The Amazon.com page that sells your book may perhaps be the most important item in your entire marketing effort. All of your press releases, news articles, blog reviews of your book, radio appearances, website pages and more probably will point potential readers to this page. It is where potential readers can purchase your book.
For many potential readers, it is the page where they find out the most information about your book. If your Amazon.com page turns them off to your book, you’ve lost a sale.
If you’ve used CreateSpace to print your book, Amazon.com automatically will create a page for you, uploading your book cover photo, book description, price, and product details (such as number of pages, trim size and so on). If you used a different printer, at least as of this writing you’ll need to apply to sell your product on Amazon.com through its Advantage program.
The format of the Amazon.com page is predetermined for you, so you’re stuck with the appearance, even if you don’t like it. That’s okay, though – a standard format on each Amazon.com page means visitors don’t have to look hard for the information they want when they go to purchase the book.
What you can control is the text and some other gimmicky but useful stuff on the page:
n Click to Look Inside – This feature allows readers to flip through a limited number of pages of your book before purchasing it. Definitely do this; Amazon.com doesn’t give away enough pages to diminish a sale, and if at a brick and mortar bookstore, readers definitely would look through it.
n Book description – This is the equivalent of your cover blurb. Like a synopsis, it tells readers a little about your book without giving away the ending.
n Editorial reviews (about the author) – This is your author’s bio. Especially if writing nonfiction, you’ll want to show in your bio why you are qualified to write a book about the topic.
n Customer reviews – Marketing research shows that many potential buyers of a book make their decision after reading customer reviews. Rather than pay someone to write them, solicit them from your colleagues and friends who are qualified to comment on your book.
In addition, Amazon.com allows writers to build their own author’s page. Besides a biography of you, the pages lists (with links) all of your published titles. In addition, you can link a feed from your blogs. As with the page selling your book, the author’s page format is predetermined, but it’s still a very useful tool.
Need an editor? Having your book, website, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.
Tags:
amazon.com, book review
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