How to Promote YOUR book on Amazon discussion

You Want Your Book TAGGED on Amazon



There are so many things you can do on Amazon.com to help promote your book; I hope you are utilizing all of these tools made available to you (especially because the majority are free!). Being an author you know marketing for your book can be quite costly but here is something you can do for free which will help you gain great visibility- if done right.

By now you have heard me mention the importance of voting at least once or twice. VOTING is essential as your votes tell Amazon which books need to be paid special attention to. Say your book had 2 reviews, each with 2 or 3 helpful votes. This is definitely better than 0 helpful votes but still pretty weak in the overall scheme of things. Now imagine if everyone from this program voted on your reviews during our Open House announcement. All of a sudden these two reviews would have over 100 helpful votes. This will grab Amazon’s attention and give your book the credit it deserves. We have a good group here and we need to use our power to make a voice on Amazon- because we definitely can.

Now let’s get to TAGGING. Tagging is similar to voting but slightly different.

Amazon will let ANY Amazon user pick key words they feel should be associated with a product and then post those to that product’s Amazon page. What does this mean? Say you are just read a Children’s Book which you loved. You could tag that book with keywords like “Bedtime Story, great read, book recommendation, fairy tales, kids age 5-10” any sort of keywords you feel describe the book.

Here is what TAGS look like:




As you enter these “tags” or agree with “existing tags” you will notice Amazon provides a drop down box that displays a number. This number indicates how many times Amazon users have used this keyword to describe a product, not just the one you are voting on.

Why does this matter? Because each keyword/tag (if you click on it) will take you directly to a community. In this community the products with the most tags will be displayed front and center for that community. Would it not be great if your book was displayed here??? YESS IT WOULD!! P.S. You can tag your Listmanias and thus they will appear in these communities too.

Let’s take an example to clarify things.

If you go to the Amazon page for “When I dream”

http://www.amazon.com/When-I-Dream-Ro...

You will see this book currently has 15 tags. That is a good number to have as each Amazon user can only vote up to 15 keyword/tags per book. You will also see the number of times people agreed with these keyword/tags.

For instance let’s take the tag “children’s poetry”- this tag has 8 agreeing votes. Pretty good start.

Click on the link children’s poetry and you will be taken to that community. If you can not figure that out here is the link:

http://www.amazon.com/tag/childrens%2...

Browse around and look to see which products are being featured. Click on the products link to see a list of the top books for this community.

Here is the link:
http://www.amazon.com/tag/childrens%2...

As you can see “The Fairy Book” is number 1 with 66 votes, “When I dream” is ranked number 7 with 8 votes. If her book got more than 66 votes for that key word she would be the best ranked book in this community. Now this may seem like a lot but I want to remind you we are a group of over 100 authors- clearly we could outrank “The Fairy Book” if we all participated.

My point of demonstrating this is that this is another channel to promote our books, a place where we can EASILY get our books into high ranking positions. This being said I would like you all to “TAG” the books on our Open House Announcement. It does not take much time, you do not even have to think of new tags, just agree with existing ones.

Now if you are wondering how this will benefit you directly here is how. When your book is announced on Amazon you will receive the same attention you give thus your book will receive a large amount of tags. But secondly if you go back to the community homepage for “children’s poetry” you will notice on the right it says Children’s Poetry Contributors and then gives a list of the top 4 contributors. This means these are the top four people who have tagged products on Amazon with this word. If you look at the number 1 tagger you will see he only tagged 21 items. You could easily tag 30 items in the next 10 minutes and then your picture (Your Amazon Profile I had you create) will be displayed there.

If you remember I told you Amazon is all about interconnectivity. Because I had you create your unique author signature this will show up in that box too!! Thus everyone who comes to this community will see YOUR picture feature that is if you tag the most products with that keyword.

I know this was a long one but try to soak up this information. Amazon is a new channel that is still a little unknown when it comes to methods to getting a number 1 ranking book. This being said it is entirely possible for YOU to claim that spot. You just need to participate a little bit everyday.

As a Marketing Coach you need to pick 3-4 marketing strategies and focus on them for the next year- give them everything you have got before you make a judgment as to if it is working or not. You signed up for our Amazon Optimization program so this should be one of them. This is YOUR book we are talking about and because Amazon is so new and such a leader in this type of market pursue the hell out of it. I can not express to you enough how important participating on Amazon is. Never before has there been such an outlet where an author can make a difference of this magnitude in marketing their own work. It is up to you how successful you want to be, make it happen.

I tried to tag When I Dream on Amazon, then went immediately to Amazon wanting your credit card details.
I brought up two of my books Substitute Bride and Crossroads ar Isca but couldn;t see Product Details. Just curious.
Laurel

Laurel wrote: "I tried to tag When I Dream on Amazon, then went immediately to Amazon wanting your credit card details.
I brought up two of my books Substitute Bride and Crossroads ar Isca but couldn;t see Prod..."

Laurel, in order to tag or write reviews on Amazon, you have to have ordered something on your account, and be logged in.

If there is nothing you want to buy you can download Kindle for your PC and buy a 99 cent book with your credit card and that's enough to get you a valid account.

Laurel wrote: "I tried to tag When I Dream on Amazon, then went immediately to Amazon wanting your credit card details.
I brought up two of my books Substitute Bride and Crossroads ar Isca but couldn;t see Prod..."

Laurel,

I logged into Amazon and looked at your book Substitute Bride. It does have a product description and 3 tags (I agreed with them - if you feel so inclined, you can return the favour with my paperback and Kindle books here http://www.amazon.com/Starting-Over-L... and here http://www.amazon.com/Starting-Over-L...)

I see you are a fellow Wings Author - nice to see us all struggling on together!

A couple of things. Firstly, your paperback and Kindle books aren't linked. Check out mine (above) and you see both refer to the other. To do this simply email Amazon and they'll link them for you.

Check out tips on my website for Amazon Selling http://www.laurarittenhouse.com/reluc... This is based on my experience getting set up that might help you.

Good luck and see you around!

Thanks for your help and advice, Laura. I downloaded your book, Starting Out, to be read on my computer so now I should be able to tag books. After reading your blog I see there is a lot to learn but will do it slowly and recover by reading your book inbetween times. Laurel

Laurel, How cool. I never even thought to suggest you buy my book. You're fantastic. I really hope you enjoy it.

Now I'm going to ask a favor. If you ever do read Starting Over, let me know if the formatting is weird or anything. I don't have a Kindle and haven't seen the Kindle version of my book. I've heard a rumor that sometimes the formatting is all messed up on Kindles. I'd like to know if it is so I can ask someone to fix it.

Good luck with Amazon!

Well, I don't have a Kindle either, Laura.
Your book is downloaded to my computer. I'm looking forward to reading it. It sounds interesting with the different generations. There might be some family history in it.
You said that Product Details is on my book, Substitute Bride. I can't see it where I can pick up other books, yours eg
I'll have to work out how to do 'Look Inside'. I can't see that on the Sub Bride site. Laurel

Laurel, I can see "Product Details" for Substitute Bride.

Product Details
Paperback: 298 pages
Publisher: Wings ePress (2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1597057339
ISBN-13: 978-1597057332
Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
3 Reviews
5 star: (2)
4 star: (1)
3 star: (0)
2 star: (0)
1 star: (0)

› See all 3 customer reviews...

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #3,935,455 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Can't you see this?

As for Look Inside, under the photo of your book on your book page http://www.amazon.com/Substitute-Brid...
there are a couple of links. One is "Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book." Click that to get started on your "Look Inside"

Laurel wrote: "Well, I don't have a Kindle either, Laura.
Your book is downloaded to my computer. I'm looking forward to reading it. It sounds interesting with the different generations. There might be some fam..."

Laurel, yes, there is some family history in "Starting Over". The main character, Maria, is based on my great-grandmother. I took what I knew of her life and fleshed it our to turn it into a novel. I grew up on stories of her life and it was fun, and a bit surprising, to see it become a story. The surprising bits were what I discovered when I started researching her online. But I don't want to spoil it for you so I'll leave you to read and enjoy.

Thanks for this, Laura. Later after I sent the email I clicked on 'new' and found a second page with the relevant details. It shows how little I know about Amazon. Thanks for your help. I look forward to reading your book and putting a review on Amazon. Laurel

I found your suggestions to be most helpful. I am a new author and also new to this group. My book, "Living Under The Influence" was released in May. I was looking for ways to promote it and now I have a starting point. Thanks again.

Deborah wrote: "I found your suggestions to be most helpful. I am a new author and also new to this group. My book, "Living Under The Influence" was released in May. I was looking for ways to promote it and now..."

Deborah, good luck with your promotions. Please share what you learn with us when you find something new and correct anything any of us have told you that doesn't work.

Kait wrote: "You Want Your Book TAGGED on Amazon
Hello Kait, this is a lot of good and useful information and I have been trying to get going. I could ot find my amazon page so I wrote to them. I got this response, and don't know what it means and where to go from here. I am not self-published. My book was published by Pegasus Elliot MacKenzie. Unfortunately, I do not think they are as au fait with Amazon as you are, so if you know how I can get around this situation please help me. I am eager to use this resource as you describe for all our good.
Hello,

I?ve researched "From Spice to Eternity" and confirmed that it is currently only available from Marketplace sellers on our website. We do not have inventory of your title. If you would like to have your books listed on Amazon.com, please contact your publisher to ensure they offer Amazon.com as a distribution channel. As Author Central is an online feature that isn't directly related to inventory or stocking of book, we aren't able to assist with fulfilling orders for books. I'm sorry for any concerns this may cause.

If you own the rights to your books or are self-published, you may also consider enrolling your books through our Advantage program:

http://advantage.amazon.com/gp/vendor...

Thank you again for contacting Author Central.

Did I solve your problem?

If yes, please click here:
http://www.amazon.com/rsvp-y?c=reyqrb...

If no, please click here:
http://www.amazon.com/rsvp-n?c=reyqrb...

Please note: this e-mail was sent from an address that cannot accept incoming e-mail.

To contact us about an unrelated issue, please visit the Help section of our web site.

Best regards,

Jessica
http://authorcentral.amazon.com
=============================

---- Original message: ----

CUSTOMER: Yvonne Pat Wright
COMM ID:wrxqreux3277143370


There are so many things you can do on Amazon.com to help promote your book; I hope you are utilizing all of these tools made available to you (especially..."

Hi from Texas all new friends!
I have just visited your Amazon site, Laura, and I have already clicked on your individual tags! I hope this helps! Will you return the favor?

Let's all click on and vote for each others tags!
Please vote for my tags now on Amazon for my books at:

(1) "SEEING THE LIBERTY, The Journey of Eve's Daughter"
http://www.amazon.com/SEEING-LIBERTY-...

and (2) "Communions With Christ"
http://www.amazon.com/communions-chri...

Please especially click the tags "angels" on both books, as well as please you can click several others, I think up to 15 tags, each book.

I think we can greatly help each other this way and I am very grateful for all of you. Lets support and help each other!
Sharon

Sharon wrote: "Hi from Texas all new friends!
I have just visited your Amazon site, Laura, and I have already clicked on your individual tags! I hope this helps! Will you return the favor?

Let's all click..."

I've just tagged your books, Sharon. Laurel

Sharon,

I just tagged your books and "agreed" with all your 5 star reviews.

Hey guys! Its been a hectic few weeks but we have put together a few Listmania lists that I would so appreciate it if you could take the time to vote on! Let me know if you do this and I will go in and tag your book in return!


Listmania 1:
http://www.amazon.com/Great-Children-...


Listmania 2:
http://www.amazon.com/Action-Suspense...


Listmania 3:
http://www.amazon.com/Great-New-Age-S...


Listmania 4:
http://www.amazon.com/Fab-Fiction-fro...

Me again
http://www.amazon.com/Living-Beneath-...

Thanks

You have my tags already for both.
thanks for yours

I don't know what has gone wrong with my 'tagging'. I tried to tag Marc's poetry book and a couple of other books and all that happens is I bring up the page on that line eg mystery. Does anyone have any thoughts. Laurel

scroll down to where the tags are and click on the tags that best describe the book.

Laurel wrote: "I don't know what has gone wrong with my 'tagging'. I tried to tag Marc's poetry book and a couple of other books and all that happens is I bring up the page on that line eg mystery. Does anyone ha..."

Also make sure you are logged in with a user id that you've used when actually buying a book on Amazon. They don't let you tag (or don't count it anyway) if you aren't using an account that has bought something from them. The way to tell if you can tag is to try to write a review - if it opens a review window, the account is good. If it gives you a message explaining you can't review, assume you can't tag either.

Good luck.

Thanks for this, Laura. I'll never understand the mysteries of Amazon. Laurel

Hey everyone! This is Kait the creator of this group discussion. I am so glad to see everyone's continued use of this forum as I truly wanted to help provide authors with a "go to" community where they can discuss their book(s) and all things Amazon freely. I have often found that the Amazon Discussion Boards can be a not so friendly place and unfortunately many authors fall victim to "cyber-bulling". None of that here!

For the last few weeks I was attending the Taipei International Book Fair in Taiwan and let me tell you the desire to distribute foreign books into the U.S (as well as bring American "English" books into their region) is HUGE! It is all very exciting. One thing I noted which I felt everyone should know is that Amazon is the go to site for Foreign Rights buyers! Yup you heard me. Basically foreign publishing companies are realizing the value of Amazon and how it can essentially be used as a search engine when looking for new titles for rights purchasing. Having an amazon presence is more crucial now than ever as the site will only grow in the proceeding month/years in popularity.

That being said I wanted to let you all know I have created a blog to which I will be making 2 new posts a week all relating to Amazon. This blog will cover marketing tips, facts, and general information about Amazon. My aim is to help educate authors on using Amazon as this site should be treated by an author just as you would Facebook or Twitter. Social Media baby! ITS HERE TO STAY! Below is the link to my new blog! Hope you enjoy it and please feel free to leave comments!

How to Use Amazon to Promote Your Published Book
http://amazonauthors.blogspot.com/


Kait

Please tag. I'd really appreciate it and will return the favor if you just reply (or message me) and say that you tagged. I'll tag your book.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0984...

Elisa, got your book and said "Yes" to the best reviews as well. Here are my books if you have a chance to click!

A Measure of Disorder: http://www.amazon.com/Measure-Disorde...

A Cure for Chaos: http://www.amazon.com/Cure-Chaos-Alan...

Thanks!

Alan, I actually said yes to yours on a different thread, haha. Still, thank you!

Hey, heads up. If you switch publishers, Amazon will merge the reviews, but you lose all of your tags. *sigh* Such is life.

And so I humbly ask that you take a moment and re-tag Asteria. The reviews should be merged over in 3 to 5 days.
Here's the new soft cover:
http://www.amazon.com/Light-Asteria-E...

And here's the Kindle edition:
http://www.amazon.com/Light-Asteria-K...

BTW, there are no werewolves or shapeshifters in this book. IDK who put those tags on there or how to get them off. Please don't tag anything those.

Thanks a million! I'm going back through this weekend and pick up everyone that I haven't gotten yet!
Take care,
Elizabeth

Hi everyone -

My new short just popped up on Amazon! :)

http://www.amazon.com/Across-the-Veil...

I'm going ot start down the list and vote for tags... Please help me out and vote for mine too when you get a chance... :)

Thank you!!!

Lisa :)

*who is SUPER brand new to self-publishing on Amazon!*

Hello Everyone!

This is Kait, the creator of this group forum. I hope you have found this discussion helpful so far. I wanted to create a place for authors to come and find meaningful and helpful information. A place where authors help other authors without the presence of "cyber bullying" so often found on the Amazon discussion boards.

If you have found this discussion board helpful I would very much appreciate it if you could "Tag" (or buy smile) author "Mike Saxton's book 7 Scorpions: Rebellion".

His book is now available as a Kindle edition for .99cents, all we would like for you to do is tag the ".99cent" box to help spread the word!

Thank you for your help, let's make our E-voices push a book to the top!

http://www.amazon.com/7-Scorpions-Reb...

Kait

Thank you for the helpful discussion. I've been tagging the above links. My latest work is at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/tags...

Elisa wrote: "Alan, I actually said yes to yours on a different thread, haha. Still, thank you!"

Hi Elizabeth, I transferred tags from your regular book over to your Kindle. Something any author can do to prime the process is to start tagging their own books, then others can just vote for the existing tags.

Hey everyone,
I've recently switched publishing companies and wanted to let everyone know that, while Amazon will merge reviews, they cannot merge tags, and so you have to start all over again. *sigh* Almost 200 people had tagged the first version, and now I have 3. Trying not to get discouraged here.
Anyway, if you wouldn't mind, please tag
http://www.amazon.com/Light-Asteria-E...
I'll tag you back, promise! :-)

Gotcha covered Elizabeth!

My name is Ann and I am new to the group. I am glad I found this group. This is a great way to get exposure for your book rather you are a new or seasoned author.

Elizabeth wrote: "Hey, heads up. If you switch publishers, Amazon will merge the reviews, but you lose all of your tags. *sigh* Such is life.

And so I humbly ask that you take a moment and re-tag Asteria. The revi..."

Hi Elizabeth, how to you get them to merge your reviews?

Thanks

When I downloaded the kindle version, I asked before the first went off the market. Amazon has an incredible customer service department, and they were more than willing. I've not found that with B&N so much, but I've put most of my efforts into Amazon, so I'm not feeling too badly about it.

Okay thanks, I'll check with customer service. I'm so excited! My paperback just became available yesterday! But I hear getting the reviews merged drops you "likes." Not that I had a whole heck of a lot yet. LOL.

Was it available under another ISBN somewhere? If so, you can merge the reviews, but you can't merge Goodreads reviews to Amazon. They will merge the Kindle reviews of the same book, though, so I hope that's what you're wanting, and CONGRATULATIONS!!!! There's nothing more thrilling than seeing your story in paper and ink! Of course, I'm old school :-D

Thanks! Yeah, I'm trying to get the amazon kindle reviews to merge with the paperback, I think it's underway.

When I got the paperback proof I didn't think I'd get as excited as I did. I basically went around stroking it and calling it my precious.

Classic! :-D

I'll tag you all (I've tagged nearly 1,000 books). Here are my books with tags below to copy and paste with Amazon's tt function (ask me if you don't know what this means to save time):

How to Make, Market and Sell Ebooks All for Free (tags below)
sell ebooks, ebook business, publish ebooks, online marketing, online business, self-publishing, indie authors, writers, epublishing, book marketing, kindle, social marketing, ebook, publishing, authors

How to Make Your Own Free Website: And Your Free Blog Too (tags below)
your own website, e-commerce, make free website, seo, e-business, google, blogging, blog, web design, website design, internet marketing, internet business, online business, wordpress, how to blog

Get On Google Front Page: 2011 SEO Tips (tags below)
seo, seo tips, 2011 seo, google, search engine optimization, online marketing, online business, internet, internet marketing, internet business, e-commerce, e-business, keywords, keyword tool, blogs

The Little Universe (tags below)
reincarnation, past lives, life lessons, science fiction, psychic, alien contact, scifi, spirituality, spiritual growth, spiritual, spiritual journey, inspirational, awakening, meditation, futuristic

Jim's Life (tags below)
scifi, spirituality, spiritual, awakening, science fiction, spiritual journey, inspirational, energy healing, psychic, reincarnation, past lives, meditation, prayer and meditation, new age, consciousness

Hi Elizabeth, Retagged your books.

Cheryl

http://www.amazon.com/Guinevere-Eve-L...


Elizabeth wrote: "Hey everyone,
I've recently switched publishing companies and wanted to let everyone know that, while Amazon will merge reviews, they cannot merge tags, and so you have to start all over again. *s..."

Done, Kait.

Cheryl

http://www.amazon.com/Guinevere-Eve-L...

Kait wrote: "Hello Everyone!

This is Kait, the creator of this group forum. I hope you have found this discussion helpful so far. I wanted to create a place for authors to come and find meaningful and helpful ..."

Hi Elizabeth, I just tagged your book. Thanks for tagging me back:

Tag list copy and paste: (Also click "like" button.)

gift ideas,sustainable gifts,special gifts,christmas,NY Times Best seller list,bestsellers,selfhelp,love,relationships,inspirational,spirituality,travel deals,airlines,romance,kindle

BOOK #1: http://www.amazon.com/Little-Gifts-Su...
BOOK#2: http://www.amazon.com/Precious-Gifts-...

Best Regards,
Elizabeth wrote: "Hey everyone,
I've recently switched publishing companies and wanted to let everyone know that, while Amazon will merge reviews, they cannot merge tags, and so you have to start all over again. *s..."

Hi Jason,
I just tagged your books. Thanks for tagging me back:

Tag list copy and paste: (Also click "like" button.)

gift ideas,sustainable gifts,special gifts,christmas,NY Times Best seller list,bestsellers,selfhelp,love,relationships,inspirational,spirituality,travel deals,airlines,romance,kindle

BOOK #1: http://www.amazon.com/Little-Gifts-Su...
BOOK#2: http://www.amazon.com/Precious-Gifts-...

Best Regards,

Jason wrote: "I tried the older tagging thread and got a few responses, but not nearly as many as I tagged. Hopefully this one works better. I'll tag you all. Here are my books:

How to Make, Market and Sell Ebo..."

Hi - A
I just tagged your book. Thanks for tagging me back:

Tag list copy and paste: (Also click "like" button.)

gift ideas,sustainable gifts,special gifts,christmas,NY Times Best seller list,bestsellers,selfhelp,love,relationships,inspirational,spirituality,travel deals,airlines,romance,kindle

BOOK #1: http://www.amazon.com/Little-Gifts-Su...
BOOK#2: http://www.amazon.com/Precious-Gifts-...

Best Regards,

A. wrote: "Thank you for the helpful discussion. I've been tagging the above links. My latest work is at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/tags..."

Hi Kait,
I just tagged your book. Thanks for tagging me back:

Tag list copy and paste: (Also, if you have time, pls click "like" button and "yes" helpvotes on reviews on your scoll down.)

gift ideas,sustainable gifts,special gifts,christmas,NY Times Best seller list,bestsellers,selfhelp,love,relationships,inspirational,spirituality,travel deals,airlines,romance,kindle

BOOK #1: http://www.amazon.com/Little-Gifts-Su...
BOOK#2: http://www.amazon.com/Precious-Gifts-...

Best Regards, Kait wrote: "Hello Everyone!

This is Kait, the creator of this group forum. I hope you have found this discussion helpful so far. I wanted to create a place for authors to come and find meaningful and helpful ..."

Hi Lisa,
I just tagged your book. Thanks for tagging me back:

Tag list copy and paste: (Also, if you have time, pls click "like" button and "yes" helpvotes on reviews on your scoll down.)

gift ideas,sustainable gifts,special gifts,christmas,NY Times Best seller list,bestsellers,selfhelp,love,relationships,inspirational,spirituality,travel deals,airlines,romance,kindle

BOOK #1: http://www.amazon.com/Little-Gifts-Su...
BOOK#2: http://www.amazon.com/Precious-Gifts-...

Best Regards,
http://www.sustainablecontentment.com
Lisa wrote: "Hi everyone -

My new short just popped up on Amazon! :)

http://www.amazon.com/Across-the-Veil...

I'm goin..."

Hi I just tagged your kindle book. Thanks for tagging me back:

Tag list copy and paste: (Also, if you have time, pls click "like" button and "yes" helpvotes on reviews on your scoll down.)

gift ideas,sustainable gifts,special gifts,christmas,NY Times Best seller list,bestsellers,selfhelp,love,relationships,inspirational,spirituality,travel deals,airlines,romance,kindle

BOOK #1: http://www.amazon.com/Little-Gifts-Su...
BOOK#2: http://www.amazon.com/Precious-Gifts-...
dp/1453720502
KINDLE #1: http://www.amazon.com/Precious-Gifts-...
KINDLE #2: http://www.amazon.com/Little-Gifts-Su...

Thanks for your time and support. Best Regards,
http://www.sustainablecontentment.com
Elizabeth wrote: "Hey, heads up. If you switch publishers, Amazon will merge the reviews, but you lose all of your tags. *sigh* Such is life.

And so I humbly ask that you take a moment and re-tag Asteria. The revi..."