If you’re like most people, you won’t buy a book that doesn’t have reviews. Why? The reviews tell you if the book is worth your time. Who wants to start reading a book that is cringe-worthy page after page? On the other hand, how does a new indie author get reader feedback without many sales? Ask any successful author, and they’ll tell you that book marketing requires far more time and energy than it took to write the book. Let’s look at how to increase indie book sales with more reviews .
Table of Contents
Why Reader Feedback Matters
Credibility and Trust
Nobody wants to spend their time and many on a low-quality book with tons of typos and a lackluster plot. Often, readers spend a few minutes reading the book’s summary and reviews before making a buying decision. Some will only look at the number of stars your title has, but others will dig in-depth to get a better understanding of what the story offers. Essentially, positive feedback boosts credibility and trust.
Social Proof
Often, people pay attention to the recommendations of others. This goes from choosing a plumber and hiring a nanny to selecting their next title to read. Reader comments on a novel are a way for shoppers to learn how highly recommended the story is. While individual reviews are important, social proof reaches a new level when they are from highly reputable sources as well as from people who the shopper relates to.
Visibility
While each sales platform has unique algorithms, many take the number of the story’s comments and the positivity of that feedback into account when displaying and recommending products to their customers. For example, the vast majority of books listed on Amazon’s first several search results pages have hundreds or thousands of reviews. When your product is highly visible, shoppers are more likely to buy it.
Should You Pay for Reader Feedback?
As soon as your novel is published, you’ll no doubt get bombarded by people offering to deliver hundreds of reviews to you. Some even guarantee that the comments will all be positive. Paying for reviewers, however, is a surefire way to get your title stripped from sales platforms. Amazon and other sales platforms consider paid feedback to be fraudulent, and you’ll be severely penalized if you’re caught.
More than that, shoppers can often spot fake reviews. When they discover fake feedback for your product, they’ll discount all of the other reviews as well. Even if you have legitimate, glowing feedback along with the paid content, those legitimate comments will not be as effective at driving indie book sales as they otherwise would be.
How to Get Organic Reviews
If you’re an established author, you could have a line of pre-sales from your fans. These pre-sales will undoubtedly lead to reader feedback almost immediately. If you sign with a publisher, your publishing company will have a decent launch campaign lined up.
If you’re a newer indie author, you likely have little or no traction. This creates a chicken and egg situation. Your sales will be dismal without reviews. Even expensive marketing campaigns may yield mediocre results if you don’t have at least some feedback, people simply won’t give your title a chance. Keep in mind that many readers won’t leave feedback. Out of your first 10 sales, you might get lucky to get one review.
Organic reviews are those that you don’t pay for. They come from actual readers who purchased your novel and (hopefully) enjoyed it. Getting organic feedback is tied to two things. 1) Driving sales. 2) Encouraging readers to leave comments.
Indie book sales are driven by your self-promotional effort. Social media is frequently and successfully used to initially drive sales. Author groups are beneficial as well. However, you likely need to pay for marketing as well. Look at places like Bargain Booksy, BookBub, Amazon and others. Research your options thorough, and ask for feedback from other authors who’ve already marketed their books.
You also should ask for indie book reviews at the end of your novel. Provide a link to your product’s sales page. You also should develop a simple author website. At the end of the book, ask readers to visit the site and sign up for your newsletter. By building an email list, you can promote future titles and generate pre-sales.
Book reviews are like gold for authors. While indie authors are at an initial disadvantage in this area, you can overcome the challenge with the right approach.