Drawn in by Credentials - Part 1 in Amy's #pubtips

For the next few weeks I'm going to only write about books that no one else has reviewed yet on Amazon. Yeah, you heard me, the infamous "Be the first to review this book" books. Scary, right?
Why hasn't anyone else rated and reviewed this book yet? Surely someone else has read it before me, did they hate it, do they not know how to type?  Maybe the book was such a big flaming pile of poo they felt bad and didn't want to post a bad review.

Maybe not.
In an earlier post I wrote about how I choose which free books to download and which I skip. Read that one here.
So, I'm just going a little more in depth on each of those points.

Credentials: If you've got 'em, flaunt 'em.

If you're book has gotten 5 star reviews from book bloggers and reviewers, post them. Just not the whole thing. Pick a great soundbite, like, "The characters' love was deeper than Edward and Bella's" (that's from my fav Stephanie Mabey song). Then put 5 stars from Such and Such Romance Review Blog.  That will spark my interest.

Did this book win an award? (Especially if it's the RWA's Rita or Golden Heart) Tell me. In big ole gold lettered slap a sticker on the front cover font. That means somebody else has read it and liked it, probably quite a bit. So, I probably will too.

Have you written for other major publishers (I mean one's I've heard of - *waves to Big 6*). Let those colors fly baby. This will show me you know how to write, you get it, you aren't going to drown me in adverbs.

There are more ways to show off your credentials and your books. What ever you've got throw it in that product description. Yes it's shameless self promotion and you are tooting your own horn. If you don't do it, who will? It will help you sell books (and that's why you put it up on Amazon in the first place, right?)

Here's the credential puller of non reviewed ebooks of the day.

My Deja Vu Lover by Phoebe Matthews

According to the Amazon blurb" Matthews has been published by Avon, Dell, Holt, Putnam and Silhouette."

This book doesn't have the whole package. It's got a short vague blurb, a not so awesome cover, no other Amazon reviews and it's hard to tell if this is going to be an interesting genre twist, but oh, those credentials.  Look at her dropping those names. I'm impressed. I'm reaching for that one-click button. She got me.  I downloaded it.
Click on the book cover to go straight to Amazon and get it for yourself. Make sure to check to see if it's still free.


So, authors. Think about your product description. Does your book have the right stuff? Would I download it (and in the case of Be-the-first books, will I go back and review it?)


Next time we'll talk about those pretty pictures on the front of your book. 'Cuz, yeah, I judge a book by it's cover.