How To Get More Book Reviews On Amazon

Every self-published author wants to know how to get book reviews on Amazon.

Positive book reviews are an essential book marketing element in making a book potentially more appealing to book buyers.

But the hard truth is that organic reviews are tough to get.

Only a small percentage of Amazon book buyers ever leave book reviews.

Not many readers post reviews

I have read many entries on the KDP Community Forum on the subject.

Getting book reviews on Amazon is not easy.

It would seem that authors who have been around for a while are obtaining, on average, one review per 150-200 sales.

This number of reviews pretty much tallies with my experience.

Yes, you can give away free Kindle books, which can help a little.

But the ratio of free ebook reviews is even lower than for real sales.

Free ebook hunters are often merely hoarders of anything for free.

So you would need a lot of downloads to attract any new book reviews.

But when you check titles on Amazon, you can see that readers do add reviews.

So what can you do?

How to get book reviews on Amazon

A great book and patience are the best ways to get more five-star Amazon book reviews.

But you can try a few things that might give your book a better chance of gaining more potential reviewers.

Amazon includes a call to action page at the end of Kindle ebooks to remind readers to add an Amazon review.

But it is often not seen by readers as it often comes after an about the author page and probably a list of other book titles.

You can politely remind readers to add a review.

To get a reader’s attention and hopefully to review your book, you can add a line or two after THE END of your book, asking politely for a customer review. Here is an example.

If you enjoyed this book, your review would certainly be most appreciated.

Another means is to build a small troop of beta readers.

Yes, this takes a long time.

But it can be very useful in the long-term in creating a group of people who will post reviews when you release a new title.

You can leverage social media to connect with readers who would appreciate free books in your genre and be willing to become beta readers.

Hopefully, they will add a free book review around the time of your book launch when you release a new book.

Should you pay for reviews?

No, no, no, and, well?

I have to say from the outset that I do not pay for book reviews, and I do not agree with paid or fake book reviews of any kind.

However, a quick search of social media and Google will give you lists of book review sites that offer paid reviews on Amazon.

Even though Amazon tries to take action against paid reviewers, it is clear that it hasn’t fully succeeded.

There is a sense for some authors that, well, everyone does it, so why shouldn’t I?

So many authors claim to be New York Times, USA Today, and Washington Post bestselling authors, but we know it’s all fake.

I don’t want to pass judgment. But my concern with buying book reviews is that Amazon could delete them.

It defeats the purpose and is a waste of a lot of money.

But more seriously, Amazon could also take action to terminate an author’s KDP account.

Paying for book reviews might seem like a quick fix, but I believe it carries far too many risks in the long term.

Remind your readers on your blog about book reviews

People who are reading or have read your book might visit your blog.

So why not add a small line on your homepage thanking all your readers?

But add a reminder that reading and reviewing your books are always welcome.

Sell more books, and you WILL get more book reviews.

If you want more Amazon book reviews, the best method by far is to sell more books.

It might sound like putting the cart before the horse.

But it is the only method that works consistently in getting good reviews.

Concentrate all your efforts on book promotion and marketing that will improve your book sales.

Your book reviews will follow.

Yes, your honest reviewers will be few and far between, but they will come.

My advice is always the same when it comes to selling books.

Write a great story, buy a professionally designed book cover, write a fantastic book description, and make sure your categories and keywords are working effectively.

Then promote your book as much as you can.

By the way, someone left a review on one of my books today.

It was a glowing 5-star Amazon book review, so I must be doing something right.

Related Reading: Five Easy Book Marketing Tips For All Self-Published Authors