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What is your personal "special sauce" in getting Kindle book reader reviews?

by annyabanana
6 replies
It's easy to say that the best way to generate a lot of sales on Kindle is to get a lot of reviews. It's easy to say that, but implementing that advice can be quite tricky. I've seen quite a number of Kindle books get dozens of reviews and their sales, at least as far as I could tell from their category rankings, flat out suck.

What kind of "special sauce" do people use to get readers to review their books in such a way that this actually boosts sales? I'm not talking about paying for reviews. I'm not talking about swapping for reviews. Get those ideas out of your head.

I'm talking primarily about particular positioning or promotion to get Kindle book reviewers emotionally invested in whatever book you publish. I'm at a completely lost here. I'm thoroughly confused as to why some heavily reviewed books do well and others fail.
#book #kindle #personal #reader #reviews #special sauce
  • Profile picture of the author writeaway
    Well, if you're talking about completely REAL and ORGANIC reviews (instead of reviews generated through review swap FB groups or 'kindle mastermind groups'), it helps to get your book in front of as many eyeballs as possible.

    There's a bit of a chicken and egg problem here because your best bet for authentic reviews from a 'friendly' audience is through your own Kindle reader list.

    THAT is what gets the 'emotional investment' (to use your term) process going.

    The problem, of course, is if you're just starting, you don't have a list.

    I suggest you try Wattpad (if you're producing fiction that can be appreciated by a younger crowd). Goodreads might be a good alternative as well.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sarevok
    Run free promotions, and promote the HELL out of your promotions. (There are plenty of scripts to automate that process, just do a few Googles).

    But, just a warning...

    If you run free promotions, and promote your Kindle book HEAVILY, you'll end up with reviews from people who don't necessarily want your book. Just a warning.

    Also, check out Bookbub; they'll promote your free promotion for a few hundred bucks if it's a nonfiction book, or a few grand (last time I checked) if it's fiction.



    They're worth it in my opinion.

    Either way, the key to getting reviews is giving your books away for free, and then promoting the promotion heavily. Don't fall into the trap of PAYING FOR REVIEWS, because Kindle will drop you like a hot potato should they discover any shenanigans.

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  • Profile picture of the author Manoj V
    Originally Posted by annyabanana View Post

    It's easy to say that the best way to generate a lot of sales on Kindle is to get a lot of reviews. It's easy to say that, but implementing that advice can be quite tricky. I've seen quite a number of Kindle books get dozens of reviews and their sales, at least as far as I could tell from their category rankings, flat out suck.
    I agree with you on this. The reason is that however much Amazon tries to act against fake reviews I don't think they have been able to weed the malaise out completely. I guess they can't do anything if the author has arranged for fake reviews in such a way that Amazon can't detect them as fake.

    What kind of "special sauce" do people use to get readers to review their books in such a way that this actually boosts sales? I'm not talking about paying for reviews. I'm not talking about swapping for reviews. Get those ideas out of your head.
    Amazon does a pretty good job detecting fake reviews even though some might still slip through. Unfortunately, getting your book reviewed by other authors is also a big no so that is also ruled out.

    I'm talking primarily about particular positioning or promotion to get Kindle book reviewers emotionally invested in whatever book you publish. I'm at a completely lost here. I'm thoroughly confused as to why some heavily reviewed books do well and others fail.
    So the answer is to form your own "street team" over the long term, something that you will need to do by building a list. But even before creating a street team you can put a link to the review section of Amazon at the end of your book requesting readers to review your book. You can also send an email to your list after they opt-in reminding them to leave a review if they haven't yet done so.
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  • Profile picture of the author rochelle23
    Honestly their is no magic secret. Most on amazon are hustling for their reviews, they are contacting top reviewers and begging for reviews in exchange for a discounted kindle e-book.

    While others build a website around their book and promote the book on their blog. Once they build up a decent mailing list they kindly ask them leave a review of the book. As their email list grows so do the kindle sales.
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  • Profile picture of the author Elvis Michael
    This is simple advice, but it occasionally works: Blatantly ask for them toward the middle and the end of your book:

    [story paragraph]

    "Enjoying this book so far? Please take a moment to leave a review."

    [story paragraph]
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  • Profile picture of the author writeaway
    Another approach you can take is to reverse engineer how professional publicists promote books BUT...

    Modify these practices to fit online promotions/platforms AND fit your budget

    For example: instead of going to talk shows to talk about your new recipe book, run a Kindle free book promotion and get interviewed on cooking blogs.

    Many blogs are always looking for free unique content. Pitch them your interview ahead of your free book promo. If you can get them to agree to publish within that window, you can get the right eyeballs.
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