Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Tags


Years ago there was a line of children’s clothing called Garanimals. Each piece of clothing was tagged with a particular animal, and the idea was that if you bought all “hippo” clothing everything you bought would be interchangeable. The ideal mix and match clothing line. Of course, I’m not sure why this would be important. I’m pretty sure most people can figure out how to match a pair of pants and a shirt. Perhaps it was so parents could be sure that whatever their kids picked out to wear would match. But honestly I like it when my kids chose to wear mismatched clothes. I’d say, “Just so you know, most people don’t wear plaids and stripes at the same time.” My child would say, “I like them.” And I’d say, “Fine. I just wanted to be sure you knew.”

Of course, not all tags are silly. Some, like Amazon’s book tags, are very useful. Lately, I’ve been talking to people and discovered that a lot of people who buy books from Amazon aren’t familiar with book tags. Here’s a screenshot if you’re not sure what I’m talking about. (The tag section is located after the "Meet the Author" and "What Other Items" sections.)


Those tag boxes can be checkmarked. (A single book can have lots of tags. And if you as a reader think it should have a tag that you don’t see there, you can add it.) When readers checkmark the tags it helps other readers and authors. It helps readers because they can search for books with those categories. For example, if you like time travel books, you can find a whole host of time travel books by searching for that particular tag. Tagging books helps authors because tags are part of Amazon’s algorithm to present books to readers. The more tags (as well as purchases) a book gets the more the book gets recommended to readers. So go tag your favorite books (and my book too).

BTW, a lot of people have been asking how the sequel is going and when it’s going to be available. I’m not sure when it’s going to be available. (I’m hoping for early summer. I was hoping to have it available sooner, but my family has had one nasty sickness after another since August.) But I’m over halfway through the second big edit. Next, it will go to beta readers. Then I’ll make more edits. After that, I’ll proofread it and it’ll be good to go.

7 comments:

  1. I've heard about this, but when it came to my own book, it was just another thing on that list of "mysterious things I don't understand and don't have time to figure out." You know what I mean? So I'm glad you're taking the time to figure it out and ask people to help you! I'll definitely go tag your book!

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  2. So THAT'S what those are for. I'll have to go repent of my non-tagging ways.

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  3. I had no idea that there were book tags. Good to know. :)

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  4. I'm not a frequent visitor to Amazon so I didn't know about the tags, but I think they're very important so that readers can identify the genre of the book.

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  5. Great post. Thanks for that. Looks like I have some tagging to do :)
    Yay for the sequel!! Can't wait to read it :)

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  6. Oh, Garanimals. How I wanted those clothes as a kid!

    I'm sorry your family keeps getting bouts of sickness. Good luck with your sequel.

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  7. Totally remember Garanimals. And Underoos. My mom would never buy me those. *stomps foot*

    I had no idea about those tags--thanks for the info!

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