How to Get Kindle and Other Book Reviews on Amazon
Every author struggles with this, especially with a new book. We had an email conversation with Alex Foster about his thoughts on reviews. After all he has self-published over 300 Kindle books under different pen names. Alex Foster actually wrote a book called Kindle Reviews.
We figured he would know a thing or two. So thank you Alex for your contribution!
- Bookinform
Why are positive reviews so important for new books?
- Alex Foster
It’s a green light or a red light (negative reviews) for potential buyers of your book. It’s especially important for a newly launched book to get positives rolling in. People are naturally apprehensive about books without reviews.
- Bookinform
What is the number one way to get more positive reviews?
- Alex Foster
I would say providing value that’s worth more than the sticker price. There is a correlation between price and perceived value to the reader. Was what you offered less valued, equally valued or more valued than what they paid for? That’s subjective, of course, but as the author you should be confident you “over” provided what you promised, while not price gouging your customers.
- Bookinform
What about giving rewards, or free offers in exchange for a positive review?
- Alex Foster
I am strongly against that option. It’s actually not really an option either. It’s against Amazon policy to pay or offer something in return for a review. Now that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. I know a few high selling authors doing just that. I feel it’s downright unethical, though.
You can get reviews removed by Amazon if they catch you and if word gets out, you’ve lost credibility. You can, and I do in all my books, request a review. At the end of my book I say something along the lines of: “If you like this book please consider leaving a review.” I then have a link directly to the review for the book. Requesting is fine, but doing a quid pro quo isn’t.
- Bookinform
What should be the first thing an author does when launching a new book?
- Alex Foster
Send a copy to all your friends and family and ask them if they liked the book to give a review. I have self-published hundreds of books, so I wore out my welcome with this tactic long ago. But it's a great way to jump start your reviews.
It’s actually against Amazon policy to have family review your book. If the family shares the same last name as the owner of the KDP account from which the book was published, Amazon won’t allow the post.
It’s completely ethical in my book. I think the “same last name” thing is to stop authors from reviewing their own books more than anything. Credit cards need to be associated with an Amazon account before you can leave a review. Making it difficult to make accounts under different names. So do it at your own risk, but that’s the most common way most people will launch a book and get the reviews rolling in.
There is nothing wrong with giving out your book for free and asking for a review. You cross the line when you offer something in return for the review. However sites like StoryCartel and HugeOrange do this and it doesn't break terms of service. The sites allow users to offer their books for free in exchange for a "request" to leave their honest opinions.
- Bookinform
Do you solicit people for reviews other than family and friends?
- Alex Foster
I did early in my career. I don’t anymore, but you can go to Amazon Reviewers and get the emails of the top reviewers. Amazon provides this information so it’s okay according to Amazon.. What I did was make a spreadsheet with all the names and email addresses. I would individually go through and personalize each email with a PDF copy of the book with a link requesting a review.
There is probably some software program that could do that now. It was very time consuming and not something I do any more. You will get a few responses, but I write nonfiction and I felt that these reviewers really liked getting free fiction books. So if you're a fiction writer it may be worth your time and effort.
- Bookinform
What websites are around that you recommend?
- Alex Foster
I recommend getting to know who is out there as far as popular social media goes, (like this site) that talks about books. Get familiar with what Fiverr can help you with and sites like Elance. There are some book service sites like HugeOrange that offers everything you could think of and then some.
- Bookinform
What do you currently do, review wise, for your newly published books?
- Alex Foster
For a new author or one who has only a handful of books on the market, getting reviews rolling in fast is worth it. They need to get those books as profitable as they can be, sooner rather than later. If the book is horrible you can’t possibly trick the system long enough before the negative outweighs the positive. It's not a matter of "tricking readers," because you can’t over the long term. As of now I write and publish for pleasure, I still request a review at the end of my books but I don’t go out of my way soliciting or seeking them out. It’s too much work! I can wait long term for the reviews to come in on their own.
The rush of early reviews helps a book sell early on. If its a good book reviews will continue to trickle in over the long term. If the book is bad you can't keep the pace up with friends and family reviews. So the "early" reviews aren't meant to trick customers they are meant to make them more comfortable in the beginning to take a risk and buy a new book.
- Bookinform
Do you read the reviews you get? How do you handle the negative?
- Alex Foster
It's a good idea especially in the beginning to read reviews to see what people have to say so you can learn how to write better. Not every negative review is great criticism for you to learn from. Some are downright mean and most are from people who admit to not even reading the book. Go figure.
My advice is to monitor for negative reviews you can learn from and ignore the ones that are just off the wall bizarre. I will check books written in the past month to see if the reviews say anything like “Horrible, the formatting on the pictures was upside down,” or something like that so I can fix any issues with the book I didn’t notice during the upload. Other than that, there are just too many to keep track of and I never respond or contribute to a review. I stay out of it. People are entitled to their opinion and of course my gut reaction is to tell them how wrong they are, but I’m a little biased.
If you have a nasty review book service sights like HugeOrange actually have a service that can attempt to remove it. I haven't used it, but I have heard success stories.
Thank you Alex Foster for your contribution and help. If you would like to check out Alex Fosters books on writing Click Here .