Thursday, November 15, 2012

Amazon's Magical Disappearing Reviews

scene from Alice in Wonderland movie with mushrooms and cheshire cat


POOF!
That's the sound authors didn't hear before waking up to a strange new world on Amazon in recent weeks. Did we fall down the rabbit hole? It seems that way for many authors as well as reviewers whose reviews have simply disappeared.

THIS IS READER FEEDBACK
You probably know that the Amazon system of reviews does not actually contain reviews, much. What they are really after is that all-important reader feedback. That is part of why many 5-star reviews have vanished like the grin on the Cheshire Cat.

STILL HERE
We're still here, you know. We still have books to market. This latest debacle seems more like a course correction on Amazon's part than anything else. Their system was clogged with schemes and scams, "experts" guiding people to "bestseller status," and other more insidious plans to get books and products to rank on Amazon.

None of that is necessary. We are building our own readership. Scams don't help.

Learn what you do need to know about the review system and how to be less dependent on our distribution helper called Amazon. Let's work together. Manage your reviews and keep moving forward with your author platform.

You guessed it: The e-course is now available on... Amazon. Be informed!

CLICK HERE: MANAGING REVIEWS
the AUTHOR PLATFORM E-COURSE FROM BEYOND BESTSELLER

cover for the e-course called Managing Reviews




Monday, November 5, 2012

REVIEWS: Word of mouth turned evil?



REVIEWS: Word of mouth turned evil?

Building your author platform includes one very active and potentially treacherous corner: Your Amazon reviews.

The first thing I talk about in the Beyond Bestseller Author Platform E-Course, "Managing Reviews," is the fact that in the Amazon review system, we are actually working with reader feedback. This system of readers writing in their experiences and rating books is a natural development of the social web. It's full of snake pits, though, and authors are understandably tearing their hair out trying to understand how to participate.

Let's call it what it is: Reader feedback
Start by looking at reviews as reader feedback. Get the idea of "reviews" out of your head. Most authors are stuck in the traditional publishing world, thinking that they need to garner lots of great, intelligent, critical reviews along with their five-star average in order to sell books. Not so.

What we do need is to learn how to ask our readers for feedback. This practice and the rest of the rocky landscape of the review system can now be found in the e-course "Managing Reviews." I researched the experiences of authors like myself, publishing digitally and developing our own readership as is now required for any kind of book. We're all in the same boat.

Manipulation is counterproductive
There are lots of ways to manipulate the Amazon system and lots of people to take you on that ride. We don't have to sell our integrity to raise interest in our books and grow a loyal readership. As a matter of fact, I think it is counterproductive to slap up two dozen reviews to work the system. Readers can tell, and they'll let you know -- right there in the review section.

Understanding the system and working with our readers honestly and transparently is the way to build a firm foundation as an independent publisher. Let me know how it goes.

Suzanna Stinnett

Beyond Bestseller Author Platform E-Course: MANAGING REVIEWS