Amazon's negative book reviews and how to counter them

Almost as soon as it began selling books, Amazon decided to allow negative reviews on its site, a policy that infuriated publishers. Chief executive Jeff Bezos recalls:

"We had publishers writing to us, saying "Why in the world would you allow negative reviews? Maybe you don't understand your business--you make money when you sell things. Get rid of the negative reviews, and leave the positive ones."

Yes, negative reviews can hurt sales in the short term, but over the long term, allowing criticism builds credibility. Having negative reviews along with positive ones helps buyers decide, says Bezos: "We don't make money when we sell things, we make money when we help people make purchase decisions."

One of the best ways to counter negative reviews is to ask more people to review your book. The more reviews, the less likely that a minority view can dominate attention, and buyers will have a clearer idea of your book's quality.

Traditional book marketing strategies call for mailing hundreds of review copies to reviewers at magazines and newspapers. For a new author or an unknown with a niche book, chasing print reviews is more of a distraction than a strategy. A better way to launch your campaign is by finding 300 to 500 readers in your target audience and giving them your book. Ask them to post an honest critique on Amazon. This costs nothing more than mailing review copies to traditional book reviewers, but will have a bigger impact and nearly immediate results. Here's where to find review candidates:

-- Amazon users who have reviewed earlier books complementary to yours or by authors with similar writing styles.

-- From Amazon's list of Top Reviewers who regularly post reviews of books similar to yours.

-- Friends and acquaintances interested in your book's topic.

-- Participants in Internet discussion boards, forums, and mailing lists relevant to your book.

-- Registered visitors of your Web site or readers of your blog.

You can find more prospective reviewers by posting a message on Amazon's discussion board dedicated to customer book reviews.

Will giving away several dozen copies of your book to its likely audience hurt sales? It won't make a dent, unless your potential audience is very, very tiny. And these initial readers who enjoy your book will gladly recommend it to friends, and those new readers will recommend it to more. That's what book promotion is all about.