The answer is a tagging thread. A tagging thread is just a chain of messages on a website or forum where Amazon authors gather for virtual chats and community. For example, MobileRead.com, which is a forum for fans of ebook reading devices, has a tagging thread, as does KindleBoards.com, a Kindle-specific forum. The Kindle Direct Publishing site also has a tagging thread in its forums. Any Amazon author is welcome to join these threads, as long as he is willing to participate and reciprocate. The idea is that each participant posts a message with his Amazon book links in it, and the other members of the thread visit those book pages and click on the tags.
It can seem daunting at first to join a tagging thread, as all of the members seem to know each other already, and the existing thread can be really, really long. For example, the KindleBoards thread has over 10,000 posts as of this writing, but don’t let that scare you off. You should realize that the success of a tagging thread depends on a constant influx of new members, so you will not be looked upon as an interloper when you join, and furthermore, no one expects you to go back and read all 10,000 posts from the beginning.
Keep the following guidelines in mind when you join, and you will be welcomed into the thread and quickly find yourself getting tagged up:
• Join the forum and participate in other threads for a few weeks before jumping into the tagging thread. This way, the long-time members will know you are serious about contributing and not just there to be tagged.
• While you don’t need to read and tag from the beginning of the thread, do read the first couple pages of the thread to make sure you understand the thread/forum decorum.
• Once you’ve done both of those, go ahead and jump to somewhere near the end of the thread, maybe a week or two back from the most recent post, and tag a bunch of books, before posting your links in the thread.
• When you make your initial post, introduce yourself and mention which pages or books you have already done, so the forum members know that you will be reciprocating if they tag you.
• Whenever you finish a tagging session, place another post in the thread mentioning whose books you have recently tagged or just say that you are “caught up”. Your posts will remind others to tag you, if they haven’t already.
• Continue to participate regularly in the thread, at least once every week or two, both as a tagger and as a general contributor, answering questions and socializing with other members.
As long as you participate in the thread, you will continue to get new tags and new eyes on your books; remember, most authors are avid readers as well as writers, so you will certainly get a few sales just from other taggers. Of course, you’ll probably end up buying a lot of their books, as well!
