Too often, authors self-publish their books and think their work is done. But if you want your book to actually sell and bring in some money, you’re going to have to find ways to make it stand out from among the many thousands of other books your target audience can choose from. At Self-Publishing Relief, our marketing experts know a sales-building secret. If your book is available through Amazon, there’s an often overlooked spot on the book’s sales page that can help put you ahead of the competition: the Amazon Editorial Reviews section. Here’s how you can use editorial reviews to boost your book sales!

Using Amazon Editorial Reviews To Sell More Books

Amazon editorial reviews are not the same as Amazon customer reviews, where you rate the mop you bought or the company that sold it. With editorial reviews, you can feature book reviews from colleagues, fellow writers, Kirkus reviews, etc. on your book’s sale page—and you can “edit” these reviews so they best fit the space. Even just one good review can entice a new reader into buying your book! Over 88% of consumers trust reviews as much as they do a personal recommendation. “Word of mouth” and social proof are the driving forces behind the success of many self-published books.

How To Create An Amazon Editorial Review

• Go to your Amazon Author Central page and log in to your account. From there, you’ll go to the Books tab.
• Select the book where you want to add the reviews. You’ll see different sections you can make changes to, including one that says “Review.”
• Hit the “Add” button next to Review. A box will appear where you can type or copy and paste in your reviews.
• Preview the review section before saving changes. You’ll want to be sure there are no typos and that the different reviews are properly spaced. Once everything looks good, hit “Save changes” and you’re all set—you now have editorial reviews featured on your book’s sales page!

How To Get Editorial Reviews For Your Self-Published Book

Your review doesn’t have to be from The New York Times to be included on your book sales page (although, sure, that would be awesome!). You can feature book reviews from anyone who has read your book and agreed to write one for you. If your book has been entered into any contests and gained recognition or a blurb, this definitely should go on your Amazon sales page.

You can also send review copies to book bloggers in exchange for reviews. And if another author writes a review for you, mention “author of [title]” after their name. These types of reviews offer great social proof and credibility—and you can thank your author reviewers with these little plugs for their books.

Remember, you control which reviews are featured in this editorial review section! Be sure to update this section whenever you get a new positive review. The more good reviews you have on your book sales page, the better it will rank in searches—and more potential buyers will see it!

Question: Which book reviews influence your decision to buy a book?