Creative Conflict

Want to show some reader love to your favourite authors on Amazon? Here are ten quick and easy things you can do to help make your beloved authors more visible on Amazon!

In the points below we will mainly be looking at the product page. This is simply the page you arrive at when you click on a book in the charts, categories or via a search. So, for my middle-grade novel, The Serpent in the Glass, the product page on Amazon.com is http://www.amazon.com/Serpent-Glass-Thomas-Farrell-ebook/dp/B0062A7UVE/

Of course, you can repeat the activities below on Amazon.co.uk and on other Amazon sites where the book exists. You should also make sure you are logged into Amazon for most of these, too (some may require that you’ve made a purchase at some point in the past).

So let’s get to helping out your authors!

1. LIKE

At the top of each book’s product page on Amazon you’ll see a “like” button thus:

Just click it! Simple! Note that once you’ve liked a book you can also share that like as illustrated below:

2. SHARE

You can also share the book simply by clicking one of the options to the right of the book. See the bottom-most arrow in the image below.

3. WISH LIST

If you’ve not bought the book yet, why not add it to your Wish List by clicking the button of the same name? Other people will then be able to see your favourite books (you can also opt to keep them private, but then they won’t show up in public searches and help the author as much). This is illustrated in the image above (the top-most arrow).

4. VOTE REVIEWS UP OR DOWN & COMMENT

Beneath each review you can opt to choose whether or not the review was useful. You may also choose to comment on a review.

5. WRITE A REVIEW

Reviews can be as little as 20 words. Take the time to write one. It really helps authors in lots of ways! English speakers can do this on both the com and co.uk site.

6. REVIEWING OTHER BOOKS

Where appropriate and kind, you might also mention your favourite author’s book in reviewing other books you have read (or in the comments under reviews) from other authors. Amazon’s review guidelines state that “the best reviews include not only whether you liked or disliked a product, but also why. Feel free to talk about related products and how this item compares to them.” (Amazon General Review Creation Guidelines) However, be kind.

7. RECOMMEND OFFLINE

Readers are not generally aware of how powerful and effective personal recommendations are to family and friends. Please don’t forget to tell them about the good books you read!

8. TAGS

If you scroll down the product page of your chosen book you’ll find something like this:

Click on the indicated place to open up all the tags (you won’t need to do this if there are only a few tags). You’ll then see something like this:

You can click on the box next to a tag in order to agree with it (see top arrow in image above). You can also add your own tags by typing them into the little box (see bottom arrow in image above) and clicking the “add” button. You can add up to 15 tags (“adds” and “agrees” combined) and change them later if you wish.

9. RECOMMEND ONLINE

Mention the book on social media sites, in forums, etc. This is a powerful way to promote your favourite author and books. You can also mention it on the Amazon forums, and even start a discussion about it (if one hasn’t already been started):

The forum links to the right (in the above image) can help you find existing places to discuss the book. The button “start a discussion” will allow you to start your own thread about the book (and it will display on the product page thereafter).

10. LISTMANIA

LINK TO FULL INSTRUCTIONS: how to set up a Listmania list.

Use the above instructions to set up a Listmania list. This is essentially a personal list of books you create, but which is viewable by all. For example, for my book Pied and Prodigious I might set up a list called “Books based on Pride and Prejudice”. This helps books become more visible.

I hope these 10 things help you to help your favourite authors and their books! Get clicking! And do post any comments or questions below.