How many reviews does Amazon need?

[Elinor]

I have heard that Amazon will promote your book to its historical fiction readers if there are 100 reviews posted online. I have also heard 50 reviews. Does anyone have more information about this? My novel Bird's Eye View is stuck at 88 reviews and I keep hoping it will pass the magic threshold!

[Emma]

The mighty Zon works in mysterious ways, trying to figure out a pattern is pretty much pointless.

[Zippergirl]

I've seen elsewhere here at GR that this is an urban legend, like the missing kidney.

[David]

My understanding is that it has more to do with the chart position you reach, and the pairing of books that other readers have read. If yours is book A and 100 people have read it, and those same one hundred people have read book B, your book will then be recommended to other people that have read book B.

[Alicia]

Emma wrote: "The mighty Zon works in mysterious ways, trying to figure out a pattern is pretty much pointless."

They are mysterious and complicated on purpose, as they get scammed by people trying to get an advantage, all the time.

If they are clear and transparent and easy, you won't be able to find anything you want, because the top 1000 links will all be scammers.

[Ann]

Alicia wrote "If they are clear ... you won't be able to find anything you want, because the top 1000 links will all be scammers."

Too true, Alicia. Good point.

[J.]

Of what use would 100 or even 50 reviews be? A reader should get a fairly accurate picture of how good/bad a book is from the first dozen opinions. I'm hoping the "magic numbers" are actually urban legend. The most likely thing they might measure is how many friends the writer has, which isn't what a purchaser cares about.

[Elizabeth]

Not sure of the etiquette for requesting reviews, both on Goodreads and elsewhere. If someone says they like your book, do you immediately ask for a review? What if they say, it's not for them?

[J.]

Elizabeth wrote: "Not sure of the etiquette for requesting reviews, both on Goodreads and elsewhere. If someone says they like your book, do you immediately ask for a review? What if they say, it's not for them?"

Never ask someone to review a book that's not in their usual reading genre(s). It's not a matter of etiquette, just common sense. Getting reviews is like getting teeth from a live shark, so go ahead and ask anyone who says they like your book for a review. With luck, they'll actually do one. You might let them know that short reviews are okay, that they don't have to write a complete synopsis of the whole thing--other reviewers will probably have done that already. Don't tell them what to say, otherwise.

If your book has a problem, the sooner you find out, the better, so beta-test your book. I've seen many books with ★★★★★ ratings (probably pal reviews), that had major problems*. A bogus ★★★★★ review may entice large numbers of readers who will feel misled and give your book ★ or ★★.

* I've seen "contest winners" with similar mistakes. Before entering a contest, read the "Look Inside" pages for previous years' winners. If the winners suck, you don't want to be associated with that contest.

[Joel]

The amazon algorythm takes several things into account, and reviews are one them but not the only one. Amazon is a huge company and their goal is to make money so other factors include things such as the price of your book (or more accurately, their profit), your sales, your ranking, even clicks that don't purchase the book because they express interest. Ulitmately they want to make money so if you have a lot of sales but your book is 50c, they aren't making much unless you have other books and are drumming up business. Conversly if you're book is expensive but you have no sales they don't get money. All in all its about how much money you make them.