Six Best Ways to Get Book Reviews on Amazon

It’s one thing to write and publish a good book. And it’s another thing to get people to leave a good review about that book. Discover some effective ways to do it.

Reviews are critical to the success of any book on the platform. After all, good reviews can launch an author or publisher’s career. But at the same time, just one bad review from a reputable source can already shatter your hopes of ever making it big on the platform.

But getting good or bad reviews isn’t really the biggest issue. 

The problem is, that getting even a single book review is no longer as easy as it sounds. It’s because Amazon strictly prohibits authors and publishers from paying anyone to write book reviews.

While it’s not easy to get book reviews on Amazon, it’s definitely not impossible. And this article will tell you how you can do just that.

The 6 Ways

Way #1 – Build a Launch Team

A book launch team is a group of people that have already agreed to read your book prior to publication. The goal is for this launch team to release book reviews as soon as your book goes live. 

Keep in mind that this group should not consist of your family and friends. They should consist of actual readers that are interested in reading your work.

When it comes to building a book review launch team, the best strategy is to create long-term relationships with the team. That’s why building a launch team doesn’t just happen overnight. 

You should look for prospective launch team members as soon as you or your writer is close to finishing the manuscript. Keep an eye out for people who read in your niche and reach out ASAP to get them to review your book. 

Just remember that money must not be involved in this request.

Way #2 – Contact Top Reviewers

Another way to get book reviews on Amazon is to contact top reviewers. The good thing is that Amazon makes it easy to look for top reviewers via its Vine program. Amazon invites the top reviewers of every product to the program so that they can review newly released items. And of course, this includes books. 

If you can get an Amazon top reviewer to read your book and leave a great review, then it will definitely increase the popularity of your work.

But fair warning: Top reviewers also have preferred book genres. So before you contact a top reviewer, be sure to go to their profile. Check the books that they’ve already reviewed. See if your book fits their preferred genre.

If it does, find their contact information, send an email, and wait for them to reply. Don’t just directly send them your book. Send a follow-up email if they don’t reply within a week or so. 

This process takes a while but it can bear fruit in some circumstances.  

Way #3 – Look for Book Review Sites

If top reviewers have yet to respond to your review request, you can also tap book review sites. 

The good thing is that there are plenty of existing sites that will find reviewers for your book. It’s a paid service that looks for honest book reviewers who are willing to check out your work. 

Take note that this isn’t the same as paying for a book review. Remember, Amazon strictly prohibits paid reviews! 

If you use this service, you’re only paying a third-party provider to look for book reviewers for you. Do this if you have an extra budget to spare.

Way #4 – Include a Reminder or Personal Note in Your Book

One way to get a free book review is through your reader. While this can take some time, it’s really effective. 

All you have to do is include a reminder or personal note in your book’s back matter.  And then, segue into a request to leave a review if they liked it. 

Pro tip: Be as authentic as possible. This will allow your readers to like you as an author. In turn, this will increase the chances of them reading more of your works and leaving more reviews in the future.

Way #5 – Engage With Fans Through an Author Newsletter

If you don’t have an email marketing list, now is the time to build one. The truth is that email marketing can even be more effective than tapping readers on social media. 

Why? 

Because it can create lasting relationships with your audience. And this will happen if you’re able to churn out an author newsletter every week, month, or quarter. 

Your newsletter can help your readers stay up to date with all your releases. They will find out if you have a new book coming out. And you can even remind them to leave a review once they’ve checked your book out. 

But just like your personal note in the back of your book, be sure to stay authentic when asking for a review. Share something special about your writing experience and subtly ask them to leave a review.

Create Quality Books

At the end of the day, the best way to get great reviews on your book on Amazon is to write an awesome book. All your efforts to get reviewers to check out your work would result in your doom if they would just leave bad reviews. 

So, always focus on writing quality content before thinking about getting someone to review them. Get yourself an editor or someone you trust to check your work before publishing. It won’t hurt to get a second opinion before your book goes live.

There are also other strategies such as ‘free days’ and ‘giveaways’ etc. which I will talk about in coming blogs, because they can definitely help. 
Now, if you want to learn more tips about becoming a successful Kindle publisher, then reserve a slot for my upcoming webinar.

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