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How big of a role do Kindle reviews play in sales?

by seanalexm
7 replies
Reviews, reviews, reviews. This is the advice that I've gotten from many professional Kindle publishers and bloggers when I ask them what they do to sell their books. OK, so reviews do play a role. My question is, how big of a role?

Can anybody think of a situation where a Kindle book got a massive boost in sales although it did not have too many reviews or had zero reviews? Is this even possible?
#big #kindle #play #reviews #role #sales
  • Profile picture of the author BradVert2013
    It's a catch-22. You need sales to get reviews, but you need reviews to get sales.

    That said, people do buy ebooks that don't have any reviews. It's not unheard of. It just means it takes a while to build momentum. But it seems unlikely to make it to the bestseller list without a stack of good reviews.

    A good way to counter this is to have a dedicated following before publishing your ebook. Have a healthy email list of subscribers who are interested in your niche, and you'll have people ready and willing to buy your ebook when it's released. This way, you're not 100% dependent on Amazon for sales.
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  • Profile picture of the author ANDREIS
    You need reviews. Use whatever promotional methods you can to get reviews. Don't get just some dumb reviews, get some real reviews...pay if you have to..so much will depend on it!
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    • Profile picture of the author BradVert2013
      Originally Posted by ANDREIS View Post

      You need reviews. Use whatever promotional methods you can to get reviews. Don't get just some dumb reviews, get some real reviews...pay if you have to..so much will depend on it!
      Please don't buy reviews. Amazon is cracking down hard on paid reviews. They already filed a lawsuit against fake reviewers on Fiverr.


      And if it gets out that you paid for fake reviews, your reputation will be mud.
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  • Profile picture of the author robinaraoz
    Hi seanalexm,

    From what I understand, if your your book has zero reviews there is a great chance people won't buy your book.

    On the other hand if it has a decent 4 to 5 star reviews it will be more probable for people to purchase. People tend to compare and will probably buy the one with the most reviews.

    It has also been said that there is 2 types of reviews:

    verified and unverified.

    Verified: They have purchased the book and left a review

    Unverified: They haven't purchased the book and left a review

    Kind regards,
    Robin
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  • Profile picture of the author MValmont
    This is really important.

    This is far from the only thing that you need, but it it really important.
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  • Profile picture of the author Omarkenawy
    Yes people trust well-reviewed books sold on the internet. But not all reviews are legitimate because there are some authors who post fake reviews of their own books.
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  • Profile picture of the author Aginalisa
    This is important your reputation
    If it has a decent 4 to 5 star reviews it will be more probable for people to purchase
    Should have a healthy email list of subscribers who are interested in your niche, and you'll have people ready and willing to buy your ebook when it's released
    Kind regards,
    Agina
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