?  How do I get readers to see it?  Advertise!

Great.  I’ll lay down some cash for my story. 

There are numerous companies willing to take my money, but most of them don’t deliver.  There is no return on investment (ROI).  Some companies are better than others but they have requirements and two of those requirements are number of reviews and the average number of stars for those reviews. 

The number of reviews required to advertise varies from company to company.  Most of the better companies require somewhere between ten and fifty reviews, but the granddaddy of all the advertisers, BookBub, requires at least a hundred, maybe more depending on the genre.  Now, BookBub does not state the number on their website, but they do run a question and answer session on Twitter and they have said that for the more popular genres (such as mine) a hundred plus reviews is what they are looking for.

Why advertise on BookBub?  Because they deliver, time and time again.  At least that’s what those lucky authors who have been accepted by BookBub have reported.  I’m talking about real independent authors who belong to the same author forums that I do, so they are not affiliated with BookBub.  Plus, since BookBub is so successful they publish their average downloads per category and sale price.  If you look at those numbers – wow – they do deliver.  (https://www.bookbub.com/partners/pricing?utf8=%E2%9C&regions=us&currencies=%24+(USD))

I’ve been rejected by BookBub numerous times.  I plan on submitting again right before I release book three in the Lake of Sins series.  I really, really need more reviews.  So please, I am begging here, if you read and liked my books, please write a review on Amazon.

Thanks

L. S. O’Dea