Review: Excellent Kindle book that levels the playing field for authors
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 29, 2013
I love this book. I really wanted to give it 5 Stars because the author really opened my eyes as the inner workings and behind-the-scenes activities of top Amazon book reviewers. I never really thought about the Amazon Review eco-system much, but his clear, direct writing style and comprehensive approach to getting more -- and better -- Kindle book reviews helped me learn quite a bit about this very important aspect of self-publishing on Kindle. It was sort of like having an Army buddy walking you through a mine field, saying, "Step there" and "Careful! Don't step there."He writes like a friend would, offering helpful advice based on his own years of experience as an Amazon Reviewer, but he doesn't push an agenda or direct the reader to follow his advice ....or else! He simply lets the reader know all the facts and then makes his suggestion on the best course of action. I like that. He lays out what to do and what you might just want to avoid, but he never criticizes the reader by going his or her own way. He seems to really want to warn the new author -- and, yes, the published authors already stomping about looking for more reviews -- that it's better to follow his common-sense advice and avoid the drama.When you like a book, that qualifies for 4 Stars. When you love a book, that calls for 5 Stars. I know I would love this book and gladly change this review to 5 Stars if it contained a few extra things. The author covers a lot of ground in this book, carefully and methodically. He delivers a large "chunks" of information on a specific niche -- getting those all-important book reviews that can get yourself noticed by potential book buyers -- but it all comes in text. Page after page of text. No images or subheads. This formatting style made me have to go back and re-read some sections. I know it might be just me, but my eyes and brain could have used some help trying to digest this vital information.I think that if the author would add some screenshots of what he is covering, it would not only be more appealing to the eye, but it would also help his message sink in better. At least for me it would. His sample email letters to reviewers was helpful in that it showed the short message, and I got the point he was trying to make right away.Another improvement would be more bullet points and sub-heads to break up the text, and to call attention to the most important stuff. I think that would help me remember and retain this how-to info much easier.Finally, like another reviewer pointed out, there are "reviews" and there are "testimonials" -- and I believe this book could be enhanced if that distinction was made and the author included his advice on reaching out to acquire testimonials.For your information and full disclosure, I was given a copy of this Kindle book to read, but this review is my own honest opinion. It's well worth the cost -- about the price of a latte at Starbucks -- and what I learned from the author will be invaluable as I proceed to get more reviews for my own Kindle books. If you are a self-published author you will gain a real insight by buying, reading and applying the information that is included in this book. The lessons you'll come away with are vital to your goal of successfully selling more books.