Before The Bestseller

Today, we’re diving into episode 13 of our 18-part series Before the Bestseller, where we’re putting the entire audiobook up on our podcast for the dedicated listeners who make this possible. This episode focuses on one of the hardest things for authors to gather over time: ratings and reviews.

We dive deep into the practical details of why Amazon ratings matter so much, the difference between star ratings, written reviews, and editorial reviews, and debunk the myth of the “magic 100 ratings.” You’ll hear clear strategies for how to ask readers for reviews without pressure, ways to use social media and review bookmarks to boost your numbers, tips on handling bad or irrelevant reviews, and how to strategically leverage editorial reviews to build bridges to new audiences. We also cover a realistic timeline for gathering reviews before, during, and after launch.

Building genuine ratings and reviews takes time and persistence, but every single one moves your book closer to the readers who need it most. In this episode, you’ll get practical strategies to steadily grow your reviews without feeling overwhelmed — because the journey to meaningful success is built one honest review at a time.

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Head to our new website for more content and updates.: www.getshelflife.com

If you're interested in connecting further or have any questions, feel free to email me at [email protected]

Welcome back to the Bite-Sized Book Marketing Masterclass — a special 18-episode series where I break down the key insights from my latest book! We’re now on Episode 12, which covers Chapters 33 and 34 of Before the Bestseller.

Some authors build launch plans. Others just start handing out books. In this episode, we look at two very different approaches that helped nonfiction authors gain serious traction without relying on ads, algorithms, or a massive platform.

You’ll hear stories from authors who gave away thousands of copies by hand and others who landed bulk buys from corporate teams. We explore what made these strategies work, how they were executed, and what today’s authors can learn from them. This episode offers a fresh look at direct, intentional outreach, and how the right kind of effort can still go a long way.

If you're thinking about how to position your book in the real world and want ideas beyond the usual digital tactics. This episode offers a few surprising moves that just might fit your strategy.

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Take a second to follow, review, or share this with someone who might find it useful. Your support helps more people discover the show.

—

Get the popular weekly book marketing 3-2-1 and get access to our $299 Amazon Ads course when you subscribe to our newsletter here: https://getshelflife.com/category/newsletter/

Head to our new website for more content and updates.: www.getshelflife.com

If you're interested in connecting further or have any questions, feel free to email me at [email protected]

We are welcoming back John Strelecky who is actually our first return guest and with good reason. 

His episode is one of our most popular, and the man has sold over 8 million copies of his books. Originally, we talked about The Cafe On The Edge Of The World, and this time John is back to discuss another remarkable book. 

On this episode, we talk about The Big Five For Life, a life-changing book about leadership and a wealth of insight into our daily lives. This book continues to inspire so many people and led to its selling of over a million copies and spent an astonishing three hundred and fifty weeks as Europe's #1 Best Selling Personal Development and Leadership book. 

Get to know more about the book here.

My guest today is the 8th bestselling author in the world at the time of this recording.

His name is Bessel van der Kolk M.D. and his book is The Body Keeps the Score.

Odds are that you may have heard of this book.

Originally released in September of 2014 - that’s over 7 years ago.

Each year the book sells more and more and has become a global sensation, gaining fandom in eastern and western societies.

The Book, The Body Keeps The Score is a defining moment for healing trauma in our society and explores the science behind the movement away from prescriptions used to  cover up symptoms, to truly resolving the trauma which plagues us.

The funny thing is that the book was never meant for such a wide audience. Bessel wrote it to move the study of trauma forward within his field but it accidentally found its way into the hands of people like you and I, who are using it to see and understand trauma in a new light.

A special thanks to Licia Sky who was behind the scenes in making this episode possible.

For those of you listening on the day this airs, the book club launches this Friday on the 21st, for those of you interested.

You can join here: https://traumaresearchfoundation.org/lp/trf-book-club/

Amy Lyle is the bestselling author of The Book of Failures and We’re All a Mess, It's Okay. Her story is completely unique from anyone else's we’ve had on the show, from how she marketed her books, to the reasons for writing them.

Her book launch cost as much as a wedding, where she had over 300 people physically show up. She also isn’t afraid of getting down and dirty with optimizing the backend of her book and nailed it with her keywords & ads to keep the book selling well beyond the launch. 

This all kept her book #1 in the huge amazon category of humor and entertainment for over a year.

She marries traditional book marketing and modern digital marketing so well and so I found her to be an incredible resource for fellow authors.

We also talk about how she gets speaking engagements, TV appearances, and some mistakes she made that you can avoid.

She’s also a stand up comic which makes for a very fun episode.

Amy’s book

Amy’s website

Amy’s Podcast: In the Burbs

Ed Rush is a 5 X bestselling author who knows what it’s like to have a book in the top 20 books on all of Amazon. His books have sold 10s of thousands of copies and he’s the master of converting readers into followers. 

But he’s not just an author

Ed flew in his combat career as a decorated F-18 pilot, which included over 50 combat missions and 2 tours to Iraq. While in the Marines, Ed served as the one of the country’s leading instructors on aerial dog fighting and recently worked as a key player in the development of the new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

He says he’s done all this despite possessing a below average intelligence and, which whether or not that’s true, everything he talks about is so actionable and accessible.

With His book, The 21 Day Miracle, he knows what it takes to make Amazon happy from backend keywords to product optimization. He woke up to hundreds of organic sales from Amazon promoting his book and if I hand’t seen the sales with my own eyes I probably wouldn’t believe it so I had to ask him how he pulled that off.

Ed is an implementer and has such a unique approach to getting things done. We talk about how he changes anything in 21 days. From fasting for 21 days to how he wrote the 21 day Miracle (in 21 days) its my absolute pleasure to talk with Ed Rush.

Ed's Website: https://edrush.com/

 The 21 Day Miracle for 99¢ 

Today's guest wrote The First 90 Days, which since its release in November of 2003, has sold    over 1.5 million copies. Mention The First 90 Days to anyone in a leadership, management, or HR role and they'll nod while saying,  “I’ve read it and annotated it with highlights, writing in the margins, and my copies filled with sticky notes.”

It was on the Business Week's best-seller list for 15 months.

The author, Michael Watkins, went from teaching Corporate Diplomacy at HBS to confounding a leadership development company, Genesis Advisers, where he's worked with hundreds of leaders, including those at many Fortune 200 organizations to help accelerate leadership transitions within their organization.

Look on Amazon today and the book is consistently labeled a bestseller in some of the top Amazon categories, has almost 5,000 reviews, and even just a few days ago, was ranked in the top 700 books. The book's been selling for over a decade and continues to do just that.

The First 90 Days has also been translated into 29+ languages, named top 100 best business books of all time by 800-CEO-Read, named the "onboarding bible" by The Economist, and was listed among Amazon’s Top Business Books to Read in a Lifetime.

I'm excited to chat with Michael about how he was able to craft, not just a timely message that resonated with so many people, but one that’s lived on for going on two decades.

Connect with Michael here
Get on the Genesis Advisors Newsletter here
Join IMD's The First 90 Days Program here

Today’s guest needs no introduction but I’ll give you one anyway.

Here's the hint: He’s Mr. Kindlepreneur. Not just by his own naming but by Amazon - which actually calls him that themselves.

While overseas in the military, he started building websites. One of his sites, Kindlepreneur, eventually took off with hundreds of thousands of visitors each month.

After hearing about the struggles of authors and reflecting on his own experiences, he built publisher rocket - a tool used by almost every self-published author and major publisher out there.

If fact, I speak from experience, Publisher Rocket is integral to my own business.

Dave and I talk about how he built what he did, his advice for authors in marketing a book in today’s world, and even going from solo-preneur to leading a whole team.

Along the way we  also talk about his latest innovation, Atticus, which is an all-in-one writing and book formatting software.

Here’s Dave Chesson of Kindlepreneur.

Kindlepreneur: https://kindlepreneur.com/
Publisher Rocket: https://alexstrathdee--rocket.thrivecart.com/publisher-rocket/
Atticus: https://www.atticus.io/
FREE Amazon Ads Course: https://www.advancedamazonads.com/

Craig Ballantyne has written five books, including “The Perfect Day Formula: How to Own the Day and Control Your Life,” which has sold over 25,000 copies and has over 400 reviews on Amazon. His book, Unstoppable, is a WSJ bestselling book. His videos have been watched over 7 million times on YouTube.

He’s built five 7-figure businesses in five different industries, including a $5.5 million/year Turbulence Training business.

I wanted to ask him how he wrote books that still sell today, despite being launched years ago along with asking him about how he does so much with the same time we all have. He’s got some amazing systems that I’ve even started to apply to my own life.

Get more of him on Instagram @RealCraigBallantyne
Get his app on Winningstreak.io using code VXFLG2
Get his books for free: https://www.craigballantyne.com/books/

FREE Amazon Ads Course: www.advancedamazonads.com

Bryan is one of the most prolific writers I know. His site, https://becomeawritertoday.com/ has turned from a side passion to a full time business where his team blogs about various time management, reader-tech, and writer topics along with many helpful courses.

He's written many books including the power of creativity which has over 400 reviews on Amazon.

He’s also contributed to publications like Forbes, Lifehacker and Fast Company which we get into talking about how he did that.

His story is one of creating something from nothing which we can all relate to and in this episode we get his exact blueprint for doing so.

Bryan's podcast: https://podcast.becomeawritertoday.com/

FREE Amazon Ads Course: www.advancedamazonads.com