6 Ways to get more Amazon (& other online bookstore) Reviews
These days reviews of anything, be it hotels, restaurants, or the entertainment industry matter. We have all skipped going to see a movie because it got terrible reviews. We’re less likely to choose a restaurant on Yelp.com or Google Reviews if it has less than 3 stars. We crave social validity that we are making the right choice, and purchase, and in online bookstores such as Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble.com where consumers have little else to go on (perhaps a ‘Look Inside’ sneak peek and the front cover) our need for social validation increases.
In terms of promoting your book, this means that you want as many reviews as possible. While you can’t control how positive or negative a review is (and shouldn’t try to), you can certainly influence how many reviews your book gets. Here are some ideas.
1. Find 100 Amazon reviewers interested in your topic (have reviewed something similar) and offer to give them your book. For every 5 books you send out (here’s where sending out eBooks is awesome and free), you can expect to get 1 or 2 reviews. It’s time consuming, but imagine what 20 reviews could do for your book?
Ask for a review, and make it clear that there is no obligation and that you are not asking for a favorable one, just a fair one.
Tip:
If you are sending out paperback review copies and are concerned about reviewers re-selling your book, be sure to write ‘Review copy, not for resale’ on both the front and back of the book.
2. When you receive nice words about your book, either from a friend, friend of a friend or total stranger (reader email, tweet etc) ask them right away if they could post an Amazon review. If they are a member of Goodreads, ask them to cross-post here too. Explain why it means so much to you as this isn’t always obvious to the non-author community. And be sure to send the exact link to your book and make this as easy as possible for them!
3. Check out Reedsy Discovery, a site that helps you find experienced reviewers who read your genre.
4. Get on the forums and offer free copies in exchange for reviews. Try Goodreads, the KindleBoards, the NookBoards, the MobileRead forums.
5. Ask for a review on the last page of your novel and encourage readers to submit. Reviews can even be written right from the Kindle or Nook, so a word from you, the author, might be all it takes to encourage readers to write the review on the spot.
6. Submit to book bloggers that cross post to Amazon/ GR. You’ll get double the exposure this way – a review on the book blogging site itself, and on Amazon etc.
As always, follow Review Guidelines very carefully and write a personalized pitch. Your response rate is likely to be much higher.
It’s so true that book reviews from customers/readers can be the “make it or break it” factor for a new author. Whenever I’m browsing on Amazon or Goodreads, I always check out the reviews. I tend to trust them more so than say an editorial review, since I feel they’re coming from someone like me … an everyday reader. Another tip to help in book marketing? Seek out book reviewers and incorporate scheduled book reviews in a blog tour. Customers on Amazon get to see the review, the book bloggers’ followers get to see it, and the author gets to promote it as part of the tour.
The make or break it factor indeed! Well said.
Great tips in here – I hadn’t thought about the amazon reviewers link. thanks!
Thanks so much for sharing your tips! They will be of great help once I’m going to put my book out there.
What do you do with the reviews that you get from the Amazon Reviewers? If I send them an eBook to review where do I put the review?
Hi Steve,
Amazon reviewers will post the review to your Amazon page. You can then leverage it by putting it on your website, in the front matter of your book etc. – Laura
Just read through your tips. Thank you for succinctly presenting needed information. As a new indie author, the road ahead seems extremely overwhelming. After writing my book in two months, I had no idea that creating a 500-page book would be the easy part!!?!?! I’m going to follow your tips and hopefully I’ll get good reviews and a truckload of sales!! I would appreciate any other advice you have to offer. Thanks again!
Amre, I think many people feel the same way. Writing is only half (a quarter?) of the battle! Build it and they will not come, but keep writing and keep marketing in baby steps, and you’ll get there :)
Thank you so much for the encouragement – I so appreciate it!! :)
Thanks for the link to my site. I try to keep my list of “eBook Reviewers” up to date, but I welcome feedback from vistors on any new sites they’ve found or old ones that are no longer working.