If you’ve ever made a purchase on Amazon, you have a public user profile on the site. To locate yours, go to the “Your Account” page on Amazon (usually found in the upper right when you view any page on Amazon) and scroll down to the “Personalization” section where you will find a link to “Your Public Profile.”
Here you can input a bio, list your website, upload a photo, add a caption for your photo (which should indicate that you are an author, plus your area of expertise), and add a signature. The signature line is important because when you write a book review on Amazon, your name appears along with your signature. As an example, when I review a book on Amazon, my name appears like this:
Stephanie Chandler Author of Own Your Niche: Hype-Free Internet Marketing Tactics…
One way to increase your visibility on Amazon is to write reviews for books in the same genre as yours. Each time you do this, your name and signature appear alongside your review. We all like to read reviews for books we want to purchase, and potential buyers may see yours and then want to know more about you. They can click on your name to view your public profile or simply search for your book title. You may even hear from the author of the book. I occasionally try to reach out to people who leave reviews for my books and thank them, which is another way to show appreciation for my readers and build loyalty. At the very least, that author will know your name! We all look at reviews for our books.
You can also post video reviews for books, which is another interesting way to stand out on Amazon. When you view a book page and click on “Write a Review,” you will have the option to upload a video review. These often stand out among the written reviews so if you’re comfortable on camera, this can be a fun way to get extra visibility and build your personal brand.
One note when writing reviews: make sure you write positive reviews. This strategy will certainly backfire if you go around leaving negative reviews for your competitors, or any books. There are plenty of grumpy people out there leaving negative reviews for books and you don’t need to be one of them. And if you believe in karma, those negative reviews can come right back to you. If I don’t like a book, I personally prefer to skip leaving a review.
If you like this blog post, you’ll love all the content available for our members. Learn more about joining the Nonfiction Authors Association!
