This article will address several key questions about book reviews from both the reader and author perspectives. The guidelines for leaving a book review on Amazon are a bit confusing, and authors are told they can solicit book reviews, but that can create a lot of problems for the author if not done exactly according to Amazon’s ever changing detailed community guidelines. There are many traps for the unwary author when it comes to reviews of their own books. Readers know very little about book reviews, so we’ll clear that up too.

Question: Are book reviews helpful to someone who is trying to decide whether to purchase a book?

Most users of Amazon have learned by now the importance of quickly glancing through the reviews. We’ll focus on book reviews here, but if you’re buying a product on Amazon, like dog bones or a battery charger, looking at the reviews is critical. I can testify to that with two examples. My dogs love dog bones, and normally I buy the big ones about 10 inches long at Costco, but I saw what appeared to be the same packaged bones on Amazon, and purchased them. When they arrived, the bones were only about 4 inches long and less than a half an inch wide. What a rip off! I also bought a fancy looking battery charger with all kinds of features, and in the Amazon photo it appeared to be a regular sized charger, but when it arrived, I was surprised to hold a batter charger that fit in the palm of my hand. This is not quite as serious when it comes to books on Amazon, but it’s not a good idea to buy a book without noticing how many pages the paperback version is and what the reviews say.

Question: Do all reviews at Amazon have to be “verified reviews?”

No they do not. A verified review is someone who purchased your book, but someone who has not spent the money can still submit a review to Amazon as long as they have an Amazon account. While Amazon and many YouTubers love to sing the praises and necessity of verified reviews, there’s clearly nothing wrong with a review by someone who read the book but did not purchase it from Amazon. For example, they may have purchased it at BooksOnline, and they can leave a review at BooksOnline, but they can also leave a non-verified review on Amazon, and there’s nothing less legitimate about that a verified review.

At BooksOnline readers can leave a book review, and they can do so as a verified purchaser at BooksOnline or a non-verified purchaser if they bought it somewhere else, like Amazon.

Question: What are Amazon’s guidelines for readers who want to submit a book review?

Amazon has strict guidelines for book reviews, which they argue is to maintain the integrity and usefulness of their review system, but that’s a little like saying with great boldness that the IRS has strict rules and regulations to maintain the integrity of the assessment and collection of taxes. All true, until abuses occur and egregious injustice occurs. Here are the key Amazon book review rules:

1. Only customers who have spent at least $50 on Amazon in the last year are eligible to leave reviews[2].
2. Reviews must focus on the product itself, not on price, packaging, shipping, or seller information[2].
3. External links are not allowed in reviews. Amazon will remove any such links[2]
4. Reviewers must respect others and avoid using inappropriate language, swearing, or promoting illegal conduct[2].
5. Authors, family members, friends, and business associates are not allowed to review their own books or those of close connections[2].
6. Reviews in exchange for compensation of any kind are prohibited[2][3].
7. Promotional content or commercial solicitations are not allowed in reviews[2].
8. Reviewers cannot post from multiple accounts or coordinate with others to manipulate reviews[2].
9. Authors cannot ask fans to upvote, downvote, or report specific reviews[2].
10. Certain words and phrases are flagged and may lead to review removal, including “ARC,” “Advanced Reader Copy,” “In Exchange,” “Free Copy,” and mentions of alternative platforms like BookFunnel or NetGalley[4].
11. Reviews mentioning that the book was received as an ARC or free copy may be removed, even if not required by the author[4].
12. Amazon investigates suspected review manipulation and may take action against those involved[5].
13. Authors may provide free copies of books for review, but cannot require or influence the review in exchange[7].

These guidelines aim to ensure that reviews are genuine, unbiased, and helpful to potential readers. Okay, we can’t really argue this isn’t true, but if you’re wearing underwear that is two sizes too small for you, you can’t argue you aren’t wearing underwear. But you would be quite uncomfortable, right? Amazon’s guidelines are a bit like underwear that is the wrong size. Their guidelines are so strict, good legitimate reviews are often kept entirely out of their system.

Citations:
[1] https://tenminutemomentum.com/how-to-write-a-good-book-review-on-amazon/
[2] https://christianediting.co.nz/amazon-guidelines/
[3] https://landingcube.com/amazon-review-guidelines-tos/
[4] https://www.reddit.com/r/selfpublish/comments/1b96mog/amazon_arc_review_unacceptable_words/
[5] https://annerallen.com/2020/03/amazons-review-rules/
[6] https://www.authorimprints.com/amazon-book-review-policy-authors/
[7] https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G202101910
[8] https://sellercentral.amazon.com/seller-forums/discussions/t/f440e3c0-9418-4caa-8cf0-44f7824713a9

At BooksOnline, book reviews can be submitted by anyone who has a BooksOnline account, and those reviews are monitored for appropriateness and can be deleted if inappropriate. The judgment and discretion of our staff are the guidelines, but we don’t play games with readers or authors, and we monitor book reviews objectively with discernment.

Question: Can authors respond to those who have left reviews, positive or negative?

No. Amazon does not give authors the opportunity to respond to a review. Amazon does tell us we can report something inappropriate (like something woke or DEI), but Amazon will not correct a false statement or slander or lie by a reviewer.

At BooksOnline, authors can respond to reviews, and while most reviews don’t need a response, there are times when a review has a legitimate question or concern, and they only way to address it for everyone who reads it, is for the author to reply beneath that review. And there are times when a reviewer has alternative motives to discredit a book by attacking it or attacking the character of the author. In those cases, it can be quite appropriate for the author to have an opportunity to reply to the review and get that published below the review so everyone can see it. Amazon does not allow any of this, but BooksOnline does. This is another big benefit BooksOnline has over Amazon, and this is a benefit to both authors and readers.

Question: Can an author post one of his own video reviews in the book review area?

In Amazon’s book review area, there is a tiny spot for video reviews that can be posted by readers with very limited options on content and length, but the author is not allowed to post his own video reviews in Amazon.

At BooksOnline, authors can post their own video book reviews in the book review area so everyone can watch it. The video can be resized and centered to look fantastic. You can post more than one video review if you like!

Question: What are Amazon’s guidelines for authors who want to solicit or get more book reviews?

Amazon has strict guidelines for authors seeking book reviews to “maintain the integrity of their review system.” Here are the key rules for authors:

1. Authors can provide free advance copies of their books for review, but cannot require or influence the review in exchange[1][8].
2. Offering any form of compensation for reviews is strictly prohibited. This includes money, gift certificates, bonus content, contest entries, discounts, or other gifts[2][8].
3. Authors cannot leave reviews for their own books or for competitors’ books[2].
4. Review swaps between authors are not allowed. Authors cannot agree to review each other’s books[4][7].
5. Close friends and family members are not permitted to leave reviews for an author’s book[2].
6. Authors cannot ask fans to upvote, downvote, or report specific reviews[1].
7. Reviews mentioning that the book was received as an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) or free copy may be removed, even if not required by the author[3].
8. Authors should not use services that offer paid reviews or engage in any form of review manipulation[1][5].
9. When quoting reviews, authors can only use short excerpts under fair use unless they obtain permission from the reviewer[6].
10. Authors should encourage honest and unbiased feedback when providing advance copies, welcoming both positive and negative reviews[1].
11. Reviews should focus on the book itself, not on price, packaging, or seller information[1].

By adhering to these guidelines, authors can ethically seek reviews while maintaining the trustworthiness of Amazon’s review system.

Citations:
[1] https://tracefuse.ai/blog/amazon-book-review-policy/
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RD_ZvwBGYAo
[3] https://www.authorimprints.com/amazon-book-review-policy-authors/
[4] https://www.reddit.com/r/selfpublish/comments/56he69/are_book_review_swaps_allowed_on_amazon_etc/
[5] https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G202101910
[6] https://www.kdpcommunity.com/s/question/0D5f400000FHVGmCAP/who-owns-a-review?language=en_US
[7] https://www.kdpcommunity.com/s/question/0D58V00006tTG0RSAW/review-policy-for-authors?language=en_US
[8] https://nonfictionauthorsassociation.com/how-to-avoid-getting-your-book-banned-on-amazon-and-manage-amazon-book-reviews-properly/

At BooksOnline, authors can solicit book reviews anywhere they want to, and in any way they feel is appropriate, provided there is no dishonesty or exaggerations or misrepresentations. As with everything at BooksOnline, the judgment and discretion of our staff are the guidelines, but we don’t play games with readers or authors, and we monitor book reviews objectively with discernment.

Question: Can an author do promos at Amazon and offer free copies to get people to read it and possibly leave reviews?

Amazon puts extremely restrictive rules on offering your book free so people might actually read it and leave reviews. Let’s face it, you won’t have much luck telling potential readers that you want them to leave a review but they have to pay full price for your book first just so you can get a “verified review.” Here’s the short version of the problems with Amazon’s promotion rules:

1. You have no way on Amazon to offer price discounts regularly or throughout the year, except under their rules, which only allows you to offer your book free for no more than a total of 5 days in any 90 day period. That’s a little weird and restrictive.
2. You have to sign your book up for their KDP Select program, which has numerous bad elements for you as an author, including Amazon’s requirement that you offer your book exclusively on Amazon and no where else. For many of us, that alone is a deal killer, which means you will never be able to offer any discounts or free promos for your book on Amazon just to get verified reviews.
3. Amazon’s complicated rules and guidelines for authors, especially for Kindle Unlimited and KDP Select, often seem to benefit Amazon far more than the authors. In other words, Amazon uses your books to promote Amazon’s services and reach more customers. In some cases, people can read your book without buying it, like they can in Kindle Unlimited and with various lending programs, and you may not see any income or only get pennies on the dollar for that while Amazon builds a massive reader subscription service to millions of subscribers.

At BooksOnline, authors can customize their promotions by offering their book free for a time (any amount of time and without limit during the year), they can offer a discount of their choosing with our discount coupons, and they can price their book any way they want as a regular price or with a discount coupon. Add these marketing options to the powerful affiliate marketing program we have, not to mention how much more our author royalties are for authors, and any author alive will want to host his book on BooksOnline. You can still host your books on Amazon, too, and as long as you haven’t given Amazon an exclusive, you can offer it on BooksOnline, too.

The BooksOnline Author Bonus

We offer so much more than Amazon, it’s almost embarrassing, but one last benefit that is big is this. Authors on Amazon only get to leave a short description of the book in a limited format, and all you get is a little image of the book cover. Not so at BooksOnline where an author can write an extensive description of the book, including images and even a video. In other words, you can create a beautiful landing page for your book that really sells your book to potential readers far more persuasively than Amazon’s limited book page. And you still have a “Reviews” section where people can leave reviews. You’ll also notice other detailed information on our book pages that you won’t find on Amazon.