Your book has launched, and you’re getting great reviews from family, friends, and social media influencers, but those aren’t transferring to your Amazon listing. Now what?
Amazon reviews are important for indie authors! Of course they’re not the end-all-be-all, and they don’t determine the overall success of your book. But we know more reviews on Amazon can help boost sales and build a strong foundation for your author brand that will benefit your books for years to come.
A quick note before we start: You can always encourage folks to review the book, but be aware that you can’t (and shouldn’t!) try to sway the content of the review. Good reviews are always preferred, but negative reviews aren’t necessarily a bad thing— more on that later!
So, how do authors get more Amazon reviews? Check out some tips and tricks below to help boost those ratings and reviews!
May be obvious, but ask the reader upfront
Consider leaving a note to the reviewer at the end of the book! What better time to ask for a review than right after they’ve finished reading?
It’s important though to consider why reviewers leave feedback: It’s because they have feelings. So, make sure to leave space for all the feels.
Instead of saying “If you loved my book please consider reviewing it on Amazon!” maybe something like, “Thank you for taking the time to read my book, I’d love to hear your honest feedback! Please feel free to leave me a review wherever you talk about books.” This leaves the content and the platform open to reviewers. Sometimes, when authors ask directly for reviews via Amazon it can come off a bit “sales-y.”
We want to boost those Amazon reviews, and all reviews (yes, even the bad reviews – have you seen the 1-star reviews account on Instagram?) are helpful reviews because they bring exposure to the book.
Getting a negative review is inevitable. It’s impossible to write a story that appeals to everyone. But try not to see negative reviews as a bad thing – they can lend credibility to your book listing. Readers might be skeptical if they head to your Amazon page and see nothing but glowing reviews. Having a mix of opinions ensures that your listing looks authentic. Even New York Times bestselling authors get 1-star reviews!
We have more tips on dealing with negative reviews here.
Leverage your personal connections and author network
We know it’s difficult to be self-promotional, but you deserve to brag about your work. You published a book – that’s a huge accomplishment!
Leverage your personal connections and author community by:
- Reach out to family and friends directly and ask them to leave a review if they’ve read the book, including links to your book on various platforms.
- Add a call for reviews to your author newsletter.
- Post about the impact of Amazon reviews on social media to encourage readers to review.
Speaking of socials, set up your accounts to remind folks to review
- Make a post encouraging folks to review the book.
- Share a reel showing potential readers what others have already said about your book.
- Utilize the pinned feature on X (formerly known as Twitter) and Instagram to make sure these posts are at the top of your page.
- Add your book listing to your email signature with a call for reviews.
Consider an incentive
It’s a great idea to give back and say thank you to folks who took the time to read your work. Consider hosting a giveaway or some other incentive to show your appreciation, while also encouraging readers to leave a review:
- Are you writing another book? Host a giveaway on your social media offering up an ARC of your next book to readers who reviewed your current book on Amazon!
- Host a raffle: Create a form where reviewers can fill out their information (and a screenshot of their Amazon review) and randomly pull one participant to receive a gift card.
- Work smarter, not harder: Include a question in this raffle form to ask readers if they’d like to join your author newsletter.
- Offer a giveaway online with some bookish swag for folks who have read and reviewed the book.
Beef up your Amazon listing
The Amazon algorithm favors listings and products that are well optimized because it yields a higher likelihood of customer traction. Consumers are more likely to peruse your Amazon listing (and hopefully buy the book!) if it’s organized, professional, and well maintained.
Looking for ways to optimize your Amazon page? We’ve got a blog post for that!
Consider booking a social media or blog tour
There are countless blog and social media influencer tour groups that authors can tap into to promote their books. Some of these blog tours highly encourage their tour hosts to cross-post their reviews on Amazon and Goodreads along with their social media platforms or blogs.
Be sure to read the fine print to see if the coordinators encourage Amazon reviews. And reach out and ask the group if you aren’t sure!
Check out paid services
Before delving into paid opportunities, it is important to note that Amazon is vigilant and persistent about sniffing out fake reviews that aren’t written by a real person or consumer. Amazon has a strict removal policy for any reviews that aim to mislead or manipulate consumers and they will remove reviews if they feel it is in violation.
You can use paid opportunities to get the books into the hands of more readers, but the content of what is written will always be up to the reviewer!
A few options to help boost exposure:
- Goodreads, a platform that’s owned by Amazon, has a giveaway program that will push the book out to their 150+ million users. While this opportunity doesn’t directly ask folks for a review, it does get your book into the hands of more readers who will potentially leave a review.
- Running an ebook discount and using newsletters to promote a price drop! You can do this through services like BookBub, EReaderIQ, and more!
If you’re interested in learning more about paid avenues for a boost in reviews, reach out to our digital marketing team here at Books Forward! We can recommend tried and true resources that we’ve used for our author family.
A literary omnivore and influential Bookstagrammer, Layne applies her vivid creativity for every title we promote by deftly coordinating news coverage and events for authors, writing and editing diverse content for social media, and assisting with Books Forward’s social media engagement initiatives.
As a former special education teacher, Layne firmly believes in the importance of literature and accessibility. This unique point of view is an asset in her publicity efforts as she works to reach readers across various platforms and demographics.
Layne received her Bachelors of Arts in Creative Writing and Bachelors of Science in Psychology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and her Masters of Art in Teaching from Relay Graduate School of Education. She lives in New Orleans with her loyal, but sadly illiterate cat, Macaroni.
