Amazonian Marketing

Amazonian Marketing

In Greek and Roman legends, Amazons were women known to be fierce warriors. I can think of a few of us Moms who can seriously relate to the concept. We are Warrior Moms, battling against sometimes impossible odds to raise well-adjusted children, keep our families intact, keep the bills paid, keep the house clean, and hopefully squeeze in a little time for writing. (Notice sleep and relaxation are not in that list – those are luxuries for most of us Warrior Moms.)

The image of mythological warriors and their modern-day counterparts is not exactly what I’m talking about in terms of Amazonian Marketing.

Although, there is an appeal to thinking of myself as something of an Amazon in terms of writing and getting published. Perhaps it’s the image of strength and courage normally associated with Amazons. Or maybe it’s the idea of being fierce in pursuing my publishing goals. Whatever it is, it works for me. But that’s not what I wanted to talk about today.

No, today I wanted to talk about a more modern Amazon – as in Amazon.com. I can remember when Amazon first burst onto the scene & only sold books. Now, you can find just about anything on Amazon.com, but they’re still best known for books. Thousands upon thousands of people go to Amazon.com every single day looking for books to buy, books to download, or just general information on books.

Amazon for Author Marketing

I attended a webinar not to long ago & one of the presenters brought up Amazon. When asked what was the one thing he would recommend every author do to improve their chances of a successful book – his response was that Amazon is a writer’s best friend in terms of marketing. Even before you publish your book, he recommended building a profile on Amazon. In his words, even just reviewing other books and participating in the various communities on Amazon was better than no presence on Amazon at all.

I decided to check out his advice and take a different look at Amazon. For once, rather than just looking for books I wanted to read, I went through the site looking from a writer’s viewpoint. Amazon has an entire section called Author Central where you can build an author profile, upload book cover images, and even create an author blog. Hmm. Interesting. I could see that being advantageous once I’m finished with my book & ready to publish.
Ebooks on Amazon

But that’s not the only cookie jar Amazon has their hands in these days. We’ve all heard of the Kindle – that nifty ebook reader taking the book-reading world by storm. Some folks hate them, others swear by them.

As someone who often drops paperbacks in her purse to have handy reading material, I can appreciate the idea of a Kindle & have one on my wish list. (I buy paperbacks as disposable books – most of the time, by the time I’m done with one, it’s not fit to be read by anyone else. Dog-eared, bent, ripped, it’s rough being a paperback book in my purse.)

Amazon offers hundreds of ebooks for sale now. You don’t have to have a Kindle to download them. I can see how making an ebook, even for royalty published books, could tap into additional sales an author might otherwise miss. I can also see how someone writing a nonfiction book as a marketing tool could use Amazon’s ebook section to really boost their sales.
Self Publishing Through Amazon

And if author pages/blogs and ebook options weren’t enough? Amazon now has their own self-publishing venue, CreateSpace. I’ve heard good and not-so-good things about CreateSpace. Since I’ve never used it, I couldn’t honestly give an opinion. However, it’s yet another option to pursue for writers looking to self publish.

According to the info on Amazon, it’s free. They offer cover design software and other tools, although the professional in me wonders just how good that stuff is going to look on the finished product. I’d love to see in person what an actual book published by Amazon looks like.

I naturally hesitate when I see free tools for things like cover design. It’s been my experience that when it comes to anything graphic design, free tools are usually sub-par. And when a company advertises how easy something like that is, it’s been my experience that it almost always results in a sub-standard finished product. But I could be wrong.

My own personal misgivings on some of the options Amazon offers aside, you can’t argue with the fact that Amazon plays a big role in the publishing industry. You’d have to be a fool not to take advantage of anything and everything they offer in terms of author pages & profile options. And with the ever-expanding popularity of ebooks, it’s important to keep an eye on those options for increased distribution & buyers as well.