How to Get (Honest) Book Reviews

By Iola Goulton

How to get honest book reviews

Post updated 30 December 2016

I’ve recently seen a few authors online asking either how to get more book reviews, or how many book reviews can they expect. My (unstatistical) research suggest authors can expect around one review for every 1,000 copies sold. That’s just 0.1%. Even a bestseller might not do much better: John Green has reportedly sold nine million copies of The Fault in Our Stars and has almost 30,000 reviews on Amazon—a review rate of less than 0.4%.

Yet some authors seem to have dozens, even hundreds, of reviews, out of all proportion to sales. Is there some secret? How do these authors manage to get so many reviews?

It’s easy enough to get dishonest reviews. Earlier articles in this series have covered several less-than-honest ways to get reviews, including buying reviews, reviewing your own books, asking family members to give your book a five-star review, and swapping reviews with other authors.

So how do you get honest reviews?

Ask.

Yes, ask for reviews. Many readers don’t realise the importance authors place on reviews. Positive reviews provide social proof for potential customers, they influence Amazon’s book popularity ratings, and a certain number of reviews are required in order for authors to advertise on sites like Bookbub. Yet most readers don’t know or understand how useful reviews are, to authors and other readers.

Almost anyone who has an Amazon account can review on Amazon (and an Amazon US account holder can also review on other Amazon country pages, such as Australia, Canada and the UK). All a customer needs to do is open an account and spend $50 (this spending requirement was introduced during 2016, to combat the "coupon club" reviewers who would give anything a five-star review in exchange for free samples).

Who do I Ask?

Ask your readers

Marketing advisors such as David Gaughran advise authors to ask for reviews at the back of the book, and that’s something David does himself: “Word-of-mouth is cruicial for any author to succeed. If you enjoyed the book, please consider leaving a review at Amazon.”

This tactic is now being adopted by at least one of the big-name publishers: I’ve recently read Journey of Hope by Debbie Kaufman, a Love Inspired Historical. At the end of the book, it says, “Love the Love Inspired book you just read? Your opinion matters. Review this book on your favorite book site, review site, blog or your own social media properties and share your opinion with other readers!”

Does this work? In July 2014, Tim Grahl shared on his blog that he had just sold the 10,000th copy of his book, Your First 1000 Copies (including one copy to me). Those 10,000 sales have netted him over 180 reviews—a 1.8% review rate, which is still low, but is almost twenty times more reviews than my unstatistical ‘normal’.

The other thing to do at the end of your book is ask readers to sign up for your email list, so you can let them know when your next book is due to be published (and perhaps even offer your email subscribers a discount, or ask if anyone would like a free review copy …). If you want to boost your email list, try offering your book at NoiseTrade Books: people can download your book free (or leave a tip) in exchange for providing you with their email address.

Ask Amazon reviewers

While many Amazon reviewers are simply providing random reviews on books or products they’ve used and liked (or not), a growing number are reviewing books or products they’ve been provided with in exchange for a review. Note that reviewers are required to disclose they have received a free copy of the book for review (as per Federal Trade Commission regulations). Not all do, but they are supposed to.

How do you find Amazon reviewers? 

It’s time-consuming, but worthwhile. Some people recommend starting with the Amazon Top 10,000 Reviewers list, as these are the most prolific and helpful reviewers and are therefore most likely to accept review requests. However, I believe this is a waste of time for most authors, and especially for authors writing in a niche genre like Christian fiction. Why? Because many of those reviewers either don’t review books, or don’t read Christian fiction. (The easiest way to become a Top 10,000 Reviewer is to review the Free App of the Day, as it’s guaranteed to get you a lot of votes, and votes are more important than total number of reviews in improving reviewer ranking.)

Rather than focusing on Top Reviewers, focus on people who have reviewed books similar to yours, especially if they have also reviewed self-published books. Click on the reviewer name, and see if they have a website address or email address on their profile. If they have an email address, it’s safe to assume they are open to receiving requests via email. If they only have a website address, check that out to see if they are open to review requests.

Many Amazon reviewers also have book blogs, which is even better: the more sites a review is posted on, the better for your book. To find out if an Amazon reviewer will accept requests for reviews, simply click on their name, which will bring up their personal profile. If you find an Amazon reviewer who agrees to review your book, you’ve got a 50% or better chance of getting a review (personally, I review over 95% of the titles I accept for review, but I know some bloggers review as few as 30%. However, they make it clear that sending them a book doesn’t guarantee a review).

Ask bloggers

There are several organisations which specialise in organising blog tours for Christian novels, including the Australasian Christian Readers Blog Alliance, Book Fun Magazine, Christian Fiction Blog Alliance, First Wild Card Tours and Litfuse Publicity. Visit their website, find some books similar to yours, see which reviewers have reviewed them positively, visit those reviewer websites, check out their reviewing guidelines, and contact those who are open to unsolicited requests. Be warned: as with Amazon reviewers, many bloggers already have all the books they can read through sources such as NetGalley or publisher blogging programmes.

The advantage of using bloggers from these networks is that you already know they are open to reading and reviewing Christian novels. If they have a review policy or similar on their blog, you will know they are open to receiving review requests, so go ahead! As with Amazon reviewers, if you find a blogger who will read your book, you have an excellent chance of getting a review.

Ask on a review site

Sites such as Facebook and Goodreads have groups for people seeking reviews. However, some of these offer unethical review swaps. Check out any potential reviewers before sending your book off to them, to ensure they are the right reviewer for your book. You can also check out sites like Story Cartel, which offers your book free to readers who promise to review.

Ask social media followers

Rayne Hall recommends asking social media followers for reviews in her book, Twitter for Writers, by tweeting that your book is available for review. She asks every eight weeks, with a post like this:
“Would anyone like one of my ebooks for free for posting a review at Amazon?”

Hall likes these reviews, as she finds they are honest reviews from people who are interested in her and her books, and she reports that most people who request a review copy via Twitter do follow up with a review. Note that she is staunchly against automated DM tweets, such as those some people use for new followers: “Thanks for following! Please download a free review copy of my book here: xxx.com”.

I’d add one proviso: don’t ask for reviews on your regular Facebook page, as your objective is obtaining reviews from people you don’t know in real life, not an Amazon page full of “friends and family” reviews.


Next week we will look at how to ask for reviews. Meanwhile, do you have any questions? Have you ever asked for reviews?

By Iola Goulton. I am a freelance editor specialising in Christian fiction, and you can find out more about my services at my website, or follow me on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.

I love reading, and read and review around 150 Christian books each year on my blog. I'm a Top 25 Reviewer at Christian Book, in the Top 1% of reviewers at Goodreads, and have an Amazon Reviewer Rank that floats around 2000.

Reviewing Ethics: Deleted Reviews

By Iola Goulton

My reviews have been deleted! What can I do?

Reviews can be deleted in two ways, by Amazon, or by the reviewer. Amazon can—and will—delete reviews which fall outside their reviewing guidelines in some way:

• Paid reviews
• Reviews written by someone with a financial interest in the book
• ARC reviews where the free book has not been disclosed
• Reviews where the author has gifted the book to the reviewer and this hasn’t been disclosed

A review may also be deleted if it includes specific words (e.g. ‘nazi’) which Amazon does not permit to be used on the site. This might be difficult to avoid if you were reviewing a book about, say, politics in Germany in the 1930’s. In some cases these reviews will be deleted automatically, in others they will be deleted if enough customers Report Abuse on the review.

Amazon will edit but not delete reviews where the review links to an external website, or where the reviewer has linked to their own book (which is seen as promotional, and therefore against the Reviewing Guidelines).

Review deleted without reason

If you believe a review has been deleted without reason, you can contact Amazon and ask them to review their decision. This usually results in a standard email saying the review was deleted because it was against the Reviewing Guidelines.

The other way reviews can get deleted is if the reviewer deletes them (e.g. because they are closing their Amazon account).

I didn’t mean reviews I wrote. I meant reviews on my book.

There’s nothing you can do about reviews written by other people. They are not your reviews, so you can’t ask Amazon why they have been deleted. If you remember the reviewer name and have their contact details (e.g. if it’s a review you solicited), you could ask the reviewer to ask Amazon, but they’ll probably just get the standard email (and may be threatened with having their review privileges revoked if they keep asking).

However, you can take some proactive steps to ensure reviews of your book aren’t removed by Amazon:

• Don’t review your own book
• Don’t ask/allow family members to review your book
• Don’t ask/allow editors or your publisher to review your book
• Don’t gift your book to potential reviewers through Amazon. Post them a hard copy, or email the pdf or mobi file
• If you do give a copy to a reviewer, ask that they include an appropriate disclosure statement (e.g. “Thanks to the author for providing a free copy of this book for review purposes”).
• Ensure reviewers don’t use their review of your book as a platform for promoting their own book, either in their reviewer name, through links, or by mentioning their own book in the review.

This is the final post in a series on reviewing and reviewing ethics.

We’ve looked at a range of topics:

• What makes a good book review
• Reviewing and influencing
• Blog tours
• The dilemma facing author/reviewers
• The etiquette of responding to book reviews
• The ethics of online reviewing
• The sins of online reviewing
• The rules of online reviewing

And we’ve debated whether authors should review (and where), and looked at copyright on reviews. I could write a book!

What is the most useful thing you’ve learned from this series? Is there anything else you’d like to know about reviews and online reviewing?


By Iola Goulton. I am a freelance editor specialising in Christian fiction, and you can find out more about my services at my website (www.christianediting.co.nz), or follow me on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/christianediting), Twitter (@IolaGoulton) or Pinterest (http://pinterest.com/iolasreads).

I love reading, and read and review around 150 Christian books each year on my blog (www.christianreads.blogspot.com). I'm a Top 25 Reviewer at Christian Book, in the Top 1% of reviewers at Goodreads, and have an Amazon Reviewer Rank that floats around 2000.

Reviewing Ethics: Where can Authors Review?

By Iola Goulton

Last week we asked whether authors should review books (I trust I persuaded you). This week we are going to look at where authors can post their reviews online.

Commercial sites

Commercial sites are any sites which sell books directly. These include Amazon, ChristianBook, Koorong, DeeperShopping, Book Depository, and Smashwords.

As discussed previously, authors are permitted to review on Amazon, but need to be careful they are within the Reviewing Guidelines. This means not writing any review which could be seen as promotional, either to promote your own books or those of a colleague (e.g. from the same publisher), or to denigrate books in the same category which could be seen as competing.

It also means:

• Review under your author name, not a pseudonym
• Don’t include the word ‘Author’ in your Amazon reviewer name
• Don’t include ‘Author of …’ or refer to your own books in your reviews

If you choose to review on Amazon, review a wide range of titles. Don’t only review books by friends or authors from your publisher, as that will look like a reviewing circle.

Some authors do choose to review under a pseudonym. If you do, you need to act as a regular customer, not an author. This means:

• Review everything under the same pseudonym
• If you copy reviews across sites (e.g. reviewing on Amazon and Goodreads), use the same pseudonym across all those sites
• Never mention your own books in reviews or discussions
• Never comment on reviews of your books. This catches a lot of authors out.
• Always remain within the reviewing guidelines. Your real name might not be visible to customers, but the retailer has your real name and address.

Overall, I think it’s easier to use your own name.

Reader Sites

Reader sites don’t sell books directly (although they might link to retail sites, and they might earn an affiliate commission from those links). Reader sites include Goodreads, Library Thing, Shelfari, Riffle, BookLikes. Note that Goodreads and Shelfari are both owned by Amazon.

Reader sites are a more problematic than retail sites for author/reviewers. If you’ve been using a site like Goodreads for a while (months, if not years), and are a member of different discussion groups, then it might appear strange to change the way you use the site simply because you are now a published author. So continue using the site as you have done—although you may decide not to review any books you rate below a certain level.

If you are a published author and you’ve never used Goodreads, I suggest you set up an author page, perhaps link your blog, and then sign out. Do nothing. Observe for a period (perhaps months) before deciding if this is a community you want to be part of. Goodreads is a complex site with its own culture, and a lot of author-vs.-reviewer angst could have been prevented if authors made the effort to get to know the site and its users before jumping in.

If you decide to participate in the Goodreads community, participate as a reader. Don’t mention your books, or the fact you are an author. If people are interested, they will view your profile, see you are an author, and may be interested enough to try one of your books.

I think the major thing to know about Goodreads is that members use the rating system in a variety of ways. One star often means “I don’t want to read this book”. They might not like the cover. They might not like the blurb. They might object to the way the author behaves online. They might not like Christian fiction (in which case, it might be an example of Christian persecution, which calls to mind Paul’s pesky injunction from Romans 12:14, to bless those who persecute you).

I understand this behaviour annoys authors, who see it dragging down their average rating. But Goodreads is for readers, and since Goodreads banned shelf names that were about the author not the book (after certain authors complained about “abusive” shelf names, like “badly behaved author” or “reviews own books”). Many Goodreaders now one-star such books.

Personal Website or Blog

This is your personal space, so review away. Host blog tours. Endorse. Influence. Interview authors. Guest post on other blogs. Gush about everyone and everything. Blog readers want to connect with the author, so give them the opportunity to connect with as many of your author friends as you want.

The advantage of reviewing on your personal blog is that you don’t need to use any kind of rating system. When I see authors complaining online about reviews, it’s usually the star rating that first caught their attention. They forget the ratings are subjective: one star on Goodreads means “I didn’t like it”.

I didn’t like Tess of the d’Urbervilles or Vanity Fair, but they are classics, and I’m not about to question their contribution to our literary culture.

My only proviso with promoting other authors through your blog is that readers will judge your writing based on the writing of those authors you choose to endorse and influence. If you write Christian romance, you probably don’t want to be endorsing an author who specialises in erotica. If you review a book with obvious writing or editing issues, and don’t mention them in your review, I’m going to think you didn’t notice them—which makes me wonder about the quality of your own writing.

That's the end of this series of posts. I'll be back in a few weeks with two final posts to finish my series on reviewing, and will be looking at copyright, and how to get reviews deleted.

Do you have any other reviewing questions?

By Iola Goulton. I am a freelance editor specialising in Christian fiction, and you can find out more about my services at my website (www.christianediting.co.nz), or follow me on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/christianediting), Twitter (@IolaGoulton) or Pinterest (http://pinterest.com/iolasreads).

I love reading, and read and review around 150 Christian books each year on my blog (www.christianreads.blogspot.com). I'm a Top 25 Reviewer at Christian Book, in the Top 1% of reviewers at Goodreads, and have an Amazon Reviewer Rank that floats around 2000.

Reviewing Ethics: Should Authors Review?

By Iola Goulton

Over the last two weeks, I've been looking at the ethics of reviewing on Amazon and other websites, and the rules of Amazon reviewing (Amazon call them 'Reviewing Guidelines', but make no mistake: they are rules, and there are consequences for breaking them).

This week I'm addressing a question many authors ask: should authors review? 

Should authors read?

Yes.

“If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”

- Stephen King, On Writing

Should authors review?

Yes.

Well-written reviews influence sales, so writing reviews blesses authors you enjoy reading, and influences others to try their work.

Do authors have to review?

No.

Reviewing a book is only one way of blessing the author. There are other ways, tangible and intangible. Pray for them. Buy their books. Recommend their books to friends. Comment on their blog posts. Follow their blog. Sign up for their email list. Like them on Facebook and Amazon. Follow and Fan them on Goodreads. Like their reviews on Goodreads. Tweet their new release. Tweet helpful reviews.

Should authors review everything they read?

No.

You don’t have to review everything you read, and you don’t have to publish your reviews on commercial sites. Most websites have a clear set of reviewing guidelines, and authors need to bear these in mind when deciding what to review—and what not to review. We discussed the Amazon Reviewing Guidelines last week.

I believe that as Christians, we absolutely need to adhere to the rules of each website. In fact, I believe we should hold ourselves to higher standards, not just to abstain from unethical behaviour, but to abstain from the appearance of unethical behaviour.

For example, I’m a book reviewer and a freelance editor. While I have an obligation to review books I obtain from book blogger programmes (e.g. NetGalley, BookLookBloggers, BloggingforBooks, Litfuse Publicity), I can’t review any book by clients on a commercial site such as Amazon.

I can (and do) review books I’ve edited, on both my reviewing blog and my editing website. I will participate in blog tours or conduct author interviews if requested. These are clearly promotional reviews: I have a financial relationship with these authors, and ensure I disclose that. I also promote my clients on my editing website, by including their new releases in my Newsletter (sign up here if you’re interested), and including their books on my Projects page.

I do review books I’ve worked on at www.Koorong.com.au (where they are featured), as Koorong don’t (currently) have any issue with authors or publishers reviewing. Goodreads also permit authors and others associated with the book to review. However, just because something is permitted doesn’t make it advisable. I use Goodreads as a record of books I’ve read, as the site is meant to be a way for readers to connect, not a site for authors (or editors) to use as a vehicle for promotion.

The Author Dilemma

The big author dilemma for authors is do you review everything, or do you only review titles you can recommend and endorse? While this is something you will ultimately have to decide for yourself, here are some thoughts which might help:

• Amazon don't allow authors to review books by authors they have a personal relationship with (although they don't define "personal relationship". A critique partner or beta reader certainly sounds like a personal relationship to me, but what about a Facebook friend or a Twitter follower?)
• If people recognise you as an author, you are effectively an influencer for that title
• Many reviewers, both reader/reviewers and author/reviewers, take the position they will only review books they can recommend with a four-star or five-star rating. There’s nothing wrong with this as long as you don’t give every book five stars whether you like it or not (and whether it’s any good or not).
• Some authors, especially indie authors (although hopefully none in the Christian market), react badly to low-star reviews. If they find you are also an author, they will retaliate by giving you a scathing review.

I suspect that as soon as you become a published author (and possibly before) you move from the ranks of reader/reviewers like me, who can review based on whatever criteria we chose, to an author/reviewer, who will be scrutinised more carefully.

What do you think? What are your personal reviewing 'rules'?


By Iola Goulton. I am a freelance editor specialising in Christian fiction, and you can find out more about my services at my website (www.christianediting.co.nz), or follow me on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/christianediting), Twitter (@IolaGoulton) or Pinterest (http://pinterest.com/iolasreads).

I love reading, and read and review around 150 Christian books each year on my blog (www.christianreads.blogspot.com). I'm a Top 25 Reviewer at Christian Book, in the Top 1% of reviewers at Goodreads, and have an Amazon Reviewer Rank that floats around 2000.

Reviewing Ethics: Online Book Reviews (Part Two)

By Iola Goulton

Last week we introduced the Amazon Reviewing Guidelines and the concept of “promotional content”. Promotional content is explained in more detail on the FAQ page, where Amazon give some examples of reviews they don’t allow. This week we are going to go through those examples in more detail:

A product manufacturer posts a review of their own product, posing as an unbiased shopper

As discussed previously, this is a sock puppet review. Amazon doesn’t permit reviews of any product you have a financial interest in, which includes books you’ve written, edited or published. Not under your own name, and especially not under a fake name.

A shopper, unhappy with her purchase, posts multiple negative reviews for the same product

This is an example of multiple sock puppet reviews. Amazon only allows reviewers to review each product once (so you can’t review the hardcover and the Kindle edition of the same book), so anyone posting multiple reviews must be using sock puppet accounts or circumventing the system in some other way. It is possible. It isn’t permitted.

A customer posts a review in exchange for $5

This specifically refers to reviews from ffiver.com, but $1 or $1000, the amount of the payment isn’t the point. Amazon do not permit paid reviews in the Customer Reviews section, as customers expect these reviews to be from impartial customers. If you have paid for a review (e.g. from Kirkus Indie), you can quote it in the Editorial Reviews section of the book page.

A customer posts a review of a game, in exchange for bonus in-game credits

In-game credits have a financial value, so this concept is a variation on a paid review. There isn’t really an equivalent for books, but I have seen some authors offer a prize or a free short story in exchange for a four-star or five-star review.

One famous Christian author using a variation on this is Karen Kingsbury, who has offered a free cruise-for-two to the reader whose review most “touches her heart”. As one reviewer says, that’s not going to be a one-star review, is it?

Author Kristen Lamb says:

I’d love to offer reviewers sweet prizes for reviewing my book, but it’s just too … what’s the term? Creepy. … It’s a fine line that can get writers in ethical trouble.

A fine line, indeed, and one with consequences. When Amazon found a puzzle company were sending Amazon gift vouchers to people who had reviewed their games on Amazon, they deleted all reviews for the games in question, and also deleted the entire reviewing history of some reviewers. Amazon saw the gift cards as compensation. Amazon's Selling Policies clearly state that sellers cannot offer a refund in exchange for a review:

"you may not provide compensation for a review other than a free copy of the product. If you offer a free product, it must be clear that you are soliciting an unbiased review. The free product must be provided in advance; no refunds are permitted after the review is written. Product review solicitations that ask for only positive reviews or that offer compensation are prohibited. You may not ask buyers to remove negative reviews."

A family member of the product creator posts a five-star customer review to help boost sales

Amazon prohibits reviews from people with a financial interest in the product, which would include family members like a spouse or dependent children.

My advice for people reviewing books by friends or family members is to be up-front about it. Start the review with “I’m the author’s mother (sister, favourite cousin)” or similar, so readers know to expect glowing praise.

This is one instance where I make an exception to my “Authors should never comment on reviews” rule. If Mum, sister or favourite cousin has written a glowing review and you can’t get them to delete it, add a comment to the review acknowledging the relationship and thanking them for their wonderful, albeit biased, review.

Don’t pretend to be an impartial customer. Someone might get suspicious that you and the author share an unusual surname—the review will be downvoted, reported for abuse, and possibly removed because then it looks as though it’s there to boost sales. That is the key phrase: “to boost sales”. If your friend or family member is reviewing as a way of encouraging you, they should have no problem acknowledging the relationship in the review.

A shopper posts a review of the product, after being promised a refund in exchange

This is another variation on a paid review, and is also against the Selling Policies. If Amazon find a reviewer receiving a ‘gift’ from an author (e.g. a 99 cent gift card) after the reviewer has reviewed a book by that author (such as a 99 cent Kindle book), they can and will delete the review. I’ve seen it “recommended” that authors “thank” their reviewers by gifting a $1.00 gift card for a 99 cent book. Amazon might be wise to this idea, or they might not be. I don’t know. But really? It’s a deliberate effort to circumvent the Amazon guidelines, and I have trouble believing that suggestion came from a Christian. But it did.

Amazon frowns on gifting Kindle copies of books to reviewers, as the reviewer can then either on-gift the gift or refuse the gift and use the credit towards any other Amazon purchase. You are better to either send the reviewer a copy of the book directly (as a mobi, prc or pdf file), or gift a copy through Smashwords.

A seller posts negative reviews on his competitor's product

This concerns authors, as it gives rise to the myth that authors shouldn’t review. Authors can review, but should be extremely careful about posting critical reviews of books in the same genre, as such reviews can be seen to fall foul of this guideline. For this reason, many authors chose not to review in the genre in which they write, or to only write positive (four-star or five-star reviews).

An artist posts a positive review on a peer's album in exchange for receiving a positive review from them

I have seen review swaps offered on Facebook and Goodreads. Authors mean well, but review swaps are explicitly prohibited by Amazon, and are frowned upon by readers—because we don’t trust the reviews. Think about it:

We agree to swap books and honestly review each other’s books. I read yours and hate it. It’s not just that the main character is too stupid to live, it’s that it’s supposed to be a romance but they don’t meet until Chapter 38, and it’s full of spelling mistakes (the heroin lives in Sidney, New South Whales, and wheres a high-wasted dress). Do I:

a) review honestly, knowing the other author is going to be reviewing my book and might take this as an excuse to drag me and my book through the mud; or
b) lie.

That’s not a decision you want to make. So stay away from review swaps and reviewing circles (where several authors agree to review each other’s books).

This doesn't stop authors supporting fellow authors in other ways. Authors endorse books all the time. They post reviews and recommendations of author friend’s books on their blogs. The problem is these influencing reviews often read more like an endorsement, and therefore might be better placed in the Editorial Reviews section of the Amazon page.

To summarise, please don’t try and come up with a creative way to get around the rules. It’s not ethical. It's not honest. At the most basic level, if you are trying to use Amazon reviews to promote your book, it’s likely you are going to fall foul of Amazon’s Reviewing Guidelines or the Selling Policies, and you need to think again.


By Iola Goulton. I am a freelance editor specialising in Christian fiction, and you can find out more about my services at my website (www.christianediting.co.nz), or follow me on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/christianediting), Twitter (@IolaGoulton) or Pinterest (http://pinterest.com/iolasreads).

I love reading, and read and review around 150 Christian books each year on my blog (www.christianreads.blogspot.com). I'm a Top 25 Reviewer at Christian Book, in the Top 1% of reviewers at Goodreads, and have an Amazon Reviewer Rank that floats around 2000.

Reviewing Ethics: Online Book Reviews (Part One)

By Iola Goulton

What is permitted? And what isn’t? 

There is a lot of confusion regarding what is permitted in terms of online reviewing, not helped by the fact that each site has their own rules, and some enforce them more than others. Today I’m going to take you through the Amazon Reviewing Guidelines. I’ve chosen Amazon because as well as being the site I know best, it’s the biggest online retailer, it has the most reviewers (over 20 million), and the most product reviews.

Amazon has clear Reviewing Guidelines, and will take action to remove reviews that contravene the guidelines. Amazon gets a lot of attention regarding “fake” reviews (which exist in greater numbers than most people realise) and “bully” reviewers (who are far less common than the media implies).

The vast majority of the issues I've seen arise in these forums and in review conflicts have, at the very least, been started by authors acting unprofessionally in some way.

- self-published author Rick Gualtieri

Behaviour like “I called his place of volunteer work and made it evident that I was in possession of the email addresses of his friends and extended family members”.

Amazon go into more detail about what’s not allowed than what is allowed. This includes:

Objectionable material

No swearing, calling people names, using inappropriate language (like calling someone an idiot or a nazi), and no promotion of illegal conduct (I once saw a forum discussion where someone was looking for novels featuring incest. The discussion was promptly deleted).

Inappropriate content

The big one here is links to external websites (including your own). Amazon won’t delete a review with external links, but it will delete the link and replace it with […].

Off-topic information

Information on price, packaging or shipping aren’t relevant to customer reviews, as Amazon has other forums for offering feedback on sellers or packaging.

Promotional content

No:

• Advertisements, promotional material or repeated posts that make the same point excessively
• Sentiments by or on behalf of a person or company with a financial interest in the product or a directly competing product (including reviews by publishers, manufacturers, or third-party merchants selling the product)
• Reviews 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

So:

No spam.

No shills.

No sock puppets.

No paid reviews.

If you find reviews which include information like this, you can Report Abuse.

What is Report Abuse?

If you look at the bottom of any Amazon review (except one you’ve written), you will see “Was this review helpful?”, and Yes and No buttons. If you believe a review contravenes Amazon Reviewing Guidelines in some way, click “No”. Amazon will then say “If this review is inappropriate, please let us know”.

Click on the link (“please let us know”), and you will be given the option to say why the review is inappropriate. It’s best if you mention a specific reason that is against the guidelines (e.g. the review is self-promotion, the review is written by the author/editor, the review is about price or delivery and not about the product, spiteful remarks about the author).

This feature can be used by anyone, author or reader. If, as an author, you believe the review is against Amazon’s Reviewing Guidelines or Conditions of Use (often called the Terms of Service, or TOS), this is the responsible and ethical way to report it, rather than leaving a comment on the review. Note that Amazon do not remove reviews simply because they are critical—they must contravene the Reviewing Guidelines in some way.

It usually takes several reports from different people before a review is removed (although I don’t know exactly how many). However, sometimes the response is extremely fast: yesterday I reported a review for soliciting helpful votes (which is against the Reviewing Guidelines), and the review had been edited by Amazon within half an hour to remove the promotional content. 

Of course, the big question is: What is promotional content? We will look at that in more detail next week.

Meanwhile, are you aware of the Amazon Reviewing Guidelines? What do you think is promotional content? 


By Iola Goulton. I am a freelance editor specialising in Christian fiction, and you can find out more about my services at my website (www.christianediting.co.nz), or follow me on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/christianediting), Twitter (@IolaGoulton) or Pinterest (http://pinterest.com/iolasreads).

I love reading, and read and review around 150 Christian books each year on my blog (www.christianreads.blogspot.com). I'm a Top 25 Reviewer at Christian Book, in the Top 1% of reviewers at Goodreads, and have an Amazon Reviewer Rank that floats around 2000.