by Steve Weber
Member since:
May 21, 2007

Q&A: Should I market my book with an Amazon Bestseller Campaign?

July 05, 2007 04:53 PM UTC (Updated: July 17, 2007 01:40 PM UTC)
views: 0 | comments: 16

QUESTION: My book has just been launched and I'm trying to market it online. I've seen advertisements for "Amazon Bestseller Campaigns." Should I spend more than $1,000 on a bestseller campaign?

ANSWER: A lot of people dismiss Amazon Sales Ranks as meaningless but I think the ranks provide valuable intelligence for lots of people. The ranks are useful for authors, publishers and booksellers who want to gauge the success of competing books, to research the market for book concepts, etc.

Amazon recalculates its ranks every hour -- the No. 1 bestseller has a rank of 1, and the worse seller is ranked 4,000,000 and change.

Amazon Bestseller Campaigns, however, are the dark side of this technology. It's a technique used by certain marketing consultants to push a book to an artificially high rank for a short period. Because Amazon re-ranks books every hour, a burst of two dozen sales all at once can propel a book to Amazon's top 1,000. A few hundred sales can get you in the top 20.

The dishonesty of these campaigns becomes apparent when the book is later advertised as an "Amazon Bestseller" even though it's not selling anymore and its Amazon Sales Rank is back in the toilet. That's because these campaigns don't generate sustained demand for the book.

Even so, the consultants who promote these programs are getting lots of clients due to the explosion in the ranks of self-published authors who want help marketing their books, and don't know where to turn.

I believe the consultants who sell these campaigns are preying on the insecurities of hopeful authors, and it's a terrible disservice. The danger for authors is, they might get a reputation as a "spammer."

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Steve Weber is author of Plug Your Book! Online Book Marketing for Authors

 

Comments: 16

G. M. Lupo Jul 6, 2007, 6:14pm UTC
Once again, good advice for anyone wishing to market a book online.
J. G. Weddle Jul 8, 2007, 11:50am UTC
As a fledgling writer myself, I am hoping there are more economical options available to network and market a book or books. Currently, my books are self publisher, POD(I know some people are laughing), but am hopefull I can get the word out in affordable ways. One direction I have gone is a web site promoting POD authors. It can be visited at risingstarauthors.com and we welcome any comments, good or bad. Part of my "package" included being promoted in the Amazon catalog, along with Borders, Barnes and Noble, Waldenbooks, and the like, though very little movement has been realized through these brick and mortar establishments. Part of this is undoubtedly the stigma associated with POD and self publishing.(almost always taken negatively) A "non-returnable" also seems to have it's own downside, understandable in the book business world. Bottom line and last comment;(I promise) I would pursue other options before I spent the money on one of the "campaigns". Gather, in general, seems to be a good site to hopefully network books, authors, ideas, projects, etc.
M. Bradley McCauley Jul 15, 2007, 6:45pm UTC
I haven't done much marketing of my novel, due to lack of funds. What's the best way to market it on Gather? I published through lulu.com==they don't charge anything except for the ISBN until the book is bought, then they keep a small fee. I've found them to be very good in all aspects and they have done an excellent job with my novel. Still, I'd like more exposure.

Thanks for posting your article and for inviting me to network with you. I look forward to more of your articles and checking out your book. I think I can use it.
Steve Weber Jul 15, 2007, 8:57pm UTC
Bradley, marketing on Gather would be pretty much the same process as marketing on MySpace or any other social network. Find the groups or discussions pertinent to your book, whether it's fiction or nonfiction, and get a dialog going. You're right, Lulu isn't going to do any marketing for you, you're on your own in that respect.

I see that you have a travel book and you've joined some of the Gather groups related to that interest, so you're well on your way. Good luck!
Cheryl R. Jul 16, 2007, 3:48pm UTC
Good, informative article, Steve. Thanks for the useful knowledge.
Jared Goldman Jul 16, 2007, 4:32pm UTC
Great stuff. Love your site and e-book! THANKS!!
Raymond W. Jul 16, 2007, 8:42pm UTC
Steve, you are the man! Some of those "Amazon Best Seller campaign" guys tried to rope me into signing up as well. I didn't. I think there's more at play here than an author's insecurities. It may well be worth the money to some authors for the ego boost of seeing the phrase Best Seller associated with their names. In that case it's probably worth it for them.

For myself, I'm old style and believe readership comes with sustained promotional efforts combined with good enough writing to generate word of mouth.
jessie voigts Jul 17, 2007, 7:42am UTC
i've seen this happen time and time again. crazy.
Perle Champion Jul 17, 2007, 8:28am UTC
There's a book a friend of mine swears by, he published with a small press with no budget and used it to help sell out his initial printing (see below). He also visited a lot of independent book stores meeting the owners and the staff. A lot of them hand-sold his book because of that meeting.
1001 Ways to Market Your Books: For Authors and Publishers by John Kremer

Good luck
Aaron Lazar, mystery author Jul 17, 2007, 8:52am UTC
Excellent advice, thank you, Steve!
Errol Lincoln Uys Jul 17, 2007, 5:18pm UTC
Steve, I've just ordered your book on Amazon.

Besides networking, a writer's website is key to promotion -- provided you offer more than a simple puff job and make a visitor's time spent there worthwhile.

Check out my website. I built a unique online literary archive telling of my two years as assistant to James A. Michener on his South African novelThe Covenant. Working with James A. Michener

I've already made Alex Beam's column in the Boston Globe Michener's Secret Covenant and lit blogs like MediaBistro and Grumpy Old Bookman.

Another key is finding the time to keep plugging away.
Tina Coruth Jul 17, 2007, 9:43pm UTC
Very interesting article. I had no idea about the tricks used to artificially boost the ranking of books. Good to know. Thank you!
Jo C. Jan 30, 2008, 2:19pm UTC
Steve- Due to Gather's very cool "related articles" feature, this is now showing up today, January 30, in a related article link on another article's page. This feature give your articles - and others - more exposure. I just saw this today, for instance, 2008.
:)
I might have missed it otherwise.
Wendy C. Sep 11, 2008, 1:24pm UTC
Steve I'm very much enjoying your articles.
Kim Vazquez Apr 21, 2009, 8:29pm UTC
As a writer with a book on the way out to market, I totally appreciate this article and I'm so happy that I've found gather, where I can gather such good info.
ZlS Publishing Apr 30, 2009, 10:46pm UTC
Stinking Amazon. They think they are so slick! Thanks for telling their secret.

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