The Importance of Amazon Reviews

Being an indie author isn’t exactly glamorous. No one is toasting you in New York. Your books aren’t gracing the front window display at B&N. They’re not written about in USA Today or the Times either. You’re not getting a whole lot of invitations to conferences or book signings. And interviews on TV or radio? Forget it. Those communication vehicles are reserved for authors signed by the big publishing companies. No, as an indie author, you’re probably toiling in obscurity just hoping that one day your big audience will find you.

But how do they do that? Spamming your Twitter followers certainly isn’t a viable solution (no matter how dedicated some indie authors seem to be to this method.) Facebook ads and webpage banners don’t seem to be the magic ingredient. Paid book reviews might work, but you’re either paying a fortune to a company like Kirkus or you’re cheating and facing a potential ban from the very sites you need to be listed on.

No, the only way to establish a robust audience as an indie author seems to be through the natural growth and buzz that legitimate book reviews on Amazon generate. The more people that post something positive about your work on that site, the more other people notice and decide to buy it for themselves. A reader browses through books in a particular genre. A couple of book covers, titles, or blurbs catch their eye. Which one are they more likely to purchase, the one with a handful of reviews or the one that 100+ people publicly recommend?

You know the answer to that one and so do I. That’s why I bit the bullet and gave away the ebook version of my post-apocalyptic novel Storm Orphans last weekend. Almost 1000 people downloaded it over the course of those three days. It had eight reviews at the time the promotion began. Yes, they’re very positive reviews, but just eight of them after two years on the market. In the three days since, a ninth review has been added to the list. Bless that ninth person! “bsslady_j” you rock! Now I sit and wait to see how many more of those 1000 people read, enjoy, and post something about my zombie-slaying crew on Amazon. The more that do, the more likely others will take their lead and decide to click that “Buy now” button.

Giving away the result of a year of work wasn’t an easy decision, but it is a strategy. Now we’ll see if it pays off.