One of the classic books on getting reviews, How to Get Good Reviews on Amazon: A Guide for Independent Authors & Sellers, is free on Amazon right now.
Written by Theo Rogers, an experienced Amazon reviewer, this book takes you behind the scenes and into the reviewer subculture that’s grown up on Amazon. Grounded in both psychological science and thousands of hours of conversation with some of the top reviewers Amazon, it gives you a deep, insider’s knowledge of how the top reviewers think and operate. It not only walks you through exactly what to say and do: it takes you inside the reviewers’ heads so you can see for yourself why the approach given here is the one that works. Perhaps most importantly of all, it tells you what never to say or do!
Lessons include:
• A simple, four-part formula for writing emails that get your work reviewed.
• Three things never to say to reviewers!
• How to pick reviewers who are more likely to give you a good review.
• How to reduce the chance that a reviewer you contact will give you a bad review.
• How people get caught out when receiving reviews from friends and family.
But it’s not just about how to get good reviews – it’s also about how to avoid and deal with the bad ones. It will teach you which parts of the “Amazon Jungle” are virtual minefields, and how to avoid some of the costly mistakes that have rendered many sellers “persona non grata” among the entire reviewing community.
How to Get Good Reviews on Amazon teaches an honest, straightforward approach that works. It works because it’s not based on tricks or gimmicks but on a real understanding of how Amazon reviewers think and operate: most of all what they expect from authors and other sellers.
Many thanks to Effrosyni Moschoudi for the tip!
Naked Truth Update
In other related news, Gisela Hausmann recently updated her celebrated book, NAKED TRUTHS About Getting Book Reviews.
She has also updated her best-selling book, Naked News for Indie Authors How NOT to Invest Your Marketing $$$, so if you’ve bought either book be sure to update your edition!
Also, don’t forget to check out Amazon’s own review guidelines (thank you, Olga and Micki)!
Got mine thanks! 🙂
Super! I hope you find it useful 🙂
I’m sure there will be pearls of wisdom in it. 🙂
Hi, Nicholas.
I have just read Theo’s book this morning, and have the following observations. As an Amazon reviewer myself, he has got it EXACTLY right. It is specific to Amazon, to answer other queries, but Theo is a very experienced reviewer and what he says about the ‘Amazon Jungle’ is 100% correct, from my own less detailed findings.
This book is mainly about what not to do when soliciting reviews for books (or products) on Amazon, as well as good advice on how to approach the same thing correctly.
Anyone who is already marketing or considering selling via Amazon should definitely read this short book first. It gives a priceless insight into the thought process of the reviewers, and explains the voting system, and reviewer rankings far better than anything else I have ever read. He gives inside knowledge about the various shills and tricks used by some people and companies, and detailed information on how to avoid being lumped into these unpopular groups. Some of his best tips in the book should be known by anyone wishing to sell anything on Amazon, especially books.
!) Do not solicit reviews from family and friends who do not usually review anything else. It will be obvious to both Amazon, and to the top reviewers too.
2) Do not encourage anyone to leave a negative response to reviews that are unfavourable. This is known as ‘Negging’, and also becomes obvious.
3) Avoid getting involved in a group of writers who all post rave reviews of each others work. These are known as ‘Circles’, and are also easily detected.
4) If you want to contact the top reviewers, look at their profile page for contact details. If they do not have an email address, they might have a Facebook page, blog address, or their own website.
The book is full of gems like this, and really is a ‘must read’ for sellers. Use the valuable links he provides, to increase your knowledge of just how the Amazon review system works.
It also prompted me to check my own Amazon profile. As of today, I am ranking number 3,212 out of the 10,000 top reviewers. Hardly a real player, in the grand scheme of things, but almost in the top third!
Best wishes, Pete.
That is one sweet rank, Pete! Congrats!
Thank you for the detailed comment. A lot of people would benefit from reading it. May I post it as a guest post in the near future?
Please do, Nicholas. Let me know if you want me to expand on it.
Regards as always, and best wishes to you and your family. Pete.
Thank you! I think I’ve got all I need, but feel free to send me an updated version of you prefer.
Give Ollie a hug for me, will you? 🙂
Will do!
Done. Scheduled for tomorrow. Again, thank you 🙂
I guess we can never get enough info on obtaining book reviews. This one looks like it might have some good tips since Theo claims he has spoken to Amazon reviewers. I’m in.
Hope you find it useful 🙂
Does it work with non-Amazon reviews too? 🙂
I honestly don’t know, but I doubt it. From the blurb, it seems pretty targeted.
This is definitely targeted to amazon reviewing. However there are template examples of how to approach reviewers and sending emails which won’t sound clinical or generic. There’s also advice on what to do once you’ve got reviews, both good or bad which I think can apply to any reviewing platform.
Thank you for the clarification 🙂
Thanks, Nicholas, for alerting us to the free Amazon eBook. I appreciate it. 🙂 — Suzanne
A pleasure! I hope you find it useful 🙂
Thank you for sharing this incredible opportunity to get in the reviewers’ heads, and it was my pleasure to share the tip with you all 🙂 I started reading it last night – it’s riveting stuff! Things you’ve never known existed out there. A priceless little book, and I can’t wait to devour the rest of it tonight 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing that 🙂
Thanks!
A pleasure! I hope you find it useful 🙂
Thanks to you and Theo. We need all the help we can get.
Sadly true 😀
Thanks for the good advice, Nicholas. And you too, Frosty.
Best wishes, Pete.
My pleasure, Pete 🙂
Thank you, Pete! I think you’re a top reviewer, aren’t you? I’d be interested to hear what you think of the book, if you read it.
I am on the Amazon review programme, Nicholas, but I have reviewed very few books. Looking at the bullet points featured from Theo’s book, he seems to be concentrating on reviewers who are contacted directly to ask for reviews.
The problem with giving free stuff for a ‘fair’ review, is that some authors are very unhappy with the outcome. A chance they have to take, sadly.
I have just downloaded this free book to my PC, and will happily update your post with a review, as soon as I can read it.
best wishes, Pete.
Oh, right! Thanks for the clarification 🙂
Interesting. I’m downloading it to see how good it really is. Being a top reviewer myself I’m interested to see if it’s all good and what are those three things you should never say to a reviewer :)?
I’d love to hear what you thought of it 🙂
I’ll let you know as soon as I do, 🙂
Hi, I’ve read the book. It’s got some great advice on how to contact reviewers and a lot on understanding how the ranking system works on both reviews themselves and reviewers. It ‘s certainly worth reading especially if people are lost to the world of getting/asking for reviews. I’ve written a review of it for anyone who wants to see what I thought: https://happymeerkatreviews.wordpress.com/2016/07/17/useful-information-for-authors-sellers-how-to-get-good-reviews-on-amazon/
I should have added though the importance of visiting a reviewers own blog/website. The book mentions it briefly but it’s advice for any authors out there who want reviews to visit a reviewers blog/facebook, etc if they have one as sometimes there’s info on reviewing and requests there. For example I and many book bloggers have submissions pages which has info on the sort of books I will or won’t review which is of course important to know as you don’t want to target the wrong people with your book review requests 🙂 I will add that to my post now. Overall a good book but a bit pricey when not on promotion.
That’s a great tip! I get asked to review genres I’m not keen on every now and then, and I usually have to turn them down 🙂