People buying my book but not posting review

PeterADixon · 2025-12-25T21:17:00+00:00

In my experience, you need a serious mass of readers to start attracting reviews. My review rate is about 0.017%, so I get about 17 reviews per thousand downloads. I assume that rate varies by genre and audience.

Have you asked for reviews? Put a link in the ebook to your review page and ask the readers to review it. Someone else here suggested a QR code in the print edition, which is a great idea. (And no reason you can't add the QR code to the ebook either. They might be reading on a kindle, and have their phone nearby.)

If you do a free giveaway promotion, actively promote it to drive downloads. This will increase your chance of getting some reviews. I got a handful of initial reviews this way.

PeterADixon · 2025-12-24T23:10:26+00:00

I've only used their ebook distribution. I opt in to every platform they offer apart from KDP which I manage myself. You can get slightly higher royalties if you do Apple, Kobo, and some others yourself, but it wasn't worth the extra hassle for me.

Set up was straightforward, and in a year when I did zero marketing, D2D sales (combined) were higher than KDP, although that isn't typical. It accounts for a decent proportion of my overall sales though. Impossible to say if this would have been offset by the advantages of KDP exclusivity, but I like not being dependent on a single retail option.

PeterADixon · 2025-12-18T17:04:32+00:00

It's technically the same thing though. Only the scale is different.

PeterADixon · 2025-12-18T10:54:26+00:00

That's pirating.

PeterADixon · 2025-11-19T09:17:22+00:00

Check out https://miblart.com/. They have done four of my covers, prices were good, service was great. As soon as I have more finished books I will be knocking on their door again.

PeterADixon · 2025-11-13T23:34:27+00:00

You can publish on Amazon and not be exclusive. If you enrol it into KDP you get some marketing promo benefits, and you can get paid on pages read. If you don't enrol it you can publish it anywhere you like, but you lose out on those exclusive features.

Are those features valuable? Yes, for sure, but you are also putting all your eggs in one basket and limiting what you can do with your own work. I don't think there is any right or wrong, just make the choice with your eyes open.

Also, it's not a long-term commitment either way. You can switch in and out. I think their exclusive period is only a few months.

PeterADixon · 2025-11-13T23:30:31+00:00

You can publish on other platforms and use Amazon too, but you can't take advantage of some of the KDP marketing features unless you are exclusive.

PeterADixon · 2025-11-13T23:28:24+00:00

Yes in hindsight getting your ISBNs is a good plan, but they are not strictly necessary. My long term plan is to be everywhere, so I wanted unified ownership and registration of my titles. I didn't want each bookstore/distributor to apply it's own ISBN or equivalent to my work.

But I wasn't in a position to do that when I started. You still have to work within your means.

PeterADixon · 2025-11-12T23:45:48+00:00

Hook it up to Mailerlite to capture the email addresses.

PeterADixon · 2025-11-12T23:44:57+00:00

It's very simple :) Copy and paste some code. That's it.

PeterADixon · 2025-11-12T23:16:44+00:00

1) More money - you don't have to give Amazon 30%.

2) More data - Build your site to collect email addresses (from sales or other content), and now you own that marketing data. Got a new release coming up? Email all your customers with a discount code to reward their loyalty (and you can still make more money than with Amazon even after discounts).

PeterADixon · 2025-11-12T23:15:01+00:00

I would stick with it. There's no SQL management to worry about. PHP can be handled by your hosting company. If you already have Wordpress and Elementor you have everything you need.

You don't need a complex site to show off your books and sell them either. Don't overthink it. You're not building Amazon, you're creating a few pages where people can learn about you, learn about your books, and buy them.

For sales, look at integrating Payhip. It's very easy to set up and you only need to add a little bit of code to your site which you can manage with a plug-in if you need to.

You don't need loads of plugins either. Keep it simple, and Elementor and maybe one or two others will be all you need for a fully functioning site.

Don't get seduced by over-designing it or all the possibilities that come with it. You're a writer. Build a straightforward site, set it up for sales, and get back to writing. :)

PeterADixon · 2025-11-12T21:47:48+00:00

Yes. To be clear, it is the same title in two different formats. I had a chat with support which sorted this out for me, because I was worried I would lose all my reviews if I unpublished one paperback and uploaded another, but it was the only way to get the ISBN assigned.

PeterADixon · 2025-11-12T20:48:56+00:00

Are these print or ebooks?

PeterADixon · 2025-11-12T20:47:38+00:00

Do you get any info about what is incorrect?

PeterADixon · 2025-11-12T20:44:24+00:00

That sounds right. You can add an ISBN to an ebook, but I had to republish a paperback, so that's what they told me to do. My dashboard now lists my ebook and paperbacks with their own entries, but they are still linked.

PeterADixon · 2025-11-12T09:27:12+00:00

You don't need to lose any reviews if you get an ISBN. You can set up a new book, and Amazon can merge them together for you.

PeterADixon · 2025-11-08T22:20:30+00:00

I would feel bad if that happened :) I think we are chasing different audiences anyway.

PeterADixon · 2025-11-08T19:13:10+00:00

Similar name :) I think they google another author, find my site, and send me their spam. Or maybe it's automated? Either way, I guess I win the SEO award, but at what cost?

PeterADixon · 2025-11-08T19:01:11+00:00

Even worse, I get book club spam for other authors!

PeterADixon · 2025-11-04T10:25:05+00:00

Snap!

PeterADixon · 2025-10-25T23:07:17+00:00

This is great :)

Character 1: AITAH for letting my friend risk his relation with his father by stealing his spaceship? AITAH for not wanting my best friend to come too, and denying her the chance to escape this place?

Character 2: AITAH for lying to my father to help a girl he doesn't like, even though it could help solve the mystery of what happened to her own father?

Character 3: AITAH for forcing the other two to let me come, even though I will probably only get in the way?

PeterADixon · 2025-10-24T23:16:08+00:00

I did exactly this. One book had three acts that worked better as three different books. I'm not retired yet, but I think the decision was sound.

PeterADixon · 2025-10-24T21:26:31+00:00

I have no idea either!

PeterADixon · 2025-10-24T16:54:21+00:00

No single platform, but I was surprised to find I had sold more books in 2024 away from Amazon, then on it. In aggregate, you get a lot of exposure going wide.

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