OK, you may say… why do this? After all, Connie Ragen Green is a delightful person as well as a brilliant marketer. She’s got 2 hard copy books selling on Amazon and a dedicated following of loyal fans. Her books are good.  So … why 4 stars and not 5?

The truth is …

Getting reviews for your book isn’t a numbers game. I’ve reviewed books with dozens of glowing reviews that never became best-sellers. Other books are flying off the shelves with jut a few so-so reviews.

Reviews need to be credible. When readers see dozens of glowing 5-star reviews on Amazon, they get nervous. Amazon is first and foremost a community, not a free-wheeling bazaar. The regulars are pretty sophisticated about reading between the lines. I’ve seen many comments on reviews (and in reviews) along the lines of, “The author obviously got all his friends to write glowing reviews.”

In fact, ordinary readers are actually more suspicious of glowing reviews than the sad little 1-star reviews. When Amazon Vine reviewers award 5 stars to a book, they raise suspicions that Vine reviewers are expected to write only positive reviewers. That suspicion is completely false: I am a Vine reviewer and I’ve written countless negative reviews of books and products I received through Vine.

So … back to Connie. She’s in danger of falling into the Lost Credibility Trap if she gets too many glowing reviews. If you review her book and you want to be helpful:

Remember that a few 4-star reviews and even 3-star reviews actually add credibility to an author. Ideally they should come early in the process so readers will realize the reviews are honest.

If you really believe the book is a “knock your socks off” special book and you can’t bring yourself to write anything other than a glowing review, add some disclaimers. Recognize that readers may be surprised by the number of 5-star reviews. Emphasize that you are not being paid to write a review and that you have no connection to the author.

Never respond to a request from someone to, “Read my book and write a glowing review.” If the book is good, the 5-star and 4-star reviews will come. Instead, say, “I will be honest or if I don’t like the book, I will choose not to review it.”

As a reviewer, I’ve developed a keen sense of what makes a book get good reviews and ultimately sell. I’ve packaged my advice into an affordable product, which you can download at http://www.BookMarketingWeb.com

Quantity produces quality. If you only write a few things, you’re doomed.
Ray Bradbury

All the words I use in my stories can be found in the dictionary – it’s just a matter of arranging them into the right sentences.
Somerset Maugham

The secret of becoming a writer is to write, write and keep on writing.
Ken MacLeod

We do not write because we want to; we write because we have to.
Somerset Maugham

The author must keep his mouth shut when his work starts to speak.
Friederich Nietzsche

If the doctor told me I had six minutes to live, I’d type a little faster.
Isaac Asimov

The only thing I was fit for was to be a writer, and this notion rested solely on my suspicion that I would never be fit for real work, and that writing didn’t require any.
Russell Baker

Julia and Julia – the best-selling book that was made into a movie – began as a blog. The author developed a following, publishers noticed, and the rest is a very lucrative history,

Since then I’ve found a lot of people want to try the same. I actually considered this myself when I moved to Philadelphia for a year. “I’ll blog about my adventures,” I promised my friends.

But when it came down to creating the blog, I found myself hesitating.

Suppose I wrote about my apartment building, which is old and … well, has a lot of character along with some issues. I can’t use the real name because people will google the building and come up with my blog.

Then there’s the question of people. There are some really unusual people who cross my path here. One stays away from computers and under the radar, so I could write about her. She’s a true eccentric who talks a lot, knows a lot and has a gift for driving people crazy. But what about people in my improv group? See, just writing the term “impro—— ac-ing” will draw readers who are looking up the term. My stories will be recognizable.

Then there’s the question of Too Much Information. To create a sellable memoir, you have to bare your soul, as well as the souls around you. You have to be willing to be vulnerable. You have to share mistakes and bad days. And ultimately you have to show how you triumphed over all this adversity and went on to great things.

I have some acquaintances, a couple  I’ll call Bill and Joan. They went on a really long trip together … like a sabbatical that didn’t stop. They traveled. And they traveled some more.

He had worked for an Internet start-up. She had worked on the Internet as a developer. So naturally they decided to write a blog about their travels. They have photos of themselves smiling from all sorts of remote spots. They talk about the things they saw and the food they ate. They wrote about the nice people who gave them extra meals and invited them on special trips.

But their blog probably won’t become a book. They do have followers because they had a lot of friends who told their  friends. But there’s no drama. They never fight with each other. They never get lost or locked out of a hotel. They never have encounters that include sex or violence. So…it gets kind of blah. Frankly, I think readers will get annoyed because they seem to have a charmed life. I sure did.

So I’m having trouble wrapping my mind and my keyboard around the idea of a Philadelphia blog. I bought a domain name and started some half-hearted entries. OK, the cats got through their flights. I took some classes. Big deal. I’m not sure how much I’m ready to share right now, especially since you don’t know who’s reading.

My most recent drama involves the Case of the Unwanted Air Conditioner. My building manager (they used to call them supers) kept asking me if I wanted an a/c in my apartment. I kept saying no. I hate air conditioning, although I was forced to use it in Florida and New Mexico, where I had central air and a swamp cooler, respectively. I turned it on as little as possible. I like fresh air.

When I moved in to my building I actually told the leasing agent, “No air conditioner but I do want screens.” I think I scrawled a note on the lease.

My building manager couldn’t deal with it. He kept asking me, “Do you want an air conditioner? It’s hot.” He’ s Latino so I figure he’s kind of macho and thinks women are too dumb to know their mind. Our last building manager, when I lived here before, was a no-nonsense but realistic ex-Marine. I was told he’d been shot out of a chopper in Vietnam. He was tough but nice. He helped me hang all my pictures.

So one Friday afternoon I came home after a day in the coworking space to find an ugly a/c unit purring away in the bedroom. I pitched a fit. The doorman called the manager, who said, “Well, you can just turn it off. Or turn the fan on”

The problem is that the bedroom has two large windows facing north. There are 2 larger windows facing south on the other end of the apartment. I get wonderful cross ventilation. At night I get cool breezes, including a frequent blast of air that’s almost chilly, even on the hottest nights. I love it. Now one window is shut with an ugly a/c.

Maybe he was  trying to be kind. After all, when I moved in, they lent me a few pieces of furniture someone had left behind. It was ugly furniture but I had something to sit on for 2 weeks. I declined a sofa bed, preferring the slseeping bag on the floor routine, which actually got quite comfortable.

But this is the kind of concern that’s totally inappropriate. My girlfriends said I should email the management company, since I have other isssues.

And that’s about as personal as I might get. Oh yes, I mentioned coworking space. I love it. We have LOTS of great people and some fascinating people,. But … can I share them? Should I?

Maybe I’m being too squeamish. Or maybe I can write about the happy things like how I found a great dentist and didn’t have to pay the thousands of dollars I thought I would …

As a reviewer I get many books to read. Most recently I was thrilled to get Tim Ferriss’s new book, The Four Hour Body. It’s a nice sequel to Four Hour Workweek.

The book itself is pretty good. It’s bound to be more controversial than 4-hour workweek book. There’s no doubt in my mind that Ferriss’s name got the book in the hands of a publisher. Nothing wrong with that. You just need to apply a higher standard.

But you’ll get a real lesson in book marketing when you turn to the book review section of Amazon. Just read through the comments on the most popular reviews. They’re asking a fundamental question: Why so many 5-star reviews?

If you’re writing a book, you probably want book reviews on Amazon. But you need honest reviews – not puff pieces. The Amazon community is pretty savvy and they’re quick to sniff out any hint of someone who’s playing games.

I wrote about these challenges in my own guide to getting your book reviewed on Amazon – a Report and audio: http://www.BookMarketingWeb.com/

As an author and prolific book reviewer, I get numerous requests from authors who want me to review their books. I like to say yes and I love to give great reviews. Alas, often that is just not possible.

Many authors really want to get their books reviewed, and for good reason. Online book reviews really help sell your book these days. Even top publishers know: they send review copies to “amateur” Amazon reviewers.

How do you get reviews? Some authors read everything that’s available on the Internet and others actually pay for advice (or worse, reviews). Here are 3 pieces of really bad advice I’ve seen around the Internet.

Bad Advice #1: “Always send your book to the top reviewers.”

Choose the reviewer who’s right for you and your book. Top reviewers are fussier than most. They have bigger backlogs. They may decline to review your book if they don’t like it. Anyway, not all reviewers will like books in your category.

Bad Advice #2: “Follow up with the reviewer.”

As Tony Soprano would say, “Fuhgeddaboutit.” Sorry, no guarantees. Often I agree to review a book that sounds great…and I hate it. If the author is self-published or published by a small press, I will choose to say nothing. Why clobber the author who’s already down?

Alternatively, I may be just too busy and your book gets shifted to the back burner. Reviewers get inundated with books and they have lives outside boook reviewing. Whenever you send a book, you take a risk that nothing will happen. Even the Vine program doesn’t demand reviews of 100% of all books sent under their auspices.

Bad Advice #3: “Ask for feedback even if you don’t get a review.”

I have learned – the hard way – never to give feedback unless someone wants to pay me for a consultation. Writing up my thoughts takes time and by the time a book is published, it may be too late.

Once I felt sorry for the author of a book about Internet marketing. He had put so much effort into the writing and he created a nice layout and cover design. Unfortunately the advice was outdated and simplistic. Clearly he wasn’t familiar with the Internet and chose atopic he thought would sell. I took the time to write a short email but never heard back.

If you want feedback, pay for a consultation while you still have time to revise.

I offer consultations to authors and anyone interested in marketing your book on the Internet.
http://www.makewebsiteprofits.com/book97.html

These days book marketing has become a jungle…if not open warfare. Even big-name publshers are struggling to earn money…even on their best-sellers. So how can you take charge of your marketing?

Dozens of reputable companies will help you with the logistics of publishing: cover design, ordering, and printing. If you’re lucky, you will even get a contract with a big-name “New York” publisher.

But once you hold your book in your hand, you are on your own. Even if you have a million dollar contract, these publishers will ask you to be your own best marketer. It’s up to you to find readers who will pay to read what you wrote.

Fortunately you can level the playing field through the new world of online book reviews and blogs.

Even if your competitors have deeper pockets, you can compete when you know how to match up your book with the right reviewers. You don’t need more money. In fact, you shouldn’t spend any money on book reviews. You just need a better strategy.

I’m a published author and a prolific reviewer. Every week I get requests to review books, some from self-published authors, some with contracts and even with names I’ve heard of. Many of these authors (especially the first-timers) have no idea how to get reviews. They ask the wrong questions. They expect too much (or too little).

If you’d like to talk to me about marketing your book online (with or without book reviews), please click on this link to set up an introductory call.

As an author and prolific book reviewer, I get numerous requests from authors who want me to review their books. I like to say yes and I love to give great reviews. Alas, often that is just not possible.

Many authors really want to get their books reviewed, and for good reason. Online book reviews really help sell your book these days.  Even top publishers know: they send review copies to “amateur” Amazon reviewers.

How do you get reviews? Some authors read everything that’s available on the Internet and others actually pay for advice (or worse, reviews). Here are 3 pieces of really bad advice I’ve seen around the Internet.

Bad Advice #1: “Always send your book to the top reviewers.”

Choose the reviewer who’s right for you and your book. Top reviewers are fussier than most. They have bigger backlogs. They may decline to review your book if they don’t like it. Anyway, not all reviewers will like books in your category.

Bad Advice #2: “Follow up with the reviewer.”

As Tony Soprano would say, “Fuhgeddaboutit.” Sorry, no guarantees. Often I agree to review a book that sounds great…and I hate it. If the author is self-published or published by a small press, I will choose to say nothing. Why clobber the author who’s already down?

Alternatively, I may be just too busy and your book gets shifted to the back burner.  Reviewers get inundated with books and they have lives outside boook reviewing. Whenever you send a book, you take a risk that nothing will happen. Even the Vine program doesn’t demand reviews of 100% of all books sent under their auspices.

Bad Advice #3: “Ask for feedback even if you don’t get a review.”

I have learned – the hard way – never to give feedback unless someone wants to pay me for a consultation. Writing up my thoughts takes time and by the time a book is published, it may be too late.

Once I felt sorry for the author of a book about Internet marketing. He had put so much effort into the writing and he created a nice layout and cover design. Unfortunately the advice was outdated and simplistic. Clearly he wasn’t familiar with the Internet and chose atopic he thought would sell. I took the time to write a short email but never heard back.

If you want feedback, pay for a consultation while you still have time to revise.

More tips on a forthcoming FREE teleseminar September 16   where i interview John Eggen.  Click here to get more info and sign up.

I also offer consultations to authors and anyone interested in marketing on the Internet.

Here’s a REAL request I got from a new author. Can you count how many mistakes she made in this letter?!

=====================================================================================================================================

Dear Amazon Reviewer,

I’m a new author in the process of self publishing my debut novel.  If there is one thing that I’ve learned, it’s that  self-publishing a heck of a lot harder than the “how to” books make it out to be.

I know that you’re a well respected customer reviewer for Amazon.com  Because of this I’d like to offer you a unique opportunity.   Upon request, I’d like to send you a link to my online media kit, where you can download my upcoming release in .pdf format, read over a Q&A about me, write a review, and more.

I’m sending this invitation out to many of Amazon.com’s top reviewers and intent to have a excerpt of one person’s review printed on the back of my novel.

Thank you for your consideration — R.S.V.P.
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I couldn’t make this up! Click here to download a guide to learn how to do it right