With a Little Help From Your Friends…Part 2

Reviews, Tags, Highlights, “Listmania Listing”, “Like Button” all help to boost up books in Amazons popularity list. Take two books with identical sales numbers: the one which has been promoted with these features is much higher in the ranks and will definitely sell better in the future.  But your friends can do more, just ask them:
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Book Extras
Book Extras are community edited database which includes series information, character descriptions, important places, memorable quotes and more. The content is added, edited and maintained by both, Amazon customers and the Shelfari.com community.  Shelfari is a community-powered encyclopedia for book lovers. Create a virtual bookshelf, discover new books, connect with friends and learn more about your favorite books – all for free.

Use Social Media
If you are involved with Twitter, Google+, Pinterest or Facebook, you can mention your favorite authors when they release new books. If they blog, you can follow their site (through Google Reader or other RSS readers) and share the link when they post something that may be interesting for others. On Twitter, you can “follow” and re-tweet their links now and then.  If you like to be social about books, you can join sites such as Goodreads, Shelfari, or LibraryThing. You can help your favorite authors by posting reviews and talking about their books on those sites.

Promoting on Your Blog
Do you ever talk about books or what you’re reading on your blog? You might consider reviewing your favorite authors on your site (you could even make a few dollars if you sign up as an Amazon affiliate). You can also add an “author blog roll” list in your menu with links to their sites.

Good old-fashioned word of mouth
Tell every one of your friends and family about your favorite author and his/her books, or mention it in your emails with a link to their site or to Amazon.

Help with “blurbs”
These days, most authors have websites and contact forms so you can get in touch. If you enjoyed their work, consider sending them a short note to let them know. It does not only make their day, but it can help them sell more books, if you allow them to use your words in their “praise” section.

A little promotional help now and then is greatly appreciated. And if you are a writer yourself, let your readers, friends and family know how they can support you on your book seller’s websites, copy and paste this list and send it to them or send them a link.

Part of this list are Lindsay Buroker’s ideas.

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Hyper Smash

 

With a Little Help From Your Friends…

Some books are sold in the millions of copies and others never make it out of the “mid-list” category or do not even reach that level.  Readers and authors alike tend to think that a good story is all it takes to become a well known bestseller author.

No matter if you are an author with lots of friends – or if you are friend to an author, the following list will help you to find out how Amazon’s algorithm decides the popularity of books, its ranking and visibility. Amazon, the world’s biggest book seller, paper and e-books alike, can give a great book a big boost to “be discovered”.  These little features take only a few seconds, but can make a big difference:

Reviews
Write at least a review on Amazon, even if the book already has lots of reviews already. As more reviews as better for the author and as more potential buyers can see the popularity of the work. Make a copy of your review and send it to all the other online book sellers as well!  Before you can post a review, you are required to have an Amazon.com account that you have used for at least one purchase of a physical or digital item. Free digital downloads don’t qualify. You don’t need to have purchased the product you are reviewing.
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“Like” Button

Give the book a “Like” in clicking on the icon. This takes less than a second, but it may play into Amazon’s algorithms.

“Listmania” List
Make a List-Mania list and add your favorite authors’ books to it. This creates another avenue for new readers to find books. It’s better to create lists around similar types of books than a too eclectic list, and consider to title it appropriately so folks will be more inclined to check it out.  Submit a brief instruction to your friends/family “How to create a Listmania list”, can be found on Amazon.

Highlights
Another item in Amazon’s algorithm list for book popularity: If you have a Kindle, highlight some wise or fun quotations from the book and share them publicly. If enough people share their highlights, they’ll show up in your e-book.

Amazon displays “Popular Highlights” by combining the highlights of all Kindle customers and identifying the passages with the most highlights. The resulting Popular Highlights help readers focus on passages that are meaningful to the greatest number of people. Popular Highlights are marked with a gray dashed underline. The number of people who have highlighted the text appears at the beginning of the marked text.
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Reviews, Tags, Highlights, “Listmania Listing”, “Like Button” all help to boost up books in Amazons popularity list. Take two books with identical sales numbers: the one which has been promoted with these features is much higher in the ranks and will definitely sell better in the future.

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Hyper Smash

 
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Pingates

 

Plenty of Freelance Writing opportunities

 

THE CATTLEMAN MAGAZINE
http://www.thecattlemanmagazine.com/advertise/writer-guidelines.html
Editorially, The Cattleman covers all aspects of the beef
industry in Texas, Oklahoma and the Southwest. In the most
recent readership survey, subscribers said they were most
interested in the following topics in this order: range/
pasture, property rights, animal health, water, new innovations
and marketing. Our feature stories are generally more in-depth
than other livestock publications. Word counts average between
1,500 to 2,000. Pays up to $450 for articles up to 2,000 words.

COMMUNITY COLLEGE WEEK
http://www.ccweek.com/news/templates/template.aspx?articleid=7&zoneid=1
Published biweekly, Community College Week’s readers include
college presidents, chief academic officers, faculty, student-
service professionals, librarians and other educators. In
each edition, our readers find news and features not provided
by other news sources, including analyses of critical academic
trends and issues, vital statistics, technology updates and
employment opportunities. Very nice guidelines with many
columns open to freelancers.

TRAVERSE NORTHERN MICHIGAN’S MAGAZINE
NORTHERN HOME & COTTAGE
http://www.mynorth.com/My-North/Contact-Us/Writing-Submission-Guidelines/
We want features to have entry points. As we use it, the term
includes sidebars and extended captions designed to bring in
a reader not enticed by the main subject. For a 2,500-word piece,
perhaps 1,800 words would be devoted to the main body, and the
rest divided into three sidebar-type sections. Topics include
nature and the environment, regional culture, personalities,
the arts (visual, performing, literary), crafts, food & dining,
homes and cottages, history, outdoor activities (e.g., fishing,
golf, skiing, boating, biking, hiking, birding, gardening).
One-time right to publish in our magazines and right to publish
on our web site. Fees: $200-$700. Articles work best for us at
1,500 to 3,000 words. Departments are limited to 700 words.

RELATE MAGAZINE
http://www.relatemag.com/about/
The mission is to inspire teen girls to pursue their dreams
with confidence and to teach them to be an example for others
in their speech, life, love, faith and purity. Topics include
design, entertainment, the future in terms of college and jobs,
beauty, faith, life, quizzes. Average article is between 650
and 1,600 words in length although longer work will be considered.
Sidebar information is also encouraged, as well as graphics,
including illustrations, and photographs.

Feature Article (around 1,800 words): $350-$700
General Article (around 800 words): $150-$200
DIY Article (around 500 words): $50-$100
Teen Profile (around 800 words): $200-$250
Reviews (around 200 words): $50-$75
Celebrity Interviews (around 1,200 words): $500-$700
Quizzes (around 800 words): $100-$200