Chasing People About Reviews

[Ashley R]

A few months ago, I contacted quite a few book bloggers about my novel Up To The Throne, and ended up sending out a fair number of copies for review. Some of the copies have been out for a while. Does anyone have any experience of chasing/reminding people about reviews? Is it done at all and, if so, how long is a reasonable time to wait? Thanks!

My advice, for what it's worth is don't chase reviews. In fact IIRC, the correlation between reviews and sales is not as strong as you would think. I'd go so far as to say, do not seek out reviews, certainly don't read them if you want to stay sane.

WIBBOW is the word to live by: Would I Be Better Off Writing?

The answer is always yes.

 

[tinkerdan]

If you follow that link I gave....

My advice, for what it's worth is don't chase reviews. In fact IIRC, the correlation between reviews and sales is not as strong as you would think. I'd go so far as to say, do not seek out reviews, certainly don't read them if you want to stay sane.

You will find this is not entirely true.
Any verified purchase review does make a difference; however if Amazon can't verify the purchase then it won't make a difference as far their statistical algorithm used.
There are three parts to this article and I would suggest reading them all...
Mythbusting The Amazon Algorithm Part III – Verified Customer Reviews and the New Amazon Guidelines | Self-Publishing Review
It is a thoughfully written article and though it looks to be almost three years old, it is one of the best I've read concerning Amazon.

 

[Ashley R]

If you follow that link I gave....[snip] It is a thoughtfully written article and though it looks to be almost three years old, it is one of the best I've read concerning Amazon.

It is, but T&CA. My comment that the link is not as strong as you think is supported by must be verified purchase part of the review. Also, in three years Amazons algorithms have changed, so I repeat yes but...

The best advertising remains word of mouth.

 

[tinkerdan]

Yeah well I gave that reference based on my own studies in the last three months and so I guess we can agree to disagree.

It is, but T&CA. My comment that the link is not as strong as you think is supported by must be verified purchase part of the review. Also, in three years Amazons algorithms have changed, so I repeat yes but...

The best advertising remains word of mouth.

 

[Ashley R]

Yeah well I gave that reference based on my own studies in the last three months and so I guess we can agree to disagree.

Nothing to disagree about, as we're not arguing. If you are right, then great. Go for it.