Author: Big Al

Big Al (who insists he only has one name, like Cher, Sting, and Madonna) spends his days writing computer programs that are full of typos, homonym errors, and incorrect verb usage. During his evenings, he writes reviews of indie books for BigAl’s Books and Pals and has recently taken over The IndieView, a website founded by indie author Simon Royle as a resource for indie authors, indie reviewers, and those who read either.

Can You Verify That?

I’m guessing you’ve all seen the notation on customer reviews for an “Amazon Verified Purchase” like this one.

I imagine many (most?) people don’t pay much attention to which reviews have or don’t have this, at least most of the time. However, if a review seems suspicious for other reasons, it is used by some people as “evidence” that their suspicions are correct. I’ve also been told that some of the book promotion sites are now looking at the number or percentage of Amazon reader reviews that are verified purchases as part of their vetting process. There is some confusion as to when an Amazon reader review will or won’t show as a verified purchase. So I’ve mucked about and think I have the answers. As it turns out there are several different scenarios and this isn’t as straightforward as you might think. Continue reading “Can You Verify That?”

BIG AL: Latest Amazon Changes May Help Indie Authors

Amazon.comIn case you haven’t noticed, there is a BIG difference between how Amazon sells books and how everyone else that purports to be in the book selling business does it. When talk turns to what Barnes & Noble could change to sell more books through BarnesAndNoble.com, the answers always boil down to “be more like Amazon.” The problem with that is that Amazon started innovating the day they went into business and have never stopped trying out new things.

In the last couple weeks I’ve discovered two new innovations that are being tested by Amazon and appear to be headed our way. I’m guessing that if they’re deemed successful (meaning Amazon makes more money and it is a positive for their customers) then both programs will get rolled out to everyone. Each of these has the potential to be positive for indies.

The first is allowing indies to schedule the release of their book and for customers to pre-order that book prior to release. They’ve run a pilot program with selected indie authors being invited to give this a test run. The benefits should be obvious to any of you who have tried to schedule book release activities while coordinating the timing of your book being available on Amazon with your “official” release date. I know Amazon quizzes authors from time to time asking for ways they can improve and I’m sure this idea has been dropped in the suggestion box many times. (I’m going to assume it is coincidence that Smashwords recently started offering this ability for books distributed through them to some retailers.)

I suspect this will also change the way the game is played for those trying to maximize the help they receive from Amazon’s algorithms on a new release. How that will change, I don’t know. I’ll do like the rest of you and wait for David Gaughran to weigh in with the answer. Continue reading “BIG AL: Latest Amazon Changes May Help Indie Authors”

Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics

Earlier this month Stephen Hise gave his take on a survey of readers coordinated by bestselling author Marie Force. On the subject of reviews, Hise summarized a few of the survey’s findings with these words:

Reviews are important, but readers pay far more attention to other reader reviews on retail sites than to reviews from publications and review sites.

This seemed like a fair summary of the six survey questions related to reviews and their impact although I did have one nit to pick, which we’ll get to shortly. In the comments I saw this exchange between Hise and IU contributor Lin Robinson. Continue reading “Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics”

Like, Fer Shur

Facebook LogoThose of us who waste hours a day on Facebook have a hard time understanding, but apparently there are people who have lives away from their computer, smartphone, or other electronic tether. Maybe … wait a second, a notification just popped up on Facebook. BRB (that’s be right back, for those who aren’t savvy about all these new fangled acronyms).

That Rich Meyer is a funny guy. As I was saying before I got interrupted, maybe some of you are too busy writing to spend much time on Facebook. But you still have a Facebook account and have setup an author page, right? Apparently some of our less Facebook savvy readers (you know, those people I talked about who have a life) want to participate in the periodic Facebook like fests we have at IU, but aren’t sure whether they are “doing it right.” So, in order to put some of those wasted hours to good use, I’m going to show you. Continue reading “Like, Fer Shur”