There is this meme that pops up on Facebook from time to time. It usually runs something like this:
And every time I see it, I cringe a little.
Don’t get me wrong – I like reviews. I would like more reviews of my work out there.
But the focus here isn’t necessarily on reviews, it’s on manipulating the Amazon algorithms. The numbers change, as do the MAGIC THING, but the gist remains the same: get 50 reviews, and the book will start appearing in the recommendation algorithm; get 20 reviews, and you’ll be included in the “others like this book footer.”
Amazon reviews = good things for your favourite book.
I am not against Amazon. They are exceptionally good at what they do, and their recommendation algorithm is fucking awesome at predicting my reading taste. Amazon has their shit together, in the retail space.
But part of that relies upon them being right.
They’re like Google, in that their cache and market dominance is partially reliant on providing the best resource available when you search for something. And I did my time in SEO right about the point Google released the Panda Update to their search algorithm in order to cut down on the number of scraper-sites and article farms that existed purely to draw people to pages loaded with advertising.
People who had played the game of SEO up to that point, assuming it was never changed, lost their shit in that period. People who provided good content basically shrugged and kept doing what they were doing.
Trying to work the Amazon review system feels like the same sort of thing. You can work a system for a time, but it’s a short-term thing. Sooner or later the system stops doing what it’s meant to do, and someone will try and adjust things so it can resume its original function.
It’s not like Amazon hasn’t done this already, in other parts of their site. Spend some quality time on the indie publishing forums looking for threads about Kindle Unlimited, and you’ll see a whole bunch of folks wailing in consternation as the rules change and their business model is made redundant.
If you really want to help your favourite author, review their book. Not on Amazon – although I won’t discourage that – but just in general. Tweet about it. Blog it. Facebook it. Talk about it with your friends and tell them what’s awesome. Do not keep your reading private – talk about it out in public, even if it’s short and sweet: Reading <insert book here>.
Authors build their readership fan by fan, book by book, and there is nothing in the world more powerful than one person talking to another and saying, have you read this? It’s brilliant.
Nearly every book I’ve read in the last year has been the result of someone I trusted saying that. As good at the Amazon algorithm is, it can’t replace the trust that comes from one reader talking to another about the books they’re passionate about.
(Although, given time and resources, I am interested to see Amazon try)
For the record, and to put my money where my mouth is, I’m currently:
Two of those came out of personal recommendations with people. Lauren Dane I picked up because I became a fan of Dane after she was recommended on Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. The Kiernan I picked up because I am a long-time fan, and will habitually pick up every goddamn book she releases.
And I largely became a fan because one of my favourite authors linked to her first novel and said: read this, its phenomenal.
How about you, peeps? What are you reading. Tell me about the things that are crushing your heart or bringing you joy? Tell me about the things that make you happy you’re a reader.
I’ve ended up taking a short, unscheduled break from writing newsletters over the last fourteen days. Regular GenrePunk Ninja transmissions will resume
Like many of you, I have good weeks and bad weeks on the writing front. This week has been rocky, and if
Welcome to GenrePunk Ninja supplemental, where I occasionally post foundational essays written before I launched the GenrePunk Ninja newsletter, especially if they’re
4 Responses
Talking about what I’m reading with other people is so much more fun than simply leaving a review on Amazon and I’m happy to take any chance I can get. It’s one reason why I’m looking forward to Dewey’s 24-hour read-a-thon on the weekend.
I’m quite fond of Kushiel’s Dart, though I feel some of the later trilogies lost the freshness of that first book (unsurprisingly, perhaps?).
As for me, I’m supposed to be running an RPG night for the Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild tomorrow. I just finished reading Dungeon World by Sage LaTorra and Adam Koebel. I think it’s one of the most clear, well-written RPG manuals I’ve come across and it is a great system to play. I’m looking forward to running it.
I need to give my brain some time to absorb all the information and haven’t quite figured out what I’m going to read next. I’m leaning towards Sisters of Icarus by indie author Becca Lusher.
Currently reading The Bad Game, by Adam Millard on the Kindle, a UK splatterpunk/comedy-horror author, and really enjoying it’s B-Movie aesthetic. My paperback is Fleming’s Live and Let Die, as part of a structured re-read of all the Bond novels, for a couple of potential projects. Though, any excuse, frankly – he’s a writer who breaks a lot of important ‘rules’ and yet put out books that are as page turning and compulsive to read as they are screamingly problematic.
I could appreciate what mutual friends saw in Kushiel’s Dart, but it wasn’t for me.
The Grand Sophy, however… I’ve just reread it to my dad, with the beginning of the third volume of P&P and a rewatch of What’s Up Doc (which matches TGS remarkably well) as a chaser. So much fun.
I’m currently fighting my way through The Well (Elizabeth Jolley) and can’t love it. I’m not sure whether it’s the weight of obligation/pressure to read it, or that it touches a lot of sore spots and things I miss dreadfully about growing up out west.
I’ve also started the first of Anna Campbell’s Dashing Widow novellas.
Next in the queue are also some of yours, CSE Cooney’s Bone Swans and Miss Manners’ Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behaviour.
Currently, I’m reading ‘The Trap’ by Melanie Raabe- it’s a really good read, with some beautiful turns of phrase, and omg do I need to know how it ends. If I wasn’t working, I’d be pulling an all-nighter to find out what happens.
‘Frankie’ by Shivaun Plozza ripped my freakin’ heart out when I read it. How could I not love a girl as angry at the world as I was at her age? But beyond that, such a great exploration of the us and them mentality of Australia. ‘We All Looked Up’ by Tommy Wallach- ugh. So good. If you’re not totally invested in the story, it’s possible to see the ending coming, but I really didn’t have that problem because I honestly couldn’t stop reading it long enough to be jarred from the story. ‘Day Boy’ by Trent Jamieson- look, I knew Trent was good. I’d heard his name crop up enough around my writer friends that I was already searching out his older work when ‘Day Boy’ was released. But it was the hardest review I’ve ever written because I couldn’t stop flailing and fangirling enough to articulate why I liked the story. So well written. Such a glorious turn of phrase. He’s become a total writing hero.
Beyond that, I’m impatiently waiting on ‘Carnifex’ by Matthew J Hellscream, because I’ve heard Matt talking about this book and I need it in my life.