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The Truth About Amazon Book Reviews

Reviews – especially positive, well-written reviews – impact your book sales on Amazon. Rumor has it (because let’s face it, a LOT of what goes on at Amazon is rumor and speculation) that if your book can receive enough reviews, Amazon will more heavily promote the book to its users.

Are your book reviews getting removed from Amazon? Here's why! Click To TweetPersonally, I’ve found that a book having reviews, any reviews, is a boon to sales.

Here are Amazon’s “rules” about reviews:

  • No “objectionable” material
  • No promotional content
  • No off-topic information
  • No inappropriate content, which includes hyperlinks and references to other products

Amazon also doesn’t allow reviews that were written for any form of compensation other than a free copy of the product. This includes reviews that are a part of a paid publicity package.

Now here’s the inside scoop of Amazon that they enforce but don’t clearly publish: Amazon reserves the right to remove any review they deem was written by a friend, family member, or business associate. It doesn’t matter if it’s a positive review or a negative review either!

How do you get reviews?

ASK your readers! It’s completely okay to put a request in your book to ask a ready to leave a review if they liked the book. With self-publishing, you can even put in a link to the book’s sales page on Amazon to make it easier. (After you publish, you add this page to the manuscript and re-publish. Easier on Kindle books but possible on paperback as well!)

Once a book has its first real review, a review not written by a friend or family member, sales start trending upward.


When you get reviews, be sure to check out my companion article:
Pre-Planning for Your First 1-Star Amazon Review! (So you don’t freak out!)

So you know how to not be a creepy author for good AND bad book reviews.

Your Opinion Matters:
Do you leave reviews? What do you do if you think the book should only get a 1- or 2-star review?

Kim Galloway
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