Amazon Founder & CEO Jeff Bezos
Amazon, the biggest book retailer in the world, was the first company to see the potential in retailing self-published work.
Indie authors have reason to be very grateful to Amazon for their then radical move of presenting every book to readers in precisely the same way, whether it was an already-known author published by a corporate publisher or an indie just starting out. In doing this, Amazon took the most significant step in centuries towards author empowerment and the democratisation of publishing.
It is not an exaggeration to say that Amazon ignited and allowed the self-publishing revolution. And the company continues to lead the way in innovation and reach, providing an excellent range of self-publishing tools that allow us to create work in print, audio or digital formats.
Amazon has an internal marketing system (known to writers - awed tone, please - as: 'The Algorithm') that is second-to-none. The more books you sell, the more your book gets promoted and the more visible your book will be (in listings, on recommendation queues and so on). It's a benign circle that has a major effect on book sales, if you can get picked up.
So before you expend any time or money on anything else, know that the single best thing you can do for your book is to get your Amazon Pages right. Employing the techniques below don't guarantee that you'll become an Amazon bestseller but failing to use them almost certainly consigns your book to obscurity.
OPTIMISING AMAZON
When your prospective reader lands on your book page or author page, they are half thinking: Why should I NOT buy this book or this author's work. Your book pages and author page should work to rid them of fears that they won't enjoy it, that it's no good, poorly edited, over-hyped, not likely to be worth the investment of money and time. Imagining what their objections to buying your book might be and setting out to allay them will put you in the right frame of mind to tackle your Amazon pages.
Begin with your AUTHOR PAGE.
Here is where readers, especially those who are unfamiliar with you, can learn more about you and your books.
Amazon's Author Page facility is improving all the time and now can include a biography, photos, blog feeds, videos, twitter and event listings (for virtual and in-person events).
Your page also contains images and links to the books pages for all your titles on Amazon, in all formats -- ebook (kindle); pbook (createspace) and audiobook (audible). Essentially, it's like Amazon hosting a mini-website for you in their shop.
PHOTO: Lots of our members put a book picture instead of a picture of themselves in their Author Profiles on Amazon, Facebook etc, thinking nobody is interested in seeing what they look like or that they don't look "good enough" (modest lot, us authorly types).
This is a mistake. All research confirms that readers buy more books when they see a picture of the author, and regardless of what we look like apparently (forgiving lot, those readerly types), though if you're young and gorgeous it won't go against you here, as anywhere else.
Head and shoulders shot is favoured, with an open and friendly expression and make sure they can see your eyes.
PROFILE. It's not enough to just tell people a bit about yourself. It's not enough to be interesting. The aim here is to try to be nothing less than fascinatingly compelling. While still being you.
A challenge, yes, but you are a writer and this is the second most important piece of writing you'll do all year. (The first is your book descriptions, see below)
EXTRAS: These all help to supplement your biography and show your best side off.
So if you blog, add your RSS feed (which will display your latest post). Upload your best videos or book trailers. Import your twitter feed if you have one. All these help the reader who doesn't know you to trust you as a writer -- and gives those who've enjoyed your book more information about who you are and what you represent.
AMAZON PEN-NAME. Some writers like to use a pen-name as a marketing tool on Amazon, putting a keyword related to their books into their name. Supposing I write keep-fit books and my name is Kate Evans. I can call myself 'Keep Fit Kate' or 'Keep Fit Kate Evans', and use that name when reviewing books on Amazon, making browsers who read my reviews about other fitness books more likely to click through to my page.
Like most book marketing techniques, this is easier and more useful, generally, for nonfiction writers. But genre fiction writers can also benefit (Mystery Meg, Dan "Thrills and Spills" Carew and so on).
You can learn more about here about Amazon Pen Names.
Amazon also provides a neat Author URL for you to use in your emails, on Twitter etc. Orna’s is: http://www.amazon.com/author/ornaross.
Here's how to create your own Amazon Author URL.
Improve your BOOK DESCRIPTION
The book description is the most important piece of writing an indie author does. These few paragraphs are core to your self-publishing efforts yet many writers resist, throwing off a top-of-the-head description or a few sentences of summary. Even those who are making an effort may not be sure of what they are doing, or why.
There are two dimensions to your book description: Persuasion and keywords.
PERSUASION. Your product description is your chance to show what you’ve got and tell the reader why they need to buy this book right now.
You have 30 seconds or less to persuade someone, to overcome their innate resistance to buying -- so don’t simply describe what's in your book, tell the potential reader why they need it.  Evoke their emotions by using power words that sell.
TELL PROSPECTIVE READERS THE FOLLOWING (ALWAYS)
Fiction or Creative Nonfiction:
- the central conflict.
- who the main characters are
- what are their goals
- why they're not having a good time of it. (Good time = bad novel),
- what's at stake.
- where it's set
- why they probably can't solve the problem (raise a doubt)
How-To Non-fiction:
- What problem the book will solve
- Why they have the problem, common obstacles and how the will overcomes them
- Other benefits of reading the book
- What they'll learn that they don't already know
- Why you're the person to help
- Some examples
KEYWORDS: Use google keyword search tool to find keywords to use in your title and book description.
Write down several words or phrases that you believe readers would be likely to search for when looking for your book. Check these with the Google Keyword Tool to find out roughly how many people search for those words phrases. Then look through the list of other, related phrases that people actually look for.
For example, if I've written or want to write a keep fit book, I google search the keywords /keep fit/ and I find 74,000 people searched that term in the past month. But I see that more than 37 million people search for /fitness/. I should then choose to use fitness as a term rather than keep fit, in my title, book description, author profile and so on.
This research is much easier for fiction than non-fiction and is ideally done before you decide on your title.
THE LIKE BUTTON
Does having more ‘Likes’ affect the Amazon algorithm? Some say yes.
Even if it doesn’t, when customers see a book with a lot of likes, it warms them a little more. So it doesn't hurt to ask those who have liked your book to go to your page next time they are on Amazon and say so by clicking the 'like' button. It only takes a second.
GET MORE REVIEWS.
Sock puppetry notwithstanding, more positive reviews = more sales. ALLi has a comprehensive list of sites that accept self-published books for review on our member-only Facebook group. Here’s a post with some other ideas
Also:
1. Find Amazon reviewers interested in your topic (who have reviewed something similar) and offer a free review copy. Amazon’s Top Reviewers are here: http://www.amazon.com/review/top-reviewers.
2. When you receive nice words about your book, an email or comment on social media, ask right away if they wouldn't mind posting it as an Amazon review. If they really like you and they are a member of Goodreads, ask them to cross-post here too (see below)
3. Visit forums and offer free copies in exchange for reviews. Try Goodreads, Facebook, the KindleBoards, the NookBoards, the MobileRead forums. Just wander around, offering your book and see who takes you up.
4. On the final page of your book, ask for a review. Keep it simple, just something like: "If you've enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review on Amazon or Goodreads (or ideally, both). Many thanks."
OPTIMISE BOOK CATEGORIES & TAGS.
Categories and tags are key to how your book performs on Amazon and whether it gets picked up for the various lists and marketing tools that Amazon provides.
-- Cateogries are chosen by you, when publishing the book.
-- Tags are chosen by you, and your readers on reading the book.
In her book Amazon Categories Create Bestseller, indie Aggie Villanueva calls categories "the inverted pyramid point from which all your other rankings are drawn throughout Amazon". The categories in which you place your book is the single-most important influence on how high you rise in Amazon lists.
This is, then, an important topic and will be getting its own post in this series. In the meantime, just to say that members often put their book into the broadest category - say, fiction - thinking this means it reaches a wider audience. The opposite is the case. Narrow your audience by choosing the smallest sub- or sub-sub-category that is relevant, so your book has a chance of making its mark.
An Amazon "tag" is a keyword that helps readers find your book through searches. For instance, for our fitness book, relevant tags might include “diet”, “pilates”, "weight-loss" and so on. Again, use Google keyword tool to help you refine your tags.
Popular tags generate communities and discussions around them and if your book features in such discussions, it can be a real boon to sales. We will be looking at tags more deeply in a later post in this series.
Awesome article! I'm liking the Alliance already and I just joined!
Thanks,
Max
Thanks so much for this - I had an Author Page at Amazon with both blog and twitter feeds, but had missed the author url. Done in a minute and also uploaded a new photograpoh.
Thanks for this article. Just joined. I've been working my way around shelfari and trying to figure it all out. They do offer an option where you can put it on your blog, but can't seem to figure out how to put it on wordpress. But this is wonderful insight on optimizing the amazon author page, crucial for a self publishing author.
[...] to put that energy into writing your books and trust that you will eventually break through, using Amazon's tools and suchlike. Social media does provide a strategy to increase the odds in your favour (and every [...]
Lots of our members use these techniques Rody and those who do see the benefits.
[...] This review was written by Penelope Silvers for her curated content on Ebook Promotion and Marketing at http://www.scoop.it/philosbooks See on selfpublishingadvice.org [...]
Hi I stumbled upon this website by luck. I was searching Google for Informative resources two watch when I found your site, I must say your site is awesome I just love the layout, its amazing! I don't have the time at the moment to fully read your site but I have bookmarked it and also signed up for your RSS feeds. I will be back in a day or two. thanks for a great site.
Tengo que decir que este artículo me ha sido interesante.
Aunque tengo que decir que ciertos post diferente no me pareció tan bueno, el de
esta vez me ha gustado mucho.
Saludos
I and my buddies have already been going through the great secrets and techniques on your web site then immediately I had a horrible suspicion I never expressed respect to you for them. All the boys became certainly excited to read all of them and now have certainly been making the most of them. Appreciate your genuinely simply accommodating and also for considering these kinds of cool information millions of individuals are really eager to understand about. Our own honest apologies for not expressing gratitude to you sooner.
Thank you for your site post. Johnson and I happen to be saving for just a new guide on this subject matter and your post has made all of us to save money. Your opinions really solved all our issues. In fact, in excess of what we had recognized previous to the time we discovered your great blog. I no longer nurture doubts and a troubled mind because you have totally attended to each of our needs in this post. Thanks
very nice put up, i definitely love this web site, carry on it
Think the information you are providing is very helpfull.Can i recommend Argan Oil as this has always had great results for me not only on my skin but also for hair aswell.
When I originally left a comment I appear to have clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and from now on each time a comment is added I receive 4 emails with the same comment. There has to be an easy method you can remove me from that service? Cheers!
Hi there, i read your blog from time to time and i
own a similar one and i was just wondering if
you get a lot of spam remarks? If so how do you prevent
it, any plugin or anything you can recommend? I get so much lately it's driving me crazy so any assistance is very much appreciated.
till the chinese quit these human proper abuses, i curse something chinese in
JESUS identify, Amen. the Christians are the apple of GOD's eye so to damage a Christian indicates you have harmed GOD's
eye and that's not likely to take place, they need to be ready for disaster following forcing the Christian ladies to have abortions.
Particularly interesting cheers, It is my belief your trusty visitors may well want considerably more items of the nature continue the excellent effort.
I just couldn't leave your site prior to suggesting that I really enjoyed the usual info a person provide on your guests? Is gonna be again steadily to check up on new posts
buy viagra from us, amazing prices,f ast delivery, includes cialis and levitra
Thanks for every other informative website. Where else may I am getting that type of info written in such an ideal way? I have a project that I am just now running on, and I have been on the glance out for such info.
Certainly high resolution videotape quality carries much memory, that’s why it presents superior feature.
Utterly pent written content, thanks for entropy. "Life is God's novel. Let him write it." by Isaac Bashevis Singer.
whoah this weblog is fantastic i really like reading your articles. Stay up the good work! You understand, many persons are hunting around for this info, you could aid them greatly.
{Thanks for your personal marvelous posting! I genuinely enjoyed reading it, you're a great author.I will make sure to bookmark your blog and definitely will come back later on. I want to encourage you continue your great posts, have a nice afternoon!|I absolutely love your blog and find most of your post's to be precisely what I'm looking for. Do you offer guest writers to write content available for you? I wouldn't mind writing a post or elaborating on a number of the subjects you write in relation to here. Again, awesome web site!|My spouse and I stumbled over here by a different web address and thought I might check things out. I like what I see so now i'm following you. Look forward to looking at your web page yet again.|Everyone loves what you guys tend to be up too. This type of clever work and exposure! Keep up the wonderful works guys I've included you guys to blogroll.|Hi there I am so glad I found your blog, I really found you by mistake, while I was looking on Google for something else, Anyways I am here now and would just like to say cheers for a marvelous post and a all round entertaining blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have time to look over it all at the moment but I have book-marked it and also added your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read more, Please do keep up the awesome job.|Admiring the hard work you put into your blog and in depth information you present. It's nice to come across a blog every once in a while that isn't the same outdated rehashed information. Great read! I've saved your site and I'm including your RSS feeds to my Google account.|Hey there! I've been following your website for a while now and finally got the bravery to go ahead and give you a shout out from Austin Texas! Just wanted to say keep up the fantastic job!
I enjoy, cause I found exactly what I was looking for. You have ended my 4 day lengthy hunt! God Bless you man. Have a great day. Bye
I do consider all of the ideas you have introduced for your post. They are really convincing and will certainly work. Still, the posts are too short for starters. May you please extend them a little from next time? Thanks for the post.
Since I'm A huge dude with not alot of choices. I'm in the
finish of my rope. And it sucks simply because what exactly is around will not cater to
us whatsoever. There's One million BBW websites. Present us some enjoy for as soon as!!
My weblog: female mind mastery
For people like my personal, operating as well as living overseas with little get in touch with around the world aside from the internet, your internet site is gold for us, we are able to keep up-to-date as well as follow the information via your great blog, continue the great work and let me know basically can do something for you personally!
I am really loving the theme/design of your site. Do you ever run into any browser compatibility problems? A couple of my blog readers have complained about my website not operating correctly in Explorer but looks great in Safari. Do you have any suggestions to help fix this issue?
au top comme sujet, je kiffe ton article !
you've a great weblog right here! would you wish to make some invite posts on my blog?
Hey! This is kind of off topic but I need some guidance from an established blog.
Is it very hard to set up your own blog? I'm not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty fast. I'm thinking about making
my own but I'm not sure where to start. Do you have any tips or suggestions? Many thanks
Hiya, I'm really glad I've found this information. Nowadays bloggers publish only about gossips and net and this is really frustrating. A good site with exciting content, that is what I need. Thank you for keeping this web-site, I will be visiting it. Do you do newsletters? Cant find it.
Great remarkable things here. I am very satisfied to look your article. Thanks a lot and i am looking forward to contact you. Will you kindly drop me a e-mail?
Do you mind if I quote a few of your articles as long as I provide credit and sources back to your website? My blog is in the very same area of interest as yours and my users would really benefit from some of the information you present here. Please let me know if this okay with you. Cheers!|
Thank you a bunch for sharing this with all of us you actually realize what you are speaking about! Bookmarked. Kindly additionally consult with my website =). We can have a hyperlink change arrangement among us!
With havin so much written content do you ever run into any problems of plagorism or copyright violation? My website has a lot of unique content I've either authored myself or outsourced but it looks like a lot of it is popping it up all over the web without my agreement. Do you know any techniques to help prevent content from being stolen? I'd really appreciate it.
I do believe all of the concepts you've introduced on your post. They are really convincing and can definitely work. Still, the posts are too brief for novices. May you please extend them a little from subsequent time? Thank you for the post.