All authors know that reviews sell books. Reviews make it easy for readers to see what other people have thought about the book before making a purchase. Authors use a number of tactics to get reviews. The send out advance reader copies (ARCs) prior to publishing. After publishing, they invite everyone who purchases their book to write an honest review.
It’s hard getting reviews because most people won’t take the time to do it. Marketing 101 would tell you to start with friends and family. You already have a relationship with them and they’re more likely to take action on your request. That may be okay if you’re putting the reviews on your website, but If you’re selling your book on Amazon, friend and family reviews are forbidden. The best that will happen is the review will be deleted by Amazon and the worst could be that your account gets suspended.
A couple of years ago, Amazon changed their review policy for all products sold on the site including books. There’s been a lot of confusion and mis-understanding about the rules and I don’t claim to be an expert but I’ll share my recent experience.
After my latest book was published I sent a copy to one of my Beta readers who had received an ARC. She lives in Australia. I asked her to write an honest review for me on Amazon because I knew she would follow through. A few days later, I received an email from her saying that it was going to take longer than she thought because Amazon required her to spend $50 on the site before she could write the review. Her comments sent me on fact finding mission to learn the rules and here’s a recap of the major points:
• The $50 requirement is correct.
Oh by the way, if your reader doesn’t live in the U.S. not only do they have to spend $50 on the U.S. site, they also have to have spent $50 on their country’s Amazon site within the past twelve months of the time they write the review. Amazon put this requirement in place to prevent scammers who might open a bogus account only for the purpose of posting reviews or downloading free kindle books to manipulate rankings.
• An author can offer a free copy of their book and ask for a review as long as they don’t make the review a requirement for receiving the book.
You must make it clear that you welcome all feedback, both positive and negative. You also can’t offer any kind of incentive for the review such as a gift certificate, free product, bonus content, or gift card. Here’s what Amazon says: “We don’t allow anyone to write customer reviews as a form of promotion and if we find evidence that a customer was paid for a review, we’ll remove it. If you have a direct or indirect financial interest in a product, or perceived to have a close personal relationship with its author or artist, we’ll likely remove your review.”
• If the person was involved in the creation of the book, they can’t review it.
As a book coach, I can’t review any of my client’s books. Neither can the editor, book cover designer, or co-author.
• Anyone who lives in the same household as the author can’t review the book.
• You, as the author can post reviews from family and friends by making use of the editorial review section on your book’s detail description page.
An editorial review is usually written by an editor or expert, but Amazon allows you to publish reviews written by family and friends there as well. Visit your Amazon Author Central account to submit them.
The bottom line is that Amazon want’s to ensure shoppers get as unbiased a review as possible. As business owners, we know that people have to trust us before they will buy from us. Amazon takes their responsibility very seriously which is why the rules are so strict.
If you’d like to review the complete set of rules visit Amazon’s Frequently Asked Questions for Authors and their community guidelines for reviews.
If you think one or more of your reviews was deleted unfairly, there is an appeals process. Send an email to review-appeals@amazon.com start the process.
