For many self-published and Print on Demand (or POD) authors, seeing your book on Amazon.com is akin to seeing it on the New York Times bestseller’s list. Amazon is quickly making formerly hidden or scarce books available to a general buying population that numbers well into the millions. But why should the two be mutually exclusive? Using the following advice, you’ll be well on your way to “bestseller” status – at least at Amazon.com. 

Be forewarned, the following is not scientific by any means. I have no crystal ball into the Amazon.com ranking system, nor do I know anyone there personally. However, I have been able to use the following 10 tactics to my own advantage, and on behalf of my publicity clients, so that I know they at least work – for US. I hope they work for you as well. Happy Marketing: 

1. Review Your Book 

This may sound sneaky to some, but you should always, always review your own book. If it makes you feel more comfortable, when it asks you who you are, simply put “the Author.” But I wouldn’t. After all, Amazon posts plenty of “publisher’s comments” and “editorial comments” about YOUR book; reviewing your own book is simply more of the same. And a review – any review – generally boosts your Amazon ranking, at least over a book that has NO reviews. So don’t let your book page be a sitting duck for the “lowest ranking of the genre” award. Review it, review it well, and review it NOW! 

2. Have Your Friends Review Your Book 

Don’t let your book’s Amazon page sit there with just one review! Especially if it’s your own! Enlist your friends, coworkers, neighbors, and family to head over and review the book as well. Make it easy for them by e-mailing them with the exact link for your book, instead of simply saying, “Head over to Amazon.com and review my book.” Even family members can get lazy, and doing YOUR marketing for you can get real low on their list of daily priorities – real fast. So help them out. You may even want to write the review for them – making it different from your own, of course – so that they can just cut and paste it into the appropriate boxes. Anything you can do to make their lives easier will help make your sales better! 

3. E-mail Your Friends About Your Book 

Use the “E-mail a Friend” option on your book’s Amazon sales page – and use it often! E-mail friends and family as soon as your book link is up on Amazon, including a personal message in the box provided, such as, “It would be a big help if you would forward this e-mail to ALL the friends and family in YOUR address book.” Then e-mail those same friends and family every week, or every month, or as often as you dare, with the same reminder to e-mail all their friends and family. You’d be amazed by how quickly word of mouth grows, all with the simple click of the “send” button! 

4. Write a “LISTMANIA” List Featuring Your Book – Among Others 

Amazon’s home page features several featured “LISTMANIA” lists running down the right-hand column, or occasionally in the center column. These are targeted lists of Amazon users who I used to think just had a little too much time on their hands. But now I think they’re closet grassroots book marketers! These lists feature top-tens such as “My favorite books about rainbows” or “Gardening books that give you a green thumb.” Why don’t you check out nine other books in your genre and write a top-ten list of your own? Featuring your book at the top, of course! 

5. Use the “Our Customer’s Advice” Column to Recommend Your ISBN with other Bestsellers in Your Genre 

This is the latest feature to debut on Amazon.com, and lately I’ve been taking full advantage of it. Simply go to your book’s sales page, copy your full ISBN number from the publisher’s description, and then head straight to the best-selling books in your genre. Be it “gardening,” “fiction,” “pets,” or “leadership,” click on the links of the top ten books in your genre and paste your ISBN number in the “Our Customer’s Advice” box so that you have just recommended YOUR book in addition to one of the best-selling books in your genre. Now, whenever customers look at the bestsellers, they’ll see your book as well. It’s a simple thing, but it works! While you’re at it, make it a habit and, whenever you get a few spare minutes at the computer, head on over to Amazon and recommend your ISBN number to as many books in your genre as possible. Work your way down the list until you’ve hit them all! 

6. Use the “Rate This Item” Feature and Rate Your Book Well 

We often work from our main computer, where once we click the “Rank This Item” button, we generally can’t click it again. But the next time you’re over at a friend’s house, or a relative’s, or a close family member’s, head on over to Amazon.com and find your book – and click it from their house. (Always give it a “5,” of course!) Also, suggest that they do the same whenever they’re on their main computer. The better you rank your own book, the more chances it has of being highly ranked in the overall Amazon system. And the better your ranking at Amazon, the better your sales on Amazon! 

7. Make a “Wish List” -- and Add Your Book to it 

Check out the right-hand side of any Amazon listing and you’ll see a button labeled “Add to Wish List.” Add your book! Why not? It may or may not work, but it’s worth a shot. The same philosophy that says having more reviews and more five-starred reviews boosts your book up the genre category for your book holds clear here: The more buttons you can push at your site, the more often, and by more people – as in, suggest that your friends do the same thing – might just help boost your book’s position, and thus its sales, on the mysterious Amazon ranking system. 

8. Buy a Bestseller – AND Your Book 

Amazon is big on promoting their “Customers who bought this book also bought” column, generally found just below the publisher’s information about a book. This column lists other books, supposedly recorded while customers bought YOUR book. This is a wonderful opportunity to try to boost your book’s ranking by purchasing YOUR book along with a bestseller or another higher-ranked book. Got a gardening book to promote? Head straight to the gardening section and buy one of the top-10 rated books – and your book – on the same day, in the same order. This doesn’t work every time. For instance, if the book you are buying is too popular, your purchase might get lost in all the other offers and might not show up. Also, it doesn’t last forever when it does work, but the exposure of having YOUR book listed on the same page as a bestseller, even for one week, even for one DAY, is priceless! 

9. Encourage friends to Buy a Bestseller – AND Your Book 

Write a list of your best friends, all of them, and then circle those you know buy a lot of books online. Suggest to them that they buy a copy of your book EVERY TIME they buy another bestseller. Many friends and family members will buy YOUR book to use as Christmas or birthday gifts, so suggest that they do it this way throughout the year. For instance, instead of your mother buying seven copies at once, have her buy one copy at a time, seven different times, all the while buying the books she would usually buy on Amazon.com. You may only get a few trusted friends and family members to actually do this, but no matter what, this will increase the chances of your book popping up more and more places, and not just in your genre. 

10. Use the “Correct Errors” Option to Make Sure ALL Information is Accurate 

This may not set your Amazon sales on fire, but this last tip is crucial to make sure that ALL of your book information is correct, from the name of the publisher – is there an Inc. or LLC after their name – to the spelling of your name to the page count to the binding. Amazon is so big now, these minor details often get overlooked. But a misspelled author’s name could mean the difference in someone recommending you to a friend, while the wrong page count – 323 instead of 223 – might cost you a sale to a reluctant reader. 

Rusty Fischer is the author of several books on marketing and promotion for self-published authors. His latest, BEYOND THE BOOKSTORE: 101 (Other Places to Sell Your Self-Published Books, is available at http://bookbooters.com/b00062.asp. 

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