HOLLY BRADY

HELPING SERIOUS WRITERS SELF-PUBLISH

How To Get Over 50 Starred Reviews on Amazon First Day Out

Last week during my Stanford workshop on self-publishing, guest speaker Guy Kawasaki was asked whether he had purchased any ads for his new book on self-publishing APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur–How to Publish a Book.

“Not one,” he said.

So how did he receive over 50 Amazon reviews in the first day of launch?

“Simple. I involved my followers from the beginning. I asked their opinion on the outline. I asked their opinion on the manuscript. And I even asked for volunteers to help copyedit the book.

“And so…when we went to launch, all I did was let my followers know. Many of them were invested enough in the project that they went to Amazon and reviewed the book on Day One.”

The result: over 50 4- and 5-star reviews. Of course, it helps that it’s a great book. Check it out here:

APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur-How to Publish a Book

5 thoughts on “How To Get Over 50 Starred Reviews on Amazon First Day Out”

  1. Kawasaki is successful, but his books are non-fiction. Are we progressing art or original thought in this social media fuelled work? It all just feels like the new version of a pyramid scheme to me.

    Reply
    • There’s room for both fiction and nonfiction. The latter are much easier to write, launch and promote–and, when done well, educate and inform. The former, when done well, nourish the spirit.

      Reply
  2. Not sure this article really helped, Holly. Seems we need a follow-up article on how to find the elusive “follower.” Er … 50 of them.

    I wish I had Kawasaki’s magic wand to wave at a workshop, convincing 50 folks to follow my book through to fruition — including copy editing!

    He didn’t mention hypnotism … :O) …

    David Belisle

    Reply
    • LOL. It’s true, David, that Kawasaki is a master at aggregating an audience. And he’s been at it for longer than almost anyone else on the Net. But social media is quite powerful, and I’ve worked with authors who have themselves aggregated a nice group of fans simply by posting on Facebook on a regular basis. One of my authors, actor Robin Ellis, now writes cookbooks. He and his wife post almost daily about their cooking adventures in the South of France. They’ve amassed a nice following of fans (though nowhere near the size of Kawasaki’s) who re-post their posts on other sites. You can see his posts at https://www.facebook.com/groups/315775168625396/ .

      Reply

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