Blurb:
How To Get Good Reviews On Amazon is a simple, no-nonsense guide that teaches exactly what it says it does. Based on both psychological science and thousands of hours of conversation with some of Amazon’s top reviewers, it takes you behind the scenes into the reviewing subculture that has grown up on Amazon’s website. It gives you a deep, insider’s knowledge of how the top reviewers think and operate. It not only shows you what to do: it takes you inside the reviewers’ heads so that you can see for yourself both how these techniques work and why they’re so effective.
Lessons include:
- A simple, four-part formula for writing emails that get your work reviewed.
- Three things never to say when communicating with reviewers!
- How to pick reviewers who are more likely to give you a good review.
- How to reduce the chance that a reviewer you contact will post a bad review – even if it turns out they don’t like your work!
- How people get caught out when receiving reviews from friends and family.
This book teaches an honest, straightforward approach that works. It works because it’s not based gimmicks or tricks but on a real understanding of how Amazon reviewers operate: most of all on what they expect from authors and other sellers. If you want to know how to talk to Amazon reviewers in a way that will make them respect you as a professional and see you as the kind of seller they actually want to help, this is the book for you.
Excerpt:
One of the most fundamental ideas in this booklet is that there’s a definite reviewing subculture that has grown up on Amazon’s website. Like any culture, it has its own particular values and mores: its own ideas about what’s right and what’s wrong. When we come to the issue of shill reviews, we collide headlong with the values of the reviewing culture. As you might expect, most reviewers see shills – and the sellers who use them – as very, very wrong.
Because this section is all about values, I think it’s important to stress that I’m writing here as your guide to Amazon’s reviewing subculture. I’m not writing as a missionary on its behalf.
Simply put, I believe that your journey through the Amazon Jungle will be smoother, easier, and more successful if along the way you’re respectful of the values of the natives who dwell there. For that reason, I’m going to lay out for you some of the more commonly held tenants: the basic beliefs that most of the natives would hold to. It’s not for me to tell you whether you should embrace these values to the core of your being and make them your own. I’m just telling you that as a matter of pure pragmatism, you are going to make trouble for yourself if you ignore them.
My Review:
This was a very interesting book. The author was very knowledgeable about the subject of reviewing (he's a big Amazon reviewer as well), and he's a good writer as well. The only problem I had with it was that he came off as a bit too intense at times. As a reviewer myself, it was a bit much and over the top at times. Other than that, this was a great book, with lots of helpful tips, not only for authors, but also for reviewers as well. This book is meant as a glimpse into the mind of reviewers, but it also worked in reverse and lets reviewers know what to do when writing their review (i.e. what people and authors are looking for, good or bad). Plus, he shared lots of info about the ranking system, how to get your reviews seen, etc.
All in all, this was a quick read, and a very helpful one. I would definitely recommend this not only to writers, but also to reviewers, especially those who are just starting out and need some tips on how to write good reviews.
The author will be giving away a $100 Amazon gift card. Also, don’t forget to visit the other participating blogs!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Author Information:
Theo Rogers combines years of coalface experience on Amazon's website with formal training and qualifications in a range of business and social science disciplines. He's spent literally thousands of hours talking with Amazon reviewers, getting inside their heads, and learning what makes them tick. He's spent almost as many hours observing the carnage that so often takes place on Amazon's forums. In the process he's developed a deep insider's knowledge of the reviewing subculture that's grown up on Amazon's website.
He's also seen a lot of authors and other would-be sellers make the same mistakes in their dealings with that subculture - over and over again.
As a result of his experiences, Theo has come to believe that yes, there is a simple formula that works: a way of dealing with reviewers that's honest, powerful, and extremely effective at winning reviewers over, getting them on your side, and making them actually want to help you.
Amazon
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to stop by too and thank you for featuring my book on your blog.
ReplyDeleteI'll try to stop by again later on and see if your review's up. I await your verdict with great trepidation!
No problem, I'm glad I got to review it!
DeleteAmazon, please.
ReplyDeleteKit3247(at)aol(dot)com
Thanks for taking the time to review it.
ReplyDeleteAlthough when you say that I "came off as a bit too intense at times", it's the kind of thing that leaves me wondering:
"Good Lord! Whatever did I say"??? :-O
The important thing though is that you found it helpful. I set out to create a genuinely useful guide for writers and other sellers, and I'm glad you feel I succeeded.
Part of it was that I'm not that hardcore a reviewer as some of your examples and as you apparently, so it was a bit intense for me when you said things like most reviewers do this. I was like, really? Cause I don't. What am I doing wrong? LOL
DeleteLOL indeed!
ReplyDeleteWell, now I know!
I hope you didn't mind. I had to ask! =P
No problem, glad I could help clarify :)
Delete