paid book reviews amazon

Get Paid for Amazon Reviews: $2000+ Per Month?

Can you really get paid for Amazon reviews?

The short answer is yes. The longer answer is it depends on your writing skills, social media influence, and even what you consider as “getting paid.”

And that’s the topic of this post.

We all know how easy it is to spend money at Amazon, but let’s explore how you can actually make money with Amazon , too.

The Truth About Getting Paid for Amazon Reviews

• 1. Amazon Vine

Amazon Storefront

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Before we get into how to make money from Amazon reviews, you should know that Amazon actually has some pretty strict guidelines to help maintain the trust and integrity of their reviews.

Per the official rules :

“We don’t allow reviews that are created, edited, or removed in exchange for compensation.”

Compensation includes:

• free products

If someone or some company offers you money or other perks in exchange for a review , think twice before accepting. Doing so could get your reviews removed or even your account suspended .

But even with those rules in place, there are some perfectly legal ways to get paid for Amazon reviews that won’t threaten your account.

1. Amazon Vine 

Amazon Vine is Amazon’s own invite-only program to help sellers get unbiased reviews on their products.

Because this program is invitation only, unfortunately it’s not as simple as applying or joining whenever you want.

Per Amazon: “Customers who consistently write insightful reviews are most likely to be invited.”

The program doesn’t offer cash in exchange for reviews but it offers free products to reviewers. And Vine Voices can request which products they want to review, which is definitely a great perk to being part of this program.

If this sounds like something you’re interested in, writing high-quality reviews for everything you purchase on Amazon is a great place to start.

2. Amazon Influencer Program

The Amazon Influencer Program is probably the fastest, easiest, and most accessible way to get paid for Amazon reviews.

You create short product review videos, which Amazon then features on the product’s page.

When a potential customer watches your video and makes a purchase, you receive a small commission from Amazon, usually about 2-4% of the sales price.

Amazon Influencers like Tyler Christensen reported making $2,000 and more per month testing and reviewing Amazon products , and I even made over $1000 myself in my first year in the program.

To apply , you’ll need to list one or more of your social media accounts, including:

There aren’t any official requirements about how big a following you need to get accepted. But if you apply and get rejected, you can re-apply at a later date.

If you’re approved to be an Amazon Influencer, you can set up an Amazon storefront to get even more commissions.

With your Storefront, you can set up different product recommendations and lists to recommend to your followers. Each purchase made through your storefront earns you a small commission.

For example, Jackie Mitchell created her Storefront after followers kept asking her about certain products in her videos . She added her favorite gift ideas and home essentials, and now earns hundreds of dollars a month passively .

Your storefront will be linked to your profile as well. If someone clicks on a review or video you created, they will be taken to your Amazon Storefront.

Having a storefront is an added bonus. You may get organic traffic from people just shopping on Amazon.

As an Amazon Influencer, you also have access to their Live Creator App ( iOS | Android ).

This app allows you to create videos and live streams where customers can purchase directly from your videos, giving you commission.

This content can be product reviews, buying guides, unboxing videos, or other video content.

3. Become an Amazon Associate

If you don’t want to go the Amazon Influencer route, you’ve still got other options to make money reviewing Amazon products.

Amazon Associates is an affiliate program where you can make commissions on products that you recommend and sell through your specific link. Like the Amazon Influencer Program, you will need to apply .

To stay an active affiliate, you have to make at least 3 sales within 180 days (personal orders don’t count).

Amazon Associates has more specific criteria for applicants, depending on what format you want to use to promote your affiliate links.

Here are some potential strategies.

For creators wanting to make money with a product review website, here is the criteria you should aim for:

• Original content — Amazon recommends at least 10 posts.
• The website must be public.
• Content must be recent (updated within the last 60 days).
• Own your website

You could actually start a product review website with stuff you already own. Create a blog post reviewing each item and insert your affiliate link throughout the post.

You can use organic marketing like SEO and even post your blogs on Pinterest to drive traffic to your website. With every purchase, you’ll earn a small commission, and those commissions can really add up.

For example, Andrew Fiebert started a site curating creative gift ideas . When we spoke, it had earned $1.2M in its first 5 years .

Want to start a blog of your own? Check out my  free 6-part video course  on how to start your own site.

Amazon allows you to promote their products as an affiliate through social media platforms, as well.

Supported platforms are:

• Facebook (group pages and fan pages, not personal pages)

Here are the requirements for using social networks as an Amazon Associate:

• Your social network page or group must be established
• Have a substantial number of organic followers/likes (Amazon recommends at least 500)
• It must be public

Every time subscribers or followers purchase using your link, you’ll receive a commission.

For example, Jon Shanahan reported earning $4-5k/mo in affiliate income from his men’s fashion YouTube channel .

YouTube has over 2.7 billion users , meaning 50% of all Internet users visit the site at least once a month. While it may take time to build up an audience, your income can increase as you do.

(You can also earn money from YouTube ads once your account hits certain milestones as well!)

People are always looking for a good deal right? Daily deal sites can be incredibly successful when they feature one niche.

For example, David Paxton turned his love for golf into DailyGolfSteals.com — a website to share the best golf deals every day. By tapping into an audience of golfers on Reddit, he made $2,000 his first month !

If you have a hobby that you’re already knowledgeable on, why not turn that into some cash?

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Amazon already has a section on their website for “Today’s Deals”, which you could scour for the best buys in your niche and share affiliate links for them.

There are over 600 million products available for sale on Amazon, and new sellers are popping up every day.

Amazon product videos can be posted by the sellers to showcase their product and its features on the sales page. These aren’t necessarily review videos but more like product demo/explanation videos.

Many Amazon sellers turn to contract gig workers on sites like Fiverr , to help create these videos for them.

Outside of Amazon, there are other platforms that offer free products in exchange for reviews.

Each site has its own requirements, but the premise for each is the same: you get sent free products in exchange for a review.

Some companies allow you to pick from a set of product options, while others send random boxes based on personalized questionnaires.

You won’t make big bucks from these websites, but you can score some free products. Some users even report being sent items from luxury brands like Gucci and Givenchy.

Here are just a handful of legit product testing websites:

• Influenster
• TopBox Circle

One important note here is you won’t necessarily be reviewing the products directly on Amazon. Instead, you may receive a survey after testing the products. On sites like Influenster, they publish your feedback publicly on their site.

And if you love getting paid for your opinion , here are some of Side Hustle Nation’s favorite survey sites:

• Swagbucks – Earn up to $35 a survey with this mega-popular app, and get a $10 bonus  just for signing up!
• Survey Junkie – Take 3 surveys a day and earn up to $100 a month.
• KashKick – Get paid to answer surveys, test games, and try new products.
• InboxDollars  – Get a  $5 bonus just for signing up!
• American Consumer Opinion – Join millions of free members and earn up to $50 per survey.
• Branded Surveys – One of the best-rated survey sites with millions paid out.

Many websites like Cnet and Wirecutter pay professional product reviewers and writers. This works best as a side hustle when there’s a particular niche or industry you’re involved with.

Maybe it’s photography equipment, home theater products, or hunting gear. Look for the websites operating in that space and offer your services. Typical rates might be anywhere from $50-250+ per review, depending how much time and research is involved.

You can also find freelance writing jobs on sites like Upwork or FlexJobs . 

The best place to find legit work from home jobs. Established in 2007, FlexJobs has 1000s of listings including part-time, full-time, and freelance options in tons of industries.

One creative way to get paid for Amazon reviews is to “build a better mousetrap.”

Here’s how it works:

• Look for products that have a bunch of 1-3-star reviews.
• See what buyers are complaining about.
• Work with manufacturers to make a better version.

For Lou Rice, inspiration struck when she dropped her Kindle on her newborn’s head during a late-night breastfeeding session. Disappointed with the available Kindle straps on Amazon, she and her husband created the Strapsicle , a simple, silicone strap for Kindle devices.

When we spoke, it was generating $50k per month in sales !

Profitable ideas don’t have to be complicated, they just need to be useful.

This goes back to Amazon’s rules about receiving money or products in exchange for reviews. It’s against their terms of service and it’s possible that the reviews will get removed and/or your account could be banned.

However, if an author was to send you a book for free, and then you wrote a review, that would be permissible as long as the review was unsolicited by the author or publisher.

The idea of getting paid for writing product reviews is intriguing — but not all opportunities are created equal.

Whether you’re enjoying the free products and a little side money, or decide to go all in on becoming an Amazon Influencer, make sure you’re doing it within the confines of its terms of service.

Don’t skirt the rules just to make a quick buck.

• Start Your Free $500 Challenge . My free 5-day email course shows you how to add $500 to your bottom line.
• Join the free Side Hustle Nation Community . The free Facebook group is the best place to connect with other side hustlers and get your questions answered.
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**************** Big thanks to Holly Humbert for helping research and draft this post!

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About the Author

Nick Loper is a side hustle expert who loves helping people earn more money and start businesses they care about. He hosts the award-winning Side Hustle Show, where he's interviewed over 500 successful entrepreneurs, and is the bestselling author of Buy Buttons , The Side Hustle , and $1,000 100 Ways .

His work has been featured in The New York Times, Entrepreneur, Forbes, TIME, Newsweek, Business Insider, MSN, Yahoo Finance, The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Financial Times, Bankrate, Hubspot, Ahrefs, Shopify, Investopedia, VICE, Vox, Mashable, ChooseFI, Bigger Pockets, The Penny Hoarder, GoBankingRates, and more.

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How to Get Free and Honest Book Reviews on Amazon

By c.s. lakin.

Imagine seeing an ad pop up on Facebook advertising your recently published book—an ad you didn’t pay for. Imagine seeing your book appearing first in a line of recommended books on the product pages of similar books, and you didn’t pay for a sponsored ad.

Table of Contents

Imagine hearing from readers that they learned about your book from an Amazon email blast that encouraged them to buy it. Wouldn’t it be great to get all that free promotion? You can—when you get enough authentic, approved reviews on Amazon.

Will Amazon Promote Your Book?

While Amazon’s algorithms are somewhat of a mystery, it’s a known truth that when your book accrues a certain number of reviews, or a lot of reviews in a short amount of (unspecified) time, Amazon kicks into gear multiple promotions for your book. Free promotion that would probably cost a fortune if you had to foot the bill.

The magic number to start the ball rolling in this free promotion is 50. Fifty reviews merits cross promotion and ranking your book higher than others in the same categories based on search terms. With 75 reviews, Amazon is triggered to send email blasts to customers who’ve bought similar books. Amazon utilizes customer data to provide relevant recommendations.

I get tickled when I’m reading a blog and suddenly one of my books pops up on the side—an Amazon-sponsored ad—suggesting I buy that book. No thanks, already have it. But it brings a smile to my face. Did I mention I love free promotion? I am sure you will too.

Every time your book is reviewed, the algorithms are updated, and your book’s internal ranking increases.

While Amazon isn’t the only site where writers need reviews, it’s where most customers shop for books. Reviews you get on Amazon can often be used on other platforms, but no other marketplace engages in free author promotion as extensively and generously as Amazon.

Getting numerous, honest reviews on Amazon should be at the top of your market strategy list. Having the best keywords might help your book turn up in search results, but if you don’t have a slew of reviews, your book will be overlooked or dismissed by a large number of potential readers. High numbers of reviews adds cred to your brand and your talent as a writer .

Amazon also allows authors to give away their book for free for 5 days over a 90-day period (when enrolled in KDP Select). Why is this helpful in getting book reviews? Because it gives you great exposure to potential readers who might pick up your book because it’s free.

This also increases your chances of ranking high in the Top 100 Free Books list, exposing your title to many more potential readers (readers who might very well write a review for it—but watch for my warning further down).

Want to sell more books? Click here to get your free copy of 8 Simple Secrets to Big Book Sales on Amazon

What are amazon’s rules on reviews.

Due to problems with dishonorable people, Amazon has developed tight rules regarding reviews. While these might seem annoying to authors, they serve to protect unscrupulous people from publishing gobs of fake or paid reviews to skew rankings and algorithms.

Here are some of the things Amazon forbids and flags (and may cause your book to be removed): paid reviews, reviews garnered through bribery (you offer something free in exchange for the review), and swapped reviews (arranging with other authors via social media sites to review each other’s books, which usually does not include actually reading said books).

What Are Verified vs. Unverified Reviews

While it can’t be quantified, it’s likely that some potential customers look at how many reviews are “verified” purchases as opposed to unverified. A “verified” purchase means the reviewer bought your book on Amazon, whereas anyone who acquired your book via some other means (purchased elsewhere, given as a gift, a free ARC) will have their review marked “unverified.”

As a potential customer, I don’t pay attention to that. I’m more interested in what the reviewer says about the book. I know that many authors—myself included—send out files of their books to people for an honest review, pre- and post-publishing. So some of those reviews are going to be unverified. But it stands to reason, having predominately verified reviews could positively influence some potential readers. I wouldn’t stress about this.

How To Balance Quantity and Quality

Getting book reviews takes work and time, and the last thing we writers want to do is waste time, spinning our wheels and getting no useful results.

However, it should go without saying that we don’t just want a lot of reviews; we want good reviews. Ones that are thoughtful, detailed, and personal. And that can take time to accumulate.

It stands to reason that having a lot of positive reviews for your book is social proof that you’ve written something worth reading.

If you want to get a lot of reviews fast, and you’re willing to pay, promo sites like Bookbub (there are many!) can help. I’ve gotten up to 50,000 free downloads in one week via a Bookbub ad offering one of my ebooks for free. And that led to a truckload of reviews (not to mention future sales of my book and other installments in my series as a bonus). However, it can also be hard to land such ads, as the competition for slots can be fierce. It’s worth repeated submission, though, for the book review payoff.

Another way to garner reviews is to do some legit giveaways (but, here, you again run the risk of getting some negative or not-so-great reviews because the winner may not generally read or like your genre). Some of the sites writers use to do giveaways are Goodreads , Bookriot , BookishFirst , BookDivas , FreshFiction , and  Kingsumo , to list a few.

While it can take some time, researching top Amazon ( Vine ) reviewers can net you some weighty reviews. You can peruse the list of these 1,000 reviewers and find ones who review books like yours (and if they leave a lot of negative reviews, beware). Even if you only get a handful of Vine reviewers to read and review your book, that can be super helpful and influential.

You can Google “free book review sites” and look for ones that promote honest, legal reviews, like OnlineBookClub . Reedsy has a list of 200+ book blogs, updated for 2020, that you can use to find reviewers of your type of book.

How to Get Book Reviews on Amazon: 3 Effective Strategies

You might utilize the above strategies to get a lot of book reviews quickly, but if you’re a writer hoping to build a solid, enduring, and stellar reputation, you’ll want glowing reviews to come in steadily that come across authentic and sincere.

Here are 3 aspects to focus on for the long run:

1. Develop Relationships

One suggestion that I never see mentioned but is one that has served me very well is to attend writers’ conferences. Not only I but many writers I know have gotten endorsement blurbs from some of the most successful blockbuster authors by attending conferences and creating genuine relationships.

Let me emphasize those last three words. If you go around conferences strong-arming famous authors [read: ingratiating yourself], begging them to spend precious hours of their life reading your book and write a glowing review, you are going to be labeled a pesky pariah.

Conferences provide opportunities to rub elbows with these authors, and engaging in sincere and considerate conversation could open the door to a generous and willing heart happy to help out. You may find only one, but that’s a great start!

This is also good advice for any effort to garner reviews—be it from friends, writing associates, or your coworkers at your job. Don’t be pushy or whiny. People who sense your humility and genuineness will be drawn to take you up on your request to read and review. Give it a try!

2. Build Your Mailing List

The best way to get quality reviews is to reach out to those on your mailing list, your social media contacts, and those you’ve sent advance copies to. Ask them in a friendly, non-pressuring way to leave a review, expressing gratitude for their taking the time to read and review your book.

Even if you haven’t finished writing your book, you should get a mailing list started and work on building it. These folks are going to be your most faithful fans and reviewers. Some authors set up street teams (a group of super fans) and get them enthusiastically involved in sharing news about their new release, and once the book is published , they’re usually asked to post their honest reviews right away. With a mailing list, you can share excerpts of your new release and offer an ARC to any who want to read and review. I do this often with my new releases.

Keep these tips in mind:

• Don’t bribe, coerce, or cajole.
• When you send a copy of your book to a potential reader, thank them and tell them: “Be sure that when you leave a review on Amazon for me, you state that you were given a free copy in exchange for writing an honest review.”
• DO ask them to give you an honest review. DON’T threaten them. You’ll make more friends this way, stay out of trouble, and have a clear conscience (reread above section on developing relationships).
• Be professional. Remember: there is nothing disgraceful about asking for reviews or blurbs of endorsement for your book.
• Provide a choice of epub, PDF, and mobi (Kindle) files. You can save a Word doc as a PDF, and there are free sites online that can convert from one file type to another. I like to put my cover on the first page, and it’s wise to test the file (send the mobi to your Kindle and download a program that can open an epub file (I use Adobe Digital Editions )

3. Encourage Readers to Leave a Review Right after They Read

While Amazon emails customers to leave reviews some days after they purchase anything on their site, a personal encouragement at the back of your book, along with a link (if an ebook), will probably persuade readers to leave that honest review.

This is what I write: “The best way to thank an author for writing a book you enjoyed is to leave an honest review! Click here to post your review of [book title]. Thank you so much for taking the time to let other readers know what you thought of my book.” I put a hyperlink in connected to the words click here (don’t show the very long URL).

If your book isn’t published yet, you will have to wait until you’ve at least got it up for presale (one good reason to use that feature) in order to get your Amazon book page URL. Once you have that, plug in the URL to your request for a review.

Once the book is published, you can use the link that directly goes to the book review page for your book. Here’s how you do it:

• Go to your product page once your book is live, click on the reviews button, then scroll down to the bottom and click on “see all __ customer reviews. Click on that link.
• Now, grab the URL in the search bar at the top.
• Only grab to the end of the numbers and include the forward slash. It should look something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Colorado-Hope-Historical-Western-Romance-ebook/ product-reviews /B00PIAD22K/

Notice that the URL includes “product-reviews” in there. That’s the nice, clean link to your reviews page.

So what happens when the reader clicks that link?

She gets taken right to the top of your review page where there is a nice button that says “write a review.”

Why You Should Never Stop Attracting Reviews

In order to stay ranking high and keep Amazon’s algorithm attention, you’ll need to get a steady stream of reviews over time. That’s why it’s not a great idea to tell all your fans or mailing list recipients to post their review on one specific day. It’s better if they flow in as a stream and not a tsunami.

Don’t run that free KDP promotion during launch week . Offer your book for free one or two days a month, and that will draw in new readers whose reviews will come in over time.

Consider using a free, reputable book review site—maybe one each month—to attract new readers. I recently did a NetGalley promotion (yes, I did pay for that), and netted a lot of readers who downloaded (for free) my book file. NetGalley reviewers are bloggers, librarians, booksellers, educators, journalists, and members of the media. Reviewers give your book a rating and offer feedback. My next step is to contact the reviewers who haven’t yet left a review and politely ask if they would post one on Amazon.

Keep in mind that any reviews you get, you can manually enter them through your Author Central account on Amazon so the reviews will show up on your product page. So no worries about pressuring readers to head over to Amazon to post it themselves. However, these reviews appear on your page’s Editorial Reviews section, not in the usual Amazon review pages (and so won’t be ranked by 1-5 stars or counted as part of your number of reviews).

Go back to your list of book bloggers and review sites. Consider contacting blogs on a weekly basis to accrue new contacts and get more reviews. Keep a chart of who you contact when.

How to Avoid Negative Reviews

Let’s face reality here: you will get negative reviews. But you’re in good company. The most famous, successful authors have plenty of negative reviews. Not everyone will love your book.

The few negative reviews I’ve gotten over the years have mostly been from readers who picked up my book during a free promotion. Some admit in their review “I never read this genre” or “this isn’t my type of book.” Meaning, they wouldn’t have bought my book (which makes me groan and mutter, “So why did you bother reading my book?”).

This is part of the tradeoff with doing free promotions. You will probably get reviews from those who don’t like or understand your genre, and, sadly, you can’t block or forbid them from leaving a review or remove said review. Good news is they probably won’t download your next book during a freebie period.

Here are some ways to fend off negative reviews:

• Have your book professionally edited and proofread.
• Better yet, have a professional critique of your book before editing to ensure it’s well structured.
• Make sure your formatting looks good, for both ebook and paperback. It’s not hard to learn how to format an ebook. Get Mark Coker’s free style book (Smashwords founder). I download Amazon’s templates for paperback and paste all my content in. Or you can hire a designer to help you. But do it right.
• Write description copy that accurately describes the genre and story—don’t mislead potential readers. Also, if your book contains “heat” (venturing into erotica) or descriptive violence, warn your reader. It’s the responsible thing to do. And, honestly, you want your target readers to be enjoying your book.
• Don’t make promises you can’t keep. This applies to self-help and other types of nonfiction. You might hope your readers will get healed, rich, happy, or successful by following your five-step secret method, but if you guarantee they will get these results, you are going to have some pretty angry customers leaving scathing reviews.
• Your book shouldn’t be a thinly veiled advertising platform for other books or services. It’s fine to list some of your other publications or resources at the back of your book, and it’s wise to include an excerpt of one of those other books to entice readers to buy it (and putting in a link to buy is fine). But don’t have promotions and special offers sprinkled throughout your pages. It’s spammy and off-putting.
• Did I mention you must have your book professionally edited and proofread?

Getting reviews on Amazon—honest, authentic reviews—will take time and effort, but it’s worth it. As the reviews pile up, you’ll see your sales ranking rise and your book will come up higher in search results.

But don’t forget the big picture: it’s about relationships. Build a fan base of happy readers who love your books. Take the time to master your craft, write the best books you can, take pride in them, and make sure they are professionally edited, with attractive covers and description that accurately describes your content. If you focus on those things and put out the effort, you will have a lot more than just reviews. You’ll have a joyful writing career.

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How to Get Book Reviews on Amazon the Quickest and Easiest Way

Book reviews and sushi restaurants have a lot more in common than you might think. Discover the secrets to getting book reviews on Amazon!

Would you risk getting sushi from a restaurant with a 1-star average and a dozen bad reviews talking about getting food poisoning? Didn't think so. 

The thing is, Amazon reviews function the same way. They warn readers about books that might not be worth their hard-earned money or precious time. So, how do you convince someone you've never met that your book is worth taking the chance?

In this blog post, we'll walk you through a ton of budget-friendly and compliant ways for how to get book reviews on Amazon, and skyrocket your sales (and royalties).

Are you tapping into all of Amazon's potential? Check out our free webinar that shows you exactly how one publishing method has already generated a collective $50 million in revenue for thousands of students of all ages all over the world with no publishing or tech experience required.

Why Do Amazon Book Reviews Matter?

A dozen 5-star reviews can usually offset a single bad review, but a single 5-star review won't always offset a dozen negative reviews. It's just the nature of the game and human psychology. We tend to gravitate toward what's safe and comfortable.

Here are some more reasons that a book's review matters:

Credibility and Social Proof

Let's knock the obvious one out of the way. When potential readers are browsing Amazon for a new book to read, they are more likely to choose a book that already has previous other readers. Positive reviews act as social proof and give credibility to your book. They show that others have enjoyed your book and that it’s worth reading.

Sales and Ranking

Amazon book reviews can also impact your book's sales and ranking. Books with a higher number of positive reviews tend to sell more copies. Additionally, Amazon's search algorithm takes into account the number and quality of reviews when ranking books in search results.

Momentum and Feedback

Positive reviews just feel good. They're a good boost to your confidence and can motivate you to keep publishing. Even a negative review can help you improve your work by providing constructive feedback to implement in your future work. 

A Breakdown of Amazon's Review Policy and Algorithm

Amazon's review policy is designed to ensure that reviews are genuine and unbiased.

That means they prohibit the following:

• Reviews that are fake
• Reviews that are incentivized or come from a bribe
• Reviews that are written by the author or publisher of a book or their family and friends
• Reviews that include profanity, hate speech, and personal information

Note: Violating these policies can result in the removal of reviews and even account suspension.

Amazon's algorithm uses various factors to determine the authenticity and relevance of book reviews. The algorithm considers the number of reviews, the rating, and the recency of reviews as well as the location that the reviews came from. They can typically tell when friends and family are leaving reviews by checking whether you've ever sent each other gifts through Amazon or shared an address.

Most people can get away with one or two close friends leaving a positive or leaving a review too, but is it worth it? For one, it’s unethical. And secondly, it throws off the algorithm. If you wrote a book about bulldogs and none of your friends even have dogs, then they wouldn't be your target audience anyway. Their data would then affect the types of readers Amazon suggests your book to, and this can skew your marketing plans. Just something to keep in mind!

How Many Reviews Is Enough?

When it comes to the number of reviews you need on Amazon, there's no magic number that will instantly turn your book into a bestseller. Good reviews can essentially sell the book for you, so the more positive reviews you have, the better.

A good goal to aim for (and what we teach our Publishing.com students ) is at least 50 reviews for every new book that you publish. This may seem like a lot, but we've found this to be the sweet spot for gaining traction, and this blog post is full of ideas to help you get started.

Another pro tip? The timing of your reviews can have an impact on your book's success. Ideally, you want to have as many reviews as possible around the time of your book's initial launch to help it get more visibility.

Identifying Your Ideal Readers

There's no use reaching out to people who won't get any value out of reading your book. Sure, they may leave you an honest review, but it might not be a good one. Here's what to consider when trying to connect with the readers who are most likely to leave you a positive review:

What genre does your book fall into? You can use Amazon's categories and subcategories to help you identify your genre. Maybe you want to target fans of romance or hobby books, or you want to tap into the children’s book market. These categories will help you when you're looking for various social media groups to connect with reviewers (more on that later).

Keywords are the words or phrases that readers use to search for books on Amazon. By including relevant keywords in your book's title, subtitle, and description, you can make it easier for potential readers to find your book. You can use tools like Google Keyword Planner or Amazon's keyword tool to find relevant keywords.

Demographics

Think about who your book is intended for. Is it for young adults or older readers? Is it for men or women? Is it for people who enjoy a certain type of hobby or interest? If you're publishing children's books, you'll need to remember that the parents are the ones who will be purchasing your book and deciding whether to leave reviews. 

How to Ask a Reader to Leave an Honest Review on Amazon

There are plenty of ways to get free book reviews, which we'll talk about here. The best strategy to find reviewers usually comes from a combination of these tactics. So, don't be afraid to experiment and see what method works best for you!

Let's dive right in:

Leverage Your Mailing List

One of the quickest and easiest ways to get reviews is by leveraging your mailing list. That is...if you already have one. Many authors and publishers take the time to create their own websites and collect readers' emails to keep them up to date with their latest book launches.

If you don't have a mailing list yet, you can start building one by offering a free sample chapter or some kind of bonus content in exchange for someone's email address. You can then follow up with emails that have the link to purchase and review your book. 

Pro Tip: The more steps something takes, the less likely people are to follow through, so you want to make it as easy as possible for them. Always include direct links so they don’t have to go searching for them!

Email Template to Ask for a Book Review

Need some book marketing inspo? We've got you covered.

Here's a handy email template you can tweak to your style and voice for launch day!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Email Subject Line: 🌟 It’s Finally Here! Want to Help Other Readers? 📖

Hey [Reader's Name],

Big news: “[Book Title]” is out today! 🎉 I’m super excited (and a bit nervous) to share this story with you. It’s been quite the adventure bringing it to life.

If you enjoy the read, I’d be over the moon if you could take some time to drop a quick review on Amazon. Your honest thoughts really help—both me and other book lovers.

Here’s how:

• Pop over to [Insert Link].
• Scroll to "Customer Reviews" and hit "Write a Customer Review."
• Share what you think about the book—there's no right or wrong answer!

That’s it! Short and sweet does the trick. 🌟

Thanks a million for your support. It means the world to me, and I can’t wait to hear what you think of “[Book Title].”

Happy reading and happy reviewing!

Cheers, [Your Name]

Connect with Book Bloggers and Top Reviewers

Book bloggers and full-time reviewers can help you get the word out about your book by engaging their audiences. 

Here are some tips on how to connect with them:

1. Do Your Research

Not all bloggers and reviewers are the same. You want to target those who are interested in your genre and have a following. Look for bloggers and reviewers who have already reviewed books similar to yours.

2. Personalize Your Pitch

When reaching out to bloggers and reviewers, make sure to personalize your pitch. Address them by name and mention why you think they would be interested in your book.

3. Follow Up

After you've sent your pitch, follow up with the blogger or reviewer. Politely ask if they've had a chance to read your book yet and if they have any feedback. Following up shows that you're interested in their opinion and can help build a relationship for future reviews. 

Just be careful not to cross into begging territory. If someone doesn't want to read your book, there are millions of other potential readers out there who might!

4. Be Genuine

When engaging with bloggers and reviewers, be genuine. Focus on their experience rather than the review itself. Be open to their feedback, even if it's not what you were expecting. It can help you grow and connect with future readers.

Pro Tip: The only real failure in the publishing world is giving up!

Create a Call-to-Action Inside Your Book

A Call-to-Action (CTA) is simply a marketing term that means giving your intended audience a very specific action to take. You've probably seen a ton without realizing it, like "click here," "sign up now," or "order now!"

Another simple way to increase reviews for your book on Amazon is to create a call-to-action (CTA) inside your book. This is a message that encourages readers to leave a review immediately on Amazon. By doing this, you're taking advantage of the fact that readers are more likely to leave a review while the experience is still fresh in their minds.

Here are some common locations for CTAs:

• Your author bio
• In the middle of your book, at a natural stopping point between two chapters
• The end of your book

Many authors and publishers include a QR code that takes the readers to a website. This website can be a simple landing page that thanks the reader for their support and encourages them to leave a review on Amazon. Make sure to emphasize the importance of honest reviews and how they help other readers make informed decisions about whether or not to buy your book.

Other CTA tips:

• Be clear and concise
• Focus on only ONE action you want the readers to take
• Use strong action verbs
• Offer up your gratitude even if they choose not to take the next step but still took the time to read your work

Create an ARC Team

An ARC Team stands for an Advance Reader Copies Team or Advance Review Copies Team. The idea is simple: You build a dedicated team of people who are ready to give all your new books an honest customer review.

To build an effective Advance Reader Team, start by reaching out to your email list, social media followers, and other fans of your work. Let them know you are looking for readers who are willing to read and review your book before your book is live. Be clear about what you expect from them, including the timeline for reading and reviewing the book.

Once you have built your Advance Reader Team, provide them with a full copy of the book of your book in a format that is easy for them to read, such as a PDF or Kindle file. Follow up with them to make sure they have received the book and are on track to finish reading it by the agreed-upon deadline.

Note: Participating in ARC review methods isn't against Amazon KDP's terms; however, posting your full manuscript online would be if you were planning on making your book available through Kindle Unlimited.

Take Advantage of Social Media

One effective way to use social media is to create a Facebook page for your book. This page can be used to share updates about your book, interact with readers, run ads, and, most importantly, request book reviews. You can also join Facebook groups that are specifically designed for authors and reviewers.

Goodreads is another social media platform that can be used to request book reviews. Goodreads has a large community of readers and reviewers, making it an ideal platform to promote your book and request reviews.

Pro Tip: No one likes spam, so stick to the golden rule. Treat readers how you would want to be treated.

Leverage Free or Low-Cost Book Review Sites

Some popular free or low-cost book review sites include Goodreads, Pubby, and Online Book Club. These sites have large communities of readers who are eager to discover new books and provide feedback.

When submitting your book for review on these sites, be sure to follow the submission guidelines carefully. Some sites may have specific requirements for the format of your book or the information you need to include in your submission.

Remember : Amazon doesn't allow incentivized reviews. 

Here's how these platforms tackle compliance:

Pubby operates on a book review exchange model. Authors who join Pubby agree to review other authors' books in exchange for reviews of their own books. This peer-to-peer system is designed to increase the number of reviews without direct financial incentives or specific demands for positive reviews.

This differs from review swaps, where both parties leave a "5-star" review regardless of their true opinions about the work.

Goodreads is a community platform for book lovers. It allows users to leave reviews, rate books, and engage in discussions about books. Reviews on Goodreads are user-generated and are not part of a paid or incentivized system.

Although Goodreads is owned by Amazon, the review system on Goodreads operates independently of Amazon’s review system. Reviews on Goodreads are generally not subject to the same strict guidelines as Amazon's product reviews, but there are still ways to go about asking for reviews ethically and unethically. 

Consider Ethical Paid Services to Get Reviews

While it's always best to get book reviews on Amazon organically, sometimes it's necessary to use paid services to get your book reviewed with the attention it deserves and to scale your publishing business more quickly. Ethical services offer legitimate ways to connect with reviewers and get more reviews on Amazon without violating any rules.

A quick word of caution: Some UNethical services may violate Amazon's terms of service by offering to buy reviews directly, so always be sure to do your own research!

• Authentic reviews for their services
• A proven track record with the genre you're publishing in
• Transparent pricing and policies
• Access to support (whether through email, chat, or phone) in case you ever need it

Some legitimate services offer a variety of a la carte options, such as running a review campaign or connecting authors with reviewers who are interested in reading their books. Some services may also offer to promote your book to their audience, which can help increase visibility and generate more sales.

Overall, using ethical paid services to get reviews can be a great way to boost your book's visibility on Amazon and get more readers interested in your work. Just be sure to choose a reputable service and always follow Amazon's publishing guidelines to ensure that your book stays in good standing on the platform.

What Are Editorial Reviews on Amazon?

Editorial reviews are essentially "bonus" quotes and reviews housed on your Amazon book page through your Author Central Account . They may be written by professional reviewers, such as book critics and editors, or they may simply be quotes you want to highlight about your books from others.

To get editorial reviews for your book, you can submit your book to publications and websites that review books, or you can hire a professional reviewer to write a review for you. Once you have an editorial review, you can then submit it to Amazon to be published on your book review page.

Editorial reviews can be a great way to get exposure for your book and build credibility with potential readers, but customer reviews are just as important for building out your review page.

Avoiding Fake Reviews and Ensuring Genuine Feedback

Your reviews set the stage for your reputation as a self-publisher.

Here are some tips to avoid fake reviews and ensure genuine feedback:

Seek Verified Purchase Reviews

Amazon marks reviews from customers who have purchased your book on their platform with a “Verified Purchase” label. These reviews carry more weight as they are more likely to be authentic. You can encourage your readers to leave such reviews by reminding them to buy the book directly from Amazon.

Aim for Balanced Reviews

Genuine reviews often provide a well-rounded perspective of your own book. They don’t just heap praises or pile on criticism; instead, they offer a nuanced view, discussing various aspects like plot, characters, writing style, formatting, and pacing. Be on the lookout for reviews that offer specific, balanced insights into your work.

Stay Alert to Fake Reviews

Be cautious of reviews that may not be legitimate. These can be overly effusive or excessively negative, exhibit repetitive language or phrasing, or appear in an unnaturally large number within a short span. Amazon allows you to report suspicious reviews by using the “Report Abuse” option.

Sabotage is rare, but it does happen. If you suspect that a competitor has given you a false review, flag it and keep moving forward. You can rest easy knowing that you’ve put in the work and you’re running your publishing business from a place of integrity. 

Foster Authentic Engagement

Encourage genuine feedback by interacting with your readers. Express gratitude for their reviews and engage with their comments. Addressing their thoughts and concerns not only shows your appreciation but also demonstrates your commitment to putting out quality content.

Although you cannot respond directly to Amazon comments, you can interact with your mailing list and social media following. 

Optimize Your Book Launch for Reviews

Getting book reviews on Amazon is crucial for book sales, traction, and visibility.

Here are some tips to help you get the most reviews from your book launch.

1. Set a Launch Date

Setting a specific launch date helps you plan your book launch, coordinate your promotion plan with your publishing team (if you have one), and start your PR campaign two to three months before the launch date. It also enables you to coordinate book signing events with local bookstores three to four months before the launch or publication date.

Pro Tip: Some niches are more profitable during particular times of the year. See what your competitors are doing to get a better idea of what works and what doesn't.

2. Create a Pre-Launch Checklist

Creating a pre-launch checklist helps you explore your book launch to-do's at a glance. It might even include a marketing and PR plan tailored to each social media platform.

3. Stay Up to Date with Amazon's Review Guidelines

It doesn't hurt to check Amazon's guidelines every quarter or so to make sure there aren't any updates that might impact your plans. The truth is this industry is constantly changing—especially as AI becomes more and more common!

4. Don't Be Shy Asking for Reviews

Asking for reviews can be uncomfortable at first, but this is just another one of those skills that take time and practice, like strength training and weightlifting.

5. Think Outside of the Box

You're in charge when it comes to marketing your Amazon book , and within reason, the sky is the limit. Virtual events like Q&As can help your audience get to know you, but there are thousands of other ideas out there to help your book stand out in a crowded market.

Here are just a few:

• Collaborative Storytelling Event : Host an online event where readers contribute to a live, interactive storytelling session based on your book's universe.
• Interactive Web Series : Produce a short web series or interactive videos that explore your book's characters or setting, inviting audience participation.
• Flash Fiction Contest : Organize a writing contest where participants create short stories inspired by your book, with the best entries featured on your website.
• Podcast Series : Launch a podcast discussing themes, background stories, or characters from your book, possibly including guest speakers or experts.
• Themed Cook-along or Craft Workshop : If your book involves unique cuisines or crafts, host a live cook-along or crafting session teaching these skills.
• Charity Event Partnership : Tie your launch to a charity event, where aspects of your book's theme help raise awareness or funds for a relevant cause.
• Book Playlist Release Party : Curate a playlist of songs that captures the mood of your book, hosting a listening party with discussions about how each song relates to the story.

Publishing.com's Student Reviews

Which of the following types of people have found success with publishing?

A) Grandmas and grandpas who weren't necessarily tech-savvy but wanted to find a way to supplement their retirement

B) Stay-at-home moms and dads who wanted to find a way to make money without missing out on any of their children's milestones

C) College students who wanted to find a way to stop drowning in student loan debt

D) All of the above

The Publishing.com team has earned a verified review average of 4.8 out of 5 stars on TrustPilot , and the answer is D! All of the above!

Here's what some students had to say:

If you're looking for a sign to take that first step, it's this! 

Just head over to our free beginner-friendly webinar to see the exact formula that can completely transform your schedule and income and bring you the freedom you crave!

Happy publishing!

10 Legit Ways To Get Paid For Amazon Reviews

If you're reading this, there's a good chance that you do a lot of your shopping at Amazon.

To help buyers make decisions on what to buy, Amazon has a very useful review section where other buyers can share their feedback and experiences. This is one of Amazon's best features. But did you know it's also a new side hustle opportunity?

That's right: it's actually possible to write Amazon reviews and get paid if you provide valuable feedback and advice for shoppers. And in this post, I'm covering how you can get started and everything you need to know to stay within the company's rules.

Looking for other easy ways to make money? Checkout :

• Branded Surveys : A leading survey site that lets you earn free PayPal cash and gift cards.
• Freecash : Another fun way to earn cash and gift card prizes!

How To Write Reviews For Amazon And Get Paid

Before getting started, it’s important to point out that getting paid to post reviews on Amazon is against the Amazon terms and conditions . This means getting paid for reviews can result in losing your Amazon account.

Amazon does this to try and maintain the integrity of the review section. And it takes these violations pretty seriously. However, there are still legit ways to make money writing Amazon reviews that you can use to get quick money .

Table of Contents

1. Amazon Vine

In my opinion, the best way to write Amazon reviews and get paid is to try and join Amazon Vine .

This is Amazon's own special invite-only program that invites specific reviewers to become product review voices as part of Vine. These members are given the opportunity to order items at no-cost and to share their experiences and feedback with Amazon customers .

The idea behind Vine is to help Amazon customers make better decisions. And since you get products for free , it's basically a way to review products for money since you can use or resell whatever you get.

Amazon Vine also sends products from all types of categories, including some high-value ones, so there's plenty of variety.

The only downside is that Amazon Vine is an invitation-only program. To increase the odds of an invitation, regularly write insightful and helpful Amazon reviews. According to Amazon, these help you get noticed and considered for the program.

My post on how to become an Amazon Vine reviewer shares more information on how this program works if you're curious.

2. Start An Amazon Affiliate Blog

Another creative way to get paid for Amazon reviews is to start an Amazon affiliate blog.

The Amazon affiliate program pays you a small commission when readers click on your Amazon links and end up making purchases. It's a very popular revenue stream for product-based blogs since  so  many readers already shop on Amazon .

I’ve been blogging for quite some time now and include Amazon affiliate links in almost every post on my website. When a reader clicks on these links and places and orders, I get paid.

For example, I’ve included affiliate links in articles that I have reviewed. I also add Amazon affiliate links that are relevant to the blog post such as the supplies for a craft or the ingredients for a recipe.

You can also share Amazon products and deals on your blog’s social media handles including Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest , and Twitter. Other retailers and services also offer affiliate programs and this can be an excellent way to start earning passive income from your work online.

Just note that you should always disclose you're an affiliate when using Amazon affiliate links or any type of affiliate marketing. And if you receive a product for free in exchange for a review, you have to disclose it as well.

If you want to start your own blog, you can find very affordable domain names and hosting with a company like SiteGround .

3. Become An Amazon Influencer

If you want to create or write reviews for Amazon and get paid, joining the new Amazon Influencer program could be the perfect fit.

This new program lets you create content about Amazon products to promote them on your own storefront. You then earn commissions if your followers purchase the products you recommend .

I like this program because you can create a variety of content, including photos, videos, and even livestreams. So, it's much more creative than just writing Amazon reviews for money.

This video from YouTuber and online marketer Chad Bartlett shares how to make money with the Amazon Influencer program and how to scale your revenue.

Just note that you need a YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok account to apply. And Amazon considers factors like your followers and engagement metrics when deciding to approve you for its influencer program.

In any case, if you want to get paid to review Amazon products, this is one of the best ways to begin making money online .

4. Start A YouTube Channel

If you're feeling creative, another idea to earn money writing Amazon reviews is to start a product review YouTube channel.

People do this all the time and start YouTube review channels about technology, toys, hobbies, tools, instruments, and pretty much any product.

And some people also make Amazon-focused content. Just take a look at how many Amazon unboxing videos there are, with millions of views!

YouTube can also turn into an awesome income stream if you're consistent. For example, Tom started his channel in 2020, and it now has over 18,000 subscribers and earns $50 a day or so in advertisement revenue.

You need to get 1,000 YouTube subscribers to enable Adsense ads. But you can add in Amazon affiliate links from day one and begin earning autopilot income .

This also works for almost any niche. And since Amazon is so vast, you can probably find products to review that interest you. Just remember to disclose that you're an affiliate in the description box!

5. Join AMZDiscover

While writing paid reviews on Amazon for products is permitted by its terms, there are services that help you get connected for legitimate review opportunities, including AMZDiscover .

With AMZDiscover, you can apply to become a product tester for popular Amazon products . Once you're in its directory, Amazon sellers can contact you with offers for free products in exchange for reviews.

In other words, this is basically another version of Amazon Vine, except it's run independently. But if you want to get paid for your advice and Amazon reviews, this is definitely another viable option you can try out.

6. Join Amazon Reviewer Sites

Like AMZDisocver, another way to make money writing Amazon reviews is to join more reviewer databases that connect you with sellers who need reviews for their products.

From these websites, you usually receive discounted or even free Amazon products in exchange for your review. And some of these platforms also cover other platforms, not just Amazon.

Several popular Amazon reviewer sites you can check out include :

• Cashbackbase – Offers discounts and trials on various products.
• Snagshout – Snag deep discounts and deals for sharing your opinions.
• VIP Power Club – Receive special Amazon coupons and discounts.

While these websites don't always require you to leave a review on Amazon, they encourage it and may even reward you to do so. The offers available do change very frequently, so it’s recommended to check their sites often to see what new opportunities may be available.

Extra Reading – How To Make Money Online As A Beginner .

7. Become A Freelance Writer

If you're still wondering how to get paid for Amazon reviews, you can always try becoming a freelance writer who specializes in product reviews.

Many sites pay freelance writers to create product review articles, which can include Amazon products. Alternatively, you might find gigs writing listicles that naturally include quite a few Amazon products in them .

For example, Tom wrote numerous gift guides for some of his clients, so his work often mentioned some Amazon products he uses and enjoys. And personally, I frequently do freelance writing and write reviews and articles for other sites as an online job to earn extra money.

Specializing in just paid Amazon reviews is probably difficult. But again, you can start making money from home as a freelance writer and slowly specialize in product reviews if that's what interests you.

Pro Tip : You can find flexible and high-paying gigs by using online job boards like FlexJobs!

8. Write Amazon Book Reviews

Authors who sell books on Amazon are often willing to pay book reviewers with free books or even cash in exchange for their reviews. If you're a bookworm, this is a fun side hustle that also helps you discover new authors.

Websites like Online Book Club and other paid book review sites sometimes give away books from Amazon authors to reviewers. You can also find these gigs by searching on Google or by posting your services on marketplaces like Upwork.

9. Use Survey Sites

Some survey sites can pay you for writing product reviews or testing out different products. So, you can earn money for answering questions in your spare time without needing any skills or experience.

Some of my favorite cash survey sites include :

• Branded Surveys
• Survey Junkie
• InboxDollars

Just keep in mind that paid Amazon reviews or questions about products aren't always available. But you can still answer surveys about a range of topics to earn free gift cards and cash in your spare time.

Branded Surveys is my personal favorite, but you can stack several of these sites to maximize earnings.

10. Write Amazon Reviews Regularly

One final tip for getting paid to write Amazon reviews is to simply write reviews regularly.

If you write Amazon reviews all the time, there's a higher chance you get invited to programs like Amazon Vine. And, companies might reach out independently to give you free Amazon products for reviews. Plus, this practice helps out other shoppers and makes Amazon a better marketplace overall.

Extra Reading – The Easiest Online Jobs For Beginners .

Can You Write Amazon Reviews For Free Products?

It's against Amazon's terms of service for sellers to compensate reviewers with cash or free products for Amazon reviews. However, this still happens all the time, and it's very difficult for Amazon to detect which reviews are authentic and which ones are paid .

That said, programs like Amazon Vine are completely legit. And if you receive free products for your Amazon review but leave honest feedback and aren't just positive because you got free stuff, that's also authentic.

Can You Write Amazon Reviews On Fiverr & Facebook?

You can't make money writing Amazon reviews on marketplaces like Fiverr or even the Facebook Marketplace. In fact, Amazon sued over 1,000 individual Fiverr sellers since the platform used to have thousands of sellers offering paid Amazon review services.

Amazon takes its review integrity pretty seriously judging by the lawsuit. So, stick to legit ways to get paid for Amazon reviews or try starting your own online business like a blog or YouTube channel .

What's The Best Way To Get Started?

In my experience, starting an Amazon affiliate blog or creating affiliate content on YouTube is the best way to review Amazon products for money. This is because you can create actual review content about the products, test them for your audience, and then earn commissions if they end up shopping through your links.

Other paid Amazon review gigs can work, but they generally don't pay very much. In contrast, affiliate marketing on social media or your own blog can be much more lucrative.

Final Thoughts

In a nutshell, yes, you can get paid for Amazon reviews. You just have to be careful about how you do it. Amazon has strict terms of service regarding compensated reviews and how reviews are handled.

With that being said, there are ways to legitimately make money writing Amazon reviews such as featuring products on your own blog or YouTube channel. Plus, you can earn affiliate commission on these reviews, and you may have companies willing to sponsor you when you feature their products as well.

Just remember to always disclose that you're an affiliate and if you're getting free stuff in exchange for your reviews. This is an FTC requirement, and it's also important for your own integrity.

Ultimately, there are so many ways to make money on Amazon , ranging from its work from home jobs to working in its warehouses. So, pick one of these ideas and dive in!

Looking for even more money-making ideas? Checkout :

• Is Amazon Flex Worth It?
• The Best Jobs You Can Do With Your Phone .

Tom is a full-time blogger and freelance writer with a passion for side hustling, passive income, and making money online. His work has appeared on dozens of personal finance websites like Money Crashers, The College Investor, Forbes, and more.

Tom also founded the blog This Online World - a finance site dedicated to helping people make money online - in 2018. After 6 years, that site merged with WebMonkey, with the goal of helping even more people earn their first dollar of online income.

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Table of Contents

Why Do Book Reviews Matter?

How many reviews do i need, editorial reviews, how to get amazon book reviews, how to get reviews for your book on amazon.

What good is writing a great book if no one knows that it’s worth reading?

That’s where book reviews come in.

Reviews matter. They’re a key influencer of buying behavior and provide important social proof even to non-buyers.

Just think about it: how many times have you bought a book without looking at the reviews? I can’t speak for you, but I always read at least a few reviews of every book I buy.

So how do you get more? Most important, more good reviews?

Lots of people are trying to make money off Authors’ confusion in this area, and giving out terrible, deceitful advice about getting reviews (and a few straight up scams).

That’s why I wrote this blog post.

In this guide, I’ll walk you through everything you need to know about getting reviews effectively and ethically, especially on Amazon .

If you’ve put in the effort to write a good book, then it’s worth taking the time to get honest feedback from your readers.

Quick note: I said “a good book.” All of my advice assumes you wrote a good book. I’m going to teach you how to get honest reviews, so if your book is not good, my suggestions will backfire. You’ll get reviews, but they won’t be ones you like.

1. Credibility & Social Proof

Imagine that you’re going out for a nice dinner, and you have a choice between two restaurants. One of them has two Michelin Stars, received glowing reviews on Yelp, and even has reviews on Google Maps.

The other restaurant looks nice from the outside, but it doesn’t have a website, and you don’t know anyone who’s been. You know nothing about the chef, and your only guideline for the food comes from the very basic menu posted outside the door.

Which restaurant are you going to choose?

Books work the same way.

If you had to choose, would you buy the book with 50 5-star reviews, or would you buy the one without any reviews at all?

People want to read books other people have read. If a book has a solid number of reviews, a strong blurb, and plenty of customer feedback, it’s going to do better.

Reviews are social proof. Proof that you have something to say, that you have the chops to say it, and that you can be engaging while you say it.

A book without reviews isn’t necessarily a bad book, but it also won’t have the same appeal as a book that consistently gets rave comments.

2. Influence search algorithms

You know what the third biggest search engine is?

Google is first, YouTube is second, and Amazon is third.

When people use Amazon, what they see first is determined by Amazon’s search algorithm…and reviews are a very important part of that algorithm.

Most of our authors write books not just to sell copies, but to use as a tool to market themselves . If this is the case for you, then people searching for your book topic are very important.

The better your ranking , the more likely it is that people will find your book. And the more likely it is that people find your book, the more likely you are to sell it.

3. Drive sales

Reviews won’t automatically make you a New York Times bestseller , but it will make your book more visible to potential readers.

Every review boosts your rankings, emphasizes your credibility, or entices potential readers.

And good reviews drive sales. Think about it–when you go to buy a book, what is the first thing you do?

Read the reviews.

The more reviews you can get—assuming they are good—the better. Lots of reviews are strong social proof a book is popular, and popular books sell.

For a minimum, you should try to get 20 reviews within the first two months after your book release date. That shows your book has traction with real readers.

At around 50 reviews, you are probably good to go. Around that point, you have solidified the book as reputable and should continue to generate reviews.

A Note Before We Start: Don’t Try to Cheat Amazon

Amazon is savvy. Their algorithm is no joke, and if you try to cheat them, you will get caught. They actively look to find and remove any review that is not a real review written by a real person–and they’re very good at it.

Amazon also has a zero-tolerance policy for any review that is designed to mislead or manipulate customers. They’re not shy about removing reviews that violate that policy.

Here’s a list of things to avoid:

• You can’t pay for reviews. This includes cash or giving reviewers a free or discounted product.
• You can’t offer reviewers gifts in exchange for reviews.
• You can’t exchange positive book reviews with other Authors, so don’t head to Facebook or Twitter to find review swaps.

This may seem pretty restrictive. After all, don’t most of us rely on business associates, friends, and other members of our networks to sell books? And what about giving away free review copies? Does that violate the promotional terms?

Well, there are a few caveats .

You can give away free or discounted books to potential reviewers, but you can’t tell them what to write. If they hate it, they have to be able to rant and rave to their heart’s content.

That’s why I said earlier that you have to write a high-quality book. Any free copy you give away has to be given with no strings attached.

Most of this information applies to customer reviews, but they aren’t the only kind of reviews on Amazon.

Editorial reviews are either written by Amazon editors or they come from established publications like Publisher’s Weekly or Kirkus Reviews. Official book endorsements also fall under the category of editorial reviews.

Let’s say that you are a physical therapist, and you have a colleague who is very well known in the field. If she likes your work, it would probably be better to ask her for an editorial review. That way, when people look at the Amazon listing, her review will be front and center. It won’t be buried in the middle of 45 other reviews.

Editorial reviews aren’t subject to the same kinds of restrictions as customer reviews. It’s still not ethical to pay someone to give you a review, but you can and should make the most of your connections to get these.

Step 1: Set-up For Success: Ask for Reviews In Your Book

The easiest way to get book reviews is to ask for them. What better place to do that than in the book itself?

Usually, it’s best to include a short, direct review request towards the back of the book, since good reviewers tend to read all the way to the end.

Few people realize how important book reviews are to Authors. There are probably many people who enjoyed your book and would be willing to write about it if you give them a little nudge.

There are unethical ways to ask, and you should avoid them.

For starters, don’t say, “If you really loved my book, please leave a review.” I know that Authors say this all the time, but it’s presumptuous. It’s like telling someone that their opinion doesn’t matter unless it’s glowing.

People leave reviews because they want to express their feelings. Those feelings might be more complicated than, “I adored the book.” Of course you want positive reviews, but you also have to leave space for readers who enjoyed the book but are reluctant to call it the best thing they’ve ever read.

It’s better to ask readers, “I’d love to hear your honest opinion.”

Here’s another thing to avoid: Don’t ask readers, “Can you take a minute to review my book so I can sell more copies?” This comes across as desperate.

Other people typically don’t care how many books you sell. They need a better reason to take the time to write. Try framing your request around the impact that the book had on them and the impact it could have for others.

Here’s an example: “Did this book help you in some way? If so, I’d love to hear about it. Honest reviews help readers find the right book for their needs.”

Step 2: Ask Your Network for Reviews

One of the most effective ways to get reviews is to set up a launch team .

To do this, put together a list of people who would immediately do a favor for you. You want to aim for 30-50 people.

One month before the book release, send this team a copy of your book so they can read it in advance. It’s easiest to email the book as a PDF, along with a short call to action. Here’s a sample:

Hello there!

I’m excited to let you know that my new book, [Title], launches on [date]. It’s been an amazing journey to get it completed, and I’m excited to finally share it with the world.

If you’re receiving this email, it’s because you’re someone I trust enough to (a) send a free copy of the book to in advance and (b) ask that you leave an honest review when it goes live.

Early reviews are the single most important factor in determining if a book succeeds, so I’m incredibly thankful for people like you who I can rely on to leave one.

No action needed yet. Attached is your free PDF of the book, and I’ll follow up when the book launches with a reminder to leave a review.

Thanks so much for your support. I deeply appreciate it.

Just before the book launches, use KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) to discount the e-reader version to 99 cents for the week of the book launch.

Then, follow up with your team, asking them to leave a review. You can highlight certain things that you would like reviewers to mention, but again, it’s good to emphasize that you want their honest opinion.

Also mention that your book is 99 cents, so if they’re feeling generous, they can buy a copy so their review will be verified. A verified review means that the writer purchased the product through Amazon, and they didn’t receive it at a deep discount. These matter more for your Amazon ranking.

Here’s a sample email: Hey [Name],

The day is here! My book, [Title + GENI.US link], is finally live on Amazon.

I have one simple ask:

If you were able to look at the book and enjoyed it, can you leave a short review?

Reviews should only be 1-2 sentences and should take about 30 seconds to leave (and would make a huge difference for me). If you can’t come up with one, here are some examples:

• [Insert example review]

Finally, I wanted to give you a heads up that Amazon can sometimes block or remove reviews if they deem our digital relationship too close, or if your account is too new. This is few and far between so I’m sorry if you run into this and thank you all the more for your support!

Thanks so much for your help! I can’t thank you enough.

Best, [Author]

As you can see, this email alludes to Amazon’s “family and friends” rule. Most book reviews and sales come from word of mouth, and you will of course be asking your network for support. The key here is that you aren’t forcing or bribing people to give you good feedback.

Step 3: Set Up Your Assets to Remind Your Network

Social media is a great way to remind your network that your book is ready to be reviewed.

Use Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, or whatever social media assets you have to keep your book present in people’s minds.

For example:

• Pin a tweet requesting reviews at the top of your Twitter feed
• Add the book to your email signature
• Put your book in the header of your Facebook and Twitter profiles

Step 4: Reach Out to Authority Reviewers & Top Reviewers

Amazon has a list of top reviewers who are enthusiastic and authoritative about certain areas. If you notice that someone consistently reviews books in your field, they might be a good person to reach out to.

Be cautious about contacting too many top reviewers, especially if your book isn’t in their realm of interest. No one likes spam, so only reach out with good reason.

You have to know your audience , so look at book bloggers who might have some knowledge in your area or podcasters who might be interested in your book’s topic.

Alternately, you could use a site like BookRazor to find people interested in your book. If you send them a free copy, they agree to follow up with a review.

Be aware though: cold calls have a high failure rate. We haven’t found this method as effective as tapping personal networks.

Step 5: Don’t Ignore Negative Reviews

It’s highly likely that, at some point, you will get a negative review . This is just a fact of life.

One thing to keep in mind before you get upset is that bad reviews aren’t always a bad thing. Books that only have 5-star reviews often don’t seem credible. Bad reviews can actually convince people that your other reviews are real.

There are many ways to deal with negative reviews:

• Ignore it. There’s no upside to responding to toxic people.
• Answer it…but be careful. Responding can be a double-edged sword. Respond in a way that addresses the issue without coming off as defensive.
• Admit it hurts to receive a bad review, then move on.
• Keep things in perspective. Don’t give negative reviews more weight than positive ones.
• Consider if the negative comments have any lessons for you.
• Try to get Amazon to take down the review if it doesn’t comply with their guidelines. They probably won’t remove it unless the person has been fraudulent or crude.

BONUS Step: Use Paid Services

Okay, I know I said that you shouldn’t use paid services. But what I meant was, “Don’t use paid services to directly buy reviews.” That’s cheating the system, and scamming Amazon isn’t a good idea if you’re trying to be a legitimate Author.

But there are paid opportunities that you can use to get the book into potential reviewers’ hands in an ethical way.

Goodreads is a social media site for book lovers. Their book giveaways are a good way to increase exposure and create hype. Goodreads requires participants to add the book to their wish list, and they also remind winners to leave reviews. They offer several packages at different price points, depending on how many promotional options you want.

BookBub features discounted books in their daily newsletters, which have more than 10 million subscribers. You can pay to have your book featured, or you can buy ad space in the newsletters. The pricing depends on how deep the book’s discount is.

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Amazon Book Reviews: How to Get Book Reviews on Amazon for Free

POSTED ON Apr 8, 2024

Written by P.J McNulty

When it comes to Amazon book reviews, they are necessary to proactively market your book.

There’s almost nothing as important as Amazon book reviews when it comes to generating consistent book sales month after month and creating an effective book marketing strategy.

It’s not enough to publish your book and hope reviewers will find you. They almost certainly won’t. You need to work hard to find them and convince them to review your book.

But even that isn’t enough!

If you go about getting Amazon book reviews the wrong way, you risk incurring the wrath of Amazon. Your book will sink before it ever stood a chance of succeeding.

Related: Amazon Self-Publishing

So how can you get the Amazon book reviews you need in an ethical and effective way?

We’ve gathered together everything you need to know.

This guide to Amazon book reviews covers:

Why are amazon book reviews important, how many book reviews do i need on amazon.

• How to get your book reviewed on Amazon

Can I review my own book on Amazon?

Book review services , can i contact the top reviewers on amazon.

• Does Amazon support editorial reviews

Guidelines for Amazon reviews

Why does amazon remove book reviews.

If you’re new to the world of self-publishing , it might be unclear why there is so much importance placed on getting Amazon book reviews.

After all, if you create a good book, produce an attractive cover, and write a catchy description, shouldn’t that be enough?

As much as we might see our book as special, Amazon won’t.

At least, not at first. And neither will the vast majority of book browsers.

While the benefits of self-publishing are well-known, there are also some challenges you need to overcome in order to experience success.

One such challenge is the abundance of books released on Amazon.

The vast majority of books are lost amidst the noise. New titles are added to Amazon every few minutes, and there are endless titles already available. 

What does this mean for you?

If you want to see your book reach the right readers, you need to do everything in your power to get it in front of them. 

One of the most powerful ways to do that is by ensuring your book has reviews.

A lack of Amazon book reviews harms your book’s prospects in two ways. 

First, a book without reviews is unlikely to even get noticed by the vast majority of book browsers.

Second, even if people do somehow stumble across your book, they are unlikely to borrow or buy it without a credible number of Amazon book reviews.

Here are the benefits to make your reviews worth it:

• Trust. Book reviews are especially important when you’re just starting out as an author on Amazon . Put yourself in the shoes of a customer. Why should they trust your book? They almost certainly haven’t heard of you. Reviews overcome this problem. When people see that others have been helped or entertained by a book, it gives them the confidence they will experience the same result.
• Algorithm. Amazon is famous for having one of the most powerful and effective algorithms out there. The company explores and experiments with every possible way to get customers to spend more. Reviews are a huge signal to Amazon that your book is worth promoting. Without a respectable number of Amazon book reviews close to the time of launch, your book will miss out on the immense power of Amazon’s promotional machinery.
• External promotion. There are plenty of promotional services out there willing to help introduce your book to readers who are likely to benefit from it. However, most of them require you to have a certain number of positive reviews before they will even consider your book. You can also promote this on your author platform .
• Feedback. Reviews are also a valuable source of feedback on your work. Yes, even the negative ones! You can get a sense of what readers did and did not like about your book and take this feedback on board for your future releases. 

When it comes to success on Amazon, it’s almost impossible to overstate just how important reviews are.

Now that you know the benefits of reviews for your book, let’s take a closer look at exactly how to get them.

Getting people to take the time to review your book isn’t always easy, especially when you’re new to the self-publishing scene.

Given the difficulty of getting reviews, it’s natural to wonder just how many you need. 

No matter what people might say, there is no magic number that you need. It varies from book to book.

However, there are some proven principles and guidelines you can use to inform the number of reviews you aim to get.

• Check competing books. Take the time to check out other books that your ideal reader might be interested in. For example, which books rank for your keywords? Which books are selling well in your intended categories ? Try and look for books of similar stature to your own. How many reviews do they have? How many would you need to seem respectable in the eyes of a buyer choosing between your book and a competing title?
• Aim for 10 minimum. 10 reviews seems to be the number that starts to move the needle for a lot of authors. When you’re putting together your initial strategy, make 10 book reviews the minimum number you aim for. 
• 20 is ideal. If you’re capable of proactively getting 10 people to leave an Amazon review of your book, you’re more than capable of getting 20! Just double down on what you’re doing. We’ll explore exactly how shortly. 
• Don’t go overboard. After a certain number of Amazon book reviews, you’re unlikely to experience much extra benefit. The effort needed to seek out reviews is not commensurate to the benefits you will experience. Also, after getting a large number of reviews, buyers are likely to review your book of their own accord. You won’t need to seek them out. 30-50 reviews is a good guideline here, but a lower number may suffice depending on the books you are competing against. 
• Your promo strategy. Many authors make book promotion sites or services an integral part of their Amazon book marketing strategy. If you have a particular promotional site you want to be featured on, you’re probably going to need a certain number of Amazon book reviews to be eligible.

Even though there isn’t a particular number of Amazon book reviews that’s right for every book, there’s definitely a number that’s right for yours.

Use the above ideas to find it and make this a target you strive to hit.

Sadly, no. Some authors might think it's a good idea to review their own book to get some initial momentum going for their Amazon book reviews, but that's against the rules specified in Amazon's Guidelines .

How to get Amazon book reviews

So how should you go about getting the reviews you need for your book to succeed?

Seeking out Amazon book reviews in the right way isn’t just a matter of doing what’s likely to get results.

It’s also a matter of respecting Amazon’s rules and regulations. If you fail to do so, you run the risk of having your reviews removed.

If you’re unsure of how to get the reviews your book needs, here are some effective techniques.

• Set up a review plan prior to launch. A lot of authors learn the hard way that you can’t leave Amazon book reviews to chance. You need to have a clear plan in place way ahead of your book launch . This should involve a clear approach to hit your review target number as close to the time of your book going live as possible.
• Reach out to existing readers. Do you have an email list of readers? Have you written anything in the past? Even if you don’t have books out, do you have a blog with readers? Could you leverage your author network to promote your book to another writer’s fans? Existing readers, either your own or another author’s, are a great potential source of Amazon book reviews.
• Use social media. While social media is a valuable source of potential reviewers of your work, you should approach it with caution. If Amazon’s algorithm deems you to have a close connection with people on social media, their reviews of your book may be removed. In spite of that, it’s still worth utilizing options such as Facebook reading groups, relevant hashtags on Twitter or Instagram, visual platforms like Pinterest , and even Tik Tok if you have a younger audience, to seek out people who might be interested in your book. 
• Consider offline readers. Most authors will focus their review approach on the online world. By seeking out book clubs, library groups, and other interested communities offline, you open the door to a rich source of potential reviewers that many other authors aren't aware of.  
• Create a launch team . One of the easiest ways to get reviews at launch is to have a big launch group on your side before your book ever drops on Amazon KDP. I recommend having a team of around 100 people who will reach an advanced reader copy in exchange for their authentic review. That way, when your book launches, you can have tons of Amazon book reviews straight away. If you aren't sure how to build a launch group, there are companies that will help you put one together. At selfpublishing.com, our Elite Package guarantees your first 100 authentic Amazon book reviews.
• CTA in your book. There’s no harm of asking for Amazon book reviews within your book itself. You can also include a link in the ebook version to make it as straightforward as possible.

Be aware that by asking for Amazon book reviews in any of the ways mentioned, you are seeking something of value from them. To make them want to take the time to help you, you need to frame your request in the right way.

Related: Amazon Book Description HTML: Making Words Look Better

Instead of coming across as self-serving or even desperate, why not base your review request around:

• Feedback. If people respect your work they are likely to want to help you out as an author. If you make them feel like their feedback is valued, you are more likely to get a review.
• Helping other readers. Another angle to take is appealing to a sense of community among readers. Rather than making your request for Amazon book reviews about yourself, make it about informing fellow readers about a book that might benefit or entertain them.
• A promotional price point. It’s human nature to love a good deal. By emphasizing your book being offered at a low price point for a limited time, you tap into the psychological appeal of both value and scarcity, making it more likely that people will see it as worthwhile to review your book.

Combining the right sources of potential Amazon book reviews with the right type of request is the best way to get your book the review score it needs.

As well as seeking out relevant readers by yourself, a range of professional book review services exist.

While this can form a valuable part of your overall approach to Amazon book reviews, you need to be careful.

Amazon is known for being incredibly strict about people selling reviews. Many people on Fiverr have experienced this firsthand!

The Amazon review guidelines are elaborated on a little later in this guide, but as a general principle, always avoid paying for a review directly. That includes offering a gift of some type.

Instead of paying for a review on Fiverr, consider using one of these services:

• Goodreads book giveaways
• Rainbow Book Reviews

If you’re considering paying for a review service, make sure to check both of these two things before investing your money:

• Compliance. Ensure any review service you’re considering is compliant with Amazon’s rules and regulations. Otherwise, you risk losing your money, having the review removed, and possibly even worse consequences if Amazon feels you’re being particularly underhanded.
• Results. Check out what kind of results a review service promises, and what kind of success they’ve had in the past. Have they produced good results for books similar to yours? What kind of ROI can you expect?

Book review services can be a valuable way to help your book get the momentum it needs. Just make sure you’re dealing with a reputable and effective service provider.

No, the top Amazon reviewers are no longer available.

In the past, a popular way of seeking Amazon book reviews involved trying to find and contact the top reviewers on Amazon.

This may have worked well back in the day, but it’s not really something to pursue in the here and now. 

The top Amazon reviewers no longer have emails available to reach out to. Even when they did, the odds of having a top reviewer take the time to check out your work was pretty slim. 

Does Amazon support editorial reviews?

What exactly is an editorial review, and why does it matter for your book?

So far, we’ve talked about customer Amazon book reviews, which are exactly what they sound like. A customer reads your book and leaves their opinion. If they purchased it from Amazon, this would count as a verified review. 

The other type of review to utilize is the editorial review. This involves a trusted source such as a magazine or publication giving their take on your book.

While editorial reviews aren't included in your book's review score and don't show up with the customer reviews, this is actually a good thing. 

Some of the main benefits of editorial reviews are:

• They won’t get lost in the middle of the (hopefully) large number of customer reviews your book has
• You can add them to your Amazon Author Central page
• You are allowed to leverage your connections as Amazon can’t remove these in the way that they can remove customer reviews
• A reputable publication or individual may carry more weight in the mind of a potential book buyer than an unknown customer reviewer

There’s no denying the value of editorial reviews, but think of them as icing on the cake. 

Make customer reviews your priority, at least initially, as they will move the needle in terms of the Amazon algorithm.

Spend some time around the indie author community and you’ll come across some fairly angry writers.

A common source of frustration is the seemingly ever-changing Amazon review rules.

In reality, the Amazon review guidelines aren’t as bad as you might have heard.

You can check out the full picture here , but some basic principles include:

• You can’t pay for Amazon book reviews. It’s absolutely prohibited to exchange money for a review of your book.]
• You can’t ask for conditional reviews. Although it’s completely fine to ask for someone to review your book, you cannot request they review it in a certain way. Asking for an honest review is the best approach.
• You can’t review a rival book. If Amazon feels someone is negatively reviewing a rival product of any type, they will remove that review.
• You can’t rely on friends and family. Amazon states that reviews from close personal connections are not allowed. This can involve being friends with people and interacting on social media.
• You can’t offer gifts. It’s not permissible to over an Amazon gift card or anything else whatsoever in exchange for a review. You can offer an ARC of your book but that’s all.

While it’s definitely worth respecting the Amazon review guidelines, try not to worry too much. As long as you’re operating from a place of good faith, the worst that will happen in the majority of cases is Amazon will remove some of your reviews.

Amazon can remove reviews for violations of any of the guidelines mentioned above. 

However, some of the most common reasons for a review to be removed are:

• You have reviewed your own book
• Someone with the same address as you has reviewed your book
• A reviewer has attempted to leave multiple reviews of your work
• The review is obscene, defamatory, or otherwise unacceptable
• The reviewer is a customer who has spent less than $50 on Amazon
• The reviewer appears to be a spammer who leaves too many reviews in a short space of time
• You have reported the review to [email protected] and Amazon agrees it is unacceptable

Having some Amazon book reviews removed is a fact of life for most authors. Although it might seem frustrating, try and see the system as being in place to preserve the integrity of the entire process. 

We hope you’ve found this guide to the dos and don'ts of Amazon book reviews useful. 

If you have any tips on getting Amazon book reviews ethically, or warnings about Amazon’s rules and regulations, feel free to leave a comment and help your fellow authors out. 

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Best Paid Book Review Sites for Authors

Reviews are the lifeblood of your book’s success. Getting them is vital throughout your author journey, starting from before until long after you launch your piece of writing. Paid services are, of course, well aware of this fact. There are so many to choose from, so if you’re wondering what the best paid book review sites are, keep reading!

Dozens and dozens of companies are happy to take your money in exchange for the promise of landing you some good reviews.

With the many book review sites out there, you might be wondering which one should you choose.

Not All Paid Book Review Sites Are The Same

You can easily find plenty of companies out there that promises reviews in exchange for dollars. But, as much as you’d want them to be, not all of them will turn out effective. In fact, you may come across some that aren’t even legit.

Rather than take you through all the options available, I’ll share the tried-and-tested ones we use to help get your search narrowed down.

Here at Book Launchers, we use:

• BookSirens, and
• Booksprout for our authors.

Now, you might be thinking, “ A review is a review. So why so many different sites for the same thing?”

Well, if you haven’t noticed, paid book review sites aren’t all the same. Your book category, overall strategy, goals, and who you’re targeting are essential aspects to consider before going with a review company.

Still, every review site has the same ultimate goal: increase your exposure, find new readers for your book, and bump up those review counts.

Not all sites can make sense for every author. The best course of action would be to pick those that best suit your unique needs.

Here are the four best paid book review sites you can rely on for non-fiction authors, each with its distinctive features.

#1 goodreads.

Goodreads is the most popular review site in the publishing industry today. It remains the top on-line community for book lovers and authors alike.

Amazon runs it, so it boasts some perks for authors with books in the Amazon database.

Right through the site, you can claim your profile and earn a badge that verifies your identity. You’ll also be able to access a wealth of statistical information on your books listed on KDP.

So, how do you know if Goodreads is the way to go? Well, if you want your book to go viral and gain as much exposure as possible, Goodreads could be your ticket.

Here, the strategy is to get people to add your book to their virtual bookshelves, and of course, leave some reviews on it.

This way, your book gets raised visibility. Other users can now see it in their friends’ feeds, giving it a much better chance to be added to their reading list.

Think of it as like playing a giant book-fueled game of telephone with 80 million people.

Speaking of games, did you know that we have an entire YouTube channel dedicated to guiding authors like you to create an excellent self-publishing game plan. Check it out, and if you like what you see, let’s see how fast you can smash that subscribe button.

Back to our topic, you can also run a giveaway on Goodreads, a surefire way to get book reviews. It’s something we do regularly for our clients.

All active giveaways are listed on the giveaway section of the website. Your fans can link to it and encourage their friends to enter the giveaway.

Here’s a video dedicated entirely to helping you get all the goods you can get on Goodreads.

#2 NetGalley

Next up on the paid book review site list is NetGalley. NetGalley is a service that delivers digital Advanced Reader Copies, better known as ARCs.

This service provides ARCs of your book to professional readers. We’re talking about reviewers, media, journalists, bloggers, librarians, booksellers, podcast hosts, and many others.

These professional readers use NetGalley to access digital copies of your book, making it an effective marketing tool not just for your book but for your entire brand as an author.

It allows your work to be made available to people who want to read it in their professional capacity.

A NetGalley promotion offers your ARC three months to be highlighted in their database’s recently added and read now sections. The promo also lets you showcase your book to the sections specific to your title’s categories.

By opting for this promo, all users will see your book listed on the NetGalley website.

There’s a lot more to NetGalley when it comes to figuring out if it’s the right one for you.

To help you out, we have a video that goes into all the details of this review site. We also dive deep into costs because it can be pretty expensive and may not be worth it for all books. Stick to the end of this video to make sure if this review site is for you.

The following two on this list are similar to NetGalley. These two book review sites also deliver your ARC copy to both readers and reviewers. But, they focus more on getting your ARC securely to reviewers, bloggers, and your book army.

#3 BookSirens

BookSirens boasts over 10,000 readers across various genres with an average review rate of 75%, making it an attractive site to get book reviews.

The high average review rate is because their users are vetted and accepted as serious book reviewers. Before users can get approval to join BookSirens, they must have posted at least 20 starred ratings on Goodreads.

How this works is that you first need to send your book to the BookSirens team for evaluation. They will then confirm if it is a quality book – something that they want to offer to their users. Once approved, they will add your book to its appropriate category where users can discover it, download the ARC, and start reading.

A remarkable feature of BookSirens, which leads to their 75% success rate, is that readers can only download one ARC at a time. They can’t download a new ARC until they finish reading and reviewing their active one.

This feature is pretty cool for authors because your advanced reader is much less likely to ghost you without leaving a review. And they’re entirely focused on one book at a time.

BookSirens will also give you a direct link that you can send to your book army. So, those folks can hop on over there and securely download their ARC for free.

You also have the option of choosing whether your reviews are posted on Goodreads, Amazon, or both. Now if you’re wondering about getting book reviews from your book army (And how to keep them from being removed) – check out this article .

#4 Booksprout

Booksprout is another option to consider if your main priority is a prelaunch review push.

Similar to BookSirens, Booksprout is a review site that automates the delivery of your ARC to over 40,000 users.

Their average review rate is around 79%. Even your book army will find it challenging to beat that.

Before you get all excited, we’ve been testing this one for some time, and we’re getting mixed results.

Self-Publish and Succeed , well after launch, got four reviews from a single Booksprout listing. Yet, the other books we tested did not bring any results.

Right now, we’re playing with it to figure out whether it’s a timing issue, a topic, or something else.

We’ve experienced the same thing with BookSirens. My book wasn’t even accepted by them for their reviewers. So, I only used BookSirens for ARCs, but some authors from our client base have gotten good reviews.

BookSirens Vs. Booksprout

So what’s the difference between the two paid review sites? Which one is better for you? Let’s discuss the main differences between BookSirens and Booksprout:

• Booksprout focuses on getting reviews by a specific date, while BookSirens focuses on getting a particular number of reviews.
• On BookSirens, you can post your book and have the reviews roll in for as long as your little heart desires. But on Booksprout, your reviewers have a time limit to read and write their review.
• Booksprout also limits the number of reviewer downloads depending on your subscription level. The more money you spend on their service, the more downloads you can do.
• BookSirens is a fee-per-book service, letting you choose the number of downloads from as little as 5 to as many as 250.

On the plus side, you can request Booksprout reviews posted on up to eight different sites rather than just Goodreads or Amazon. They include options like Kobo, Apple Books, Google Books, and even BookBub.

Whether you go with BookSirens, Booksprout, or both, these two book review sites are easy to use. They’re effective if you need a little help building up your audience.

If this is your first book or your book army looks a little sparse on the prelaunch battlefield, one of these two review sites, or maybe both, could be your answer.

Now that you know some of the best sites that can help you get book reviews in bulk, maybe it’s time to get in touch with us. See what we can do to help you take off even further, even months post-launch.

Here at Book Launchers we help authors like you in every stage of the self-publishing process. Whether you write the book yourself or with our help, we’re with you every step of the way.

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Home / Book Publishing / Amazon Verified Reviews for Books: Everything You Need to Know

Amazon Verified Reviews for Books: Everything You Need to Know

Verified purchase reviews are the lifeblood of a high conversion rate. With a lot of reviews, people are more likely to buy your book. No reviews, and the opposite is likely to happen.

Amazon verified purchase reviews are especially important, because they prove that your book was purchased and reviewed by real people, not just potentially biased reviewers on your ARC team.

But how do you get a lot of verified book reviews? That is the question we are asking in this article.

• What verified reviews are
• Why they are important
• How to increase your verified reviews by yourself
• A service that can potentially help

Table of contents

• What Are Verified Reviews?
• Why Are Verified Reviews Important?
• 1. Encouraging Reviewers Yourself
• 2. Pay a Company to Encourage Verified Reviews
• Verified Review Service: Bookvertiser
• Final Thoughts

Disclaimer: some of the links in this article are affiliate links, but the cost you nothing extra, and every little bit goes to the Kindlepreneur coffee fund.

The short answer: an Amazon verified review is any review left by someone who actually purchased your book on Amazon.

It is a little bit more complicated than that, though.

Firstly, the review must come from someone who has spent at least $50 on Amazon products within a year. This is to weed out spambots and people who clearly aren't regularly active on Amazon.

Secondly, Amazon specifies that the reviewer can't have bought the book at a “big discount”. However, Amazon does not specify what this means. To be safe, we recommend keeping your book priced at $2.99 or higher. While I have seen verified reviews with $0.99 books, is not a guarantee. And free books are unlikely to lead to verified reviews.

Amazon then lists verified views with a “Verified Purchase” badge within the review.

As online shoppers got more tech savvy, they began to be wary of fake Amazon reviews. Amazon has done a lot to crack down on fake reviews, but it isn't always enough.

For example, Amazon allows authors to give out free copies of their books in exchange for a review. Naturally, this group is going to be slightly biased, because they got a free book.

Don't get me wrong, we absolutely encourage you to have ARC reviewers to get those first initial reviews. But understand that those reviews will not be verified.

By including the Verified Purchase badge, it becomes much more likely that that review is genuine. This leads to increased trust from the customer. The more verified reviews, the greater the likelihood that the reviews are accurate.

And the more a reader trusts that a high volume of reviews are genuine, the more likely they are to convert (aka buy your book).

How to Get Verified Amazon Reviews for Your Books

Since verified reviews require that the Amazon reviewer purchase your book, you cannot simply send your book out for free to an ARC team.

Instead, these reviews have to come from people who have genuinely bought your book.

There is a fine line to walk here, because you cannot pay someone to buy your book and leave a review. 

In other words, you can't encourage a friend to buy your book, then refund them.

So what can you do?

Well, you have two options.

• Encourage reviewers yourself
• Pay a company to do it for you

The first option is to encourage people to review your book. This is something you should do even if you pay a company to help you.

Warning: remember you cannot pay or refund someone to leave a verified purchase review. Doing so is against Amazon's terms of services and could get you banned.

Ultimately, the best way to get more reviews is to make more sales, because the higher the volume of sales, the more people you have that could leave a verified review.

However, there are ways that you can increase the percentage of buyers who leave a review, including:

• Include a review request in your book: make sure that every book has a request for a review at the back of your book, with a link (if it's an ebook) that goes directly to your review page. This should be one of the first things that a reader sees after finishing your book.
• Reach out to your email list: every once in a while, you should reach out to your email list and request that they leave a review. Do this frequently, so your list is used to hearing about it, especially when launching a book.
• Schedule book promotions: book promotions are still one of the best ways to get readers to buy your book. The more readers buy your book, the more likely you are to have reviews.
• Create a quality product: it goes without saying, but the better your book is, the more likely it is to be purchased and reviewed.

Additionally, you should use a tool like ReaderScout to track when reviews are left. This is especially important when requesting reviews from your email list, because you can then track the number of reviews that are left.

ReaderScout is a free Chrome plugin that will notify you every time you have a new review, and it tracks a few other things as well. Plus, it's free!

If you have already done all this, and you still want to get a few extra verified reviews, read on.

Your second option is to pay a company to get you verified reviews.

Important: these companies cannot pay or refund readers to leave verified reviews either. That is why you are not paying them to guarantee reviews. You are paying them to encourage readers to buy your book and leave a review.

It is difficult to find a good company that will stay within the boundaries Amazon has set and still get you quality verified reviews.

When looking for a company like this, we recommend you focus on two criteria:

• Companies that have lasted a while
• Companies with a public face (i.e. real people and not a faceless corporation)

One of the companies that we recommend is Bookvertiser.

Bookvertiser has an audience of highly engaged readers/reviewers in a variety of different genres.

What Bookvertiser does is reach out to this list to encourage them to buy your book and leave a verified review. They will continue to do this until you have reached the threshold of reviews that you select when you purchase.

Note that the costs are not always cheap. It takes a lot of work to guarantee a certain number of reviews, especially when you cannot pay a reviewer or refund them for leaving the review. 

They also can't guarantee that every review will be a positive review. While my experience tells me these reviewers are often kind, you might still get a negative review.

But using a service like Bookvertiser is one of the best ways to rapidly gain verified reviews without putting in a lot of the hard work yourself.

If you use this link and input the code KP5 , you’ll get 5% off your purchase order.

Reviews can be an uphill battle, but they are absolutely worth it.

If you can convince as many people in your audience to buy your book, then review it, you are well on your way to being easily discovered on Amazon.

Get enough sales, and a high enough conversion rate, and Amazon will begin marketing your book for you.

Jason Hamilton

When I’m not sipping tea with princesses or lightsaber dueling with little Jedi, I’m a book marketing nut. Having consulted multiple publishing companies and NYT best-selling authors, I created Kindlepreneur to help authors sell more books. I’ve even been called “The Kindlepreneur” by Amazon publicly, and I’m here to help you with your author journey.

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Blog – Posted on Wednesday, Mar 27

How to become a book reviewer in 12 steps.

Most book critics have a pretty thankless job. If they give a bad review, they’re often accused of sour grapes (“If they could write, then they wouldn’t be reviewers”) and when their write-ups help a book to take off, they almost never get the credit (“the author’s talent sold the book, not the review”).  Yet literary criticism is an essential driver in the book-world — now more than ever in our age of online purchases and algorithmic curation. Which means there’s no time like the present to learn how to become a book reviewer .

In this post, we’ll look at the value of book criticism and show you how to become a book reviewer with our 12-step plan.

Why is book criticism important?

By conservative estimates, over 600,000 books are published each year in the US alone. Even the most voracious reader could only read a tiny fraction of those titles. Without literary criticism, the only thing to determine which books receive exposure would be the marketing teams of Big 5 publishers who would — dollars to donuts — always choose the titles they think will sell the most copies.

In the film Ratatouille , the fearsome food critic Anton Ego has something of an epiphany in the final reel: “There are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new.” In many ways, that is the reason why literary journals, newspaper book reviews, online review blogs, and Amazon user reviews exist: all of these play an important role in championing new authors and new ideas.

As we’ll discover in the next section, the book critic’s job is not just to serve as an arbiter of taste, lording their influence over authors. When they’re doing their job right, they’re serving as a shepherd, not just for readers but for writers as well.

Why would you want to become a book reviewer?

Before we get into the topic of what a critic personally gets out of reviewing books, let’s expand a bit on the role they play.

First (and arguably foremost), a critic’s job is to guide readers . They need to present a book to the reader in a way that gives a flavor of what it’s like: they might choose direct quotes, isolate individual sections — whatever it takes to help the reader to form their own impression of the title.

The reviewer should also be well-read, so they can not only provide a personal reaction to the book, but justify that opinion as well. In an age of online ‘reaction videos’ where novices offer their knee-jerk opinions of music, films, and books they’re not familiar with, the critic should ideally provide a more rounded, informed account. They should be able to put a book into context, comparing and contrasting the author’s approach based on what works have come before it.

Some may see this as an elitist approach, but surely we read reviews because we’re interested in what the critic knows — not what they don’t know. Not to mention that authors hoping for reviews will appreciate a well-informed reviewer!

Book reviewers also have an influential platform . Whether they’re writing product reviews for an online retailer or penning 1,200 words for The New York Times , they can use their soapbox to shine a light on new authors. If we want to get lofty about it, you could say that it’s a critic’s responsibility to seek out and champion new talent: give them exposure that they wouldn’t get if we were to leave it to the marketing team at HarperCollins, for example.

In this next section, we’ll show you how you can get involved in the world of literary criticism and become a book reviewer.

How to become a book reviewer in 12 steps

If you're looking to become a professional book reviewer and reach a growing audience, you could do a lot worse than to follow these twelve steps.

Step 1. Read abundantly

If you don’t already read like a maniac , then one might wonder why you’d want to become a book reviewer in the first place. Reading certainly won’t get any more enjoyable when you’re faced with a deadline. Plus, as we mentioned before, one of the best things you can bring to the table as a reviewer is your understanding of the history and landscape of the genre. When you’re reviewing a new horror book set in small-town New England, you should be, at the very least, well-versed in Stephen King books.

While you're at it, read other book reviews as well. You might as well learn from the best!

Step 2. Start reviewing books for free (or for money!)

Guess what? You can become a book reviewer today! You just need to log into your account at an online book retailer and drop a review of a book you’ve enjoyed. You can even write quality commentary with the help of our book review templates .

Okay, this article’s done now. Turns out, we only needed two steps. Roll credits.

All joking aside, reviewing books on retail sites is not a bad place to start. It gives you an opportunity to exercise your reviewing muscles and have your write-ups seen and enjoyed by folks browsing for their next big read. You can get feedback on your review (“20 people found this helpful”) and even contribute to the success of a book you like.

Once you feel confident in your skills (and are ready to take the next step), you can look at some of the online platforms which are always on the lookout for reviewers.

One of the most difficult parts of being a first-time author (especially a self-publishing one) is getting editorial reviews in time for the release of their book. If you look at the product description of a book’s Amazon page, you’ll often see that they include an extract from a review. If it’s a prominent release, the review may be from a national broadsheet; if it’s a smaller release, it may be from a smaller online reviewer. A few services specialize in providing authors with paid editorial reviews, which naturally requires reviewers. Some of the services will even pay them for their reviews (with some significant strings attached).

So which review platforms should you consider?

Some of the best-known review services include Kirkus, The U.S. Review of Books, Online Book Club, and Publisher’s Weekly — all of which offer a small honorarium in exchange for reviews. The review copies of the book are free (ideal!) but almost all of these services will give the reviewer no exposure (not ideal — especially if you’re looking to build your own profile as a reviewer).

The team here at Reedsy recently launched Reedsy Discovery as an alternative to these services. The reviewers on the platform have to submit examples of their writing for quality control, but once accepted, they can access and review a massive pool of upcoming indie books from their chosen genre.

The edge that Discovery offers reviewers is visibility . Each reviewer has a bespoke landing page where all their reviews can be found, along with a bio, headshot, and newsfeed. Readers who like what any given reviewer has written can choose to “follow” them and receive alerts about new reviews. Overall, Reedsy Discovery aims to give critics a platform (and the social networking tools) to build their personal profile and readership, two things that will come in handy as your reviewing career progresses.

To register as a reviewer on Reedsy Discovery, click here .

Between these options, you should have a few places where you can start writing reviews almost immediately! If you'd like to double-check, we recommend taking this quick quiz to find out which review community is the right fit for you:

Which review community should you join?

Find out which review community is best for your style. Takes 30 seconds!

And then, before you take a step into the big leagues, let’s cover some best practices.

Step 3. Always follow guidelines

Following guidelines is a good reviewing habit to develop early on — it will save you from a lot of rejection and rewrites. Sites like Kirkus are notorious for requiring an exact format for each review, while Reedsy Discovery and a few of the other sites allow a bit more freedom.

As you start to work with editorial staff, this ability to stick to guidelines will help you with your reputation as someone whose reviews don’t require an immense amount of feedback and editing — something that time-strapped editors appreciate.

Step 4. Always think of the reader first

In your life as a reviewer, you will almost always have a choice of which books to write about. So if a book has been utterly terrible, you can always choose not to write about it at all. Instead, find another title that might actually deserve getting the push that your review can provide. Look for books that sound intriguing; then if you love it, find a way to convince your readers that they might love it too.

Step 5. Host all your reviews in one place

Any freelance writer (such as a reviewer) these days needs to have a strong online presence. If you’re looking to build your portfolio and profile, you need to keep most of your work in one location .

This might mean starting your own website or maybe a Tumblr page ( maybe ) as an easy, low-cost alternative. Reedsy Discovery effectively gives reviewers a homepage where all their reviews can be found (okay, the last mention of Reedsy Discovery for a while, we promise!).

Essentially, you just want to be able to send anyone a single URL where they can browse through your back-catalog of work. This will come in extra handy if you’re ever applying to a high-profile reviewing (or any other type of writing) job: your whole portfolio will be in one convenient place to impress employers.

Step 6. Become a specialist

It can be hard to sell yourself as a jack of all trades. If you tell an editor that you are the right person to review ‘anything’, chances are they’ll think you’re deluded.

Instead, focus on a few genres that you know intimately. Through your work, you want editors to know you as the go-to person for certain genres — so when a conspiracy thriller or what have you crosses their desk, they’ll know exactly who to assign it to (you).

Once you know your specialty, make sure you’re familiar with trends in that category, and review a lot of titles in those genres. When it comes to pitching to review the next big book in that niche, you’ll be able to point to your past work as why you’re uniquely qualified to take that job.

So now that we’ve built you a reputation, a small following, and a massive body of work, you may want to take the next logical step: writing a review for a paper or a big online outlet. To do this, you’ll need to get yourself on the radar of some editors.

Step 7. Put together a packet of your best reviews

If the editors of a magazine or paper have never heard of you, then your work is going to have to knock their socks off. The prime way to do this is to assemble a packet of your best work . Yes, you should already have your full portfolio in one place — but this will be a “greatest hits” compilation of sorts, so editors can see your maximum potential.

Perhaps choose a mix of recognizable, traditionally published titles and indie books, so they know you have a wide range. Then, as you start getting published in more prestigious publications, begin working those reviews into your pack, and continue the cycle as you write more and more. After all, it’s much easier to get published if you can show that you’ve already been published.

Step 8. Join an association

Being part of a community is an important element of entering any profession. And book reviewing is no different! If you’re based in the US, check out the National Book Critic’s Circle : membership currently costs $50 a year for freelancers and it gives you access to a bunch of great resources and access to its Emerging Critics Fellowship.

Step 9. Find out upcoming releases

Once you know what books are coming up, you can start creating a shortlist of books you want (and are suited) to review.

Step 10. Start small-ish

Even if you’re a freakishly prodigious writer, chances are you won’t be able to make the jump straight to The New York Review of Books . Instead, look for more modest opportunities at smaller local papers, online magazines, and certain literary journals . As you research, make yourself a “hit list” of possible review outlets, figure out which upcoming books might be suited to those outlets, and start pitching.

Step 11. Pitch reviews effectively

First of all, always make sure that you’re contacting the right person at a magazine or newspaper. Don’t send your pitch to the city editor or the sports desk — word will get out that you don’t know how to do basic research.

It’s also good to bear in mind that you’re not pitching the idea of a review: you want to pitch the story your review might tell . The editor might not have considered running a review of the book you’re putting forward, so you have to sell them on the idea: why should they print a review of that book? Is it newsworthy (e.g. does it cover a topic in the current zeitgeist, or that is about to have a major anniversary)? Is it the latest book in a category that’s about to explode?

Once you’ve convinced an editor that the book you’ve proposed is worth reviewing, you’ll also have to make a case for why you should be the one to do it. Of course, you’ll want to link to your review samples to prove that you can write and that you’re well-versed in the genre. This should demonstrate your understanding and passion for that type of book and prove that you’re the ideal candidate.

To see what that might look like, check out this post from writer Erika Dreyfus. She provides an example where she mentioned how her grandfather was a businessman in post-WWI Germany as part of her successful pitch to review a new memoir set in that era.

Also, don’t pitch too late. Magazines will assign reviews weeks (if not months) in advance, so get your pitch in there early.

Step 12. Always follow up politely

Some people call this “hustling,” but in truth, it’s basic common sense. Wherever there is a submissions process, you can bet that there’s some poor soul who has to go through hundreds of emails. Naturally, emails will get lost in the pile and forgotten. If you don’t receive a reply from an outlet after two weeks, drop them a short polite reminder .

And if the answer is “no thank you,” then be gracious. Just because they don’t want you to review this book for them today, doesn’t mean they won’t be interested in something down the line. Who knows: after a few pitches, they might remember you as the “reviewer who’s big on Civil War fiction” and think of you the next time something appropriate turns up. So make a good impression and leave things on a positive note.

Keep plugging away, never stop reading, and always review with an eye to championing new talent and broadening readers’ horizons. You’ll eventually get a lucky break — and when that happens, you’ll be ready to seize the opportunity!

Continue reading

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2021 – How To Get Amazon Reviews Without Breaking The Rules

While the humble mailing list has been touted in many corners of the publishing world, it still rules as the only definite way of selling your book and getting Verified reviews.

But not all mailing lists are equal.

Amazon Rules

While it seems easy enough to add friends and family to your mailing list, here’s what to bear in mind: Once they bought your book, you can’t keep touting them for business.

The second issue is that Amazon does not allow friends and family of an author to review the book on Amazon, and if you are a new author, maybe this is the only way you were counting on getting those reviews.

You also can’t swap reviews with other authors, or pay, exchange tokens, or any other incentive to get reviews. While some services offer this, it’s actually against Amazon’s Terms. You cannot post “a review by someone perceived to have a close personal relationship with the product’s owner, author, or artist.”

So how do you find readers that like reviewing books?

Author Site Sign-Ups Don’t Cut It

Many so-called advice sites tell you to collect emails from your website.

The hard truth is that mailing lists rule if they are huge and filled with active readers, that is, members of the public you don’t know. If you think adding a box to your website for people to sign up will do it, it won’t.

You need literally thousands of people to sign up for it, and that’s just too difficult to imagine for one author trying to compete with all the other authors online. You’re not going to get there.

Using Mailer Promotion Services

So what can you do? Your only safe option in 2021 is to use a mailing promotion service, where you don’t know anyone who might review your book, and you’re not asking for a biased (i.e. positive) review.

While there are plenty of services on the market for unverified reviews, that is, where the reader has not bought your book but is reviewing from a free copy, these don’t do enough in Amazon’s algorithm to help your exposure, and none of them guarantee you’ll get any reviews at all.

You’re looking at getting over 30 Verified reviews before you will see any benefit to promotions you do on Amazon (such as price countdowns).

Verified Amazon Reviews gained by emailer to thousands of readers are only available at a few companies in the world, because this sort of mailing list is a wondrous but very painstaking tool to keep current. We have to maintain our lists very meticulously, as they are a living, flowing beast of email subscribers who leave and join on a regular basis.

Even the best-known list service, BookBub, has changed its approach several times over the years to accommodate this flow, and nowadays, indie authors are lucky to get any reviews from their list as they have moved into trad publishing and more popular books soak up reviewers’ time.

That’s why we offer our Amazon Book Promotion service for indie authors, concentrating on finding readers who like indie books and understand how much your writing means to you.

We keep promoting until you get a minimum number of reviews, and can combine this with sales and ranking.

Take a look at our Mailing List Promotions for Amazon eBooks here.

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3 Ways to Write Reviews for Amazon & Get Paid (Not Just Free Products!)

by Lauren Bennett - Verified & Updated March 11, 2019 (This post may contain affiliate links.)

Statistics show that 75% of US online consumers shop on Amazon!

That’s a pretty impressive percentage!

So, it’s safe to say that most of us do at least some of our shopping on Amazon, which means that many of us are leaving reviews on products.

Reviews are beneficial to both the manufacturer of the product and other potential buyers who use reviews to decide whether or not to buy a product.

I know that whenever I buy something from Amazon, one of the first things I do is take a look at the reviews.

You can often see whether a product is actually worthwhile or whether has any negatives before you part with any cash.

And, the reviews also help the seller of the item by providing valuable customer feedback.

So, reviews are definitely valuable.

But, how valuable?

Valuable enough that some Amazon sellers go out of their way (by ignoring  Amazon’s review policy ) to get reviews on their products.

Table of Contents

Can You Actually Get Paid to Write Amazon Reviews?

The answer to this question is yes.

There are actually many companies that will pay you to write reviews .

But, there aren’t that many ways to do it.

This is because paying for reviews is actually against Amazon’s terms and conditions.

So companies who pay for reviews are breaking the rules.

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But this doesn’t stop them.

After all, the competition on Amazon is fierce, meaning that sellers do everything they can to get the edge over competitors – and some are willing to break Amazon’s T&Cs to do so.

This means that while the opportunities for paid Amazon reviews are scarcer than they once were, there are still a couple of them out there.

Some companies want reviews on their products on the Amazon website, and others are looking for reviews on blogs and other websites, in order to increase the visibility of their products.

Now, it’s important to note a few things before we get onto the methods for getting paid for Amazon reviews.

Firstly, leaving reviews on Amazon.com in exchange for payment is against Amazon’s T&Cs – meaning that you’re breaking the site’s rules.

That’s why we recommend setting up another Amazon account for reviews. If you use your regular account, there is the risk that you could have the account closed. So do keep that in mind.

Now, let’s take a look at ways to earn money writing Amazon reviews.

1. Work with Book Review Websites

One of the best ways to get paid to review Amazon products is to work with book review websites.

These websites connect reviewers who are looking to make money, with Amazon authors who need some positive reviews on their books.

Basically, you get free books in exchange for reviews .

Reviews are in high demand on Amazon – as the platform favors books that have them.

Kindle authors, especially indie authors, rely on reviews to increase sales and awareness of their books.

This means that a lot of them work with promotional companies, such as review companies and book tour companies.

These companies help authors by connecting them with reviewers who will offer a review on Amazon and boost the author’s sales.

This is why a lot of authors work with these review websites.

Here are a few review sites to check out:

Any Subject Books

• Where to apply : Apply to be a reviewer at Any Subject Books here .

This company offers book publishing services to independent authors. So it provides services, like editing, book trailers, advertising, and of course reviews.

It pays people to write reviews.

As a reviewer, you’ll get invitations to review books. You can choose which invitations to accept. Once you accept a review, you’ll need to provide an honest opinion of the book.

You’ll post your review on bookstores and websites, including Amazon or Goodreads.

In addition to getting paid for your review, you’ll also get a free review copy of each book that you review.

The company doesn’t say how much it pays, but it does say it pays on a specific book basis, and that factors, like word count, will affect how much you earn.

Readers’ Favorite

• Where to apply : Apply to be a reviewer at Readers’ Favorite here .

Readers’ Favorite provides review opportunities for a huge range of books from both indie authors and big publishers, like Simon & Schuster and Penguin Random House.

This company works with those who have writing skills.

So it’s more designed for professional-style reviews.

In exchange for writing a review, you get paid a small amount, and you also receive a free book, and an entry into a $100 monthly giveaway.

Online Book Club

• Where to apply : Apply to be a reviewer at Online Book Club here .

Online Book Club, which has been around for over a decade, will pay you to review books.

You will earn from $5 to $60 per review, and you’ll also get a free book !

Before you get access to paid book review opportunities, you’ll need to have one approved review. Then you’ll become eligible to write paid reviews as well.

2. Write Reviews on Your Blog & Make Money as an Affiliate

Another way to make money from reviewing Amazon products is to start a blog , and post your reviews on there.

This can work better than the method above, as it allows you to write about a huge range of different products – not just books.

You can write about a huge range of products and make money.

How it works

Amazon has its own affiliates program called Amazon Associates.

When you join this program, you can get your own affiliate link for any Amazon product.

When you use this link on your website, and a reader of your blog clicks on the link and buys the product, then you get a percentage of the profits from the sale.

It’s a very easy way to make money.

So, with this method, you aren’t getting paid per review.

Instead, you get paid for each item that a customer buys through your affiliate links.

The percentage you get from the sale is up to 10%.

You don’t earn a huge amount of money per sale, but if you build up your blog traffic, you’ll get more sales, and earn more money.

Also, when you write a blog article containing affiliate links, once the article is uploaded your work is done, but you’ll continue to make money from the post long after you’ve written it.

This means that this is a more passive method of income compared to getting paid for each review that you write.

How to start your blog

Here’s how to get started:

• Get a domain name and hosting – companies like Bluehost , GoDaddy and HostGator offer hosting and domain services.
• Sign up to a blogging platform – WordPress is ideal.
• Sign up for Amazon Associates, which you can do here .

Making Money from Reviews on Your Blog

The next stage is to just start blogging!

You could just do review posts, where you review one product per article.

Or you could do a list article, like “top ten best DSLR camera lenses.”

People like list-style posts, so that can be a great place to start with your blog.

Also, you can write content that helps the reader with something, and then provide links to related products.

For example, if you had a review on an Aveeno body lotion, for example, then you could do a supplementary post, like “10 ways to combat eczema.” You could then mention the Aveeno body lotion and link to your review of it.

Overall, affiliate sales can be a good residual income source and a good way to make money reviewing Amazon products.

Do make sure though that you disclose your use of affiliate links.

3. Provide Reviews on Swagbucks & Get Paid

Swagbucks is a rewards website, which gives you lots of different ways to earn points.

These points are called Swag Bucks or SB for short.

You can redeem your SB for cash right to your PayPal account, or for gift cards to popular retailers and brands, like Amazon.

Swagbucks offers you a lot of easy ways to make money, such as watching videos and playing games.

But, it also gives users the opportunity to provide feedback to brands – some of which sell their products on Amazon.

In return for taking short surveys, answering polls, and providing brands with valuable feedback, Swagbucks will reward you with points.

So if you want to get paid to give your opinion , as you do when you write Amazon reviews, then this is a good option.

• Sign up for Swagbucks here .

Bonus Tip: Consider Getting Free or Heavily Discounted Stuff for Review!

It’s much harder now, thanks to Amazon’s policy change, to find paying review opportunities.

That’s why it can be a good idea to write reviews in exchange for free products or for huge discounts on items.

We have a post that lists the best Amazon review sites that offer free or highly discounted products.

On the websites that offer a discount, rather than free products, you can get 90% off in some cases!

With these websites, you write Amazon reviews for free products

Check out our post on the best Amazon review sites here .

Also, we have a post on how to become an Amazon product tester and get free or discounted products – read this post here .

Closing Thoughts

Even though Amazon’s stricter policy has made them scarcer, there are still ways that you can write reviews for Amazon and get paid.

If you’ve ever earned money writing reviews, then let us know about it in the comments section below.

And if you have any tips for making money from reviewing Amazon products, then feel free to tell us about it in the comments section!

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Although I have published work on Amazon through BookRix. I never knew one can write reviews and get paid. Thanks for a really informative article with lots of useful content.

Very good information thank you

is it possible to create website with displaying products and people can register and write reviews and get paid?

I mean, yes, you can create your own website and do what you want with it. That said, you have to make sure you are within the rules of each company. Some companies have very complicated rules for incentivized reviews. It’s all in the fine print.

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How To Get Paid To Write Reviews For Amazon (Anybody Can Do It!)

Chances are, probably not – because despite it’s amazing earning potential & easiness to do, not many people do seem to know about it… But it’s a fact that there are actually may people (myself included) that earn a full-time living by writing short, simple reviews for companies like Amazon.

And in this blog post, I’m going to show you how it works, how much money you can make & most importantly, how you can get started with it for yourself.

So if you’ve got any interest in writing reviews for money then be sure to read this blog post right to the very end because it’s going to contain literally everything that you need to know.

Who Can Get Paid To Write Reviews?    |   Is It Legal?    |   How Much Money Can You Make Writing Reviews?   |   How To Get Paid To Write Reviews   |   The Best Place To Get Started

Who Can Get Paid To Write Reviews?

Many methods of earning money online are restricted to certain countries, age groups or demographics, but the good news about this one, in particular, is that it can be done by anybody .

That’s right – it doesn’t matter where you live, how old you are, whether you’re male, female, or even a robot… You’ll still have the opportunity available to you to earn money for writing reviews.

The only thing that may differ depending on where you’re located is how you’ll be paid because some countries are limited to what means of payment they can accept.

For example, some countries do not have access to PayPal… But it’s typically no big deal as you can often just choose another payment method instead, such as cheque or direct bank transfer, etc.

And if you’re wondering about experience, well, you don’t need it .

Experience at writing (or writing reviews in particular) is not necessary. You can do this (and still earn money by doing it) even if you’re never written a single review before in your life.

So, basically, it’s good news all around on this front. If you came here wondering “can I get paid to write reviews?” then the quick answer is yes you can (and pretty darn good money too).

Is It Legal To Get Paid To Write Reviews?

It’s true that paying for product reviews on Amazon is against their terms, and rightly so. There’s nothing more annoying for a customer than trying to find honest reviews & getting nothing but skewed “opinions” from paid reviewers.

But with so much competition on Amazon this doesn’t stop product vendors from still seeking out paid reviews.

So, you might be wondering, is it legal to be on the other end of the spectrum?

Is it legal to get paid to write reviews?

Well, the good news for you is that in this blog post I am not talking about writing paid reviews ON Amazon itself. I’m talking about writing reviews of products from Amazon, on other websites.

There’s a big difference, as you’ll soon see… And not only is my method legal, but it’s also actively encouraged by Amazon themselves. In fact, it’s Amazon that will be paying you.

So the answer is YES, it’s legal.

But with regards to writing paid reviews ON Amazon & the legalities of that in terms of getting paid from product vendors to write misleading & potentially false reviews… I don’t know about that.

Chances are, probably not… And either way, I don’t condone doing it.

The reviews you’ll be writing (and getting paid for writing) through my method on this page will all be honest reviews because the more honest they are, the more you’ll stand to earn.

Free Training:

• Learn How To Launch a Thriving Online Business
• See The 3 Best Ways To Make Extra Money Online
• Step-By-Step Beginner's Guide To Affiliate Marketing

How Much Money Can You Make Writing Reviews?

Honestly, the earning potential is completely unlimited with this method. The sky truly is the limit & it’s simply a case of how hard you’re willing to work.

The harder you work, the more you can earn.

And what’s more is that once you’ve got a few reviews under your belt your earnings can even start to become passive too, allowing you to essentially “compound your results” and scale up your income.

In fact, some Amazon review writers earn as much as 5-figures per month, often whilst just working part-time (though, it should be noted that initially, they will have worked very hard).

Some, such as Shawndra Russell from Make a Living Writing even earn as much as 6-figures by writing online.

Pretty crazy stuff, right?

But what’s craziest about this method is that it’s really not difficult to do. As I mentioned further up in this post, literally anybody can do it.

Now I know what you’re likely thinking…

There must be a catch, right?

Well, yes, there kind of is… But it’s not really a bad one, and it’s one that anybody can overcome with a little persistence. The “catch” is simply that you won’t begin earning instantly.

It’s not a FAST method for earning money (there’s no such thing).

FAST methods for making money are known as scams.

Initially, it will take quite a bit of effort, and that effort will have to be made without any immediate reward… But the good news is that if you do stick at it, you WILL make money.

Here’s proof of that:

• My First Amazon Check – It works!
• I got my first Amazon check yesterday on over $1000!
• My First $3.75K Month, 2.5 Years Later! (Patience Pays Off)
• My First Amazon Check Is On Its Way!
• My First Amazon Check Has Arrived

Unfortunately, however, it seems that most people these days expect things to happen “instantly” & so despite this being a fantastic way to earn, it’s often very overlooked.

But, that’s up to you. The ball’s in your court on that front.

How To Get Paid To Write Reviews

First, what I want to once again stress here is that you are not going to be writing FAKE product reviews. I don’t condone that & in all honesty, I’m totally against it.

You shouldn’t be trying to earn money by tricking people.

Instead, what I’m talking about here is getting paid to write honest & helpful reviews of products from Amazon (or just about any website for that matter).

And you’re going to learn how you can leverage a method known as affiliate marketing to begin earning consistent commissions for many years to come from every review that you write.

Affiliate marketing happens to be the exact same way that I earn most of my own money online, so in short, you’re basically learning about the exact same way I earn my own money.

It’s a very good & very powerful method & it’s a method that you can scale to any level that you desire.

You see, through affiliate marketing you get the opportunity to promote products or services for companies & earn commissions if anybody clicks via your promotion & makes a purchase.

How it works is that you simply get your own unique link to the products or services that you’re promoting.

This means that when you share the link online, any clicks on it are tracked back to you. So if you share it & somebody clicks it & then buys something, that sale is tracked back to you.

Most importantly, this means that you get paid for that sale.

Simple enough, right?

Now, affiliate marketing is actually a really popular way to make money online, however despite its popularity, many of the people that try it out never actually make any money.

Because they go about it the wrong way. They do things such as send their links to friends or family, or pay for advertising, or just actively try to push their links onto people.

That’s not the way to do it. There’s a better way.

The better way is to simply write a review of whatever it is that you’re promoting & then let the buyers come to you .

The benefit of this method is that there’s no messing around with selling & telling or anything like that. You just publish a review, then people come to it, read it, decide to make a purchase & then you get paid a commission in return.

You see, when you publish content online, search engines such as Google & Bing automatically discover it & list it within their results as an option for people to click on whenever they search for something related to it.

So as an example, let’s say I decided to look for a review of a product called Gorilla Tape before I bought it.

I’d head to Google and search for something like “ gorilla tape review ” (naturally).

And the result that pops up in the listings & catches my eye is a post from some called “thetechnologyman” as shown below:

So I click the link to find out more info & I’m presented with a review from a guy who compares Gorilla tape against another tape & concludes that the Gorilla tape is better.

The important point here, however, is that he then provides a link for you to purchase the Gorilla tape on Amazon… And guess what? The link he provides is an Amazon affiliate link .

Take a look:

This means that whenever somebody decides to look for a review of Gorilla tape, checks out his post & then clicks his link to purchase it, he’ll get paid a commission from Amazon.

All from a small, one-time effort of writing the review.

And what’s more is that he’ll continue to earn those commissions for many years to come – well, for as long as he decides to keep his review published, or for as long as the product exists.

Amazing, right?

And literally anybody can do this. If you’ve ever used a product & formed an opinion about it, you can write a review about it & earn money by helping other people that are looking to purchase it.

The Best Place To Get Started

The best place that you can get started with this method (in my opinion) is a place called Wealthy Affiliate , which is where you’ll get all of the tools & training you need to get started.

At Wealthy Affiliate , you’ll be shown step-by-step (and provided with the tools that you need) to build your own simple website which is where you’ll publish the reviews that you write.

You’ll then be shown how can you can affiliate yourself with Amazon (or any other website you wish to affiliate yourself with) so that you can begin earning by promoting their products.

And best of all, you can get started with Wealthy Affiliate for free.

So if after reading this blog post & getting an insight into how you can get paid to write reviews for Amazon products you’ve found yourself wanting to try it out, I’d highly recommend you check out Wealthy Affiliate .

Or if you’d like to learn more about Wealthy Affiliate first, you can read my full, in-depth review right here .

Alternatively, you can also check out my own free guides on getting started with affiliate marketing & building a website (for free) via the links below:

• What Is Affiliate Marketing & How Does It Work? A Simple Guide For Beginners
• How To Create a Website (For Free) & Earn Money From It – Step By Step Guide

But whichever route you decide to go down, I hope that my post here has enlightened you to the fact that yes, it really is possible to get paid for writing reviews on Amazon products.

And of course, if you have any further questions with regards to how it all works or anything like that then don’t hesitate to leave them below. I’m always more than happy to offer help & assistance. 🙂

P.S. You Might Also Like:

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18 thoughts on “How To Get Paid To Write Reviews For Amazon (Anybody Can Do It!)”

You are the best but how do I get started with Amazon review or I missed it. 🤗

Thank you Josin! 🙂 It looks like you missed it, feel free to read the post again 🙂

Hay sorry tried to read through properly, just to make sure I am understanding the sequence correctly, so if I create a website where I write reviews about products I’ve used then attach affiliate links to the products the goal is over time sites like google will start pulling me up when people look up reviews about that product and then after reading my web page review they will use my link to purchase the item from Amazon or other related stores?

That’s absolutely right 🙂

Funny thing because I didn’t see it either. Lots of water down info nothing else

Hi, do you review items you just happen to use and like or do you receive free items to review? And if so, where do you get them?

That depends, Carol. Initially, you will likely begin by writing reviews of things you’ve used but as you grow your following there will certainly be an opportunity for you to receive free stuff to review .

What a load of absolute scammy, feel-good *swear word removed*. You need a platform and an audience to make money from affiliate marketing, *swear word removed*, not this simplistic “you can do it, too, if you work hard enough!” shit. Also:

“Unfortunately, however, it seems that most people these days expect things to happen “instantly” & so despite this being a fantastic way to earn, it’s often very overlooked.”

Literally, *swear word removed* off. Working without pay is called slavery, not entitlement.

Somehow, you made affiliate marketing sound like a *swear word removed* MLM scam with your platitudes and oversimplifications. Next time, be honest from the start about what you’re actually shilling and save people from having to read this schlock.

The fact that you’ve chosen to hide behind a fake name speaks volumes. Just another internet troll who wouldn’t post such disgusting comments if his/her identity was attached. The reality is that affiliate marketing IS as simple as I made it out to be. How do I know? Because I do it day in, day out, and I do nothing different than what I mentioned.

Furthermore, I provide my content completely free of charge. Nobody forced you to read the post. At least I am doing something productive with my spare time rather than spending my spare moments being a troll online.

I’m actually here for the comments. Affiliate marketing is as simple as you make it sound, but patience is the key. A lot of folks get on here and burn out from the negativity they get from people they tell about it. Most family and “friends” call it a scam. Why? Because they don’t want you to get out of their comfort zone, or beyond the limitations they have put upon you in their minds. This is it. This is the only life you will have. Either you tell them to leave you alone, or you say nothing until you get where you want to be. The surprise on their faces will tell you everything you need to know about their opinion of you and your limitations. There is no cavalry, nor is there a white knight going to ride in and save the day. You are on your own. DO what makes you happy, because you will die alone, and you know you’d rather not have to say,”If only I’d done this or that.” Be true to yourself and trust in your abilities to make your dreams come true, because you are the only one who can. That’s my rant. My name is Ben. I am a writer, Courier, Songwriter and musician, a dog dad, and a dreamer- but in the end-I still understand it’s all up to me how I will be remembered. Take the chance. Win, lose, or draw-you can still look back with pride that you did that. You made the decision, and you followed through. The only opinion that matters at the end of the day is the one you have of yourself. Make it a good one.

I agree. That’s why I actually run weekly hangouts as part of the Commission Academy course , to help people stay motivated & keep on track.

I just read this page and appreciate the well-rounded reviews and comments that you posted. I’m strongly considering beginning the process because what I read all rings true, ( including the angry skeptical one.) I found this page organically because after writing a review for a product I had purchased on Overstock I thought, ‘I like writing reviews. Is there a way I could make money doing this?’ I’ve written on and off all my life, hometown interviews, critiquing movies, and many reviews of products. But never knew the breakdown of legitimately making money reviewing products. Thanks for the information. I intend to research further and give it a try.

Sounds awesome, Margaret. I’m glad you found my post insightful & I hope you take action on it as I’m confident you’ll find it rewarding 🙂

l agree that this Affiliate marketing is the best way to go because you can know how to send links of the desired company and get paid for it over time.

Thank you for spreading the knowledge! I appreciate you. ^_^

I tried affiliate marketing a while ago, but I stopped due to a lack of results. I was so bummed. Reading your post gives me the motivation to try again. 😀

Definitely give it a go again. With the right training, support & tools, you’ll definitely be able to succeed 🙂

I agree with a lot of what this article has to say, but there is truth to the angry rant as well. Your review will come up in Google, but it takes a while of writing constant content, making connections to other sites, search engine optimization, and other factors before you rank high enough on google to be seen. If your review is on page 201 and the average google user doesn’t make it past page 2, you’ve got a way to go. Focus your site on a niche, make your site fast-loading, visually appealing, and relevant, put out regular content that stays with your niche, build a following, become an SEO champ, and be willing to wait a year or more while you improve your rankings. Once you have the rankings to show up on page one or two, then your sales will jump.

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• Free books: okay to giveaway
• Paid reviews: okay to pay
• $50 Amazon spend eligibility requirement
• How to disclose a relationship

Amazon Book Review Policy Demystified for Authors

Book reviews are important for all books, but they're especially so for self-published books, because most of their sales are online. And when it comes to selling books online, Amazon customer reviews can make or break shopper interest in a book.

Let's begin by defining the difference between customer reviews and editorial reviews, and by debunking myths.

• Customer Reviews: Written by a reader—ideally by someone who bought the book—who also assigns a number of stars (1-5). Most authors are referring to customer reviews when they reference “Amazon reviews.”
• Editorial Reviews: An editorial review is a formal evaluation of a book, usually written by a professional reviewer or expert within a genre. These are also often called blurbs, endorsements, and testimonials.

Editorial reviews are added by the author via Author Central. See our guide: Create and Manage the Perfect Amazon US and UK Author Central Page.

Myth 1: You cannot pay someone to write a review.

False . Amazon permits payment for editorial reviews.

Myth 2: You cannot give people your book and ask them to review it.

False . You can, as long as you are clear that you welcome all feedback, both positive and negative.

Before Amazon became the dominant book retailer—in fact, before the internet—publishers would haul cartons of advance reading copies of their forthcoming books to book-industry tradeshows. These would sit in piles, free for the taking, with no requirements that someone write a review, much less provide their contact information to receive a copy.

The $50 spending requirement

Sometime in 2017 (they do not date their policy changes), Amazon inserted a new requirement into their Community Guidelines under the heading Eligibility:

To contribute to Customer features (for example, Customer Reviews, Customer Answers, Idea Lists) or to follow other contributors, you must have spent at least $50 on Amazon.com using a valid credit or debit card in the past 12 months. Promotional discounts don't qualify towards the $50 minimum.

Some have complained that this is overreach and another way for Amazon to force people to buy from them. We don't see it this way. In fact, we consider it a positive.

Many shoppers rely on customer reviews to guide our consideration of a product. How can we make an informed choice if those reviews are polluted by paid reviewers who never bought the product? And that's what was going on. Anyone could write a review; in fact, reviews were being posted by fake accounts.

Here’s a look at what’s permitted, what can get reviews removed, and how reviewers should disclose their relationship to the author.

What’s permitted

• Amazon says this: “You may provide free or discounted copies of your books to readers. However, you may not demand a review in exchange or attempt to influence the review. Offering anything other than a free or discounted copy of the book—including gift cards—will invalidate a review, and we'll have to remove it.”
• Reviewers can remove or edit a review after it is posted.
• Amazon says that just because a review is written by a friend or a social media connection doesn’t necessarily result in that review being taken down.
• A reviewer can link to another product—such as their own—if it is relevant and available on Amazon.

Friends & family

A common question we hear is whether friends and family can review a book. Amazon says this:

We don't allow individuals who share a household with the author or close friends to write Customer Reviews for that author’s book.

It used to be that Amazon encouraged authors to have their friends use the customer discussions feature to promote their book. That feature has been discontinued, and readers are being referred to Goodreads Groups  (requires login).

TIP: One way Amazon can monitor who your close friends are is by comparing the reviewer's contact information with the contact information in your account's address book. For example, if you've used Amazon for Christmas shopping, you probably don't want to bother asking any of those people to write a review.

When reviews are removed, or Amazon never posts it

• Never invite (or allow) a family member or someone you have a close personal relationship with to review your book.
• If a reader says they wrote a review, but the review was taken down or they say it was never posted, tell them to send an email to [email protected] .

When you want to get a review taken down or modified

If you feel a review violates guidelines , you can click the “Report abuse” link or email [email protected] .

Examples of guideline abuse may include use of obscenities, a privacy violation, impersonating others, and the usual libelous, defamatory, harassing, threatening, or inflammatory statements.

NOTE: If someone makes a negative comment about your book, and you fix what they are referring to, neither they nor Amazon are required to change the review to reflect your correction. You may, however, consider replying to the comment with a thanks to the commenter and a note that the issue has been fixed.

How to disclose your relationship

If you give your book away for the purpose of getting a review, you must instruct your prospective reviewer to disclose how they received your book.

There are many ways for the reviewer to do this; it just must be conspicuous. They can put it at the end of the review (most common), the beginning, or in the subject line.

Here are some sample phrases you can suggest if asking others to write a review for your book.

• In the subject line: I received an ARC for an objective review.
• I received a copy of this book via [name of source, i.e., NetGalley, Edelweiss, the publisher, author] and I’m reviewing it voluntarily.
• I wrote this review based on an advance reading copy that the publisher sent me.
• This review was based on a complimentary pre-release copy.

Knowing that someone reading an “author-encouraged review” might discount its value, some people will add an additional comment (if true), such as one of these:

• I've since bought two more copies; one Kindle for myself and a paperback for [my mom/dad/friend]
• That said, I liked it so much that I bought . . .

Amazon resources for more details or help

NOTE: You might need to be logged in or have an account to see some of these pages.

• Community guidelines . There are several pages with this title, but with different URLs. From what we see, it’s the same content: find the guidelines here .
• KDP has a good resource in their help section. Login to KDP, in the top menu click Help . On the left, click Promote Your Book , then click Customer Reviews . There you will find several FAQs and answers.
• Amazon has guides devoted to Promotional Content and its relationship to reviews; find them here .
• Most of us sell books on Amazon using one of their book-specific selling tools: KDP, Advantage, or a third-party such as an IngramSpark. You can also sell books via Amazon Seller Central’s Marketplace, which has its own policies. Turns out, these policies are the same for books. Create and Manage the Perfect Amazon US and UK Author Central Page. .
• Email Amazon to report problems or issues with reviews: [email protected] .

About The Author

David Wogahn

30 thoughts on “amazon book review policy demystified for authors”.

Thanks for sharing this quick primer on Amazon’s book review policies.

Allow me to show my ignorance. How do you set up an advanced review copy? How do you send it to potential reviewers? Do you pay for each ebook sent? Do you offer some code in a newsletter or during a conference presentation? (So far, I have the best method of getting book reviews is giving away exam copies to fellow English teachers at teacher conferences or professional development workshops.) Giving away free ebooks sounds far less expensive. Or can you set up ARC for hard copies too? How do get the attention of potential book reviewers? Is there a service you recommend? Why?

Another question: can you use or set up an ARC for a book published last year? Or is that verboten?

I do offer free sample chapters on my website, and I encourage readers to share their positive experiences with the book online. So I do some things to generate reviews. Thanks!

Very helpful info, David. Unfortunately, Amazon is often totally unresponsive to questions about why they removed reviews. I’ve posted reviews since 2009, more than 100 of them, and about three months ago Amazon deleted EVERY SINGLE ONE of them. They will not tell me why, except to refer me to the guidelines. Yeah, many of the reviews I posted were for advance reader copies authors gave me to review, but many were verified Kindle purchases. All of the reviews were honest, very few of them 5-stars, and I always included a sentence saying I received a copy of the book without obligation to post a review. Now, Amazon will not let me post any new reviews. Go figure.

This article is FANTASTIC–thank you so much for researching and writing it!

I did note, on the Prohibited Seller Activities page (the “find them in a different place” link in #4 above), about 40% down the page, it read, “Additionally, you may not provide compensation (including free or discounted products) for a review.” Hopefully, this admonition is rendered null and void for books, based on your Amazon quote early in the article, “[These] changes will apply to product categories other than books. We will continue to allow the age-old practice of providing advance review copies of books.”

Eric, you can learn more about the how question by reading my post here: https://www.authorimprints.com/advance-reader-copy-arc-books-ingramspark/ . As to some of your other points, I have a short email course about pre-release marketing here (it’s free): https://www.davidwogahn.com/book-pre-launch-course/

The A in ARC stands for advance, so it wouldn’t be an ARC after the book is published. Nevertheless, you should always be looking for people to review the book and many won’t review ebooks. The Book Reviewer Yellow Pages is the best place to start to get connected to potential reviewers. https://bookrevieweryellowpages.com/

Sounds like you got caught up in a “dragnet.” So no books whatsoever? Not even a “NY Times Best Seller”?

That’s right, books are excluded. The crackdown last year was on all sorts of “review clubs.” Links to those sites are now dead, or have been sold for their traffic. (Yeah!)

Amazon Reviews can make or break a book. I am a veteran Indie author and tried various marketing techniques, but nothing beats a reviews. For authentic book reviews, I use: http://www.usabookreviewers.com I get a few reviews and also exposure for my book.

People bought my book through Amazon. I offered no deals. Only thing I asked was the review to be honest. Reviews were done and Amazon would not post them because they were friends of mine on my Facebook link. I got the reviews on my FB wall however– other people never saw them. So the reviews are not there. The positive nor the negative. All were positive on the actual book– the kindle version was really bad. I saw it was and took it down myself. Friends felt bad for me but it is what it is. A good book –I believe with all my heart will make it regardless of circumstances. It is being redone and it is a very good read.

I published Garage Band Theory 4 years ago, it’s a music education book has been doing OK on Amazon and elsewhere since day 1.

Currently I have 57 Amazon reviews, am trying to push to the 100 mark.

I played professionally for 30 years, met a lot of people and a big % of the people on my FaceBook friends list are musicians – most are what you’d call ‘casual acquaintances’ – played some gigs with some, met lots at a job, mine or theirs – more than a few are teachers, and I thought it was time to reach out to them, offer a free digital copy if they’d consider leaving a review, be sure to tell them to include “My remarks are based on complimentary copy of this book that I received from the author. ”

I have endorsements from a few well known ‘stars’ and a few of my good friends and family did leave comments early in the process – but none of the people I plan to contact are going to leave a positive remark unless they feel it’s deserved.

I recently had heard that Amazon was not allowing any FaceBook friends to review – I did a search, found this post, and suddenly it seems that it could be a very bad idea to go through with the plan.

Is this gonna do more harm than good if a few were to leave positive comments?

Hi Duke, good to to hear from you. This is a really tricky area with lots of variables. My advice is to try a sample size group and see how it goes. Execute your plan in stages or phases.

Thanks so much for the explanation – I think Amazon scares all of us who’ve self-published. I just found out that I can’t buy any advertising with AMS. It is only for people who published with them, on Kindle Direct, and my company, Mill City Press, will disown me if I try to go Kindle Unlimited, the only way I can buy a sponsored ad. Mill City said they’d never done an Amazon ad, which just chilled me. These are the pros in advising self-published authors?

But there is one thing you haven’t addressed, and that’s the ghetto reviews can find themselves in if they are not Verified Purchase. No one will answer this question. Apparently, no one really understands, and Amazon won’t take questions. A review may appear, or it may not. So, when you’re madly giving away expensive copies of your novel on Facebook, in the glimmer of a hope of a review, you need to be aware of this.

There are no easy answers. You just have to try and know some won’t make it through. I’ve heard some crazy stories about reviews blocked or taken down. I’ve been blocked, too. That’s very interesting about Mill City, surprising in fact.

Regarding the requirement to “have spent at least $50 on Amazon.com using a valid credit or debit card in the past 12 months.” I see this as a discriminatory policy if you bought a book at AMAZON. In my case I want to post a review and am not permitted due to I didn’t spent $50.

Unfortunately, there were businesses that specialized in writing bogus reviews of products they never bought and this policy helps to stop or limit that activity. It has as much to do with toothpaste as it does books.

I would like to “advertise” my book on Amazon but I did not have it published by Amazon. When you look up a book, at the bottom it will say, “If you like this you might also like…..” and it lists other books or it might even say “Customers who review this might also like….” or other types of advertising for books with comparable content. How do I go about getting my book in these space?

I’m new to KDP, and my question doesn’t specifically apply to reviews, but can’t seem to find an answer explicitly stated on Amazon’s policy info. I’m doing low content books, journals, coloring books, kids activity books… I wanted to get a couple for my nephew and ordered through my Prime account because paying full shipping cost for author copies was twice as much as the books! Is ordering a couple coloring books from my account an issue? I guess it adds to my sales rank, but how big a deal is something like that? I think my mom ordered some journals as well.

You are buying them as an customer would, at the retail price, so no problem.

Those places you reference are decided by Amazon based on what people are buying. It works like any retail store–the retailer decides these things.

Can an author, as of August 4, 2021, register with any of the book reviewing companies found on the internet and pay as much as $500 and have them provide book reviews and then post them on Amazon?

Don, the answer is a qualified yes. I cannot confirm “any,” but there are many reviewers and review businesses you can use, free or paid. Most of those reviews would be editorial reviews and they are posted using Author Central. Here is a list of fee-based editorial reviewers: https://www.authorimprints.com/paid-editorial-book-reviews/

I can never figure out how to ask an author question on amazon. My self-published book recently won a Bronze Award from READER VIEWS. I’m wondering if it can be displayed on my Amazon book page, not just the Amazon author page. Thanks for information.

Put it on the cover of the book.

A couple of professional contacts wrote books which I bought, and I wanted to leave reviews to support them. However, Amazon says there has been unusual review activity associated with my account and will not let me leave a review. I don’t think I’ve EVER left a review, so someone must have done so using my name. How do I remedy this? I really would like to leave a couple of reviews.

This is not uncommon and Amazon won’t explain. You can try emailing them to ask. If you bought the eBook, try leaving a review from the eBook. there should be a link at the end. You can also leave the review on Goodreads.

Hi, What about author’s swapping books and reviewing each other? Are there restrictions against this or is this permitted under all circumstances? Thanks!

Can a person leave a review if they only read a few pages of your book? I have a poor review from someone who said they only read a few pages. Is that even allowed? Don’t you have to read a certain percentage of a book in order to leave a verified review? The person actually said in the review that they only read a few pages.

There is nothing preventing authors reviewing other books as long as the reviews don’t violate policies. But what you describe has been tried many times and it works until Amazon figures out what’s going on. Lots of risk in this case.

No rules about that and it applies the other direction as well. You can always protest.

This is a great article. Very insightful. Thanks for the post.

I appreciate the emphasis on continuous learning and staying updated with the latest trends in Amazon selling. Your blog is a great resource for sellers like us who are looking to stay ahead of the competition. Thank you for sharing your expertise!

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How to Get Paid for Amazon Reviews in 2024

Just when you thought you couldn’t love Amazon anymore, you can get paid for Amazon reviews. While Amazon themselves won’t pay you for the reviews (it’s not allowed), sellers can pay people to write honest reviews about their products in other ’roundabout ways.’

Top 8 Ways to Get Paid for Amazon Reviews

Getting paid for Amazon reviews is a little tricky because Amazon tries to keep its review section as legit as possible. That means they’ll restrict accounts that seem to have paid reviews or reviews that don’t seem real.

However, there are some legit ways to get paid for Amazon reviews without repercussions.

• Survey Sites
• Amazon Videos
• Amazon Vine
• Amazon-related YouTube or TikTok
• Amazon Reviewer Sites
• Start Your Own Affiliate Blog
• Book Review Websites
• Write Product Reviews for Blogs

1. Survey Sites

Survey sites are a completely legit way to review Amazon products. While you aren’t leaving the review directly on Amazon, you’re letting market research companies know what you think of the products.

Some of the most popular survey sites paying you for Amazon reviews include the following:

Kash Kick is a survey site offering several ways to earn money. KashKick has a low payout threshold of $10, and you can get paid to do things like play games, watch videos, and answer surveys on products and services.

Price: FREE

Kashkick is a legit online rewards site that pays you for completing various tasks, including: surveys, playing games, watching ads and more.

Swagbucks offers many ways to make money, including answering surveys on products sold on Amazon. In addition to surveys, you can make money by shopping online, playing games, and watching videos. You get paid in SBs or Swagbucks and can convert your SBs to gift cards to stores like Amazon.

Swagbucks - Easy Online Rewards & Surveys

Sign Up Bonus: $10

Swagbucks is a legit money-making app where you can make money taking surveys, watching videos, playing games, and more.

Survey Junkie

Survey Junkie offers high-paying surveys that sometimes concern products sold on Amazon. The surveys allow you to give your thoughts and opinions on products and brands, paying you cash for your opinion.

Survey Junkie is the most reputable online survey company and an easy way to make some extra money in your free time.

Inbox Dollars

InboxDollars is a get-paid-to site that pays you to play games, watch videos, read emails, and answer surveys. If you answer surveys about products sold on Amazon, you help shape the products sold. You’ll receive cash payments in exchange for your opinion, but you can’t cash out on InboxDollars until you earn at least $30.

InboxDollars

Sign Up Bonus: $5

With InboxDollars, you take surveys and earn cash, it's that simple. You can even earn by watching tv!

2. Amazon Videos

Shoppable Videos are another great way to get paid for your opinion of Amazon products. If you’re a member of the Amazon Influencer Program, you can upload videos to your storefront. These videos can feature anything from product reviews to tutorials and shopping hauls.

Once a video is approved, it will be available in your storefront and could show up in search results and on product pages. The more high-quality videos you publish, the more likely they are to get higher-traffic views.

You’ll make money when people watch your videos on Amazon. You can also publish your videos on your social media accounts and earn commissions when someone buys a product with your links.

Learn More about Amazon Videos

3. Amazon Vine

Amazon Vine is an invite-only program run by Amazon. If chosen, you are provided Amazon products for free and asked for your honest opinion. So while you aren’t necessarily getting paid for the review itself, you receive the product for free, which is the equivalent of getting paid.

Amazon wants people in the Amazon Vine program who will leave honest and helpful reviews to assist its customers in making decisions. To increase your chances of getting chosen, it’s best to regularly leave high-quality Amazon reviews.

There’s no rhyme or reason regarding how you get picked. Just continue leaving honest reviews and keep your account legit to increase your chances of being selected.

Visit Amazon Vine

4. Amazon-Related YouTube or TikTok

If you have a YouTube channel or a TikTok account, you can review Amazon products, leaving affiliate links for your viewers to click on and use to make a purchase.

Since your review swayed them one way or the other, it’s like getting paid for Amazon reviews without physically receiving payment for them. You can even share the links multiple times, especially for products you love.

Some Amazon sellers also pay social media influencers a flat fee to discuss their products. Since most sellers are starting, it may not be much money, but it all adds up, and you’re doing a good deed by helping a seller share their products.

5. Amazon Reviewer Sites

Amazon reviewer sites connect Amazon product sellers with reviewers like yourself. The sellers offer their products to their audience for little to no cost in exchange for a review.

So again, while you aren’t getting paid for the review, you receive the products for free or low cost, which is the equivalent of getting paid.

Members of Snagshout receive deep discounts or cashback offers on specific Amazon deals. Many of the products in Snagshout are new, so buying them at a discount helps sellers get the word out about their products. You either purchase the product on Amazon using a discount code or get cashback by purchasing the product through Snagshout.

Visit Snagshout

6. Start Your Own Affiliate Blog

An Amazon affiliate blog is a blog in which you include Amazon affiliate links to products you think your audience would love and is another way to get paid for Amazon reviews.

You should do this in the most natural way possible, though. Instead of only writing about the product, work it into related topics so that it’s a natural fit and hits the right audience.

Keep in mind that you should only provide affiliate links to products you’ve tried and believe in, not just any products, to make a quick buck. Your audience can tell when you’re authentic about a product and when you’re just trying to make money

Your content should be authentic, and your review honest, even if you didn’t like the product. You’ll sell more by being honest than by trying to make quick cash.

Learn More about Starting a Blog

7. Book Review Websites

If you love to read, consider signing up on book review websites to review books sold on Amazon. New authors need as many reviews as possible to get their books in front of a larger audience.

They turn to these sites to get paired with avid readers willing to read the book and write a review.

Reader’s Favorite

Reader’s Favorite has a database of 10,000+ books in 150+ genres ready for readers to review. To get free books, you simply browse their database and contact the author for a free book. When you’re done reading, the only requirement is to leave an honest review.

Visit Reader’s Favorite

Online Book Club

Online Book Club offers the opportunity to read books and get paid for doing it. The first book you get is free, and your review isn’t paid. This lets them get a feel for your style. After your first book, you can get paid $5 – $60 per book review.

Visit Online Book Club

8. Write Product Reviews for Blogs

If you have a knack for writing, you can get paid to write product reviews for blogs. Much like writing for your own blog, you’d write an honest review for another person’s blog.

The only difference is you get paid a flat fee for your service versus earning affiliate income from each sale, as that’s left for the blog owner.

Learn More about Freelance Writing

Get Free Gifts & Product Discounts for Your Reviews

Many companies offer free or deeply discounted products to encourage you to leave a review. But remember, your review should always be honest.

AMZDiscover

AMZDiscover is similar to Amazon Vine, but Amazon does not run it. Instead, it’s another marketplace that connects Amazon sellers with people willing to try new products and leave honest reviews.

AMZDiscover hires what they call ‘Amazon testers’ or people they pay to try products for sellers and leave a review. Sellers need honest feedback to determine how well their product will sell and to foresee any problems they may have with it.

Brandbacker

Brandbacker connects Amazon sellers with influencers who will share their products and their reviews. You may earn free products in exchange for sharing the product, or you may get affiliate links to share the ability to purchase it with your audience, so you earn a commission.

Brandbacker is how many influencers get their Amazon products. But to remain legit, only share products you would use or have used yourself. You’ll come off much more authentic when you can talk about real-life uses of the product and not just repeat the product description.

Tips for Writing Amazon Reviews

To get paid to write Amazon reviews, you must know how to write them effectively. This is important for Amazon Vine since it’s an invite-only program, but all Amazon sellers look at your reviews to determine if they want you in their program.

Here’s what to consider.

Be Thorough

Make your reviews as extensive as possible. Read the product description to ensure you touch on all the features. You aren’t obligated to leave a positive review; instead, you should share as much as you can about the product to give readers a good feel for what they might be buying.

Consider what you’d want to read in a review and make your review match what you want. For example, your review should give readers more details about the product than the product description provides.

Proofread Your Review

Make sure your review is grammatically correct and makes sense. Don’t just throw a review together to increase your number of reviews. They should be well thought-out and run through a grammar checker to ensure they make sense.

The more well-written your review is, the more serious readers will take you. Plus, it’s much easier to read a well-written review than one thrown together just to make a few bucks.

Add Pictures and Videos

A picture is worth much more than words, as is a video. People reading reviews love to see pictures and videos, especially of the product in use or a before and after picture.

Try adding descriptions to your pictures or discussing them in your review to give them more context.

Add a Disclaimer

Always include a disclaimer that the product was provided for free or as a part of a promotion. This disclaimer lets readers know why you’re reviewing it, but your review should be honest.

Ensure Your Review Is Captivating

Your review should have a hook, cover all the pain points the product hits, and summarize your opinion. Readers should walk away thoroughly, understanding what you thought of it. They don’t want a review that says, ‘It was good.’ Instead, they want details and situations to help readers understand what it’s all about to help them make a decision.

Establish Your Own Rating Scale

Create a rating scale and explain it to your readers. Let them know your thoughts on each of the product’s features and how they rank on your scale.

Can I Make Money Writing Amazon Reviews on Fiverr?

No, Amazon does not allow Amazon reviews from Fiverr sellers. They’ve gone as far as suing some sellers for selling Amazon reviews on the platform. Instead, focus on leaving reviews on Amazon to increase your chances of getting invited to Amazon Vine.

Is Getting Paid for Amazon Reviews Legal?

Getting paid for Amazon reviews is legal, but Amazon doesn’t allow sellers to do it to keep its site legit. Technically, they don’t allow you to receive free products in exchange for a review either, but it’s acceptable through the Amazon Vine program. Always keep your reviews legit, fair, and unbiased so you aren’t accused of ‘forcing good reviews.’

Is There a Limit to How Many Reviews I Can Write on Amazon?

Amazon limits reviewers to five reviews per week. If you exceed the limit, Amazon may restrict your account, so you cannot leave reviews. It looks fishy to them when you leave too many reviews too quickly. However, if you can prove you purchased the products and weren’t gifted them, you may get away with leaving more than five reviews weekly.

Does Amazon Monitor Reviews?

Amazon does monitor reviews and will remove any reviews that violate its policies, including those that use inappropriate language. Amazon strives to keep its reviews legit and does so by marking reviews as ‘Verified Buyer’ when they can verify the reviewer bought the items from Amazon.

How Much Can I Make Writing Amazon Reviews?

You’ll usually earn a free product instead of cash when writing Amazon reviews. However, if a seller pays you to sponsor a blog post or for affiliate links, you may make $10 or so per review, depending on the item and the size of your audience.

Are Paid Amazon Reviews Worth It?

Getting paid for Amazon reviews may mean receiving free products and writing about them. But if you own a blog , TikTok, or YouTube channel, you may get paid to talk or write about Amazon products directly through Amazon’s affiliate program.

Just be careful that you aren’t directly compensated on Amazon for the products, and always include a disclaimer that you received the product as part of a promotion to keep it legit.

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The Saga Of Paid Amazon Book Reviews Continues Unabated

Despite Amazon’s paid book review clean-out after the revelations by John Locke about paying for book reviews , nothing has changed at all.

Well, apart from the fact that Amazon deleted a lot of honest ones during their cull at the time.

Amazon did not take much more than token action against paid book reviews back then.

Instead, it decided to remove those posted by fellow authors. Or by those deemed to have a personal (even if only by social media) connection with the author.

Paid book reviews

Because of this, a lot of genuine and honest positive reviews were deleted. But what about the dishonest paid Amazon book reviews? Hardly any were removed.

But now we hear that Amazon is going after Fiverr. What?

After years of knowing very well that Fiverr is, was, and has been the ‘ go-to ‘ site for authors wanting paid Amazon book reviews?

It’s hardly been a state secret.

I did a quick search of Fiverr and returned hundreds of offers to write reviews for products on Amazon, including books.

The Guardian reports that Amazon is to sue 1,000 fake reviewers .

However, I am not sure what the difference is between a fake and paid review.

One thing is certain, though, paid Amazon book reviews are rife. And Amazon has ignored this issue for a very long time.

Amazon paid book reviews are big business.

While it is commendable that Amazon is taking action against Fiverr, it is, in fact, only the tip of the iceberg.

Even if Fiverr is closed down tomorrow, a quick search on Twitter will find hundreds of offers to write and post Amazon book reviews.

I asked one review site on Twitter for their price.

For a verified Amazon Review – $30. Verified meaning that they will buy the ebook and therefore be able to post as verified on Amazon.

This is where Amazon has a real problem, though.

Fiverr will probably be easy for Amazon to reduce because, for $5, these are not involving a verified purchase.

But pay a little more, even on Fiverr, and an Amazon verified purchaser who publishes them can earn quite a bit of money.

Paid is everywhere

It’s not only Amazon that has a problem.

TripAdvisor fell foul and was fined $600,000 for allowing fake customers to post on its site.

In fact, almost every site on the Internet that allows customer feedback is full of fake and paid.

So as much as everyone says that paid Amazon book reviews are a curse, the fact of the matter is that they are a reality. No matter what action Amazon takes, it will continue.

Every author knows that to sell books, you need reviews, and to get them, you need to sell books.

The resolution to this catch-22 is to pay.

It’s why it was so successful for John Locke and why the practice continues today on a commercial scale.

Paid book promotion in any form is big business.

As one said in a message, “ people think there is a taboo regarding paid book reviews, despite the practice being utilized by some big-name authors on a regular basis. ”

While authors need reviews to sell books, don’t forget that Amazon doesn’t do badly out of it either.

Reviews are one of the prime movers for sales of all Amazon products. So don’t expect the Amazon world to change too much.

Sure, Amazon will give Fiverr a hard time for a while.

But at the end of the day, Amazon needs reviews just as much as the product suppliers do.

So it will be as it always has been, again.

Money makes money. Those willing to invest will reap the rewards of paying for advertising.

Whatever you want to call it fair, fake, or foul, it’s all paid advertising.

Related Reading: Amazon introduces a $50.00 spend minimum to stop fake book reviews .

About The Author

Derek Haines

More articles.

How You Can Get An Article Published Online Or In A Magazine

Online Publishing And Blogging – Are They The Same Today?

And You Thought You Were Buying Ebooks – Time To Think Again

9 thoughts on “the saga of paid amazon book reviews continues unabated”.

Reviewers are paid not only to promote certain books but also to damage competing books.

For example, an author with poor sales can pay a reviewer to write something positive about his or her own book and another review blasting a book with a higher rank.

A critical review can damage one book as much as a positive review can lift another.

Derek, What a sensational topic? Sensational because we all know the polices, rules and regulations of Amazon. Yet, the buck rolls in for those who have been monetizing book reviews. I have been reading since the day an Oxford dictionary was on my birthday presents box before I was ten years of age. I found it fascinating. I then read Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich with a highlighter, stick notes, and a small notebook. The reading streak has never stopped. When I sat in a class to learn how to write good book reviews. The cap was 1500 words – and it was such a task. That assignment lit a bulb in my journey of life. An author wallowing in despair for their book has not seen a good review should first read this article. Thank you for writing this article.

I have had a running discussion with Amazon as to why they removed a legitimate review from from my book page. They replaced it once and then removed it a week later. Do these clowns actually want to sell books or do they simply want to control every aspect of the marketing of books. The fact that they allow their own people to provide a paid-for review of your book is unconciousable.

There is a private company in the USA called Indiebrag that awards ‘medallions’ for good books that pass the acid test of internal, anonymous review. It is owned by a linited liability private company, whose CEO is an author and retired marketing executive. His own books have been reviewed by Indiebrag and passed the test. Guess what? His wife, Geri Clouston is the CEO of Indiebrag. Do I have an axe to grind? yes, of course. My book was rejected rudely and aggressively, based on seriously flawed and inaccurate comments about Sci-Fi. It was so bad and untruthful that I have reported it to the relevant internet commission in North America.

3-star reviews are usually the reviews I pay attention because they give a much more useful review of a book. 5-star reviews usually don’t give too much info on the actual story, whether it’s worth reading, how, why and what makes it so.

Also, as a writer, 3-star reviews gives tips on how to write my own books, e.g. ‘saw the twist coming a mile away because too big a hint at the start’, ‘felt the main character was a little too weak and most people would’ve behaved…’, etc.

Obviously, I’d love to have 5-star reviews because they’re nice to have and good advertisements for books so, I don’t begrudge other writers their 5-star reviews and read them from time to time. Some of them are genuine as I’ve discovered after finishing a book.

Thanks for the article. Until I read this I was not aware of such a thing as a “paid review.”

Very interesting article. I’m a regular reviewer on Amazon and have myself often criticised some 5-star reviews of mediocre books. But I had no idea that authors actually paid for reviews.

Derek, Many thanks for all your informative posts. I’ve read a number and I do wonder when you’ve got time to write a book. Keep it up. Iain

Thanks Iain! My blog keeps me writing, so I don’t lose the daily habit. But books do eventuate, eventually.:)

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You Paid For This: My 25 Years Investigating Insurance Crimes Paperback – April 29, 2024

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Customer reviews

Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.

• Sort reviews by Top reviews Most recent Top reviews

Top reviews from the United States

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