Hello and happy spring from Cat Hoort and Kregel Publications!

Question for you: have you found the jewels of Amazon?

I’m not talking about any lost treasure, rain forest, or river. I am, of course, referring to Amazon.com: the go-to online retailer that has made it easy for practically anyone anywhere to get our books. We know them as a retailer—a seller. But did you know they also market? Amazon offers several ways for you to interact with your readers—right there on your book’s product page. Here are a few “jewels” that are easy, accessible, and effective ways to market your book on Amazon:

1. Reviews: This “jewel” is probably the most popular. Everyone wants Amazon reviews. But do you know just how effective they really are? Not only do reviews add content to your book’s product page for the benefit of potential readers, the quantity (number of reviews) and quality (average star rating of reviews) also affect the Amazon algorithm that determines your book’s Amazon ranking (the ranking is not just about sales!) What’s more, both the quantity and quality are noted directly under the title and author information at the very top of your book page—prime positioning to draw in new readers.
2. Amazon Author Central: If you don’t already have an account, go get one. It gives you direct access to updating your product page, including your bio, author photo, and endorsements, AND allows you to link your books (if you have more than one).
3. Likes: How many times have you “liked” a friend’s status on Facebook? Too many times to count. How many times have you “liked” a book on Amazon? There’s a little “like” button under the title and author information at the very top of the page that anyone can click. The more “likes”, the better!
4. Tags: Grouping books by topic and genre increases searchability. If you’ve written a devotional, is your book grouped with others like it? Tag your book with applicable topics (e.g. devotional, prayer, daily reading) to associate your book with others and attract readers of those books who have not yet found yours.
5. ListMania: I love lists. Grocery lists. To-Do lists. Lists of upcoming birthdays and important events. List of the blogs I read. Why not create a list of your favorite books? Why not include yours? Why not ask others to include your book on their lists as well?
6. Discussion Forums: Remember these? Before blogs, they were really popular. They allowed for people to connect online, to share ideas and opinions. Today, they are most often seen on the Help Page of websites… and on Amazon. Your book is coded by genre and the forums that appear on your book page come from readers active in that genre. Your readers are right there waiting for you. Respond to questions in current forums or create a new forum and start interacting!

The real value of these jewels is that anyone can reap their wealth. You can start, but ask your fans, friends, and followers to join you and then you’ll really see how effective these jewels can be.

So tell me: what other jewels are there? How do you use Amazon to market (and sell) your book?