Summary

The article emphasizes the importance of strategic marketing on Amazon, particularly the role of "Also Bought" recommendations, to ensure a book reaches its intended audience rather than just maximizing initial sales.

Abstract

The article discusses why authors should be cautious about whom they target for initial book sales on Amazon. It explains that the "Also Bought" feature on Amazon is a critical tool for reaching the right audience, as it influences the algorithm's recommendations. The author warns against manipulating sales through buying groups or relying on friends and family, as their purchasing habits may not align with the book's target genre. Instead, the article suggests waiting for organic sales or using targeted advertising to establish a consistent "Also Bought" section that reflects the true target audience. This strategic approach can lead to better visibility, higher rankings, and ultimately, more sales within the appropriate genre.

Opinions

The author believes that Amazon's algorithm is precise and can be leveraged to an author's advantage by strategically influencing the "Also Bought" section.
The article criticizes the practice of authors forming buying groups to artificially boost each other's sales, calling it morally questionable and easily detectable through anomalies in the "Also Bought" recommendations.
It is argued that friends and family often do not represent an author's target audience and their purchases can confuse Amazon's recommendation algorithm.
The article suggests that authors should focus on organic sales or targeted advertising to ensure that their book is recommended to the right readers, which can lead to an upward spiral of visibility and sales.
The author acknowledges that while "Also Boughts" are a powerful marketing tool, they cannot compensate for poor book quality, negative reviews, or a poorly designed product page.

Why you don´t want everybody to buy your new book (at least if you want to sell it on Amazon)

Especially on Amazon, it’s not primarily how many books you sell in the first few days that matters, but whom you sell them to.

Have you ever wondered why some books at Amazon have strange “Also baughts” (customers who bought this item also bought)?

There are thrillers in the Kindle Shop where children’s books appear in also-bought, writing guides where erotic books are recommended and many other strange things.

What’s going on? Is Amazon’s algorithm that stupid? No, because it works very precisely.

So because the algorithm works so precisely, it’s incredibly important to make it work for you, not against you. Here I’ll explain what to look out for when you publish your next book.

The algorithm unmasks fraudsters

Many authors join together, among other things in secret Facebook groups, to form buying groups to push each other’s books. If you buy my book, I buy yours. These groups usually consist of authors who write in a variety of genres.

Apart from the fact that this procedure is morally highly questionable, such exchange circles are very easy to uncover if you look at the books of the participating authors at Amazon.

Usually, other thrillers by other authors and the author’s other books appear in the also baughts of a thriller. This is also logical because readers have preferences. Readers of thrillers are less likely to pick up romance novels, and fantasy readers stay away from political non-fiction.

If a strange collection of inappropriate titles still appears in the also boughts of a book, you should make an effort and take a look at the product pages of the books listed there. Very often it turns out that each of these books also appears in the also bought of the others, where they seem just as inappropriate.

Thanks to Amazon’s algorithm, every reader can easily see when an author is cheating on the system.

Your friends and family confuse Amazon

Anyone who publishes their first book will immediately share it with all their friends, family, colleagues, and social media contacts. The whole world should be the ones to buy the new masterpiece.

If you do, you’ve already buried your book. To understand this, answer this question: Are all my friends and relatives really my target group? Do they buy mostly books that belong to my genre?

In the vast majority of cases, the answer will probably be no.

However, Amazon can only recommend your book to suitable buyers if it provides consistent data. Who should Amazon show your book to if sales to date don’t show who your target audience is?

Even if it is difficult, you should, therefore, wait until the first organic sales have been made. If you have the opportunity, paid Facebook advertising, Amazon advertising and pages like Book Bub are also a good investment, because you can target readers of your genre.

Only when you have established a coherent also bought section through organic sales can you also inform your friends and relatives. Amazon’s algorithm then already has a very good idea of who your actual target group is and will take that into account when sending the advertising mails.

What the “also-boughts” can do for you as an author

If your book appears among the matching publications, you will first have more visibility immediately.

Your book will then appear on dozens of product pages from other books, where it can be discovered by genre readers who didn’t know your book before. Especially when your book appears in the also boughts of books that have a good ranking, it will very soon affect your sales.

More importantly, the Amazon algorithm uses the data from which it generates the also-boughts for other purposes. Many don’t know on what basis Amazon decides to whom which books are recommended by email and are surprised to learn that the also boughts play a central role here.

So if you build your also-boughts strategically well, you increase your chances that Amazon will recommend your book to precisely the right readers via email.

If many of these customers then buy your book, you’ll be ranked higher in the Bestseller-Charts and Popularity Rankings, giving you more visibility. This increased visibility can then lead to even more sales.

The appearance of your book in the correct also baughts lists can trigger an upward spiral.

Concluding remarks

Although the also boughts are a powerful tool in your marketing strategy, they do not guarantee the success of your book.

Poor reviews, a poor conversion rate of your product page due to a boring blurb or a sample full of mistakes can still destroy your book.

Also, boughts can’t make a bad book a bestseller. However, even the most brilliant book will be hard to sell without the also boughts.

Friends and relatives are indispensable for a happy life. As customers for your books, however, they are no good.

You write for a specific, limited target group, not for the whole world. If you understand that and act accordingly, the also boughts at

Amazon can provide valuable support.