Episode 109: Demystifying Amazon

Photo by pitinan / 123rf.com

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Welcome to Season 4 of The Book Marketing Action Podcast with Becky Robinson, where we give you information that you can immediately implement to increase your influence and market your books more successfully. 

This episode is about demystifying Amazon for authors. Becky is joined by Alexa Bigwarfe—USA Today Bestselling Author and the Founder/CEO of Write|Publish|Sell—who shares her vast knowledge of Amazon, why it’s an important platform for selling books, and how authors can navigate all of its complex features. 

Key Points From This Episode

[01:45] Alexa shares a little bit about herself and her work in the world. 

[03:29] Learn more about Alexa’s author journey and her books, Sunshine After the Storm and Lose the Cape.

[05:31] Alexa reveals how many books she has written over the last decade.

[06:59] Why is it important for authors to use Amazon? Alexa explains. 

[08:40] Alexa shares whether or not achieving number one in your category on Amazon is worth chasing.

[12:25] There are a number of promotional opportunities available through Amazon. Alexa outlines the benefits of those and how authors should use them. 

[16:13] Alexa discusses the number of Amazon reviews authors should aim for and how to get more of them.

[23:04] Why can’t someone closely associated with an author leave an Amazon review for their work? Alexa explains. 

[26:52] For people who are self-published: Is it advantageous to publish exclusively through Amazon, or is it more worthwhile to expand the distribution of a book? Discover the answer. 

[35:37] Alexa concludes by sharing some of the challenges authors are facing with Amazon and how to overcome them. 

Action Step:

1. Find the places that will help you get in front of the right readers. Explore the organizations, Facebook groups, podcasts, live events, and more that your ideal audience is navigating to.

Resources:

• Register for the Women in Publishing Summit, happening March 1-4, 2023.
• Watch Alexa’s tutorial for setting a book up on IngramSpark. 
• Follow Write|Publish|Sell on Instagram and Facebook.
• Follow Women in Publishing Summit on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and LinkedIn. 
• Explore the website for the Women in Publishing Summit and learn how you can be a part of the community.

Tweetables and quotes:

If you choose to share on Twitter, don’t forget to tag @beckyrbnsn and @katbiggie so they know you enjoyed this episode!

Don’t focus on where you are in your Amazon category, focus on getting reviews and getting buyers. —Alexa Bigwarfe 

Amazon will decline reviews for seemingly no reason. —Alexa Bigwarfe 

Something magical happens around the 50 review point. That’s where Amazon recognizes your book as legit and starts actually recommending you and putting you in places for other people. —Alexa Bigwarfe 

There’s no exclusivity clause for print books on Amazon, so you can put your book in other places, it’s just a matter of learning what tools to use and how to get it out there. —Alexa Bigwarfe 

The best thing that you can continue to do is find new readers to get in front of. —Alexa Bigwarfe 

If you found value in today’s episode, we hope you’ll take a moment to share it with someone else who might benefit from it. If you have any questions or topics you’d like us to cover, please email Becky Robinson here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review. 

Click here to download our new, free resource, Spend This First, and check out some of our blog posts about navigating Amazon: “If You Want to Play Amazon’s Games, You Need to Know the Rules,” “Learning the Importance of Amazon Reviews: A Look at Bestsellers,” and “Bestseller Status is (Not Only) About Ego.” 

Check out our website and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook. 

Buy a copy of Reach: Create the Biggest Possible Audience for Your Message, Book, or Cause, and don’t forget to leave an Amazon review.

Click here to tweet about this episode!