The ways I observe other writers support each other often seems like it would be more beneficial to me than to the person on whom I would focus my helping attempts. (ie. having interviews, guest-bloggers, etc...) Additionally, I've got some social awkwardness that carries over into World-Wide Web Land. I wanted to help other writers, but didn't really know how a shy writer with short social media reach could actually provide valuable support.
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| Photo Couresy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
Until yesterday.
Over at The Writer's Guide to E-Publishing, author Gordon Kessler posted on maximizing an Amazon book page. Besides getting some great marketing ideas, some of the suggestions in the post included easy yet effectual ways authors can help each other with the dreaded marketing issue.
The three ways authors can support each other on Amazon are:
1. Did you know Amazon book pages have "like" buttons? I didn't. But how easy is it to simply click a button as a vote for your favorite new author (whether traditionally or indie published). As Mr. Kessler pointed out, the more "thumbs up" clicks a book has, the more perceived credibility it may have with readers, which can only help anyone achieve success. Also, the "like" button may figure into the Amazon algorithm to determine ranking and best-seller status.
2. Reviews, reviews, reviews. But wait, there's more. We all know positive reviews are helpful. What I didn't know is that on Amazon the most "helpful" reviews are moved to the top of the review list. So, even if we don't have time to leave our own review, we can help our fellow authors by finding the positive reviews and clicking "yes" on the question "Was this review helpful for you?" If the positive reviews are found to be the most helpful, then those are the ones potential readers are going to see first.
3. Download some freebies in the same genre as your author friend's book. The potential effect of buying your friend's book, and then downloading some freebies in the same genre is that it may (no guarantees, of course) put your author friend's book on the "Customers who bought this book also bought..." list on those other books. This thereby increases visibility for your author friend's book.
What are some ways you support other authors?
