Amazon Customer Discussions

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Amazon Reviews 3As I mentioned in my last two blog posts,

Amazon Rules for Customer Reviews, Part 1

Amazon Rules for Customer Reviews, Part 2

I’ve been learning a lot lately about Amazon’s rules for customer reviews. In the process, I discovered a feature on Amazon that I’d never heard of or noticed before: “Customer Discussions.” Figuring maybe there are other people out there who weren’t aware of this, I thought I’d share what I found out.

 

Amazon’s web page of Customer Discussion Guidelines says:

Customer Discussions connect you with other customers to share your questions, insights, and views about products available on Amazon.com. Read what others are saying about hot products, get knowledgeable answers, check out product comparisons, and swap comments in our easy-to-use group discussions.

Here are some of the suggestions Amazon provides for these discussions:

  • Ask questions about a product.
  • Contribute product comparisons.
  • Look for guidance from other customers who have made similar purchases.
  • Get advice on things like how to use the product or who the product is for.
  • Share your experience in a specific product area.
  • Debate plots, characters, etc., with other fans.
  • Discuss the author(s).

Amazon says, “Anyone who has purchased items from Amazon can read the current discussions, reply to an existing discussion, or start a new one.” No limitations, like there are with customer reviews.

Well, that sounded great! So I continued reading:

To find Customer Discussions, go to your book’s product detail page and scroll past Customer Reviews. Click on the “Start a Discussion” button to provide your feedback.

I went to what I thought was my book’s product detail page (the one that comes up when I put my book title into the Amazon search box). I scrolled past Customer Reviews. I didn’t see a “Start a Discussion” button. Hmm.

So I asked my agent, and she directed me to my Amazon Author Page. Sure enough, near the bottom of the screen, I found “Customer Discussions: Kathy Ide forum.” Sheesh. If I had that much trouble finding it, would anyone else even notice it?

To find and read a discussion, go to the Author Page. (You can do a search for the author’s name, or click on the author’s link in the product page.) Here’s the link for my Amazon Author page. If you scroll down to the bottom, right above the blue-shaded rectangular box, you’ll see the Customer Discussions section. One conversation has already been started.

Click on the discussion title to read what’s been posted. Click “Reply” at the end of a message to post a response. Or click the link to start a new discussion.

I’d love to hear what you think about this.

If you’re a reader, did you know about the Customer Discussions feature on Amazon? If so, have you ever used it (read something there, replied to a comment, posted something new)?

If you’re an author, have you ever used the Customer Discussions feature? Did you start a discussion yourself? Have other people posted something to your forum or replied to one of your posts?

I’m really looking forward to hearing your responses!