Book Promotion Articles | Self-Publishing Review

Mythbusting The Amazon Algorithm – Reviews and Ranking For Authors

How to get the best out of your reviews and sales to rank high on Amazon without the myths from former search expert and COO of SPR, Cate Baum.

Despite many educated guesses that seem to have passed into urban legend in self-publishing communities online, there are no secrets to the Amazon ranking system.

I have spent the last few months tracking down programmers, algorithm experts, and reading technical documentation about Amazon’s algorithm, and the documentation that is provided online by Amazon at Amazon Seller Central and KDP. What I didn’t do was talk to any authors or bloggers, because […]

Cate Baum2019-12-16T08:36:06+02:00April 30th, 2016|Categories: Features|Tags: Amazon Algorithm Tips for Authors, Amazon News and Tips, Book Promotion Articles, Mythbusting Amazon For Authors|

Amazon KDP Pre-Orders – Worth It Or Not?

Often authors ask, “Is it worth it for me to stick my book on pre-order?” Here’s why it’s worth it, and not worth it, depending on where you are with your book, your series, and your goals for ranking and sales on Launch Day.

What’s KDP Pre-Order?

Amazon gives authors the opportunity to put their book on pre-order when they upload their title details. “You can make your new books available for pre-order in Kindle Stores worldwide. Setting a pre-order allows customers to order your book as early as 90 days before your book’s release date.* When you make your […]

Cate Baum2020-02-21T04:32:45+02:00April 24th, 2016|Categories: Features|Tags: Amazon News and Tips, Book Promotion Articles|

Six Ways You Are Ruining Your Book Marketing Campaign

There’s a great deal of information out there to be sifted through to market your book well – but there’s also a lot you could be taking on board that could do your book more damage than good. Cate Baum busts some of the myths of indie book marketing and what you should do instead.

1. You are joining author groups to share your book, hoping for sales

If you join an author group on Facebook or Linkedin expecting to gain sales by posting your book release news, you’re looking in the wrong place. You will see these groups are […]

Cate Baum2019-02-03T09:01:12+02:00March 21st, 2016|Categories: Features|Tags: Book Marketing Advice and Tips, Book Promotion Articles|

Paid Reviews – What Everyone Keeps Getting Wrong (Still)

Why does everyone misunderstand a paid review? Let’s get into the myths. Also, scroll down for real time proof that paid reviews do in fact sell books.

MYTH A paid review is any review you paid for

TRUTH There are three types of paid review. Here, I list 1 and 2 (good methods) and 3 (stay away).

Professional editorial review service (Kirkus, SPR, BlueInk, Foreword, Indiereader, Reader’s Favorite) The reviews you buy direct from a professional review service should only be posted in your Editorial Reviews section as provided by Amazon for this purpose. They are considered a boost to

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Cate Baum2019-02-03T09:31:50+02:00February 11th, 2016|Categories: Features|Tags: Book Promotion Articles, Book Reviews|

Ten Ways To Take A Negative Book Review On The Nose

A mixed or negative review can be instrumental in development of an author’s career for many reasons, and even if published on Amazon it should not be regarded as a personal affront or an attack. Cate Baum outlines the main reasons your review could be surprisingly negative, and how can you deal with this?

This morning, two authors I worked with completely melted down at their (not at all badly rated) 3-star and 4-star review respectively. Full-on tantrums. Quite incredible. I understand they paid for their review, but this doesn’t mean they are entitled to a positive review, only an […]

Cate Baum2019-02-03T09:32:07+02:00February 4th, 2016|Categories: Features|Tags: Book Promotion Articles, Book Reviews|

How Not To Ask For A Free Review – From A Top 1000 Amazon Reviewer

As well as being a professional reviewer at SPR, I am also one of Amazon’s Top 1000 reviewers (no, you can’t have my moniker, sorry!) and I sometimes review books for free, depending on how I am approached. I am not one of the Vine or Top 100, so bear this in mind while I give you my perspective on how it feels to receive a request from an author to review – and imagine how in demand they must be if I am getting so many requests in the Top 1000.

Why so many review request suddenly? It’s because […]

Cate Baum2019-02-03T09:30:40+02:00January 6th, 2016|Categories: Features|Tags: Book Promotion Articles|

New Survey Proves Editorial “Paid” Book Reviews Sell Books

A survey of over 300 indie authors worldwide from Kindlebookreviews.net proves unequivocally that while many self-published authors thrash out the “morals” of paying for a book review, the presence of paid editorial reviews on your Amazon book page will help sell your book – and only a quarter of authors are strongly against the idea of paying for a review.

The vast majority of authors greatly appreciate the value of honest book reviews, and believe they help improve the credibility of their book, and helps generate sales.
The majority of authors approve of paid review services as long as they

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Cate Baum2020-02-21T06:34:11+02:00December 30th, 2015|Categories: Features|Tags: Book Promotion Articles, Book Reviews|

How Paid Reviews Sell Books – Facts and Figures

As one of the most trusted professional review services, and one of the first self-publishing sites around, it’s SPR’s job to make sure we are bringing books to readers with our paid review service, and we’d like to put the “don’t pay for reviews” myth being spread around by certain self-publishing pundits to bed with some hard, analytical, independent facts. The plain truth is, paid reviews do sell more books in the majority of cases.