Here’s a little tip to help you promote your book. Have you thought about including reviews in your book description?
Why? Because it’s the first thing a potential reader sees when they click on your book.
You might have a ton of great book reviews, but they all appear way down your book page on Amazon and other bok retailers.
If you want to grab attention, copy a few snippets of your best reviews and include them early in your description.
The benefits of including reviews
You only have a few seconds to grab the attention of a potential book buyer.
Sure, your book might have a great cover, a terrific book description, and perhaps you have gained a lot of positive book reviews.
However, someone looking to buy your book or ebook for the first time will only spend a very short time making a decision.
When you look at your book page on Amazon, what do you see?
Your book cover is on the left, and the description is on the right. Under the description are a few extra details about the book’s length and reading age suitability.
A buyer has to scroll way down the page to find all the other details, including your hard-earned Amazon book reviews.
That’s why including a few positive snippets from some of your best reviews makes sense.
When you do, you give a potential book buyer quick reasons to buy your book.
You can see the review extracts in the red box. The best part is that it’s so quick and easy to do.
How to select the right reviews
The quality of book reviews varies considerably, so not all of them are suitable.
Some may be too short, lacking in detail, or perhaps a little critical of your book.
Another aspect to consider is where a review came from.
If you have a review or two you gained from paying someone on Fiverr, which many authors do, it’s okay.
You can use a short snippet from them to help you.
However, for your Amazon book page, it’s much better if you can use quotes from reviews you gained organically.
Then, if a buyer is interested, they might scroll down to your reviews and see where your quick quotes came from.
It’s a kind of validation or social proof if you like.
You only need two or three quick quotes, so select the best ones to add to your book description.
Ideally, use snippets that are short, to the point, and, of course, complimentary.
But if possible, they should also give a good reason why your book is worth reading.
Remember that book buyers don’t take very long to decide whether to buy a book or not.
Sure, your fantastic book cover and well-written book description are your two strongest selling points.
However, including a few lines from your reviews gives an extra reason to buy your book.
Where to place reviews in your book description
When you view your book sales page on Amazon, how much of your page can you see when it first loads?
On a desktop or laptop computer, you can see your book cover and the first part of your description.
It’s similar to a tablet or iPad in landscape view but is smaller in portrait view.
Usually, a read more link is at the bottom to view your description in full.
If you want to add review snippets, the most effective placement is within the area that is visible when the page first loads.
This is often called above the fold.
If you decide to add snippets, check that they appear within this area because that is where they will be most effective.
For phone users, only your book cover is visible at first. A visitor needs to scroll down to see the book description.
But again, having your review snippets appear early is still a good idea because the description is also truncated on a phone.
The best placement is after the top tagline or two or three introductory sentences.
Formatting your reviews
You want readers to notice, but over-formatting is not a great idea.
Bigger, bolder, and in a larger font is usually too much.
You want these few sentences to look like part of your description but be quickly identified as review quotes.
Simply using italics is a good way to differentiate them. You could also wrap them in quotation marks.
Another idea is to indent them.
Yes, you want people to notice, but you shouldn’t go to extremes.
Mistakes to avoid
Overloading a description with too many reviews defeats the purpose of trying to encourage a book buyer.
Two or three is the maximum you should use. They should also be short and sweet.
Don’t copy and paste full reviews, as KDP may object. However, I have used short review quotes for years without any problems.
If you don’t have many reviews, don’t fall into the trap of using low-quality or vague reviews.
Also, if you have only two or three reviews or ratings on your book page, repeating them in your book description is not a great idea.
It’s better to wait until you have gained some terrific reviews you can use.
As a rule, only use review snippets that give clear and compelling reasons why your book is worth reading.
Summary
Adding quotes from your reviews in your book description is not going to create sales miracles.
It’s only an idea you can use to give your book a little extra push.
However, you need to be very selective and use them strategically.
You want them to give a little extra persuasion to book buyers, but they shouldn’t overpower your description.
When you edit your book description, be careful with your formatting. KDP has a WYSIWYG editor, but you can also use HTML.
However, don’t be tempted to get carried away with fancy formatting. Keep it simple so your text flows and is easy to read.
Your reviews need to look like a natural part of your description, not a flashing neon sign.
The sole aim is to give a little extra encouragement for a reader to consider buying your book.
Related Reading: How To Easily Add Amazon Editorial Reviews To Your Books
