You’ve written a great book, but how do you get reviews on Amazon?
The Price of Fewer Reviews
As a new author, you pay a tremendous price when you don’t get Amazon reviews. Your books have lower visibility and credibility, since reviews are social proof for potential buyers. Book sales may ultimately suffer as a result.
Amazon reviews offer exposure to potential readers and can testify to your book’s quality and content. Reviews are an essential marketing tool. Positive reviews can be utilized in promotional materials, book descriptions, and author profiles to build trust and entice potential readers. The absence of reviews makes it challenging to leverage these testimonials in your marketing efforts.
Without reviews, it may take longer for you to generate interest and gain sales momentum.
The Difficulty of Getting Reviews
Yet getting reviews, even from delighted readers, can be a challenge. Many readers may simply not feel motivated or inclined to write a review. They might have enjoyed the book but feel that leaving a review is not worth their time or effort. Some readers may not be aware of the importance of reviews for authors and the impact their feedback can have. Some readers may feel that they lack the expertise or qualifications to write a review. They may believe that only professional critics or individuals with extensive literary knowledge should write reviews.
Strategies for Getting Positive Amazon Reviews
So how do you generate more reviews on Amazon? Here are some ideas generated by newly published authors.
- After you receive “advance praise” testimonials for the cover or the inside of the book, and after the book is released, send tailored emails to each of your reviewers thanking them for their support. Request that they repost their testimonial to Amazon. Include their testimonial and a link to the Amazon review to that they can cut and paste. Note: DO NOT paste their review into Amazon directly, since these will not be accepted.
- Include a bookmark or postcard in the books you sell thanking the reader for the purchase and requesting a review on Amazon.
- Personally thank your reviewers on social media. You’ll remind others that they will also be rewarded once they post their review. Cut and paste their words in your social media. I also love to invite my readers to send a selfie with them holding their new purchase, and I post this on social media to entice more reviews and selfies.
- Be sure to include verbiage within your book driving readers to your landing page for a free gift (think checklist, white paper, or other bonus material). Using that contact information, request that readers write a short review.
- For your busy friends, offer to write something if they don’t have time! Send it to them in an email with a link to the Amazon review so it only takes a moment of their time to cut and paste. Or suggest they use Chat GPT to craft a short punch review. Remember, for your author friends, writing a review is easy. Not so much with non-writers. Once again, don’t attempt to post these yourself since they will not be accepted by Amazon.
- When someone tells you how much they love your book, ask them if they would write that up and post in on Amazon. Or offer to write it for them and send them the link to post it.
- In newsletters and other online communications about your book, include the link to buy your book AND the link to write a review.
- Recruit a team of supporters and send them the book as a pdf to read prior to launch and ask them to write a short review. As soon as the eBook goes live on Amazon, offer it for free, and encourage your team to “buy” it, wait an hour or so, then repost their short review. This way their review will count as a “verified” review. Robbie Samuels used this strategy will his book launch and got more than 100 verified reviews on the first days of the launch. (Brilliant, Robbie!).
Remember, not everyone will read your book as soon as they buy it (they may save it until their next business trip or weekend), so ongoing reminders will help boost the number of reviewers.
What additional ideas do you have?
WILLIAM CLAPPER
Good information on how authors can promote their books via reviews. I have a side issue question. What steps need to be taken for a reviewer to get a review on Amazon? I’ve written reviews that have been rejected by Amazon. Could it be that one has to purchase the book before a review would be accepted?
Cathy D Fyock
Great question! Amazon generally prefers reviews from “verified” purchasers, but sometimes will accept a review (I’ve seen that photos with the reviewers holding the book tend to be accepted). It seems that they change their rules so that authors can’t game the system.
Nancy Nau Sullivan
You make a good point when you say non-writers might be reluctant to write a review. That is why I often do not use the word “review” when asking for support–especially from those readers who praise the books. I might ask for a “comment” instead. Less intimidating.
Cathy D Fyock
Love the reframing of “review” to “comment.”
John Rogers
Isn’t writing a review for someone unethical?
Joni M Fisher
I have sent examples of previous reviews to my newsletter subscribers so they can see reviews are not like book reports. Short. Sweet. Simple.
Cathy D Fyock
Joni, you’re right! I sometimes ask my launch team if they would write “short, punchy” reviews.
Cathy D Fyock
John, some of my clients and readers tell me that they love the book but don’t have time (or know how). Give them some ideas or something they can edit so you help in the process!