Amazon's new "Top Rated" Ranking and A Giveaway

Today when I was obsessing over my Amazon sales rank, as I tend to do daily, I noticed a new feature! In the product details area where the general sales rank is listed, it now also lists the average customer review as well as what categories your book is "top rated" in.

From what I understand, there has been a Top Rated tab for a while now, but the information has been somewhat buried. A user had to go to the Bestseller lists for a category first, then click on the Top Rated tab. Now, Amazon is including these rankings right there on the book page along with the Bestsellers rank. Basically, what this does is give a boost of recognition to those books that are well-liked by readers.

For example, a book might be #150 in a certain category and therefore not actually making it into the Top 100 list of Bestsellers for that category. However, if there are enough good reviews behind that book, it's possible that it could get boosted up into the Top Rated list for that category. I'm sure it will take some time to figure out how the list actually works.

The Bestsellers Rank, for instance, isn't just a flat listing of the top books in sales for all time in a category. Amazon has some algorithm for determining ranking based on the number of most recent sales. A book has to be selling lots of copies NOW, not just ever in its existence. The same is probably true for the Top Rated ranking. I might have a five-star ranking, but if I only have 15 reviews, I might still be listed below someone who has 100 reviews and a four and a half star ranking. Recent sales might also come into play here. It will take some time to figure it out, but I think it's a great feature. It gives readers a chance to see what books are the most well-liked by others - not just the books that are selling the best right now. Sometimes, that list will be the same, but other times it won't. I'm hoping it gives a boost to good books that might have been getting less attention.

Okay, so with all that said, I have a plea to make! Please, please please, if you have read the Peachville High Demons series, I would sincerely appreciate it if you would take the time to leave a review for at least one of the books on Amazon. Right now, I have 19 reviews for Book 1, only 7 for Book 2, and 10 for Book 3. The overall ranking is great, but if I want to hit more of these Top Rated lists, I need more reviews! (Preferably high stars, haha, but you have to be honest about what you thought of the books!)

I'll even throw in a giveaway! If you leave a review on any of the 3 Peachville High Demons books, send me an email at sarracannon (at) gmail.com with your name and address, and I will mail you a signed Demons bookmark and a temporary demon tattoo, just like the one Harper wears in the books! Heck, just for fun, for those of you who write a review for 2 or more of the Peachville High books, I will even throw in a sneak-peak page from Book 4 - never before seen writing!! This giveaway opportunity is open to anyone who leaves a review on Amazon for my three books by May 1st.