Graham Downs reviewed Let's Get Visible by David Gaughran
Review of "Let's Get Visible" on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
This is the second book in [a:David Gaughran|4824783|David Gaughran|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1304539070p2/4824783.jpg]'s Let's Get Publishing series, and like the first, it is beautifully written and presented, and the language is simple enough for anyone to understand.
In the first half of the book, Gaughran explains the differences between all the different Amazon lists (Bestseller, Popularity, and Hot New Releases), and exactly what goes into Amazon's Sales Rank. There's also an invaluable discussion about Amazon's Category system, and an explanation of how their recommendation engines work.
The second half of the book, using that knowledge, gives some pointers on how to run a successful book launch, and how to evaluate marketing and advertising opportunities.
From the above, you've gathered that it's quite Amazon-centric, although there is a brief introduction into other options. That's because Amazon is really the "biggest fish" in the game right now, with the most advanced algorithms, and it's consequently the …
This is the second book in [a:David Gaughran|4824783|David Gaughran|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1304539070p2/4824783.jpg]'s Let's Get Publishing series, and like the first, it is beautifully written and presented, and the language is simple enough for anyone to understand.
In the first half of the book, Gaughran explains the differences between all the different Amazon lists (Bestseller, Popularity, and Hot New Releases), and exactly what goes into Amazon's Sales Rank. There's also an invaluable discussion about Amazon's Category system, and an explanation of how their recommendation engines work.
The second half of the book, using that knowledge, gives some pointers on how to run a successful book launch, and how to evaluate marketing and advertising opportunities.
From the above, you've gathered that it's quite Amazon-centric, although there is a brief introduction into other options. That's because Amazon is really the "biggest fish" in the game right now, with the most advanced algorithms, and it's consequently the retailer where most self-published authors are going to be focusing most of their efforts, for good or ill.
I think the book might be a bit outdated at this stage, having been published in 2013 already, but I really don't think that the core concepts, and the basic ways in which the algorithms work, would've changed too much since then. Maybe one or two minor technical details, sure, and one of the things that Amazon was "experimenting" with at the time of writing has since come to pass, but the book is still very useful today.
The only thing I missed (maybe it was actually in the book, but I honestly did miss it) was the difference between Sales Rank and Author Rank. I'd really like to know that!