Interesting Question About Amazon Reviewer Weight in Algorithms

Most authors will agree that having numerous reviews (the majority being good) for a book on Amazon is helpful.

These are important as social proof to encourage prospective readers to buy the book as well as possibly fitting into some of Amazon’s secret algorithms that help books get found on the site.

Recently I joined the Author Marketing Club’s premium program for the special offer price of one year, and I have used and liked the Amazon Enhanced Description Maker.

Until yesterday, though, I had not tried the club’s Amazon Reviewer Grabber System, which is quite cleverly put together.

Amazon ranks its citizen-reviewers (these are not paid and anyone who has an Amazon account can review any thing on the site) with the lower the ranking the more prolific the reviewer.

Thanks to the Amazon Review Grabber System I had identified for my cozy mystery CAST THE FIRST STONE a rather popular reviewer whose Amazon profile says she loves cozy mysteries. Unfortunately, she is so popular that her website announces her book review “card” is filled through November of this year.

This got me thinking.

Is there any reason due to Amazon’s secret algorithms to try to get reviewers who are highly ranked by Amazon? Do their reviews get more weight in the algorithms than a less highly ranked reviewer?

In other words, if this is not true, why beat my head against the door trying to get reviews from highly ranked reviewers? Why not simply find reviewers who like the genre of my book and who may have much less of a review backlog because they are not so highly ranked?

Anyone know the answer to this question? Or is it another Amazon secret?

In any case, this appears excellent food for thought as we authors try to optimize the time we spend on book marketing in comparison to book writing.

And speaking of food for thought, I am reading some articles from the July 23rd Wall Street Journal about genetic testing and digital diagnosis. Then I plan to write a short post about these topics on my new Tumblr blog, whose purpose is to record my thoughts about the ongoing dystopian thriller THE MOTHER SIEGE that I’m writing on Wattpad.

Click here to see the short Tumblr posts, (although I admit I have not yet figured out how to take full advantage of all the options).

And if you like dystopian thrillers, I have now posted the fifth installment of THE MOTHER SIEGE on Wattpad. Click here for the dropdown Table of Contents and start reading the story now (comments appreciated at the end of the short chapters).

P.S. Guest post on popular blog Marketing Tips for Authors: Click here to check out my “Tips for Authors on Amazon” now.

(If you are interested in benefiting from these and other author tools in the Author Marketing Club, click here to check out this premium program — note that this is an affiliate link.)

And if you are a Goodreads member, click here now to sign up to win a paperback copy of my cozy mystery CAST THE FIRST STONE.

Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of fiction and nonfiction books/ebooks, including TOP TIPS FOR HOW TO PUBLISH AND MARKET YOUR BOOK IN THE AGE OF AMAZON and the romantic suspense spy story CIA FALL GUY.

Click here to visit her Amazon author page at www.amazon.com/author/phylliszimblermiller

She also has an M.B.A. from The Wharton School and is the co-founder of the online marketing company www.MillerMosaicLLC.com