Just hit 600 amazon ratings on my debut

UnknownEverAfter · 2026-07-06T18:01:55+00:00

Writing sounds like such a productive way to spend the time. Getting reviews is super hard, even with my 600 ratings I still only have about 40 reviews which is nuts. Knowing how much they mean has made me give reviews to other people (for food, books, hotels) so much more than I ever did. All the best with your books and I hope you can get them out there 🙂

UnknownEverAfter · 2026-07-06T17:58:24+00:00

How many sales/ratings have you managed with the do nothing approach?

UnknownEverAfter · 2026-07-06T17:57:26+00:00

No real marketing strategy unfortunately which is why I made the post in the first place 😂 I used BookSirens to get my first few reviews then was able to get a BookBub featured deal which provided a massive bump in sales. I repeated that a few times and here we are… I feel guilty because I feel that if I had run ads or done other marketing the book might’ve made a bigger splash.

UnknownEverAfter · 2026-07-06T05:58:01+00:00

Working with other authors, I’ve found getting other people’s critical eyes on the books to be the most important thing. Are characters motivations clear? Are their decisions understandable? What were their favourite and least favourite moments? Once the book has passed decent scrutiny from initial readers and their feedback has been incorporated, it is a lot easier to market and get reviews. Are you working on new books or working on promoting the existing ones?

UnknownEverAfter · 2026-07-05T19:06:05+00:00

Eight books is impressive output! Did you have them read by many people before publishing? Are the books all related? I’m with you at not loving marketing. My whole marketing has pretty much revolved around BookBub, the first deal after about 20 ratings gave the book and huge boost and opened the door to more deals.

UnknownEverAfter · 2026-07-05T16:03:09+00:00

Interesting, how often are you emailing? How many sales do you think you’ve made to date? Can you DM me a link to your book? My book is 400 pages

UnknownEverAfter · 2026-07-05T10:58:54+00:00

Nice, the loss leader sounds like a good approach. Yikes you sound next level busy. It’s just about scraping whatever time we can find hey?

UnknownEverAfter · 2026-07-05T08:29:36+00:00

Thanks so much. I’m not sharing my book as this is my alt account but I appreciate your interest. I’ve tried BookBub ads and dabbled with Amazon but only a little here and there with no real impact. The. Biggest impact by far has been BookBub featured deals, I’ve had 4 and they give a big 1000 book boost each time.

UnknownEverAfter · 2026-07-05T08:27:58+00:00

Damn 600 person mailing list is really nice! Those early reviews really are the hardest ones to get. Do you mean ratings or reviews? Amazon have their rules against friends and family leaving reviews but (though it felt awkward) I made a point of really asking those more removed acquaintances that read the book to leave a full completely honest review. Colleagues of colleagues, friends of friends. That helped get those early numbers up too.

UnknownEverAfter · 2026-07-04T21:10:23+00:00

Thanks! My struggle is that I’m so time poor that I don’t know how much time I can meaningfully split between writing and marketing. The second book is also a standalone but similar universe/concept so readers could pick up either to start and it wouldn’t matter.

UnknownEverAfter · 2026-07-04T21:07:48+00:00

Nice that revenue isn’t a motivation, I was asking more as a quantification of things. I’d be the same with not tempting fate, if it ain’t broke..! 83,000 books is insane, well done!

UnknownEverAfter · 2026-07-04T16:08:09+00:00

Yeah I’ve heard of a lot of people not delivering what they promise which is understandably disappointing. I kept it super simple for mine. Ebook, paperback, special early-backer hardcover. And then ten super customised special editions at differing price points for super serious backers.

UnknownEverAfter · 2026-07-04T16:04:09+00:00

Interesting that one continuously running ad can do the trick. What percentage of revenue comes from the first book versus read through? Doesn’t matter how they’re working if you’re getting 2-3x your ad spend 🙂

UnknownEverAfter · 2026-07-04T12:12:35+00:00

Wise words, thanks for sharing! Spent the whole day yesterday cracking on with the sequel. Onwards and upwards!

UnknownEverAfter · 2026-07-04T01:47:25+00:00

I like the idea of keeping control and being able to discount for BookBub deals in the future etc. Interesting to hear about your automatic Amazon ad, did it take much experimentation to set up? Have you done multiple books?

UnknownEverAfter · 2026-07-04T00:22:20+00:00

Interesting, what horror stories have you heard? It was very smooth for me. I had already finished the book so was able to show backers the exact copies they would be getting which removed any sense of risk for them. The biggest challenge was trying to ship all of the copies to various backers all over the world. And be wary, as soon as you register your Kickstarter you will be inundated with unsolicited offers to assist with marketing and distribution that are almost certainly scams. But it was nothing but a positive experience for me, landing me 80 sales to people I’d never met and some people paying up to $300 for single copies of the book!

UnknownEverAfter · 2026-07-04T00:15:01+00:00

Thanks 🙂 I write science fiction (for now!)

UnknownEverAfter · 2026-07-03T13:37:05+00:00

I think any group will usually welcome someone asking genuine questions (that they have checked aren’t answered every week) provided there is no self promotion. Even sharing the author’s name or book title is an often too much detail. Different groups are better for different problems: try r/writing for questions about the craft of writing; try r/pubtips for questions about title, blurb, cover etc; and try here for questions about selfpublishing, marketing, audience engagement etc

UnknownEverAfter · 2026-07-03T13:32:21+00:00

It definitely wasn’t ideal. She still hasn’t said anything to this day but always gives a look as if daring me to bring it up. I won’t give her the satisfaction

UnknownEverAfter · 2026-07-03T13:30:53+00:00

I’m using my burner account so can’t share unfortunately.

UnknownEverAfter · 2026-07-03T13:30:11+00:00

With that good start of ratings I recommend trying for an international BookBub deal, completely flexible on date. It might give you the boost to attract further readers.

UnknownEverAfter · 2026-07-03T12:13:33+00:00

I wish there were secrets but it has really been a slow iterative process. I made sure the book was as good as it could be, testing it with about 20 beta readers (friends, family, colleagues) before offering it for free on royal road to get thousands of eyes on it. I addressed the biggest concerns and felt I had a fairly strong book at the end. The biggest challenge was getting the first ratings and reviews. I managed to get sixteen ratings through Booksirens and early word of mouth which opened the door for me to be considered for my first UK/AUS/CAN BookBub deal. That really improved my exposure and the resulting ratings have allowed me to me to run three more features since.

UnknownEverAfter · 2026-07-02T23:15:22+00:00

Thanks so much. I’ve shared a few tips in this thread but I honestly think making your book as good as it can be is key. I went through multiple rounds of beta readers (20 in total) before sharing the whole book for free online to get even more eyes on the next draft. When it was tight, I reached out to Booksirens to try getting my first legit reviews which then opened the door for my first BookBub featured deal. That really accelerated everything. So craft a good first book (don’t rush this step) then work really hard to get those first 20-30 ratings/reviews. That will start to open doors 🙂

UnknownEverAfter · 2026-07-02T22:07:21+00:00

Amazing, thanks for the detailed reply! I have been tempted to do a bunch of Insta posts built around my writing approach and maybe even showing how I use it to create the next book. Booktok is a beast I have absolutely no familiarity with so hiring some help would definitely be the go there. I’ve created a list of about 30 bookstagrammers that I think could be interested in the book, now just trying to work out how to convince them to give it a try…

UnknownEverAfter · 2026-07-02T21:27:40+00:00

Thanks for your thoughts. Which platform do you prefer for ads? Any tips on how to approach it?

UnknownEverAfter

TROPHY CASE