How to hit #1 on Amazon... Showing 201-250 of 2,339

[Todd Fonseca]

All,
Thanks for your very helpful comment on reviews.
I appreciate the insight.

Dee,
The Porsche was gray!
T

[Dee]

Hey Todd,

On Amazon.com, the majority of my reviews are 5 stars. I think I only have one 4 star. The reason...It takes me "forever" to write a review. I write, and rewrite, and often post the review, then take the review down and rewrite it again. I am Pa_thet_ic!

Thus, I only post reviews to Amazon.com on books (or movies) that I love (or at the very least, like a whole bunch), as it takes too much time and effort to write about a movie or book that I did not deem worthy of my interest.

I also write movie, book, and software reviews for a top-rated computer graphic website’s weekly newspaper. Now, that is a totally different "playground." My editor assigns me the content to review. Thus, I am obligated to write reviews on what I perceive as good, bad, or indifferent…and I do! My reviews contain both positive and negative commentary. As many of my friends are professional artists and/or authors, I have had to review their works as well. I hate reviewing friends. Unless, the material is brilliant, in that case…it is a pure pleasure!

With that said, as my novel will soon be on the cutting block (er, I mean review block), I admit that I did take a big gulp when I saw your first 2 star review.

I also felt that your review was very fair. I have read many 1 and 2 star reviews on Amazon, and most of them are scathing. Yours was not! In fact, for 2 stars, it was a very positive review.

I am more disappointed with the author of the novel (or whomever did the negative postings on all of your reviews) for the retaliation. I can understand if the author wished to discuss or even dispute the review…however, his or her immature reaction only validates your star ranking of the book!

Like it or not, when you agree to put yourself “out there” as a “reviewer,” you do indeed have to post your honest opinions of the books that you decide to read and Review (no matter what color the shiny new sports car might be).

[Cheyenne]

Todd wrote: "All,

For those who get my newsletter, you probably noticed I gave out my first low (2 star) review. I'm feeling a little bad about it because as an author I know how much work it is to write a no..."

Hi, Todd,

I don't think you should be apologetic or contact the author and explain why you gave the review you did. In the review itself you more than likely explain why you did so.

I learned long ago not to google my reviews. Yeah, it's nice to read the glowing reviews where someone absolutely loves my books. But the ones that aren't so complimentary can be depressing. I'd rather someone be honest, but that doesn't mean I have to read it. I get hundreds of reviews, so I really could be subjecting myself to a lot of pain. :o)

When my first major New York release came out, Forbidden Magic, I had a taste of what it's like to have someone out to get you. Someone(s) logged into Amazon under multiple aliases and left 1 star reviews with almost identical reviews. Some were nasty and attacked me personally. Amazon took some of those down. Fortunately enough people gave the book higher ratings that it at least balanced out to 3 stars in 80 reviews. NOW, TG, people can't log on under multiple bogus aliases and review. To review on Amazon, you have to have purchased *something* from Amazon. It could be a pair of wire cutters or a CD--whatever. You just have to have made some kind of Amazon purchase to review any book or product.

So since then, all of my other books are at about 4 stars. Lots of people still don't like my books, but at least I know it's honest feedback and not someone "out to get me." I know that sounds paranoid, but if you would have seen what happened the moment my book became available on Amazon--it was bizarre. I wonder what I did to make anyone want to do that. Oh, and believe me, I wasn't the only one who saw what was happening!

I wouldn't worry about the person who tagged your reviews as unhelpful. Just keep being honest in your reviews. That's what's important.

Chey

[Todd Fonseca]

Dee and Chey,
Thank you for your thoughtful responses.

Chey,
Wow, can't believe you had to go through all of that. Glad Amazon was able to help and that your readers were able to balance out those bogus reviews.

T

[David]

My novel, Firedrakes, has received five fantastic reviews and one devastating one. The book is self-published and I admit it contains many typos. The galleys should have been proofread by someone other than my self before going to print, but one reviewer focused on the typos and quoted them in the review stating that it was a good story that needed a lot of editing. The reviewer also said a lot of nice things in the review, including that it would have been rated higher if not for the typos, but also included ‘NEEDS LOTS OF EDITING’ in the review title when posting on Amazon. I was left to wonder how many people even got past the title. The reviewer also suggested that anyone interested in the book should wait until the second edition came out. Who can afford to scrap 1500 books? My sales on Amazon dropped almost to zero until another review bumped it from the top spot nine months later.

[Gina]

I think the way authors respond to negative reviews is quite interesting. I was browsing Amazon a little while back and came across a negative review of a non-fiction book. The reviewer had posted his opinion in a fair and honest manner. The following reviewer, however, had devoted her review to commenting on the previous reviewer, and it was obvious from the very specific comments that this person was either the author of the book or someone close to her. I wouldn't have been put off buying the book by the first review, but the second one totally killed any interest I had.

[Dee]

I think it is not always the author that is on the defensive. Many readers are very passionate about books. Look at Twilight for an example. There are thousands of reviewers, and the stars run from 1 to 5.

I suppose your book has not made it big, until you have at least one reviewer who does not like it, and a group of other reviewers who attack the negative review.

Rather a badge of courage for the author to wear, especially when other readers defend the book in their reviews :]

Reviews are, after all, just one person's opinion. Writing is so subjective, as is art, music, and movies.

Dee Marie

[Gina]

I removed a review I did of the X-Files movie because within two hours of writing it I had 54 unhelpful votes. I admit, I was a cowardly custard that day, but I'm not up to taking on the entire David Duchovny fan base just yet.

[Todd Fonseca]

Gina,
Just finished! A very beautiful book - your research, passion, and descriptions of the work, historical knowledge - wow. Working on the review...
Todd

[Gina]

I like that word... 'wow.' Definitely one of my favourites ;o)

Phew, I can cancel my flight to Outer Mongolia now. Not sure I can get the money back for the fake ID though.

[Cheyenne]

Dee, I had someone tell me you know you've hit the big time when you get a ton of negative reviews. LOL.

I do honestly believe that some people who give negative reviews have nothing better to do with their lives--you can tell by the type of reviews they give. I'm not talking about mine because I don't read mine. :D Of course I also believe that for the most part, negative reviews are well thought out and are totally that person's taste. I've written books that people love and give 5 stars to, while other readers will give a 1 to that same book. It's totally a matter of opinion and that's how it should be. We should be allowed to express our opinions and not get knocked for it.

As an author, I don't post reviews for books I'm not happy with. I leave them off my list. I'd rather say something nice or say nothing at all. That's why my ratings are so high, because I rate only the books I enjoy. The others I leave off my list. That's just me. I know what goes into writing a book, and I'm on that side of the coin, and I just don't want to knock my fellow authors. So I only rate 4 & 5 star books. The others--I just let them be. Although I did rate a 3 star, and I feel bad. Sigh. It was probably more the narrator (it was an audiobook), so I was rating on both the book and the reader. Is that fair? I'll never listen to that narrator again. Maybe I should take that book off since I've been so vocal about it!

Chey

[Jaimey]

Hello Todd and everyone!

I submitted one of my books and I am now busy tagging. Hopefully I am accepted into the list.

I love tagging... :o)

If no one minds, I have something to add to your discussion on reviews.

*****she pauses, waiting for objections*****

When reviewing a book that I really didn't care for, I avoid attacking the author. After all, I don't know them, what right do I have to make snap judgments? I always stress that I am stating my own personal opinion and that others may not have the same issues. Todd, I read your review and I thought it was very well done. It's understandable that an author may be hurt by the stars; I dread my first negative review. I'm sure I'll cry. Heck, I was upset when someone didn't find one of my reviews helpful. Talk about pathetic... :op

Anyway, that's my two cents. Thanx for listening and have a lovely night (it's midnight for me)!

[Carole]

Hi Gina,

Thanks for that information. I'll give it a try and I'll look into the author connect business. This is becoming more and more complicated every day. I guess I'll pick it up soon! :)

Carole



Gina wrote: "Hi Carole,

I just added descriptive content to my book (or rather, I tried to take some away), and here's a page with the link to that form:

Add content

You can become an Amazon Connect author a..."

[Leslie Ann]

Hello Todd,

Sorry to hear about that petty, small-minded person's vendetta against you.

As a willing participant in this thing we call the writing profession, I must put myself and my work out there for public scrutiny, and I must be willing to take the good with the bad. I've gotten honest bad reviews, I've gotten unfair, sarcastic reviews, and I've gotten a few bad reviews in which I could tell by what the person criticized that they missed some extremely vital plot points, thus skewing their entire opinion of the book. These are the most frustrating. I want to yell, "Hey, if ya bothered to PAY ATTENTION, maybe ya'd actually LIKE my book!!!"

I've gotten so many more positive than negative reviews, though, and I also have the satisfaction of having won an award. I know I put out a good product that lots of people like, so those few that don't, don't bother me anymore...at least not much!!!

[Gina]

Leslie wrote: "Hello Todd,

As a willing participant in this thing we call the writing profession, I must put myself and my work out there for public scrutiny, and I must be willing to take the good with the bad."

That's exactly how I feel. And in the same way that we don't all like the same food or the same clothes, we don't all like the same books. There will be bad reviews and good reviews, and the only way to avoid the former is to make sure you never put a book out there to begin with.

[Nina]

I am really enjoying this discussion. It does take a protective shell to write, submit, and promote. We all know how much work is involved in writing, and we all appreciate that, even if we don't particularly like the topic/genre or style. I have received hundreds of e-mails from readers telling me how much they appreciate my book, and that is what I hold close, that is the entire reason I wrote my book.

[Todd Fonseca]

All,
I really appreciate all of your thoughts and insights regarding reviews. I noticed today that the "unhelpful" votes that appeared the last couple of days on Amazon have been removed or changed. I don't know if it was my email to Amazon describing the situation, glitch in the system, change of heart by the person who voted, or otherwise but looks like it has resolved.
Todd

[Todd Fonseca]

Gina,
On a new note - my review for Utamaro Revealed is now posted on the blog and Amazon (will post here on Good Reads as soon as I finish this post).
Really, a masterful work deserving of 5 stars. Congratulations I thoroughly enjoyed it and will be sharing with others (at work, etc.).
Very nice work!
Todd

[Todd Fonseca]

Gina,
Oops, forgot to mention. I tried putting a little background on Utamaro and Ukiyo-e prints but clearly I'm not even a novice at this. If there are incorrect statements, let me know and I will fix them.
Todd

[Gina]

Todd, I just read it and I am speechless... not something that happens much (according to my husband). Wow. I admit it, that brought a tear to my eye. I've gone all wobbly now... in the best way :o)

Wow... see, speechless, that's all I can manage...

[Cheyenne]

Nina, I've been told for years I need to grow armadillo skin! I can't seem to do that so I ignore what might make me feel bad. I don't need that in my life. I need positives!

And yes, the hundreds of letters from readers telling you how much they enjoyed your books and tell you to never stop writing make things even more worth it.

Leslie, I totally agree with you. Although it doesn't mean I have to read the negs! And the awards are a nice affirmation. I just found out that 2 of my books were nominated for the 2008 Romantic Times BOOKreviews magazine reviewers choice awards. Moving Target for best romantic suspense, and Dark Magic for best paranormal action adventure. It's always a nice feeling. :o)

[Jaimey]

I just wanted to mentioned that I've tagged everyone on your list, Todd. That was fun! :o)

~Jaimey

[Nina]

Cheyenne, congrats on the nominations. It is very hard to grow armadillo skin about our work.
Forums like this, where we share and support one another, are terrific.

[Todd Fonseca]

Dee,
Started your book - great beginning - it was reminiscent of Ken Follett's Pillar's of the Earth (honestly your beginning is better than that one. Took me about 100 pages before I got into Pillars).
Todd

[Todd Fonseca]

All,
Lot's of hits and new additions to the blog coming in - sorry once again I'm behind. I'll get to them all in a few days!
Todd

[Jan]

Hi Todd,

I, too, would prefer honest reviews. I don't give many five-star reviews. Most of the books I really like get four stars. I only give five stars if it was amazing and rocked my world. If I just really enjoyed it, it gets four stars.

I felt bad when I gave a literary acquaintance's book four stars and gave some reasons why it was not perfect as well as reasons why I really liked it. I felt that she may have felt disappointed that it wasn't five stars or angry about the criticism. If you're not honest, though, what's the point?

That said, I try to be tactful with criticism and not just take joy in savaging another person's work.

[Cheyenne]

Thanks, Nina for the congrats! And yes, forums like this help us all. We're not perfect and we know it as writers, but just like most people in general, no matter what their occupation, it's not easy to take criticism. We're just in the "public eye" so ours stand out more. LOL.

[Dee]

Hi Todd,

Thank you for your kind words to the begining of my book. I am glad you did not have to read 100 pages before you had something nice to say...that would suck for you ;]

[Richard]

Todd:

Thank you for your (and others) advice. Today was my first day on this board and I tried to digest everyone's comments.

I will do my best to try and help out with tagging books.

Thanks for help in tagging The Shut-Down Learner.

Best,

Richard

[Carole]

Todd,
Thank yoiu so much for adding Ferryman to the January group of Tag My Book, and for tagging it!
I was amazed to see it pop up beside Elizabeth George - Careless in Red!

I have been tagging on the 'Tag Other Books' site, starting with yours. So far I have been through 16 strips and intend to go on until the end. You suggested I visit 'Tag My Book' frequently to help others. I notice that I have already tagged some of them on the 'Tag Other Books' site. Do I understand you can tag each book only once? So, I must avoid doing it twice, or will it be automatically stopped?

cheers
Carole

[Dee]

Hi Carole,

Obviously I am not Todd, but I can help answer your question...Yes, you only tag items once on a book's site. If you try to re-tag, it will result in the tagged item being untagged.

Just think of the tags as check marks in a box. If you click on a box that already has a check mark on it, then that box will become unchecked.

Hope that helps, and thank you so much for taking the time to "play tag" with us :]

Dee Marie

[Suzanne]

I've been away for a while, drinking egg nog and mending a crashed computer, but wanted to jump in and report that my book Where Hearts Prosper, is in the number one spot for 'inspirational romance' and 'family relationships' and on the 1st page of products tagged 'family'. Despite my marketing neglect for the last two weeks, my sales numbers still seem to be up. Don't know for sure if it's the tagging, but it couldn't have hurt! Thanks!

[Carole]

Thanks for that Dee -- I will be extra vigilant to make sure I don't do someone twice! :)

Tagging is a fascinating process. I found the 'cornwall setting' tag on Ferryman brought me into a group of books next to Elizabeth George! Some of the tags I have seen seem to be very vague, it's a wonder they get tied to anything. For exampls, Ferryman also has a sailing background, if I were to add 'lighthouse' as a tag, am I likely to be teemed up with PD James' book 'Lighthouse'? Does this have a down side?

[Gina]

The Wonderful Demise of Benjamin Arnold Guppy is on the first page of books tagged with murder, just left of Dexter. Utamaro Revealed is no.1 on the page of books tagged with 'art.'

I'm very surprised at the number of books on Amazon that aren't tagged at all. I might go on a spree later... my bank manager might throttle me afterwards though ;o)

[Todd Fonseca]

Suzanne - great to hear of your success in being in the #1 spot - woohoo!

[Todd Fonseca]

Carole,
Is there a downside... The one thing that could be is the section on Amazon that is "customers who bought items like this also bought...". If your book hasn't sold a lot of copies yet, enough for it to have "customer who bought this also bought that" then it seems amazon does a "bought items like" section. They may do this by looking at the buying habits of folks who have either visited the books page on Amazon or the habits of those who tagged your book even if they haven't bought it. I don't know as a lot of the Amazon algorithms are a mystery. So if a bunch of folks tagged a book and their buying habits were all romance and your book is sci fi the like section could show a bunch of romance novels - it's hard to tell.
Todd

[Vera]

Hi, I've been reading all about tagging but not sure I understand how multiple tags can be accomplished on Amazon. My novel, Dancing Backward In Paradise, has been tagged (by me at some point) as Southern Fiction. I know that I got at least one sale from this because I come up on the first page of a Southern Fiction search and the reader wrote me a nice review. I imagine that also being tagged women's fiction, literary fiction, historical fiction, etc. might also be helpful. Can I do that for my novel or do I need others to tag me? Thanks in advance for any feedback. My website is: http://www.verajanecook.com

[Todd Fonseca]

Hi Vera,
You can tag your own novel with a number of tags. These tags will show up on your Amazon page as long as you have purchased something from Amazon. However, you only have one vote for each specific tag. If you want multiple votes for the same tag, you need others to tag your book. That's where my tagging blog comes in - authors helping authors! There's more detail on the site:

http://tagmybookonamazon.wordpress.co...

Good luck!
Todd

[Todd Fonseca]

Good news all - the blog reached the 10,000 hits mark today!
Thanks for all of your support!
Todd

[Carole]

Dee wrote: "Hi Carole,

Obviously I am not Todd, but I can help answer your question...Yes, you only tag items once on a book's site. If you try to re-tag, it will result in the tagged item being untagged.
..."

Hi Dee,
Thought you'd like to hear, I've just put in my order for Sons of Avalon from Amazon, with one other. They tell me it will be around 32 days before I get delivery -- so it will be awhile yet before I can get my paws on it! I haven't even seen my own book yet!

[Stuart]

Hi everyone,

It has just hit me, I know why I like being an author so much, the comradery between us all is wonderful....There is no other profession anything like it, and I have worked in many!

I just wanted to share my feelings with you all...to success in 2009 and onwards.

Stuart (Melbourne/Australia)

[Carole]

I agree with you Stuart, you only have to read down this column to see how everyone is helping out their fellow authors. All the best for 2009 and may your book sales rocket!

[Stuart]

Carole wrote: "I agree with you Stuart, you only have to read down this column to see how everyone is helping out their fellow authors. All the best for 2009 and may your book sales rocket!"

Stuart wrote: "Hi everyone,

It has just hit me, I know why I like being an author so much, the comradery between us all is wonderful....There is no other profession anything like it, and I have worked in many!..."

Carole, I wish you well in 2009, and I hope your book will hit Amazons and others bestselling lists! Go Aussie, go Aussie, go go go! Just a little fun!

[Dee]

Carole,

Huge hugs for even wanting to read SOA, let alone ordering it from Amazon. Geez, 32 days...I think it must be coming too you via a slow boat by China. Dophins can swim faster than that.

I just experienced that with Gina's book, it too almost took a month...and it only crossed-the-pond.

The good thing, by the time you get the first book, I will be almost finished with the second one :]

HUGE hugs to you again...your thoughtfulness is greatly appreciated.
Dee Marie

[Dee]

I agree with both of you Carole and Stuart,

There is no group of professional that are closer knit than authors :]

Comradery has always been my favorite word!

[Stuart]

Hi Dee,

I have been away from my computer(cooking dinner for the clan etc.) Comradery is indeed a great word with so much depth and meaning....There should be a group titled: "Comradery - authors unite." What do you think?

[Dee]

I would be the first one to join Stuart :]

Plus, Comradery is just so "Arthurian" in its purest form!

[Stuart]

Leave this one with me, once I put together a standard procedure; "Comradery - authors unite," could very well be a happening group! Kudos to you,

[Dee]

Oh, and what did you fix to eat...I am STARVED...and it smells sOOooo good :]

[Gina]

I'll be the second to join that group, Stuart :o)